I" III

YALE
DIVINITY SCHOOL
LIBRARY

Gift of

STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI

BY THE REV.
W. O. E. OESTERLEY, D.D.
THE BOOKS OF THE APOCRYPHA :
THEIR ORIGIN, TEACHING AND CONTENTS.
Cloth, 16s. net.
" A really important book for the intelligent theological student,
massing together as it does facts and theories not elsewhere access
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Paternoster Row, E.C.

STUDIES IN
ISAIAH XL-LXVI
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
ON THE COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF
ISAIAH I-XXXIX
By the Rev.
W. O. E. OESTERLEY, D.D
Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of London ;
Warburton Lecturer in Lincoln's Inn ;
Vicar of St. Alban's, Bedford Park, W.
Author of
"THE BOOKS OF THE APOCRYPHA : Their Origin, Teaching and, Contents "

LONDON: ROBERT SCOTT
ROXBURGHE HOUSE
PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C
M CM XV I
All rights reserved
i
Yale Divinity Library

PREFATORY NOTE
The following Studies form the elaboration of
a course of lectures given in Cambridge last
year to the students who came up for the
Vacation Term for Biblical Study. The Studies
have, with three exceptions, been selected with
the object of dealing with such subjects as,
from their nature, cannot be discussed at much
length in Commentaries ; this applies more
especially to the doctrinal and archaeological
Studies, which take up the major part of the
following pages. Points of exegesis can also
be dealt with more at length in a lecture than
in a commentary where the entire text of a
book has to be explained. The two first
Studies, which are introductory, deal with the
composite character of the book of Isaiah ;
this, though amply considered in the Com-
'mentaries, seemed to be a necessary prelimin
ary here too, because it has a direct bearing on
the different doctrinal standpoints in the
book. A brief historical survey was also con-

vi PREFATORY NOTE
sidered appropriate as the historical back
ground of the book has so much to do with the
proper understanding of it. It has not been
thought necessary to give a list of books on
Isaiah, especially as commentaries have not
been made much use of ; light on the various
passages discussed has been sought in many
diverse quarters, the enumeration of which
would not be possible ; for in reading one
absorbs some things from others, and some are
evolved out of one's own mind ; and later on
it becomes difficult to ascertain the origin of
some of the things that are written down.
W. O. E. OESTERLEY.
St. Alban's Vicarage,
Bedford Park, W.
January, 1916.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Prefatory Note  v
I The Composite Character of the Book
of Isaiah ..... 3
(1) Isaianic and non-Isaianic elements . 5
(2) Redactional additions to the text, and
their objects ..... 11
II The Component Parts of Isaiah xl.-
lxvi., their Contents and Date . 25
(1) Chapters xl.-lv. .... 27
,  (2) The Ebed-Jahwe Songs . . .31
(3) Chapters Ivi.-lxvi. .... 43
III A Brief Survey of the Historical
Background of Isaiah xl.-lxvi. . 49
(1) Judcea after the Fall of Jerusalem
and during the Captivity . . 50
(2) The Exiles in Babylon ... 54
(3) The Jews in Palestine after the Re
turn ...... 58
IV The Doctrinal Standpoint of Isaiah
xl.-lv  67
(1) The Doctrine of Atonement . . 69 .
(2) The Doctrine of God ... 74
V The Doctrinal Standpoint of the Ebed-
Jahwe Songs  85
vii

vm

CONTENTS

page

VI

VII

VIII

The Doctrinal Standpoint of Isaiah

lvi.-lxvi. ......

107

(i) The Observance of the Law

111

(2) The Observance of the Sabbath.

H3

(3) Almsgiving ....

117

(4) Superhuman Beings

121

Exegetical Studies

133

xl. 3 .

134

xl. 22

136
xliv. 3
137
xliv. 6
138
xliv. 8
140
1. 10, n
143
li. 6 .
145
li. 9-11
149
Ivi. 4. 5
151
lvii. 1, 2
153
Archaeological and other Studies
157
xliv. 5 
¦ 157
xlvii. 13
• 163
Ivi. 4. 5 •
. 164
lvii. 3-9 .
. 166
lxv-5, lxvi.
17
170
Index
181
THE COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL— LXVI
I
THE COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
The time is past, it may be hoped, in which
exception can be taken to the contention
that a book of the Bible contains writings
from the hand of more .than one author.
Not merely specialists in biblical study
but also the ordinary student of the Bible
recognizes nowadays that it is not a spirit
of wanton, destructive criticism which com
pels the discriminating scholar to differ
from many of the traditional views regarding
the authorship of biblical books. The
evidence of those books themselves is too
strong to be ignored. To take, as an example,
the book of Isaiah : the historical refer
ences contained here show that the period
covered dates from about 740 b.c. to about
540 B.C. at least. If the whole of this book
is to be regarded as having been written
3

4 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
by the prophet Isaiah we should either
have to suppose that he lived for well over 200
years, or else that he foresaw the events
which were going to happen, not only among
his own people, but also among foreign nation s
a good hundred years (at the least) before
they came to pass. Both suppositions are
altogether unnatural. And there is another
difficulty which is not less serious, namely, the
difference in the religious standpoint between
the two main divisions of the book, not to
mention any other divisions. It is impossible
to account satisfactorily for these differences
¦on any supposition other than that the authors
of the two parts respectively lived in different
ages in the second of which a fundamental
change had taken place in the national re
ligion. To enter into the details of this change
is not our present purpose, but some idea of
their far-reaching character will be gained as
we proceed.
But it is not sufficient to recognize difference
of authorship in the two main divisions of the
book of Isaiah ; the arguments upon which
this is based apply also when each of these
main divisions is individually examined. It
is not our intention to deal otherwise than
cursorily with this subject so far as Isaiah i-

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 5
xxxix. is concerned, though a few sentences
must be devoted to show that this division is
not homogeneous. Isaiah xl.-lxvi. will receive
fuller treatment.
(1) Isaianic and non-Isaianic Elements.
Allowing for certain redactional elements
of which a word will be said presently, the
following chapters are recognized by the
majority of scholars to be Isaianic in the
main : i.-xii., xiv. 24-32, xv.-xviii., xxii.,
xxiii., xxviii.-xxxiii. With these we need
not deal since our purpose in this section
is merely to show that the book of Isaiah
is of composite authorship. It will be
well, however, to indicate briefly why the
remainder of the chapters in this division
of the book are not to be regarded as the
work of Isaiah.
xiii. T-xiv. 23. The historical back
ground of this section, which consists
of a prophecy (xiii. 1-22) and a song of
triumph (xiv. 1-23), is the same as that
of the opening chapters of the second
part of Isaiah, namely the Exile, which
is however drawing near to its close,
for the downfall of Babylon is imminent.
This is clear from xiii. 17: Behold,! will

STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
stir up the Medes against them, i.e. the
people of Babylon ; and from xiii. 19 —
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Shall be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah (cp. xiv. 22).
Moreover, the whole song of triumph
is in celebration of Israel's delivery from
captivity which is about to be accom
plished, e.g. xiv. 3, 4 : And it shall come
to pass in the day that the Lord shall give
thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy
trouble, and from the hard service wherein
thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take
up this parable against the king of Babylon,
and say, How hath the oppressor ceased. . . .
This all points to a time long subsequent to
that of Isaiah. "It is the office of the
prophet of Israel to address himself to the
needs of his own age, to announce to his
contemporaries the judgements, or consola
tions, which|arose out of the circumstances
of their own time, to interpret for them
their own history. To base a promise upon
a condition of things not yet existent, and
without any point of contact with the
circumstances or situation of those to whom

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 7
it is addressed, is alien to the genius of
prophecy." 1
xix. This chapter has always been recog
nized by commentators as one of pecuhar
difficulty. One thing, however, seems clear ;
it consists of two compositions, vv.1-15 and
w. 16-25. The former of these is in many
respects reminiscent of Isaiah, and as it
is a prophecy against Egypt, not a few
scholars regard it as having been uttered by
Isaiah who was contemplating an Assyrian
invasion of Egypt. It is possible that within
the lifetime of Isaiah five such invasions
either took place or might have been
expected. The Egyptians were twice de
feated by Sargon, in 720 and 711 ; once by
Sennacherib in 701 ; Egypt was actually
invaded by Esarhaddon about the year
672 and was reduced to the position of an
Assyrian province ; and again in about 660
a Libyan invasion took place unde Psam-
metichus who subjugated the land. There
are therefore, historically, ample' grounds
for assigning xix. 1-15 to Isaiah ; neverthe
less, there is such a marked difference in
style and diction between this prophecy and
1 Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa
ment, p. 201.

STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
those universally acknowledged to be the
work of Isaiah that there is a real difficulty
in believing that this piece could have been
written by him. The similarities with Isai
anic authorship which xix. 1-15 contains are
easily and naturally accounted for on the
assumption that they are imitations, pro
bably unconscious, on the part of disciples of
the prophet. As to the second part of this
section, verses 16-25, Box rightly points out
that " it manifests a broad universalism —
contemplating the fusion of Israelites and
non-Israelites — which is hardly conceivable
before the Greek period (subsequent to
Alexander the Great). Indeed in verse 18
there seems to be an explicit reference to
Jewish colonists in Egypt who still spoke
the language of Canaan." 1
xx. The fact that Isaiah is here spoken of
in the third person, and that the passage
contains a reference to that prophet's
symbolic act of walking naked and barefoot
three years for a sign and a wonder upon
Egypt and upon Ethiopia, is presumptive
evidence, at least, against Isaianic author
ship. That it belongs to the time of Isaiah
is probable enough.
1 The Book of Isaiah, p. 92.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 9
xxi. This chapter consists of three oracles
entirely independent of each other. There
is diversity of opinion as to whether these
three pieces are to be regarded as belonging
to the prophet Isaiah ; but of one thing
there can be no doubt, especially to the
Hebrew scholar, viz. the style of writing
characteristic of all three, a style which is
" peculiarly obscure and enigmatic." 1 In
comparing them with the undoubted writ
ings of Isaiah it is difficult to believe that
they can have come from his hand.
xxiv. -xxvii. There is a consensus of
opinion among scholars that these chapters
do not belong to Isaiah. Their apocalyptic
character points to a much later age. Other
considerations likewise point to the im
probability of their having been written by
Isaiah. As Driver truly says, " The style is
more artificial than that of Isaiah, as
appears, for instance, in the frequent com
bination of nearly synonymous clauses, the
repetition of a word, the numerous alliter
ations and word-plays, the tendency to
rhyme — all features which, though they
may be found occasionally in Isaiah, are
never aggregated in his writings as they are
1 Box, Op. cit., p. 96.

10 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
here. There are, moreover, many unusual
expressions, the combination of which points
similarly to an author other than Isaiah." *
There are undoubtedly various points of
contact in the section, " but in the light of
the general difference these are not sufficient
to establish Isaiah's authorship ; they do
not show more than that the author was
familiar with Isaiah's writings, and some
times borrowed expressions from them." 2
xxxiv., xxxv. What was said regarding
xxiv.-xxvii. applies in part here ; the escha-
tological character of these chapters be
longs to a later age than that of Isaiah, and
their literary style is not Isaiah's.
xxxvi.-xxxix. These chapters are extracts,
with small and unimportant variations,
from 2 Kings xviii., xix, to which was added
the Song of Hezekiah (Is. xxxviii. 0/-20).
These, then, are the non-Isaianic portions in
Isaiah i.-xxix., and the reasons, put in the
briefest possible way, for regarding them as
non-Isaianic. It is well to realize this com
posite character of the first great division of the
book of Isaiah, for we shall find that the case is
not otherwise in the second great division,
1 Driver, Op. cit., p. 209. a Ibid.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK n
though in this latter there is not so much
diversity of authorship. But both divisions
partake of a further characteristic noticeable
throughout, we refer to redactional modifi
cations and additions. There is by no means
always certainty as to where and to what
extent the redactor has been active, and it is
possible that some commentators have been
over-zealous in seeking for the traces of his
handiwork ; but that the whole book of
Isaiah, as we now have it, has been subjected
to considerable modifications owing to the
work of one or more redactors cannot be
gainsaid by any serious student of the book.
(2) Redactional additions to the text, and
their object.
A word may be said, in passing, as to the
object of these redactional additions, and the
reasons owing to which commentators have
been led to believe that a passage is not an
original part of the text. The few illustrations
which will be given here are taken from the
first division of the book (Isa. i.-xxxix.) only,
though the reasons for their having been made
apply, on general grounds, to the rest of the
book, and indeed more or less to the books of
the Old Testament as a whole. Our first

12 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
example is ii. 5 : 0 house of Jacob, come ye
and let us walk in the light of Jahwe. The
preceding section (ii. 2-4, cp. Mic. iv. 1-3) is a
self-contained eschatological poem of three
divisions or " verses," each with six nearly
equal lines ; neither in form nor contents has
verse 5 any connexion with it. The section
which follows it (verses 6-8) is again, as its
contents clearly show, another independent
poem ; its rhythm is also different from that of
verses 2-4 ; and again verse 5 has no con
nexion with it. The critical reader, seeing this
verse standing by itself and having nothing
to do either with what precedes or follows,
naturally concludes that it did not stand there
originally ; a conclusion which is strengthened
when it is realized that " to walk in the light
of Jahwe " means to walk in His Law,1 an
idea which belongs to later times. Why, then,
was it added ? In all probability for this
reason : if one reads the text as it stood
originally (i.e. without verse 5) there are, as
we have seen, two independent poems joined
together though differing in both form and
subject-matter ; and yet the second of these
1 Cp. Prov. vi. 23 : The commandment is a lamp ; and the
law is light ; the book of Proverbs is admittedly a late book ;
cp. also the late Psalm cxix. 105 : Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet, and a light unto my path.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 13
begins with : " For thou hast forsaken ..."
as though it were closely connected with what
precedes. An editor, seeing the incongruity of
this, desired to put in something which would
act as a kind of link to join the two together in
some sort of way, and knowing his Bible well
(as those old scribes always did) he looked up
the parallel passage of Isaiah ii. 2-4 in Micah
(iv. 1-3), and saw that in close connexion
with the passage there stood the words :
" We will walk in the name of Jahwe our God
for ever " ; this he adapted, being zealous for
the Law, and made out of it an exhortation to
walk according to the Law, i.e. the light of
Jahwe. It was not altogether a successful
link, but it smoothed over to some extent the
incongruity newfound ; an incongruity which
had arisen in earlier days through piecing
together prophecies and fragments of pro
phecies which were in reality wholly indepen
dent. Our next example is that of an addition
which is found within verses 9-1 1 of chapter
xxii. If we were to read the text of these
verses in this way :
And ye looked 1 (in that day) to the armour of
the house of the forest,
1 The Hebrew reads now " thou didst look " ; but as

14 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
And ye saw the breaches of the city of David,
that they were many ;
But ye looked not unto Him that did this,
Ye beheld not Him who pre-ordained it long
since.
There is a smoothness in style and thought
here which is perfect ; the prophet is up
braiding the people for trusting to themselves
in the day of stress rather than to God ;
they looked to their armour, they looked to
the breaches in the walls of Jerusalem, i.e.
they restored them ; but they never thought
of God in whose foreknowledge are all
things. Now when we turn to the text we
find that after the words " that they were
many," there is inserted, not in rhythmic
measure like the rest of the text, but in prose,
this that follows : " And ye gathered to
gether the waters of the lower pool, and ye
broke down the houses to fortify the wall ;
ye made also a reservoir between the two
walls for the water of the old pool." One
can see at once that this insertion spoils the
symmetry and the strophic balance of the
all the other verbs are in the plural, and as a slight change
would make this verb also the plural, it is evident that a
textual error has crept in and that we ought to read " ye
looked."

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 15
text, besides being quite unnecessary. Isaiah
does not go into prosaic details such as this
insertion contains, it is not his way ; great
truths and principles are what fill his mind.
For these reasons practically all modern
commentators regard the prose passage as
not belonging to the original words of Isaiah ;
and one cannot but feel that they are right.
The object that a redactor in later times had
in view when he added the insertion was to
amphfy what the prophet had said. The
prophet was referring to what we read of in
2 Kings xx. 20 ; 2 Chronicles xxxii. 5 ; the
redactor, seeing that there were several
details to which the prophet did not refer,
thought well to add these from 2 Chronicles
xxxii. 3, 4.
An example of a different character, but
one to which it is well to call attention as
it is of a kind that often occurs in the Old
Testament, is a small addition to the second
line of xxx. 26 ; the first two lines of this
verse run thus :
And the light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun,
And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.
To this someone has added : " Like the

16 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
light of seven days." The addition is, on
the face of it, unnecessary ; it spoils the
rhythm of the text, and, what is also im
portant, it does not occur in the Septuagint ;
which shows that the addition must be a
very late one. Glosses of this kind which
were, in all probability, stray thoughts jotted
down as marginal notes and ultimately in
corporated into the text, are of frequent
occurrence in the Old Testament.
One more example must suffice. We get
a logical and straightforward passage if we
read xxxiii. 22, 236, 24 together, thus :
For Jahwe is our Judge,
Jahwe is our Lawgiver,
Jahwe is our King ;
He will save us.
Then shall the blind divide great spoil, (amended
text)
The lame (too) shall take the booty ;
No inhabitant shall say, " I am sick,"
The people that dwell therein, their iniquity
shall be forgiven.
The words of the text as it stands here tell
of the reward that follows when the people
take God for their Judge, and Lawgiver, and
King; even the blind and lame come off
well ; and there is forgiveness of sin for all.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 17
Now in the Hebrew text as it now stands
there occurs after the words, " He will save
us," this passage :
Thy tacklings are loosed,
The foot of their mast they hold not,
They spread not out the sail.
Nobody can fail to see how utterly incon
gruous these words are here ; it is quite im
possible to believe that they formed part of
the text originaUy. Why, then, were they
added ? That is difficult to say ; we can
only offer a tentative reply. Conceivably
the reason may be this : the preceding verses
depict the glory of Jerusalem that shall
be her's in the Messianic times, when there
shall be peace and safety for the people ; and
the prophet, in a picture, conceives of the
land transformed, and he sees in his mind's
eye a broad stream, so grateful in a dry
country, flowing through the land, whereon
are no ships or fleet, for all shall be peaceful
and calm ; he expresses this in verse 21, the
Hebrew text is somewhat corrupt, and the
following translation is based on an amended
text :
But there shall be for us a mighty river,
A place of broad rivers and streams,

18 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
No fleet with oars shall go thereon,
No gallant ship shall sail there.
In later days as a scribe was reading and
pondering over this he recalled what he had
read about the great ships of Tarshish in
Ezekiel xxvii. 25 ff., where that prophet had
uttered his lamentation over Tyre ; how
these ships had been wrecked and gone down
into the depth of the sea ; and how the once
proud Tyre had been brought to degradation
and ruin. He is struck by the great contrast
between the picture of Jerusalem's future
glory given by the prophet he is reading and
Ezekiel's picture of the downfall of Tyre ;
and he gives expression to his thoughts by
writing on the margin a fragment reminiscent
of fallen Tyre who had put all her trust in
her wonderful ships. Then, later on, when
other scribes came to make further copies of
the Scriptures, that reader's fragment, in
stead of being regarded as a passing com
ment, was added as part of the text.
This is, of course, all supposition ; but it
is conceivable that in some such ways many
passages have found their way into the text
of the Old Testament whose presence there
is otherwise not easy to account for.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 19
These illustrations have taken us some
what far afield; but it has perhaps been
worth while giving them, for though they
have been taken only from the first half of the
book of Isaiah, what has been said regard
ing them applies equally to many additions
found in Isaiah xl.-lxvi. These illustrations
only present a few of the objects for which
redactional additions have been made, but
the following list summarizes those objects.
Space forbids us to give examples, so we
must content ourselves with merely stating
the objects. Redactional additions were
made :
i. For the purpose of joining together into
a continuous whole various fragmentary
pieces which had been handed down ; here
the redactional elements are in the nature of
connecting links.
ii. For the purpose of emphasizing and
driving home something in the text, or for
enforcing the lesson of some historical event
referred to in the text. These would come
under the heads of amplifications.
iii. For the purpose of modifying or cor
recting something in the light of later thought.
These might be termed modifications of
something in the text.

20 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
iv. For the purpose of explaining some
difficulty, or what appeared to be a difficulty
in the text, i.e. explanatory comments.
v. For the purpose of giving vent to some
emotional feeling inspired by some passage ;
one might call these pious ejaculations.
Most of the redactional elements in the
books of the Old Testament will be found,
we venture to think, to owe their presence in
the text to one of these causes. In many
oases, there can be no doubt, these additions
were originally marginal notes not intended
to form part of the text, but were inserted in
the text by later copyists.
Finally, it may be pointed out that the
grounds on which scholars are led to suspect
that words or passages did not form an
original part of the text are the following :
i. If they break the context or interfere
with the sense of a passage.
ii. If they show a sudden difference of
style, or, in the case of books written in
rhythmic measure, if the rhythm is suddenly
changed into a different measure, or if it
ceases altogether and prose takes its place.
iii. If the style of language changes ; that
is particularly noticeable when words occur
which belong to a later stage of Hebrew.

COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF BOOK 21
iv. If it is found that a passage does not
occur in the Septuagint, or if the Septuagint
clearly presupposes a different Hebrew text.
These, in aU probability, do not cover the
whole ground ; but in most cases it is one or
other of the above-mentioned things which
leads to the belief, and often to the con vie-
tion, that certain words or a certain passage
was not originally an integral part of the text.

II
THE COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH
XL.-LXVL, THEIR CONTENTS
AND DATE

II
THE COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH
XL.-LXVL, THEIR CONTENTS AND
DATE
We have briefly considered the reasons why
Isaiah i.-xxxix, must be regarded as a com
posite work. This will have served as a
kind of preparation and introduction to our
second Lecture, in which we shall see that
Isaiah xl.-lxvi. offers from a literary point of
view much that we have already seen to be
characteristic of the earlier division.
It will not be necessary to discuss in much
detail here the reasons which have led the
majority of scholars to recognize the origin
ally separate and independent pieces of which
these chapters are composed ; for these rea
sons will, it is hoped, become apparent as we
proceed. The problem is not so intricate in
Isaiah xl.-lxvi. as in Isaiah i.-xxxix. ; the
different compositions in this second divi
sion of the book are so marked, one might
25 C

26 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
almost say so obvious, in their general out
lines that the ordinary inteUigent reader of
the English Bible can hardly fail to recog
nize them when once pointed out. We shall
therefore simply state what the component
parts consist of, and leave the contents and
character of each to explain why each of these
component parts must be regarded as of
different authorship.
Three independent compositions make up
the bulk of Isaiah xl.-lxvi., viz. :
(i) Chapters xl.-lv.
(2) The Ebed-Jahwe Songs.
(3) Chapters lvi.-lxvi.
There are, as in Isaiah i.-xxxix., a number of
redactional insertions ; attention will be
drawn to some of these.
We have used the expression " Ebed-
Jahwe " Songs for shortness and conveni
ence' sake ; Ebed is the Hebrew for " Ser
vant," and Jahwe is the more correct form
for what is transliterated Jehovah in the
English Bible, and often translated "Lord."
In the Hebrew the four letters of the divine
name are JHWH. On account of the sacred-'
ness of the name, it was never pronounced,1
1 , It was pronounced, though in an undertone so as not
to be1 heard by the people, when the Blessing was given.

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 27
but instead there were added to the four
consonants the vowels belonging to the
Hebrew word for " Lord," namely Adonai
(the i here does not represent a vowel in
Hebrew), and for the sacred name there
was substituted Adonai ; hence " Lord "
in the English Bible when the word is trans
lated, and " Jehovah " when transliterated.1
Both are unsatisfactory ; " Jehovah " is in
any case an impossible form from the Hebrew
point of view because it consists of the con
sonants of one word and the vowels of
another ; " Lord " is unsatisfactory as an
equivalent for the Hebrew divine name be
cause it obscures the significant fact that
this is a proper name. The expression " Ebed-
Jahwe " Songs will thus be seen to be justi
fied. We proceed now to examine these
three divisions of our book.
(1) Chapters xl.-lv.
As the Ebed-Jahwe Songs (see next sec
tion), interspersed among these chapters,
must be regarded as of different authorship
in the name of the Lord, in the Temple by the High Priest.
This information is given in the Mishna, Joma vi. 2,
Sotah vii. 6, Sanhedrin x. i.
1 The Hebrew letter wrongly transliterated v corre
sponds to our w.

28 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
from the writings in which they have become
embedded, it will be understood that in deal
ing with chapters xl.-lv. these Songs are for
the present eliminated.
A good deal of discussion has taken place
among scholars on the question as to whether
chapters xl.-lv. form a unity, or whether they
should be regarded as constituting two
separate pieces. The question is a difficult
one to settle, for a good deal is to be said in
favour of either contention. One important
point worth bearing in mind in seeking to
come to a conclusion is that while the
doctrinal standpoint between the sections
xl.-lv. and lvi.-lxvi. shows a marked differ
ence, it is practically uniform throughout
xl.-lv. ; a fact which, at any rate, points to
the whole of this section belonging to the
same age. Further, the general uniformity
ofjTstyle and diction which marks xl.-lv.
points to unity of authorship. On the other
hand, one cannot fail to see that there is a
difference of general outlook in the two
halves into which xl.-lv. are divided, viz.,
in xl.-xlviii. attention is centred upon the
exiles in Babylon, while in xlix.-lv. it is
transferred, speaking generally, to the Jews
in Palestine. Taking all things into con-

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 29
sideration, one rather feels that the whole of
xl.-lv. (exclusive of the Ebed-Jahwe Songs
and some later interpolations) is by the same
author, who wrote the earlier part in Babylon
and the later part in Palestine, the whole
section thus being dated within the years
546 B.C. and soon after 536, roughly speaking,
i.e. between the time of the imminent faU
of Babylon and soon after the issue of Cyrus's
decree. It is objected that chapters xlix.-
lv. cannot have been written in Palestine
on account of the writer's lack of recogniz
ing concrete realities — his description and
general idea of the nation's condition not
agreeing with its actual forlorn state — but
if it be once conceded that the similarity of
style and diction, as well as identity in the
doctrinal standpoint, between the two parts
justifies belief in unity of authorship, then
one can easily understand an idealist like
Deutero-Isaiah being less concerned with
present realities than with an idealistic
future. Indeed it is not, one would hope,
an exaggeration to say that, apart from other
reasons with which it is impossible to deal
now, the idealism common to the two halves
into which these chapters, xl.-lv., fall, al
most compels one to the conclusion that they

30 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
are the product of one mind. Take, for
example, these two passages, one from each
part, xl. 3, 41:
Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the
Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our
God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every moun
tain and hill shall be made low,
And the crooked shall be made straight, and
the rough places plain ;
and Iii. 7-9:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings,
That publisheth peace, that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ;
That saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth !
The voice of thy watchman ! they lift up the
voice, together do they sing;
For they shall see, eye to eye, when the Lord
returneth to Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste
places of Jerusalem ;
For the Lord hath comforted His people,
He hath redeemed Jerusalem.
The idealism and the form into which it is
1 Quotations are from the Revised Version unless for
some special reason a closer translation of the Hebrew
seems desirable.

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 31
put, which constitutes the very soul of these
two passages — clearly written under different
conditions, at different times, and (one cannot
help feeling) in different places — strikes one
as of the same mould in either passage and
as emanating from the same mind. Numbers
of similar examples are to be found in these
two sections respectively. We may take it,
therefore (though not all scholars are agreed
upon the point), that the whole of xl.-lv.,
with the exceptions already indicated, are
from the same hand, the prophet whom we
called the " Second Isaiah," or Deutero-
Isaiah. (2) The Ebed-Jahwe Songs.
These Songs are four in number, comprised
in the following passages :
xiii. 1-4, xlix. 1- 6, 1. 4-9, Iii. 13-liii. 12.
These Songs deal exclusively with the mys
terious figure known as the " Servant of the
Lord," though it must be remembered that
in the section of our book which we have just
been considering there is also the mention of
the "Servant of the Lord." Now it is an
instructive study and one which cannot fail to
throw light upon the relationship between

32 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
these Songs and the chapters we have just
been dealing with, to contrast the " Servant
of the Lord " conception as presented in
these two parts of our book respectively.
This contrast will be seen to be the more
striking if we notice first some points of simi
larity between the two. Thus, in each case
the servant is the chosen of the Lord ; and
therefore the Lord's help is accorded him ; in
each case the servant is described as God's
witness ; his enemies, as the enemies of God,
are to be annihilated. Again, the outpouring
of God's spirit is mentioned in connexion
with His servant in each case ; but there is
this difference, that in xliv. 3 His spirit is
to be poured out upon His servant's seed,
whereas in the first of the Songs it is the
servant himself upon whom God puts His
spirit (xiii. 1). Lastly, there is a glorious
future promised by God to His servant in
xl.-lv., and perhaps it is not fanciful to see an
echo of this in the words of the last Song :
Therefore shall he inherit among the great,
And shall divide the spoil with the strong,
For he poured out his soul unto death (liii. 12).
These points of similarity between the two
conceptions of the servant suggest a certain

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 33
connexion originally ; by saying that it is
not meant to- imply that the writer of the
Songs is the same who wrote chapters xl.-lv.,
but that the conception of the servant
found in these chapters formed the basis, or
point of attachment, from which arose the
more exalted ideas which we get in the Songs.
That the two component parts are not by the
same author is suggested by the contrast
between the two conceptions of the servant
put forth in either, as well as by the special
traits which characterize him in the Songs.
The contrasts are these : In chapters xl.-lv.
the servant is the nation of Israel, while in
the Songs he is an individual ; in the former
he is spoken of as blind and deaf, a worm,
despised by the Gentiles, and sinful ; in the
latter he is innocent, faithful to God, and His
true disciple, inspired daily by divine illumina
tion, and obedient in following God's guid
ance. In both cases the servant is a sufferer ;
but the nation suffers through its own sins at
the hands of the oppressor, while this parti
cular and individual servant suffers for the
sins of others ; that is the special point of his
suffering. Besides these points of contrast
there are certain traits characteristic of the
servant as depicted in the Songs which place

34 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
him in an entirely different category. His
humility and gentleness, his mission as the
restorer of Israel, and to be a light to the
Gentiles :
Too small a thing it is for thee 1 to re-establish
the tribes of Jacob
And to restore the preserved of Israel ;
I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles,
That my salvation may be unto the ends of
the earth (xlix. 6). >
And, above all, his mysterious role as a sacri
ficial atonement. (Further reference to this
last will be made in another lecture.)
In taking all these points of similarity and
contrast into consideration, as well as those
which give a peculiar uniqueness to the
servant in the Songs, one is led to the conclu
sion that the servant conception of chapters
xl.-lv. must be logically antecedent to that
contained in the Songs, the latter being a
development of the former ; and that there
fore the Songs are of later date than chapters
xl.-lv. In this case, however, the Songs
must have been inserted in the text of
Deutero-Isaiah, and the question arises as
1 The words " that thou shouldest be my servant "
overweight the text and spoil the rhythm ; they are a
redactor's explanatory comment.

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 35
to why this was done. In the case of the
three first Songs the reason is not difficult
to discern, as will be seen by a brief examina
tion of the contexts in which they stand.
The First Song, xl. 1-4 (verses 5-7 forming
an appendix to it),1 breaks into a section
and is inserted after a passage beginning :
I have raised up one from the north, and he
cometh,
From the rising of the sun one that calleth on my
name . . . (xii. 25).
The reference here is to Cyrus, and although
he is not termed the servant of the Lord,
he is God's instrument and carries out His
purpose, and in so far serves the Lord. But to
the more spiritually-minded writer of the
Songs this idea of a Gentile and an idolater
being God's chosen instrument is not alto
gether congenial ; he therefore directs the
reader's thoughts to a higher conception of
what God's servant must be. In contrast
to the warrior's battle-shout, he describes the
servant as one who " shall not cry, nor lift
up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
street." In contrast to the warrior's death-
1 These verses are in a different metre and supplement
what is said in the Song ; they are, therefore, not regarded
as forming part of the Song by many scholars.

36 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
dealing blows, he says of the Servant : "A
bruised reed shall he not break, and dimly
burning flax (or 'wick') shall he not quench."
In contrast to material victory it is said of
this servant that, " He shall bring forth
equity in truth " — also a victory, but more
difficult to attain. The point of the insertion
of this first Song is, therefore, clear enough ;
the writer's conception of the character and
function of God's chosen instrument is more
.spiritual than that of Deutero-Isaiah ; and
he wishes to correct, or at all events to modify,
the impression gained from the passage he
.had before him.
This is also true of the Second Song (xliv.
1-6). Like the first Song this also follows
.a section in which reference is made to
Cyrus as God's instrument (xlviii. i ff.) ;
but what is more important is that this
¦reference is, in this case, merely accidental ;
the section is mainly concerned with the
nation of Israel which has been called by God,
but which has been unfaithful to Him. As
this section now stands there are, in all
probability, various later additions in it,
but its form is more or less that which the
writer of the Songs had before him. Although
in this section the nation of Israel is not

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 37
specifically called the servant of Jahwe, or
" My servant," until the very end, it is quite
obvious that it is regarded as such all through -
This can be seen from the following words,
and it is important to note the character of
the nation as here described : —
Hear ye this, 0 house of Jacob :
Which are called by the name of Israel,
And are come forth out of the bowels x of Jacobr
Which swear by the name of Jahwe,
And make mention of the God of Israel —
But not in truth, nor in righteousness (xlviii. 1) .
Again, in verse 4, it is said :
Because I knew that thou art obstinate,
And thy neck is an iron sinew,
And thy brow brass . . .
And once more, verse 8 :
Yea, thou heardest not ; thou knewest notr
Yea, from all time thine ear was not opened.
That is the character given of the nation,
yet that the nation is conceived of as Jahwe' s
servant is obvious from the words of the
same section :
1 Reading iDVD instead of i»D (" waters ").

38 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver,
I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction ;
For mine own sake, mine own sake, will I do
it . . .
Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob,
And Israel, my called one . . . (xlviii. 10-12).
A few verses further on, some beautiful
words follow, emphasizing the same thing ;
some scholars doubt, however, whether they
originally formed part of the text, their
somewhat legal character not being in the style
of the writer :
Thus saith Jahwe, thy Redeemer,
The holy One of Israel :
I, Jahwe, am thy God,
Which teacheth thee to profit,
Which leadeth thee in the way thou shouldest go.
0 that thou hadst hearkened unto my com
mandments !
Then had thy peace been as a river,
And thy righteousness as the waves of the
sea . . . (xlviii. 17-19).
Then at the end of the section come the words :
Say ye, Jahwe hath redeemed
His servant Jacob.
Now it is abundantly clear that the servant
here described falls short in many respects,

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 39
and that such a conception was not likely to
be a source of inspiration to the people.
Therefore the Second Song is added here. And
in this Song, the servant, so far from being a
cause of dishonour to God, as the nation,
Jahwe's servant, had been
(Which swear by Jahwe's name,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But not in truth,
Nor in righteousness),
is spoken of as one to whom God says :
y Thou art my Servant,1
In whom I will be glorified (xlix. 3).
Whereas in the preceding verses Israel is
spoken of as not obeying God's command
ment, in this Song, although the Servant says
in humility :
I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nought and vanity,
he adds :
Yet, surely my judgement is with Jahwe,
And my recompense with my God (verse 4).
1 The word "Israel" is obviously an addition, see
verse 5.

40 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
And a little later on his great mission is pro
claimed :
Too small a thing it is for thee to re-establish the
tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved of Israel ;
I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles,
That my salvation may be unto the ends of
the earth (verse 6).
The purpose of the insertion of this Song
in the place where it now stands can again be
fully explained by regarding it as a second
example of the desire to present a more exalted
conception of the servant of the Lord than that
of Deutero-Isaiah.
Coming now to the Third Song (1. 4-9), it
will be noticed that its presence in the place
in which it stands cannot be accounted for in
the way in which the two preceding songs can ;
there is no mention in the context of a ser
vant ; it is true, in verse 10, which imme
diately follows the Song, occur the words :
Who among you feareth Jahwe,
Let him obey the voice of His Servant ?
But, for reasons which cannot be gone into
here, there is a general consensus among
scholars that verses 10, 11 form a later appen-

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 41
dix to the Song itself. The reason why the
Song was inserted here is probably because
in the verses immediately preceding it the
nation is rebuked for its want of faith ;
nobody has come forward to co-operate in the
work with Jahwe because they did not believe
in His power :
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man,
When I called was there none to answer ? (1. 2).
Here then, it seemed, was an appropriate
place to insert an Ebed-Jahwe Song, in order
to show that though Israel was unbelieving
and weak, that there was yet one who was a
true servant ; he is described thereupon in
this Song that follows ; and it must be looked
upon as constituting a corrective, as well as
an encouragement to the nation. It is
noticeable that in contrast to the want of
faith and the weakness described in the
verses immediately preceding the Song we
have in the Song itself just the converse of
these two things described as characteristics
of the Servant of Jahwe :
I was not rebellious,
Nor turned away backward . . . (verse 5)
For the Lord Jahwe doth help me,
Therefore am I not confounded ; d

42 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
Therefore do I set my face like a flint ;
And I knew that I should not be ashamed.
He is near that justifieth me, who will contend
with me ?
Let us stand up together !
Who is mine adversary ?
Let him come near to me !
Behold, Jahwe helpeth me,
Who will condemn me? . . . (verses 7-11).
As regards the Fourth, the great, Song
(Iii. 13-liii. 12), it is true that there does not
appear to be any point of attachment either in
what precedes or follows, i.e. in its immediate
context ; nevertheless, its presence in this
book — whatever reason the compiler may
have had in inserting it in the particular place
it now occupies — is of great significance. But
this point is dealt with below,1 where the
doctrinal teaching of the Song is considered.
We shall therefore postpone for the present
any further study of the Song.
These Ebed-Jahwe Songs, then, must be
regarded as separate compositions, the style,
thought and teaching of which stamp them
as having all been written by the same author.
A later compiler inserted them into the text
of Deutero-Isaiah with the object of infusing
1 See pp. 88 ff.

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 43
into the book a deeper spirituality. That
the four Songs are all that are left of what
was once a much larger collection belonging
to the same author cannot be proved ; but
that this represents the facts of the case seems
probable if for no other reason than this,
that one does not understand how such a
writer on such a subject could have restricted
himself to the four short Songs which have
come down to us.
(3) Chapters Ivi.-lxvi.
That the historical background of these
chapters is different from the rest of the book
is pretty obvious. We shall not go into any
of the details of this here,1 but merely point
out that Persian rule is now a settled thing ;
the golden hopes of Deutero-Isaiah are unful
filled, and the reason for this is ascribed to the
presence of godless and heretical people within
the Jewish community. There is no longer any
question of a return from captivity, for the
Jews are settled in their own land. Their
condition, both religious and social, is very
unsatisfactory. Hypocritical worship (lviii.
iff.), formalism, oppression of the godly, and
wickedness of all kinds is prevalent among
1 See Lecture VI.

44 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
the people. The passage lix. i ff., e.g., is full
of terrible condemnation :
Behold, Jahwe's hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save ;
His ear is not heavy, that it cannot hear ;
But your iniquities have separated between you
and your God,
And your sins caused His face to be hidden from
you (that He will not hear).
For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity ;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue muttereth wickedness.
None sueth in righteousness,
And none pleadeth in truth ;
They conceive mischief,
They bring forth iniquity !
Such are the conditions which are referred
to again and again in these chapters. Then,
further, although the Temple has been rebuilt,
there is the threat on the part of some to build
a rival temple, thus revealing the presence
of schismatics. The reason of the existence of
this is opposition to the Law on the part of
many. This fact gives both a clear indication
of the approximate date of these chapters,
and also shows us that they belong to the
period in which Judaism was becoming trans
formed. This, as we shall see in another

COMPONENT PARTS OF ISAIAH XL-LXVI 45
lecture, gives great importance to these
chapters from a doctrinal point of view. It
was in 458 B.C. that Ezra returned to Jeru
salem with a band of exiles ; and his fixed
intention was to make the observance of the
Law, as he understood it, paramount among
his people. There are some indications in
these chapters that he had grave difficulties
to contend with, e.g. :
I have spread out my hands all the day
Unto a rebellious people;
Which walketh in a way that is not good
After their own thoughts (lxv. 2).
That way is not the way of the Law. The
right " way " is the way of the Law, as we
know well enough from other books, e.g.,
Blessed are they that are perfect in the way, who
walk in the Law of the Lord (Ps. cxix. 1.) ;
Teach me, 0 Lord, the way of thy statutes and
I shall keep it unto the end (verse 33), etc. etc.
But though Ezra and his followers met with
difficulties and opposition at first, he succeeded
later on with the help of Nehemiah, who
returned in 445 B.C. And in these chapters,
as we shall see in another lecture, there are
many indications of the rise of the newer
Judaism ; the Judaism of the New Testament,

46 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
and the Judaism which consequently exercised
a great influence on Christian doctrine. To
this we shall, of course, devote special atten
tion. From what has been said, we may take it
that these chapters belong more or less to the
middle of the fifth century B.C., but after 450
rather than before.
With the exception of small redactional
additions these chapters form a unity ; but
while they come from the same book, it is
improbable that they were all written at the
same time ; there are signs in the book that
the author's doctrinal standpoint underwent
modification. We look in vain for much
originality of thought in these chapters ;
the author draws largely from Deutero-Isaiah
and Ezekiel,|sometimes he quotes verbally
from the former ; and, moreover, introduces
three pieces constructed on a pattern similar
to that of the Ebed-Jahwe Songs inserted in
Deutero-Isaiah (viz. lxi. 1-4 ; lxii. 1 ; lxii.
6, 7). It will be unnecessary to say more
about these chapters here as they will receive
special attention in lecture vi.

Ill
A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE HIS
TORICAL BACKGROUND OF
ISAIAH XL.-XLVI.

Ill

A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND OF ISAIAH XL.-LXVI.
From what has been said it will have been
seen that the dates of the different com
positions of which these chapters are made up
cover a considerable period of time ; and if, as
must be done, we take into consideration the
work of the redactor, the period is still further
extended, though with this last, the Grecian,
period it will not be necessary to deal in this
survey. Definiteness in assigning dates to
biblical documents is not possible excepting
in rare cases, though it is generally, but not
always, possible to give an approximate date
with reasonable certitude. It will therefore
be well in this brief historical survey to take
a glance at the whole period within the limits
of which the different compositions of Isaiah
xl.-lxvi. fall, though in doing so some epochs
will doubtlessly be embraced within our
purview, with which these compositions have
nothing to do. 49

50 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
(i) Judcea after the Fall of Jerusalem and
during the Captivity.
It will be well to cast a brief glance, by way
of introduction, back to the time immediately
preceding the Babylonian exile. The actual
number of those carried away captive by
Nebuchadrezzar was not great. We have in
Jeremiah Iii. 28-30 an enumeration of the
captives, together with the dates of their
being carried away, which inspires confidence
by its moderation and exactness : This is
the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away
captive : in the seventh year (i.e. 598 B.C.)
three thousand Jews and three and twenty ;
in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar (i.e.
587 B.C.) he carried away captive from Jeru
salem eight hundred thirty and two persons ;
in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchad
rezzar (i.e. 582 B.C.) Nebuzar-adan the captain
of the guard carried away captive of the Jews
seven hundred forty and five persons; all the
persons were four thousand and six hundred.1
This number refers, in all probability, to men
only, for in giving numbers the Old Testament
only reckons men ; 2 so that the actual number
1 This isja more reliable number than that given in
2 Kings xxiv. 14, 16.
2 As is still the custom in the East.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 51
of souls would have been not less than four
times as many. On the other hand, it is evident
from Ezekiel xxiv. 21 that entire families did
not in every case go away together, for the
prophet speaks of " your sons and your
daughters whom ye have left behind." But
though the number of exiles was comparatively
small, the quality of those who were taken
from their country was most significant ; the
passage referring to this (2 Kings xxiv. 14-16)
may be to some extent an exaggeration, but
the essence of it is undoubtedly historical :
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all
the princes, and all the mighty men of valour,
even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen
and the smiths ; none remained save the poorest
sort of the people of the land . . . (cp. xxv. 12).
In addition to those transported to Babylon,
it must be remembered that a certain number,
and among them evidently some of the in
fluential people of the land, migrated volun
tarily to Egypt (2 Kings xxv. 26).
After the fall of Jerusalem the condition
of the Jews who were left in Judaea was a sad
one ; bereft of most of their natural leaders
and even of those who might have taken their
places, the people, composed for the most part
of the poorer classes, found themselves in a

52 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
state of helplessness. But this would assuredly
have been remedied in course of time ; sooner
or later new leaders would have been forth
coming from among the people and have raised
the country at any rate to a moderate state of
prosperity once more, even though under the
suzerainty of the king of Babylon. This was
however, not to be. And it was largely owing
to Nebuchadrezzar's choice of the successor
to Jehoiachin who had been dethroned and
taken to Babylon. In his place Nebuchad
rezzar placed Mattaniah x on the throne of
Judah. The position of a king of Judah was
at this time one of peculiar difficulty ; it
needed a man of special gifts, of vigour on the
one hand, of tact on the other ; for he had to
raise his people from the slough of despair,
and yet to remember that he was a vassal of
the mighty king of Babylon. While, under
the circumstances, it would have been im
possible for the land to have played any
independent part among the nations, it
might yet, under the aegis of Babylon, have
filled a not inconsiderable role in the inter
national politics of the times. But for this
loyalty to the suzerain power would have
1 He changed his name to Zedekiah on coming to the
throne (2 Kings xxiv. 17).

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 53
been a prime necessity for such a weak state
as Judah now was. To nourish the innate
vigour of the people and to encourage obedi
ence among them to the over-lord would have
been as beneficial to the country as farsighted
from the political standpoint. If such a role
were for the present humble it would none the
less have been a preparation for better times ;
and Babylon was no more invincible than
Assyria had been. Zedekiah, however, lacked
strength of character, and was wanting in
statesmanship. He thought to have been able
to throw off the yoke of Babylon ; he failed
and suffered the penalty. Then they took the
king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon
to Riblah; and they gave judgement upon him.
And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his
eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and
bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon
(2 Kings xxv. 6, 7) ; he remained in prison till
the day of his death (Jer. Iii. 11). In his place
a governor, Gedaliah, was placed in control of
the country ; he made Mizpah his head
quarters and tried to organize and rule the
land as a Babylonian province. It was,
however, not long before he was put to death
by the Jews. We are not told who Gedaliah' s
successor was, but the pitiable condition to

54 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
which the land was now reduced is tragically
described in the second and fourth chapters of
the book of Lamentations.
(2) The Exiles in Babylon.
When in 597 B.C. a number of Jews were
deported to Babylon it was evidently not
thought that their absence would be of long
duration ; a speedy return was prophesied
by various prophets. Among them Hananiah
encouraged false hopes among the people by
uttering this prophecy : Thus speaketh the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I
have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two full years will I bring again into
this place all the vessels of the Lord's house,
that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took
away from this place, and carried them to
Babylon ; and I will bring again to this place
Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
with all the captives of Judah, that went to
Babylon, saith the Lord ; for I will break the
yoke of the king of Babylon (Jer. xxviii. 1-4,
cp. verse 15 ; see also xxvii. 14 ff.). If, as is
more than probable, the report of such pro
phecies came to the ears of the exiles,1 with
1 Intercourse between the exiles and the people of Judaea
¦was at first frequent (see Jer. xxix. I ff. 25 ; li. 59 ; Ezek.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 55
the result that they looked for a speedy return,
their disappointment and consternation must
have been great when they heard of the fall
of Jerusalem in 587. It was then time for
them to recall and act upon the counsel which
Jeremiah had given some years previously :
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
unto all the captivity, whom I have caused to be
carried away captive from Jerusalem unto
Babylon : Build ye houses, and dwell in them ;
and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them ;
take ye wives and beget sons and daughters;
and take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons
and daughters ; and multiply ye there, and be
not diminished. And seek the peace of the city
whither I have caused you to be carried away
captive, and pray unto the Lord for it ; for in
the peace thereof shall ye have peace (Jer. xxix.
4-7). It is evident from these words that
the prophet did not anticipate for his people a
very hard lot in the land of their captivity ;
and the data which have come down to us
regarding the condition of the Jews there show
that the expectation was not disappointed.
The references which the prophet Ezekiel
xxiv. 26) ; after the fall of Jerusalem it ceased almost
entirely.

56 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
makes to the general conditions of life do not
suggest hardship ; quite the contrary, see
Ezekiel i. 3 ; viii. 1 ; see also Ezra viii. 15-21.
The people had great freedom within the
limits of the kingdom, and they were per
mitted full exercise of their religion. In this
latter a profound alteration began to take
place ; instead of the sacrificial system which
had hitherto been the main religious expres
sion of Israel, but which could now no more
be practised, the leaders were led to think of
the. deeper truths of religion : the problem of
sin, personal responsibility, the meaning of
suffering, atonement, a fuller apprehension of
God and of His majesty. Not that some
external requirements were forgotten ; circum
cision and the observance of the Sabbath be
came the distinguishing marks of the Jews.
The rise of the Sopherim (Scribes), which took
place during the Exile, denoted another sphere
of activity, viz. the copying and editing of
the biblical books ; these were edited in the
light of the Law as represented, above all, by
the book of Deuteronomy.
The Exile had lasted nearly fifty years
when Cyrus II, king of Persia, conquered
Astyages, king of the Medes, and became
ruler of the entire Median kingdom. This

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 57
was about 550 B.C. In the year 547 he over
threw Croesus, king of Lydia, and incorpor
ated this land into his empire. It was these
brilhant victories which caused the prophet
whom we caU Deutero-Isaiah to see in Cyrus
God's instrument for the delivering of the
Jews from their Babylonian masters, and of
restoring them to their native land. Cyrus's
victories were crowned by the capture of
Babylon, though (it is true) he met with no
serious resistance here. He made Babylon
his place of residence, and treated the people
kindly. He also accepted the religion of the
newly-coriquered country and worshipped the
gods of Babylon. The ancient religion of
Persia permitted Cyrus not only to respect the
religions of other peoples but also to foster
them. Thanks to this he showed sympathy
for the religion of the Jews, and gave com
mand that the Temple in Jerusalem should
be rebuilt on hearing that this had fallen into
ruin. He also appointed Sheshbazzar, a Jew,
governor of Judaea and sent him to Jerusalem
to see to the carrying-out of his commands.
Sheshbazzar laid the foundation-stone of the
Temple in Jerusalem and began the building
(see Ezra v. 13-16). Although our records
do not definitely say so, it is probable that a

58 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
person of Sheshbazzar' s importance would
have been accompanied by other subordinate
officials and a sufficient retinue ; moreover, as
we shall see presently, the political state of
Palestine was such that the envoy of the
Persian king would require to be invested
with all the outward marks of authority in
order to impress the turbulent peoples into
whose midst he was about to come.
(3) The Jews in Palestine after the Return.
The arrival of Sheshbazzar in Jerusalem
was the first event in post-exilic times which
began to stir up the Jews of Palestine from
the torpor in which they had lain for a couple
of generations. From direct statements in
our sources and from what seems to be
implied we can picture the political state of
the country at this time to have been approxi
mately as follows : in the north the Samari
tans — i.e. a mixed race composed of the
remnants of the inhabitants of the northern
kingdom left behind by the Assyrian con
querors (722 B.C.), and Assyrian colonists
who had been settled down there by the
king of Assyria x — were in possession. In
1 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and
from Cuthah and from Ava, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim,
and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 59
the south the Edomites, through the pressure
of the Arabians on the south-east of Jordan
pushing northwards, had entered into and
taken possession of the country up to and
including Hebron.1 A tract of country lying
to the north of the Dead Sea had been taken
by the Ammonites, who had also come from
the east of Jordan. Finally, on the western
border were the Philistines who had never
shown themselves friendly neighbours to the
Jews. There was no question of driving
out all these alien elements since the power
to do so was wholly lacking to Sheshbazzar ;
so that one can fully realize the difficulty
which lay before the new governor of Judaea
in seeking to resuscitate his nation, sur
rounded as he was by unfriendly and jealous
peoples. He and his followers were thus
compelled to restrict their activity to Jerusa
lem and the immediately surrounding dis
tricts. This, however, was all that was
required ; for, as far as the returned exiles.
were concerned, their entire thoughts and
activities were centred on religion. Their
firm belief was that when once Jahwe's
of Israel ; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities
thereof (2 Kings xvii. 24, cp. Ezra iv. 2, 10).
1 I.e., the country known later as Idumasa.

60 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
altar was again set up and His ancient worship
was revived, the Messianic Era would break
in and all would be well. Disappointment,
however, awaited them ; things did not turn
out as had been expected ; without and
within arose anxiety and worry. It was a
time of sad disillusionment, as can be fully
seen from the biblical writings which refer
to these times, see especially Hag. i. 6,
10, n ; Zech. viii. 10. It is little wonder
that in the stress of the times the zeal for
rebuilding the Temple which had at first
animated the returned exiles grew cold ; dis
appointed hopes had chilled their hearts.
Moreover, owing to the intrigues of their
enemies it appears that they were forced to
suspend the building.
Years rolled on during which the people
were sunk in dull resignation. Then, sud
denly, a reawakening came. The advent of
the Messiah, which had been so long vainly
lookedf for, was seen to be actually taking
place; for Zerubbabel, the successor of
Sheshbazzar, was proclaimed to be the ex
pected Messiah. This was the declaration
of the_ prophets whose voices were raised
again. They appeared in Jerusalem and
bade the people set to work again on the

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 61
Temple, for the Messianic Era was now about
to dawn, God was about to punish the
nations, and Israel was coming to his own.
This occurred in 520 B.C., and what gave rise
to the new ferment was the state of affairs
in the Persian kingdom. Late in the year
521 Darius overthrew and slew the usurpef
Gaumata, and became king. But this sud
den and vigorous action created great unrest
throughout the kingdom, each race looking for
some advantage in the troubled times ; Medes,
Babylonians, Armenians, Parthians, and vari
ous other smaller races, rose up against the
new king. It was a most critical time for
Darius, and it looked as though the world
were going to be turned upside down. The
Judaean leaders gazed with eagerness at
what was taking place. But by the spring
of the year 519 Darius had already overcome
all his enemies and was securely seated on
his throne. The Messianic expectations of
the Jews were again disappointed. One
advantage they gained ; they were per
mitted to recommence the building of the
Temple ; this was done with renewed vigour,
and the second Temple, or the Temple of
Zerubbabel, was completed in the spring of
the year 516 B.C. But even this long looked-

62 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
for event did not bring with it the expected
results ; our sources present us with a sad
picture of the want of religious fervour,
of externalism in worship, of tyranny among
the wealthier classes, and want and dis
content among the poor. Mixed marriages
resulted in introducing heathen customs ;
the religion of Jahwe became polluted, as
so often before in the history of the people.
This state of affairs went on for many years.
To combat all this a party was gradually
formed of the better elements among the
people, who sought by warnings and the
utterance of impending judgement in the
" day of the Lord " to bring the renegades to
a better state of mind. This conflict was
followed with intense interest by the Jews
who were still resident in Babylon, above all by
the religious leader there, Ezra. We may well
believe a great preparation went on there to
bring about a drastic reformation in Jerusa
lem when the time should come and oppor
tunity should offer. Nor was this time far
distant. The king was approached and his
permission was obtained for this reform
party in Babylon to return under Ezra to
Jerusalem. The party, consisting of 1,760
.men and their families, together with priests

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 63
and Levites, arrived in the year 458 B.C.
Ezra set to work with great vigour with
his reforms, but though at first he met
with some measure of success, his attempts
ultimately failed, and it was not until the
arrival of Nehemiah with a further number
of the exiles in 445 B.C. that the reform
party got the upper hand. The nature of
this reform is clearly indicated in Neh.
viii.-x. ; its essence is contained in the
words of Neh. x. 28, 29 : And the
rest of the people, the priests, the Levites . . .
they clave to their brethren, their nobles, and
entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk
in God's law, which was given by Moses
the servant of God, and to observe and do all
the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and
his judgements and his statutes. Thus was
introduced a new epoch in the history of the
Jews, above aU in the religious history of the
Jews ; it was the beginning of the new
Judaism.

IV

THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF
ISAIAH XL.-LV.

IV
THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF
ISAIAH XL.-LV
We have seen that Isaiah xl.-lxvi. is made
up of three component parts, each from the
hand of a different author, each of different
date. In considering, therefore, the .doc
trinal standpoint of these chapters each
component part must be treated separately.
Indeed, we shall see that the difference of
doctrinal standpoint in each part affords, of
itself, a strong argument in favour of different
authorship. It is necessary at the outset to insist on the
fact that in all these chapters, though more
especially in lvi.-lxvi., the outstanding doc
trines, with which alone we can concern
ourselves here, are in a state of transition.
Old views are beginning to be modified and
new views are beginning to force themselves
to the fore. The altogether new conditions
under which the flower of the more spiritual
67

68 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
and intellectual classes of the Jews lived
brought new religious experiences and new
religious problems which demanded long
thought and speculation to apprehend, if,
indeed, they were ever apprehended. We
shaU therefore not be surprised, rather
we shall expect to find some measure of
indefiniteness in some cases, a tentative and
uncertain presentment, at times, rather than
clear-cut and definitely-formulated dogma.
There is, however, in this a very great human
interest ; for one seems to see sometimes in
these chapters, when reading between the
lines, that the writer was faced with some
of the religious difficulties which many people
at the present day have to face, and, like him,
face unsuccessfully ; that is to say, the solu
tion of the difficulty is not apparent, and a
pis alter has got to be put up with. How
ever this may be, the indefiniteness and
tentativeness in doctrinal standpoint some
times to be discerned in these chapters must
be our justification for allowing ourselves
a larger latitude in the way of inference than
would be permissible in books of the Bible in
which clear-cut beliefs are taken for granted
or definitely formulated ; also we may be
aUowed some freedom in forming conclu-

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 69
sions based on implication. It is fully re
alized there are dangers and pitfalls in this ;
but where the ground is uncertain we must
be prepared to take risks. Fortunately no
mistake is fatal, at least not when we are
prepared to modify a conclusion in the light
of fuller knowledge and instructed criticism.
(1) The Doctrine of Atonement.
At the very opening of these chapters
the prophet, speaking in the name of God,
bids the people be comforted because their
captivity is drawing to an end (xl. 1, 2),
their time of servitude (or " service ") is
accomplished, that their " iniquity is par
doned " (we shall come back to that phrase
immediately), and that they have received
of the Lord's hand double for all their sins.
That is to say, the punishment which the
people have undergone is now sufficient
to atone for the sins on account of which
the punishment was inflicted. The phrase
" her iniquity is pardoned " is misleading.
It does not represent the original (&}% nxi?).
The Hebrew root n^T (translated " par
doned ") is used of accepting sacrifices, in
reference to God, e.g., Hosea viii. 13 : " As
for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they

70 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
sacrifice flesh and eat it ; but the"? Lord
accepteth them not ; now willf he remem
ber their iniquity, and visit their sins "
(cp. 2 Sam. xxiv. 23 ; Deut. xxxiii. n^etc).
It means that a sacrifice has been accepted in
payment of a debt, as it were, incurred|by
sin against God ; and this payment of a
sacrifice makes atonement. In this passage
before us, therefore, it is not " iniquity par
doned " as in the ordinary way we should
understand this, but " iniquity paid for,"
and therefore remitted. But the "payment"
(and this is the point) in this case is not a
sacrifice in the ordinary Old Testament sense,
but the time of slavery, or enforced labour
(wrongly rendered " warfare " in the Revised
Version), suffered by the people during the
Captivity ; that it is which constitutes the
" payment." What they have suffered is
accepted as an atonement for their sin, and the
sin is therefore remitted. So that we have
here an adumbration, at the very least,
of the doctrine that suffering atones for the
sin of the sufferer. This is a doctrine fre
quently taught in later Judaism, being based
upon and developed from passages similar
to that which we are considering. This is
worth some little illustration. In later

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 71
Judaism it is taught, in conformity with this
passage, that suffering is not only a punish
ment for sin, but itself the means of obliterat
ing sin. The committing of a sin is like the
incurring of a debt ; when payment is made
the debt is liquidated, and the matter is
settled. But among the various forms that
the payment can take is that of suffering,
i.e., the debt to God incurred by sinning
against Him can be paid by means of suffering ;
for example, it is said that a man should
rejoice more in chastisements than in pros
perity, because if he enjoyed prosperity
all the days of his life the sins of which he
was guilty would not be forgiven him. How,.
it is asked, can he attain forgiveness ?
He is forgiven by means of chastisements
(Sifre 73 b). The matter is put very baldly
in another midrash (Pesikta 161 b), where it
is said that God causes the righteous to
pay Him what they owe Him on account of
their evil deeds, by means of suffering.
And, once more, in the midrash Bereshith
Rabba 65, we are told that Isaac prayed that
he might be granted sufferings in order to
turn away from him the judgement in the
world to come ; and in the same midrash,
5, it is said : " Suffering is more apt than

72 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
sacrifice to win God's favour, and to atone
for man."
But to return to Deutero-Isaiah. The
passage just considered deals with one side
of the doctrine of Atonement which, taken
by itself, is distinctly dangerous since it
implies that the obliteration of sin can be
brought about by man's act.
There is, however, another side to this
doctrine, and it is illustrated by xliii. 22-
xliv. 5, the essence of the whole, however,
being contained in xliii. 25. The passage
begins by a reminder to the Jewish people
that they had offered no sacrifices to God,
namely, during the Captivity ; the words
are not to be understood in the sense of a
rebuke because, of course, the people could
not be expected to observe the sacrificial
system during the exile. The words are
meant firstly, as a statement of fact ; but
secondly, and what is more important, they
imply the non-necessity of sacrifices as a
means of atoning for sin, because in verse
25 come the words : I, even I, am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions, and I will not
remember thy sins.1 The stress laid upon the
1 The addition of the words " for my own sake " in the
Hebrew was probably not in the original text, for they

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 73
personal pronoun — "I, even I," — is signi
ficant ; and the rest of the passage emphasizes
the way in which God's grace and mercy
are accorded to the nation, though they
are wholly unmerited. A striking symbolic
picture is presented : just as the parched
land is refreshed with rain and brings forth
abundant fruit in consequence — the land
itself being, of course, unable to produce
anything until first refreshed from above —
so is the spirit of God shed upon His people
and thereby they are enabled to be faithful
to Him :
For I will pour water upon the thirsty (land),
And streams upon the dry ground ;
I will pour my spirit upon thy seed,
And my blessing upon thine offspring ;
And they shall spring up as grass amidst
waters (amended text),
As willows by the watercourses (xliv. 3, 4).
The whole passage teaches, therefore, that
not sacrifices, but divine love, freely given
by God, obliterates sin, and thereby enables
men to love and serve Him.
These two passages — there are, of course,
others — are the most significant and important
in the whole of Deutero-Isaiah so far as the
mar the rhythm of the passage, and are omitted by some
of the most important Septuagint manuscripts.

74 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
doctrine of Atonement and Forgiveness are
concerned. They may seem, from one point
of view, to be mutually contradictory ; but
in truth they are complementary to each
other. It is interesting to find that already
here the doctrine of the need of works and
the doctrine of justification by faith are found
to be not incompatible.
(2) The Doctrine of God.
The particular point of interest and im
portance in the doctrine of God as presented
in Isaiah xl.-lv. is that two conceptions of the
divine characteristics appear which, as in
the case of the doctrine of Atonement, are at
first sight, at aU events, quite incompatible
with each other. On the one hand divine
transcendentalism is taught, on the other a
conception of God quite the reverse of this ;
a deeply spiritual belief together with some
anthropomorphic conceptions which seem to
be altogether derogatory to the majesty of
God. It is true, this strange combination
does not appear here in the Old Testament
for the first time ; most of the books betray
it in some measure ; none more than the
Psalms.1 But the special interest of finding
1 Cp. the writer's Life, Death, and Immortality ; Studies

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 75
it in this book is that it is post-exilic, and
we are on the threshold of the Judaism as it
was in Christian times. Isaiah xl.-lv. reflects
the first beginnings of what became in some
respects almost a new religion ; above all,
the conception of God and of the divine
characteristics, based in the first instance
upon the teaching of the prophets, began to
assume a more speculative character. We
only get adumbrations of this, it is true ;
but read in the light of later developments
there seem to be in this book signs that the
thoughts of God were beginning to take a
somewhat different form from what had
been the case hitherto. While the anthro
pomorphisms are there, the transcendental
character of the Almighty finds more con
centrated expression.
In later Judaism these opposing concep
tions are constantly in evidence ; indeed,
they tend to become more exaggerated.
On the one hand, God is represented as
receding more and more from the world and
the affairs of men ; withdrawing into the
inner heavens as though to shut out human
access to Him. On the other hand, an
in the Psalms, pp. 1 ff., where this dual element in the doc
trine of God is worked out.

76 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
intimacy is represented as having been es
tablished between God and His creatures
which to modern ears sounds grossly irrever
ent. We may wonder at this ; nevertheless,
is it not a fact that something of the same
kind is not infrequently in evidence in some
types of popular Christianity ? — The question
is worth pondering as to whether, and in how
far, in men's conception of God, the inevitable
tendency to fuse the. divine and the human
is due to man's inability to conceive of
God otherwise, or to a fundamental and
essential truth to which man involuntarily,
though inadequately, bears witness ? — In any
case, if only in view of this question, Deutero-
Isaiah's presentation of the doctrine of God
is worth a little attention.
It is undoubtedly one of the main doctrinal
standpoints of Deutero-Isaiah that his con
ception of God is, on the one hand, strik
ingly exalted. Again and again he speaks
of God's uniqueness, His transcendence and
His holiness, and righteousness, as the Eternal
One, as Creator of Heaven and earth :
/ am God, and there is none else,
I am God, and none is like me (xlvi. 9, cp.
xiv. 21 ff.).
/ am the first, I also am the last (xlviii. 12,

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 77
cp. xii. 4, xliv. 6) ; the phrase " the Holy One
of Israel " occurs frequently ; I am the Lord
that maketh all things (xliv. 24).
For thus saith Jahwe,
That created the Heavens ;
He is God
That formed the earth and made it . . .
I, Jahwe, speak in righteousness,
I declare the things that are right (xiv. 18, 19).
Similar passages could be multiplied to a
large extent ; but that is unnecessary. There
is, however, another indication of the pro
phet's belief in the divine transcendence,
and this is of importance in view of the
teaching of later Judaism ; it is also a sign
of external influence in the domain of religious
belief. In the beginning of the book occur
the well-known words :
The voice of one that crieth : Prepare ye
in the wilderness
The way of Jahwe.
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill made low 1
(xl- 3, 4)-
1 The last two lines ought probably to be transposed
according to the metre.

78 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
Now even though we suppose that these
words are to be taken in a figurative and
not in a literal sense (though this may be
questioned), there must nevertheless have
been at the back of the prophet's mind some
definite conception with regard to what he
was saying ; there must have been a mental
picture in correspondence with which he
formulated his words and his message. This
is obvious as soon as one comes to analyse
the words. The voice of one that crieth ; whose
voice ? Not the voice of God, because the
voice says : . . . make straight in the desert
a highway for our God ; yet not the voice
of one of the people, otherwise one would
have to suppose that the task to be done was
to be undertaken by men, and this is obviously
an impossibility, — every valley shall be ex
alted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low ! — that would have been incon
ceivable by human hands, at all events in
those days. No, the voice is that of an
angelic being, who calls to his fellows to
undertake the making of a pathway for Jahwe.
¦The prophet expects a miraculous undertaking ;
his exalted conception of God impels him
to expect this, and at the same time forbids
him to suppose that God should personally

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 79
do it. Therefore he takes for granted that
this miraculous occurrence will be accom
plished by angelic beings ; superhuman on
the one hand, but, on the other, not divine.
Belief in the activity of angels was, of course,
prevalent in earlier days among the Israelites,
but taken together with the conception of
the divine transcendence and holiness so
characteristic of this book it is permissible
to see in this prophet's belief in angelic
activity — especially the kind of activity here
conceived of — the influence of external, i.e.
Babylonian, belief. We shall have to return
to this subject again later on.
But in spite of this exalted conception of
God in the book there are various passages
in it which show that the prophet cannot
divest himself of certain other ideas concern
ing the Deity which are of a different order.
In the first place, — though one quite realizes
that a difference of opinion may exist
here — one cannot help feeling that the
contrast which Deutero-Isaiah so pointedly
draws between God and the idols of the
Gentiles betrays what is really an inadequate
conception of God ; e.g. :
I am Jahwe,
That is my name ;

80 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
My glory, I give to no other,
Nor my praise unto graven images (xiii. 8).
Or again :
Senseless are they that carry
The wood of their graven image,
And pray unto a God
That cannot save (xiv. 20).
And especially such a passage as this :
Produce your cause,
Saith Jahwe;
Bring forth your strong reasons,
Saith Jacob's King.
Let them come forth and declare to us
What shall happen.
Declare ye the former things, what they be,
That we may consider them,
And know the issue of them ;
Or shew us things for to come.
Declare the things that shall come hereafter,
That we may know that ye are gods ;
Yea, do good or do evil,
That together we may be amazed in seeing
it (xii. 21-24).
Such and other similar passages which suggest
a comparison between God and heathen
idols are possibly faint echoes of times
when it was really believed that nations
had their national gods. But, however that

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF XL-LV 81
may be, one would rather imagine that where
otherwise such a high conception of God is
found, as in this book, there would be no
mention of God at all in passages in which
idols were spoken of. Belief in God's trans
cendent character, such as Deutero-Isaiah
had, would forbid, one would have thought,
the utterance of the name of God in such
surroundings. That one does find this to be
the case (quite apart from other passages of
a more directly anthropomorphic character)
e.g., xiii. 14, suggests that together with his
exalted belief there were yet lingering in
the mind of Deutero-Isaiah conceptions about
God of a less spiritual, an anthropomorphic;
kind. This is altogether to be expected ; the
reason why attention is drawn to it is that
it helps us to understand the doctrine of
God in later Judaism, where we find the
most exalted and spiritual conceptions inter
mingled with very naive and childlike ideas
about God and His supposed doings in
heaven and on earth. We find the same
thing in popular Christianity. The remarks
so often heard as to why God does this,
that, and the other, how He can permit one
thing or another; why He allows such and
such another one to suffer, — show that un-

82 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
thinking Christians, and apparently they
include the vast bulk, have the most
weird notions regarding the Deity. Deutero-
Isaiah's conception of God is, of course,
immeasurably above that of the ordinary
Christian ; but one cannot help seeing that
be, too, sometimes implies ideas which are
difficult to reconcile with a purely spiritual
belief. So we may conclude with the remark
with which we started this subject, that the
¦question is worth pondering as to whether,
^jid in how far, in men's conception of God,
the inevitable tendency to fuse the divine
and the human is due to man's inability to
conceive of God otherwise, or to a fundamental
and essential truth to which man involun
tarily, though inadequately, bears witness !
In other words, are anthropomorphisms due
to the fact that man, being human, cannot
help, to some extent, imputing to God the
human way of acting, — or are they an in
stinctive, unconscious, and very halting wit
ness to the later revealed truth of the divine
and human nature of Jesus Christ ?

V

THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF
THE EBED-JAHWE SONGS

THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF THE
EBED-JAHWE SONGS
With the first three of these Songs (xiii.
1-4, xlix. 1-6, 1. 4-9) we shaU have little
or nothing to say here ; our attention will
be fixed on the last (Iii. 13-liii. 12), and we
shall restrict ourselves in the main to the
doctrine of Atonement and those subjects
which belong inseparably to it, and in so
far as this very important passage refers
to them. Before coming to these, how
ever, it is necessary to touch in the briefest
way upon a point which is not without its
bearing on the main subject to be studied.
While it is fully realized that many scholars
hold the contrary view, we maintain that
one cannot lay too much stress on the indi
viduality of the " Servant of the Lord " x
as he is presented in aU these Songs, but,
above all, in the one upon which we shall
1 We use this form of the title as being the more familiar.
85

86 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
concentrate attention. It seems to us that
one has but to read such verses as Iii. 14,
hii. 8, 9, 10, not to mention others, to realize
the inappropriateness, not to use a stronger
word, of regarding the " Servant of the
Lord " as other than an individual. It
is interesting to note that the normal Jewish
view regards the Servant in all these pas
sages as standing for the nation of Israel ;
nevertheless, in the Targum to the Prophets,
wherever in this Song there is a reference
to the humiliation of the Servant it is inter
preted of the nation of Israel, but wherever
the glory of the Servant is spoken of (as
e.g. in liii. 10-12) it is interpreted of the
Messiah. On the other hand, in an inter
esting Midrashic passage 1 it is said : "...
King Messiah, who has borne in himself
sufferings and anguish for transgressors, as
it is said (Isa. liii. 5) : He was wounded for
our transgressions — how much more will
his sufferings be meritorious for all genera
tions, as it is written : The Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all (Isa. liii. 6)."
The interpretation thus differs among Jews
as well as among Christians.
1 The original MS. containing it is no longer extant,
see Oesterley and Box, The Religion and Worship of the
Synagogue, p. 96 (second edition).

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 87
But those who hold the view that the
" Servant of the Lord " was an individual
have a further question to ask themselves :
Who was he ? Was the prophet referring
to some living person, or had he in mind
some ideal personality ? Here again opinions
differ widely. When we have studied this
Song we shaU see to what conclusion we
are led on this point.
Another preliminary point of much im
portance to be noted is that what, according
to Deutero-Isaiah, is brought about by the
direct act of God, is in these Ebed-Jahwe
Songs described as being accomplished
through the intermediary of the " Servant
of the Lord." One illustration of this may
be given. In xliii. 25 these words are put
into the mouth of God :
i", even I, am He that blotteth out thy trans
gressions,
And I will not remember thy sins.
Whereas in liii. 5 it is said :
But he was wounded for our transgressions,.
He was bruised for our iniquities,
The chastisement of our peace was uponhimr
And by his stripes we are healed.
The fundamental contrast that is seen

88 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
here should be borne in mind throughout
our study of Iii. 13— liii. 12.
The translation to be given here is, as
far as possible, that of the Revised Ver
sion ; but in a number of cases the Hebrew
text as we now have it is corrupt ; where
this is the case the translation is based on
an emended Hebrew text. All the Ebed-
Jahwe Songs are written in the same rhyth
mic style, as is indicated in the transla
tion.
hi. 13. Behold, my Servant shall prosper ; he
shall rise,
He shall be lifted up and highly exalted ;
14a. As many were astonied at him
(" thee " is a text corruption),
[So shall he be glorious in the eyes of
many].
15. And he shall startle many nations,
Kings shall shut their mouths because
of him ;
For that which had not been told them
shall they see,
And that which they had not heard
shall they consider.
These verses form a kind of introductory
summary of the Song which has at the same
time the object of riveting the attention

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 89
by arousing expectancy as to what is going
to come. It is not until the whole Song
has been read that one apprehends the under
lying sense of these verses.
The Hebrew of the word " prosper"
means primarily " to__be_wise " ; but the
result of being wise is successfulness ; and
so the word has the secondary meaning,
as here, of " being successful." 1 "He shall
rise " adumbrates the Servant's life after
death referred to later on in the Song ; and
the words which foUow are a r'esum'e of liii.
10-12. It will be noticed that as regards
verse 14 only one line of the Revised Ver
sion occurs, and it is followed by a line which
is not contained at all in the Hebrew, while
two lines are missing ; this requires some
explanation. The whole of the Song, as
already pointed out, so far as its outward
form is concerned, is composed on a definite
rhythmic pattern, viz. in a series of quat
rains, or what in modern poetry we should
caU four-lined verses. The other three
Ebed-Jahwe Songs are written on the same
pattern. This being so dislocations and
serious corruptions in the text are far more
easily detected than would be the case
1 See also Jer. xxiii. 5 : He shall reign as king and prosper.
G

90 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
with ,prose. Now verses 13 and 14 ought
together to form one quatrain ; there is,
however, not only one line short, but some
thing has been inserted which involves
impossible grammar ; this inserted matter
consists of two lines, and both in form and
subject-matter they quite obviously belong
to the Song, but not here. If, however,
these two lines x are taken away from their
present context the quatrain is one line
short, so that this has to be supplied con-
jecturally :
So shall he be glorious in the eyes of many.
We have put this in square brackets above
(p. 88) to show that it does not correspond
to anything in our present text ; but that
something of the kind stood there origin
ally is extremely probable. This conjec
tural line is constructed on the basis of
what appears to be a fragment of the original
line left in the present text. As to the
two lines which have got out of place, one
cannot say for certainty where they be
longed originally ; but they come most
1 They are enclosed within brackets in the Revised
Version. 2 The emendation of the text as above is that suggested
by Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia, pp. 355 ff.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 91
appropriately after liii. 2,1 and we have
inserted them there.
The meaning of the text as amended is
much clearer ; it is a summary of what is
to follow : the Servant shall succeed in
what he undertakes ; he shall rise, and
shaU be greatly honoured ; while, on the
one hand, many were at first astonished
at his mean and humble appearance, yet
ultimately he will be glorified by many.
It is quite possible that a redactor, reading
the words, "As many were astonied at
him," and thinking that the ordinary reader
might not understand them, added here
as an explanatory parenthesis, the words
which really came later on in the Song,
and left them out of their proper place in
order to avoid repetition.
iii. 1. Who could have believed that which
we have heard ?
And to whom hath the arm of Jahwe
been revealed ?
2,a. For he grew up before Him as a tender
plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
So wonderful is that which has been
1 This was first proposed by Marti, Das Buch Jesaia,
P- 345-

92 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
divinely spoken to the ear of the prophet,
so incomprehensible is God's purpose which
has been revealed to the prophet, that it
is not to be expected that ordinary men
should believe it until it has actually come
to pass before their eyes. And this is more
especially so because the first beginnings
of the working-out of this purpose seemed
to be so insignificant and unimportant. He
that is the great centre in the carrying-out of
this purpose grew up in such obscurity, he
appeared altogether so unworthy of notice,
that He attracted no attention, men saw
nothing special about him, or if they did it
was to his detriment. This is further de
veloped in the verse that follows :
2b. He had no form nor comeliness,
Nor beauty that we should desire him ;
Iii. 14&. His visage was so marred, more
than any man,
And his form more than the sons of
men.
The second line here is, in the Hebrew
text, preceded by the word (it is only one
word in Hebrew) " and when we see him,"
but the rhythm is spoiled by the insertion
of it ; very likely it got into the text through
its similarity with the word which follows.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 93
One sees that Iii. 14& comes in here most
appropriately. The last line means that
his form was so marred that it looked un-
human.
5-j^liii. 3. He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with
sickness ;
And as one from whom men hide their
faces ;
Despised, and we took no account of him.
That concludes the description of the
Servant's outward appearance. However
difficult, or rather impossible, it may be to
form any idea as to whom it was that the
prophet referred, these lines force one to
the conviction that it was an individual
that he had in mind ; to maintain that
they are spoken in reference to the nation
seems altogether unnatural.
4. Yet it was our sicknesses that he bore,
Our sorrows that he carried ;
While we esteemed him stricken,
Smitten of God and humiliated.
The suffering of the innocent jm behalf
of others isjseen already in 2 Sam. xxi.
1 ff., so that it is not that thought which is
new here. In this latter passage we are

94 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XLLXVI
told of seven men, belonging to Saul" family,
who were hanged on the mountain before
the Lord as an atonement (2 Sam. xxi. 3)
for Saul's treatment of the Gibeonites.
These men, however, clearly suffered against
their will. In the case of the ^Suffering
Servant it is different ; he accepts these
sufferings willingly. And, moreover, as the
text shows later on, God, Who lays these
sufferings on him, does not do so because
there is no other object upon which to vent
His wrath, as it were ; indeed, and this is
a supremely important point, it is not on
1 account of divine wrath for sin that the
) Servant undergoes this suffering ; no, the
' object of the suffering, from the divine
point of view, as well as from that of the
Servant, is that it should be the means of
taking away sin. The thought of punish
ment for sin is, no doubt, there ; but punish
ment for sin does not per se obliterate sin ;
whereas the great object of the Servant's
suffering is that sin should be obliterated.
And this result it has, according to tKe"
teaching of' this Song. The older concep
tion of guilt entailing divine wrath venting
itself in punishment, the idea of God aveng
ing Himself for offences committed against

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 95
Him was a natural, and so far as it went,
a fitting feeling, since it implied the sense
of having done wrong and the feeling of
penitence. But hi this Song we enter an
altogether more exalted spiritual^ sphere,
and have (for the first time) the teaching
that sin must be taken away by means of
the voluntary acceptation of the results
of sin by one man, a righteous man, on
behalf of others :~~
5. He was wounded x for our transgressions,
. He was bruised for our iniquities,
The chastisement of our peace was upon him,
And through his stripes we were healed.
The thought-sequence must be conceived
to be somewhat as foUows : the existence 1
of gmlt is presupposed, it could not be other
wise ; but it is not — at any rate not ade
quately — recognized and experienced by
the guilty ; therefore the stripes which
were to have had the effect of making the
guilty better and of removing the cause
of sin were ineffective ; thus new stripes
and new blows became necessary ; and,
in consequence, " peace," i.e. the end of
1 Literally, " he was pierced " ; it is the same Hebrew
word used in IL 9 : " Art not thou it . . . that pierced the
dragon ? "

96 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
God's punitive action (as it seemed to be)
was impossible. AU this is not explicitly
expressed in the Song, but it seems to
have been the thought-sequence behind it.
Then God smote him who apprehended
aright the reason of the stripes ; who real
ized that they were not an act of^divine
vengeance, but an ethical necessity ; and
i who, therefore, did not regard them as a
misfortune which a man suffers because
he must, but as a means of amehoration,
land who voluntarily accepted them as lead-
(ing to peace.1 The phrase "the chastise
ment of our peace was upon him " means
that the strokes dealt in order that they
might be the means of making us right with
God (the prophet is speaking in the name
of the people) and thus bring about peace
for us, were borne by him because their
purpose was ineffective as far as we were
| concerned. " Peace " means spiritual weU-
! being, brought about because the stripes
are no more needed. Then there follows,
not directly but by implication, the result
that the lesson taught by the Suffering Ser
vant has been learned by the people ; it
is expressed by the further confession :
1 Cp. Duhm, Op. cit., pp. 360 ff.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 97
6. All we like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned every one to his own way ;
And Jahwe hath caused to light on him,
The iniquity of us all.
That confession means that there is a. spirit
ual suffering on the part of the people, a
suffering-together with the Servant, imply
ing that they realize the reason for which
the Servant suffers and that they them
selves have now learned to suffer for the
same reason ; i.e. they have learned from
the Servant that suffering is not the sign
of divine wrath or vengeance, but that
rightly borne it should "be the means^.,of
taking away sin ; in other words, that
suffering is not an end in itself but a means.
Then the prophet describes the way in
which the Servant bore his sufferings :
7. Though oppressed, yet was he humble,
He opened not his mouth ;
As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
And as a sheep that before her shearers is
dumb.
The words which foUow, " Yea, he opened
not his mouth," are tautologous after the
mention of dumbness ; they also overload

98 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
the fine and spoil the rhythm. It is most
unlikely that they stood in the text origin
ally. With this verse should be compared
xiii. 2 in the first Ebed-Jahwe Song.
The next two verses speak further of his
suffering and death, implying that it was
a judicial murder ; yet it was for the wicked
ness of his people that he suffered death,
while in him there was no sin. The text
almost throughout the rest of the Song
bas suffered considerably through corrup
tions, and a good many emendations have
to be made ; to go into detail on these
points would involve an examination of
the Hebrew text which would take us too
far from our present purpose ; we must
content ourselves with the results of such
•examination :
8. From oppression and judgement he was
taken away,
And his place of rest — who considered
it ?
For he was cut off from the land of the
living ;
(Yet) for the transgression of the people
was he stricken unto death.1
1 " Stricken' unto death " is the reading of the Septuagint.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 99
9. And they made his grave with the wicked
And with the godless 1 his tomb ; 2
Although he had done no violence,
Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Verse 10 is so corrupt that it is frankly
untranslatable. A great many emenda
tions have been suggested, and all neces
sarily involve much and drastic treatment
of our present text. Of the large number
we have considered that offered by C. J.
Ball strikes us as breathing more than any
other the spirit of the Song and as being
most in harmony with its thought and
teaching ; he also bases his emendation
as far as possible upon the very mutilated
Hebrew text as we have it ; for, after all,
it is here that the original text is embedded.
His rendering is as follows :
10. But Jahwe was pleased to crush him ;
With sickness his soul was wasted ;
But he saw a seed that would last,
1 The Hebrew has " the rich " ; but this has long been
seen to be a corruption ; it would be quite inappropriate
here, and would not give the parallel with the preceding
line which occurs so often in the Song.
2 Literally, " his hill," i.e. sepulchral mound ; a very
slight change in the text gives this reading which is a
perfect parallel to " his grave " in the preceding line.

ioo STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
And Jahwe's purpose did prosper by his
means.1
The text of the next verse is likewise very
corrupt ; based partly on the Septuagint
it may be tentatively rendered thus :
na. He shall deliver his soul from travail,
He shall cause him to see light and be
satisfied.2
Part of this verse has apparently faUen
out at the beginning ; the remainder belongs
to the next quatrain :
n&. My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For he bore their iniquities ;
12a. Therefore shall he inherit among the great,
And shall divide the spoil with the strong.
The last lines are easier as the text is better
preserved :
12b. For he poured out his soul unto death,
And was numbered with the transgressors ;
Yet he bare the sins of many,
And made intercession for the trans
gressors.
The reward which is accorded to the Ser
vant is the answer, in part, to the objection
1 Quoted by Box, Op. cit., p. 273.
2 Cp. Psalm xxxvi. 8, 9.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 101
which might be urged that an act of injus
tice seems to be done inasmuch as the Ser
vant suffers bodUy pain, though innocent,
on behalf of those who are guilty, while
these latter suffer, at the most, a spiritual
pain. For the reward is very great ; though
he suffers death, the presumption thereby
\arising that aU idea of reward is excluded,
(yet the whoUy unexpected happens : he lives
after death and receives the fulness of reward.
! But the chief doctrinal importance of
this Song is, firstly, the writer's recognition
of the truth that sin involves suffering in
one form or another ; he is not concerned
in giving a reason for this ; he sees that
that is the nature of sin ; experience had
taught him that it is so. Then as to the
doctrine of Atonement which runs all through
the Song, something wholly new is taught
, for the first time. Atonement for sin
1 hitherto made consisted of animal sacrifices ;
but this spirituaUy-minded prophet pre
sumably saw in the sacrificial system at
the most an adumbration of some great
truth. While it bore witness to the truth
that there is such a thing as vicarious atone
ment, it (the sacrificial system) was whoUy
inadequate ; it was inadequate because

102 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
whUe a sacrifice could, according to the
belief of the times, atone for a sin, it could
do nothing to obliterate _sin. It was a
temporary expedient ! Where there is
vicarious atonement in any real sense the
sufferer must not only suffer willingly, but
he must know why he suffers, and must
realize the good of it ; and that can only
be the case when the sufferer is a human
being. The sacrificial system implied that
God's wrath, aroused by sin, could be as
suaged by bringing Him a sacrifice, i.e.,
that the suffering for sin which was the
sinner's due could be transferred to an animal.
'The writer of these Songs taught that suf
fering which resulted from sin was not a
sign of divine wrath, but a means of oblitera
ting sin ; and he presented a picture of
one who illustrated this in his own person.
We saw, in speaking of these Songs above,1
that while the present position of the first
three Songs could be reasonably accounted
for, this fourth one seemed to have nothing
to do with its context ; and that is undoubt
edly so. But the main conceptions con
tained in it, and its composition, were due
to the writer's realization of the fact that
1 See pp. 31 ff.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT, LII. 13-LIIL 12 103
the doctrine of atonement underlying the
whole sacrificial system was not only inade
quate, but false ; and not only so, but that
that false doctrine of atonement involved
of necessity also a false doctrine of God.
This writer was not, it is true, the first to
realize that the doctrine of atonement under
lying the sacrificial system was derogatory
to the honour of God, for an earlier thinker
had said : Witt_Jhe_ Lord be pleased jwith
thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of
rivers of oil ? shall I give my firstborn for
my transgression, the fruit of my body for
the sin of my soul (Mic. vi. 7) ; and there
were doubtless others after him who would
say : Thou delightest not^in^ sacrifice ; else
would I give it thee ; thou hast no pleasure
in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit ; a broken and contrite hearty
0 God, thou wilt not despise (Ps. li. 16, 17) ;
or who would ask in the name of God :
Thinkest thou that I will eat bull's flesh and
drink the blood of goats ? But the writer
of this Song was the first to enunciate a
new and really spiritual doctrine of atone
ment, which was far in advance of anything
that had gone before. He taught with
the object of abrogating the sacrificial

104 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
system, and substituting for it a more spirit
ual means of relationship with God. In
order to give concrete shape to his doctrine
of Atonement, and to bring it home to his
people in aU its fulness, he constructed
his picture of an ideal personality. Had
his teaching been followed it would have
meant the end of the sacrificial system,
the beginning of a more spiritual worship
and a deeper apprehension of God. But
he was in advance of his times ; his teach
ing fell for the most part on deaf ears and
blind eyes, and the benefit of it was reserved
for later generations.

VI

THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF
ISAIAH LVI.-LXVI

VI
THE DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF
ISAIAH LVI.-LXVI
Behind these chapters there stands as the
background an occurrence which, as a political
event, was of insignificant importance when
compared with the world-shaking events
which form the historical background of
Deutero-Isaiah ; but as to the far-reaching
and lasting effect of that occurrence it was
beyond aU comparison greater than the faU
of kingdoms. To this occurrence we have
already referred, but attention must again be
called to it now. In B.C. 458 Ezra returned to
Jerusalem with acertaTnnumber ofTnTexiles ;
he came with the fixed purpose of teaching his
people and impressing upon them a new
conception of the Law, of which, as far as we
know, he was the first great exponent. At
first he does not seem to have been successful,
at least, only in a moderate degree, but with
the advent of Nehemiah in B.C. 445, things
-wr-

108 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
became different. Nehemiah came direct
from the Persian court, armed with full
powers to carry out what was required to be
done in his own land. By building the walls
of Jerusalem and being thus enabled to keep
at a distance the country's foes, chiefly the
mixed population of Samaria, Nehemiah ac
complished a work of the greatest importance
for Ezra, who was thereby able to carry out
with success his original design. With ene
mies, who were such both politically and
religiously, cleared out of the way, Ezra's task
of inculcating the Law in accordance with his
ideas and ideals became comparatively easy.
By means of this the religion of the Jews
received a new impress, a new character ;
not all at once, of course ; but it became thereby
the Judaism which, in the main, is the Judaism
of to-day. There was, to be sure, a long
struggle between the two main tendencies of
thought, which grew more intense later on
when Hellenistic influences came to bear upon
the people, and when national, particularistic
views were opposed by the freer and more
expansive thought of those whose minds were
impregnated with the Hellenistic spirit — a
struggle which lasted right into New Testa
ment times ; but ultimately the movement

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 109
initiated by Ezra triumphed, to the lasting
detriment of Judaism. Nevertheless, we shall
do weh to remember that the new Judaism of
which Ezra laid the foundation exercised a
strong influence upon Christian thought and
teaching, an influence which, in some respects,
is probably as strong to-day as it ever has
been. From the Christian point of view this
is the most important result of the movement
begun by Ezra.
Before we proceed it is necessary to observe
that in Isaiah lvi.-lxvi. there are distinct in
dications that in some particulars the writer
did not represent the attitude of vigorous
insistence on legal observances and the ex
treme narrow prejudices which became char
acteristic in later times of the orthodox. We
shaU see in a moment some of the many
signs of the rise of the new Judaism ; but it is
well to mention first one or two points which
reveal a tolerant spirit and the view that there
is something more important than the strict
observance of the Law. Thus, it is taught
that the mere fact of fasting is not enough ;
fast-days are good, but the spirit in which
they are observed is what is really important ;
and, above all, there are things of greater
moment than fasting : the passage in question

no STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
is lviii. 3-7 ; it is weU worth quoting in fuU :
" Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not ?
Wherefore afflicted ourselves, and thou takest
no notice ? "
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find time for
labour,
And ye exact all money lent on pledge [so
amended text].
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention,
And to smite with the fist of wickedness.
Ye fast not this day (in such manner)
As to make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I have chosen ?
The day for a man to afflict his soul ?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ?
Wilt thou call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to Jahwe ?
Is not this (rather) the fast that I choose :
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that thou break every yoke ?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
And to bring the poor outcast to thy house ?
When thou seest the naked to cover him,
And not hide thyself from thine own flesh ?
The teaching that the command of the Law
concerning fasting must be put aside in order
that deeds of mercy may be accomplished is

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI nx
not that of the orthodox Judaism of later
days. This is also true regarding the attitude
of the writer towards non-Jews in such a
passage, e.g., as lxv. i. :
/ was enquired of them that asked not for me,
I was found of them that sought me not ;
I said, " Here am I, here am I,"
To a nation that called not on my name.
Passages like these are exceptions, but it is
right that they should be referred to before we
come to our main subject, namely, the many
indubitable indications in these chapters that
the newer teaching which resulted from the
activity of Ezra and his followers was begin
ning to take effect. The few examples that
we shaU consider (it would, of course, be im
possible to deal exhaustively with this subject
now) wiU be iUustrated by some quotations
from the authoritative writings which contain
the teaching of later orthodox Judaism.
(i) The Observance of the Law.
At the very beginning of these chapters we
hit upon two expressions the connotation of
which agrees exactly with that which they
have in later orthodox Judaism : " Keep judge
ment " means here " observe the law " :

112 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
and " do righteousness " means " do what is
right according to the law." The context to
which we shall come in a moment, fuUy bears
this out. " Keep judgement " — " Do right
eousness " ; "by the first term is meant con
formity to a system of ordinances, by the
second a legal righteousness." x Nothing
could be in more striking contrast than the
different ways in which the writer of these
chapters, and Deutero-Isaiah, respectively
describe the means whereby the coming
deliverance and salvation (upon which both
writers lay great stress) is to be attained, i.e.
the Messianic era. In the latter we have, for
example, in lv. I these words :
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters !
And he that hath no money !
Come ye, buy and eat ;
Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money
and without price.
Here, in figurative language, the people are
bidden to take what is freely offered them,
namely the blessings of the Messianic era.
Simple acceptation is all that is required.
Incline your ear, and come unto me ;
Hear, and your soul shall live.
1 Box, The Book of Isaiah, p. 286.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 113
And I will make an everlasting covenant with
you,
Even the sure mercies of David (lv. 3).
In Ivi. 1, on the other hand, the coming
salvation must be acquired by the fulfilment
of legal ordinances : " Observe the law," i.e.
do what is right in the way of legal ordinances.
Nothing could be in more striking contrast
than the points of view of the two writers on
this point. We are reminded how in later
times the gracious words were [spoken :
" Come unto me, aU ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest " (Matthew
xi. 28) ; while, on the other hand, St. Paul is
constantly urging against the Jews the ineffi-
cacy of the righteousness which is by works
of the law, e.g. Galatians ii. 16 f., and often
in his epistle to the Romans.
That in the passage before us, Ivi. if., the
reference is to the works of the law is quite
clear from the context, and this leads us to
our second point :
(2) The Observance of the Sabbath.
In Ivi. 2 it is said :
Blessed is the man who doeth this,
And the son of man that holdeth fast by it :

114 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
That keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it,
And that keepeth his hand, from doing evil.
And, again, two verses further on it continues :
For thus saith Jahwe :
The eunuchs that keep my sabbaths,
And choose the things that please me,
And hold fast by my covenant ;
Unto them will I give in my House, and within,
my walls, a monument and a name x
That is better than sons and daughters ;
I will give them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.
Now, it is worthy of note, firstly, that in
Deutero-Isaiah the Sabbath is never men
tioned ; that again emphasizes the different
point of view taken up here. Of course the
Sabbath had been kept in earlier times, but
in an entirely different way from that which
was now taught ; the change had taken place
during the Exile and through Ezra's activity
after the Return. The Sabbath and Circum
cision had during the Captivity acquired the
position of sacramental symbols of the re
ligion of Jahwe as a result of the necessary
cessation of the sacrificial system ; these
%
1 This line is too long in comparison with the rest ; the
-words " and within my walls " are very likely an amplifica
tion added later, cp. Ps. cxxii. 7.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 115
became the only two real marks of differen
tiation of the true Jew. The way in which
the Sabbath observance of these later days
differed from that of earlier times is referred
to in lviii. 13 of our book :
// thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,1
Not doing thy pleasure on my holy day ;
And callest the Sabbath a delight,
And the holy (day) of Jahwe honourable ;
And if thou honour it, not doing thine own
business,
Nor finding (therein) thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words ;
Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jahwe,
And I will make thee to ride upon the high places
of the earth ;
And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy
father ;
For the mouth of Jahwe hath spoken it.
That is what one may call the newer, the
" legal " way of observing the Sabbath.
The difference between the old and the new,
the pre-exilic and post-exilic, Sabbath has
been well summarized thus : "Of the legal
passages that speak of the Sabbath all those
1 I.e. If the Sabbath is treated as something truly
holy, hke holy ground, cp. Exod. iii. 5, if it is not
transgressed.

116 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
which show affinity with the doctrine of the
scribes — regarding the Sabbath as an arbitrary
sign between Jahwe and Israel, entering into
details as to particular acts that are forbidden,
and by enforcing the observance by several
penalties, so that it no longer has any religious
value, but appears as a mere legal restraint —
are post-exilic ; the older laws only demand
such cessation from daily toU, and especiaUy
from agricultural labour, as among all ancient
peoples naturally accompanied a day set
apart as a religious festival, and in particular
lay weight on the fact that the Sabbath is a
humane institution, a holiday for the labouring
classes. As it stands in these ancient laws, the
Sabbath is not at all the unique thing which it
was made to be by the scribes " (Encycl. Bibl.
iv. 4176). The passages quoted refer to the
Sabbath just in the way described by these
words ; though in this particular case instead
of enforcing its observance by penalties great
rewards are offered, for it is said to him that
keeps the Sabbath (the passage has already
been cited) :
Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jahwe,
And I will make thee to ride upon the high places
of the earth;

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 117
And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
thy father ;
For the mouth of Jahwe hath spoken it (lviii. 14).
That certainly approximates to the later
Jewish ideas about the Sabbath, which as is
well known, were of a very exaggerated char
acter. It is maintained, for example, that
the law of the Sabbath is equal to all the
other laws and commandments of the Torah
(Shemoth R. xxv.) ; and we notice that this
section of our book opens with a blessing on
those who keep the Sabbath ; this is thus
placed in the forefront :
Thus saith Jahwe :
Keep ye judgement and do righteousness ;
For my salvation is near to come,
And my righteousness to be revealed . . .
(Ivi. 1, 2). (3) Almsgiving.
We come next to the subject of Almsgiving
under which is, of course, included deeds of
mercy. The mention of this in the book is
the most natural thing in the world ; but the
reason why attention is drawn to it is because
of the close juxtaposition of good works and

118 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
reward. Here are two examples ; lviii. 7-9
(already quoted in another connexion) :
7s it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
And to bring the poor outcast to thy house ?
When thou seest the naked to cover him,
And not hide thyself from thine own flesh ?
Then follows immediately the reward :
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
And thy healing shall spring forth speedily,
And thy righteousness shall go before thee,
And the glory of Jahwe shall be thy rearward.
Then when thou criest Jahwe will answer,
When thou criest, He shall say : " Here am I" .. .
Then, further, occur these words :
(And if) thou bestow thy bread on the hungry,1
And satis fiest the afflicted soul,
Then shall thy light arise in darkness,
And thy obscurity shall be as the noon-day,
And Jahwe shall guide thee continually,
And satisfy thy soul in dry places,
And thy bones will He make strong ;
Thou shalt be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters fail
not (lviii. 10, 11).
In such passages as these one sees the beginn
ing of what in later Judaism developed into
the doctrine of Works, namely that works are
1 So the amended text.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 119
meritorious and demand reward per se. But
supreme among good works was Almsgiving,
which came to be called Zedakah {T\\>yi),
" righteousness," because it was the pre
eminent righteous act. This is well illus
trated by a Rabbinical comment on the words
of Proverbs xxi. 3 (To do justice and judgement
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice),
which says that he who gives alms (offers a
sacrifice which) is greater than every sacrifice
(Sukkah 49 b). It is taught that deeds of
mercy and almsgiving are the means of
acquiring justification in the sight of God,
and therefore reward — reward, that is to say,
not only in this life, but in the world to come.
Indeed, it is taught again and again that deeds
of mercy and almsgiving gain eternal life for
a man.The efficacy of works and the claim for
reward is a doctrine which appeals to men as
being no more than what bare justice de
mands ; and because that is true between man
and man, it is also assumed to be true between
man and God. In Judaism, where the
doctrine of divine grace plays a relatively
subordinate part this doctrine of the merit of
works and the claim of reward is naturally
very prominent. But it is just here where one

120 STUDIES IN ISAIAH X -LXVI
of the fundamental differences between Ju
daism and Christianity lies. Christ put this
most pointedly of all in His words : " When
ye shall have done aU the things that are
commanded you "—the reference is obviously
to the commandments of the Law — " say,
we are unprofitable servants ; we have done
that which it was our duty to do," i.e. nothing
more ! It is unnecessary to recall how fre
quently St. Paul denies the efficacy of works
alone, "lest man should glory." In the
passages quoted just now from the third part
of our book we have the mention together of
works of mercy and almsgiving followed by
the reward for these. It is not meant to say
that when these words were written there was
as yet any formulated doctrine on the subject
such as is found in later Judaism ; but, as
already pointed out, these chapters lvi.-lxvi.
date from a time not very long after the
return of Ezra from the Captivity, the time
when a new conception of the Law — its
paramount necessity, its extravagant claims,
and the no less extravagant rewards for the
fulfilment of those claims — when a new
conception of the Law was coming into
being ; it was a new era, epoch-making in the
history of religion. These chapters date from

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 121
that time. In them, therefore, we have
unmistakeable indications of the new trend
of thought ; they are only beginnings from
which, in course of time, large developments
grew. Their great importance, from a doct
rinal point of view, is that they form one of our
main sources from which to trace the growth
and development of post-exilic Judaism ; the
form of Judaism, that is to say, which existed
at the beginning of the Christian era, and
which formed the background of early Chris
tian teaching in many respects.
(4) Superhuman beings.
We come next to a subject of much interest,
a subject which assumes considerable dimen
sions in later Judaism up to a certain point ;
and then we find that it was permitted to drop
more and more into the background until it
has now become to a great extent eliminated
from Judaism ; we refer to the belief in angels
and superhuman beings intermediate between
God and men.
In lxii. 6, 7, the prophet puts the following
words into the mouth of God :
Over x thy walls, Jerusalem,
Have I set watchers ;
1 Not " upon " as in the Revised Version. 1

122 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
Neither day nor night
Do they hold their peace ;
then the prophet himself continues, address
ing these watchers :
Ye that remind Jahwe,
Take ye no peace ;
And give Him no rest
Till He establish,
Until He make Jerusalem
A praise in the earth.
The " watchers " here mentioned are inter
preted by some to refer to prophets ; but this
is not a term which is ever applied to them ;
and what these watchers do here — calling
upon God day and night in order that the walls
may be rebuilt — is not at all in the role of
prophets ; their duty is always to be active
among the people, exhorting and warning, and
turning them to God. Moreover, if prophets
were here referred to would not our prophet
himself be the first to remind God instead of
caUing upon others to do so ? At any rate,
he would have joined with them in doing this.
And further, what we know of these times
does not support the view that there were
many prophets in existence, which would have
to be the case if prophets are referred to in
this passage. Although it is not definitely
said so, it is evidently presupposed that these

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 123
watchers over the walls are many. Another
reason against the view that prophets are
referred to in these verses is that in verse 1 of
this chapter the prophet himself says :
For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness go forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burneth.
That is the true role of a prophet, setting up
righteousness among the people. So that it
is very improbable that quite a few verses
after the writer would impute to prophets
such an entirely new role, in which he himself,
moreover, takes no part. By the " watchers "
are meant, not prophets, but heavenly mes
sengers ; so the early Jewish commentators
on this passage interpreted the word. We
find also that in the book of Zechariah, which
belongs to this period, angels take a prominent
part in carrying out God's will on earth. The
mention of the " watchers " or angels shows
that among the Jews there had arisen by this
time belief in a heavenly hierarchy ; this
belief existed, it is true, in earlier times (as is
proved by 1 Kings xxii. 19 ff.), but in a far
less developed form. It was during the Exile,
and under Babylonian influence, as we can
see, for example, from the book of Ezekiel,

124 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
that the developed belief in angels arose
among the Jews. Its fuU development is
seen in the Book of Enoch, where the angels
are called, as in the passage we are considering,
watchers. " And these are the names of the
holy angels who watch " (Enoch xx. i) ; x
they are apparently caUed watchers because
they do not sleep, for elsewhere in this book
(Similitudes xxxix. 12, 13) it is said : " Those
that sleep not bless Thee ; they stand before
Thy glory and bless, laud, and extol, saying :
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Spirits ; He
filleth the earth with spirits. And here my
eyes saw all those who sleep not, how they
stand before Him and bless, and say : Blessed
be Thou, and blessed be the name of the Lord
for ever and ever." It is obvious from this
passage that those who sleep not, i.e. the
watchers, refer to the angels. Of the activity
of these the Book of Enoch constantly speaks ;
it gives the names of many of them, and
recognizes various grades in the angelic
hierarchy. As to the names of the angels the
Rabbis themselves say that they came from
the Babylonians. In the passage under con
sideration (lxii. 6, 7) it will have been noticed
1 The quotations are from Canon Charles' edition of the
Book of Enoch.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 125
that the watchers, or angels, are represented
as intercessors with God on behalf of men ;
it is interesting to note that the belief in this
function of the angels became greatly developed
in later Judaism. Already in the book of
Tobit (xii. 15) we read that the angels present
to God the prayers of the saints : "I am
Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, who
bear the prayers of the saints upwards ..."
In the book of Enoch the same thing is
taught, as for example in liv. 1 : " I swear unto
you, ye righteous, that the angels in heaven
remember you for good in the presence of the
glory of the Great One." And the same thing
is to be found in other books both of the
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. It is also
the teaching of the Rabbis ; it is said, for
example, that when Moses was exposed on the
river, angels pleaded for him that he should
not be aUowed to perish (Sota 12b). In one
of the-Midrashic works (on Exodus xxi.) it is
said that angels weave the prayers of men
into crowns for the Most High. And, once
more, it is taught in the Talmud (Sukkah
29 a) that interceding angels make it one of
their duties to seek out the Jewish nation's
special merits and to plead them in the
presence of God. A special feature in the

126 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
development of the doctrine of angels is the
teaching that there are grades among them.
Reference has already been made to the seven
angels mentioned in the book of Tobit ;
ranks in the angelic hierarchy are spoken of or
implied in many early Jewish works as weU as
in the later literature. An interesting passage
in Philo runs : " The Father, the Creator of
the Universe, gave to the archangel and most
ancient Logos the privilege of standing on the
confines separating the creature from the
Creator, and of interceding between the
immortal God and mortal man, as an am
bassador sent from the ruler to the subject.
Rejoicing in this position, 'I stood between
the Lord and you ' (Deut. v. 5), being neither
uncreated nor created, but between the two,
pledge and security to the Creator and to the
creature, a hope that the merciful God would
not despise His work " (quoted from On one
who is Heir in the Jewish Encyclopcedial. 596a).
This is written in reference to the archangel
Michael, who occupies a very special position
in the highest rank among the angels ; he is
spoken of in the pseudepigraphic literature as
fulfilling the function of mediator ; and in
Rabbinical literature he is called the heavenly
high-priest whose altar, upon which he offers

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 127
up sacrifices, stands in the fourth heaven.
He is also described as the prince over all the
angels, for he is the guardian-angel of the
Israelite nation ; he acts as Israel's represen
tative and patron in the presence of God, and
he intercedes there on behalf of his people ;
and the title given to him is that of the
"Advocate of the Jews" (Chagigah 12 b).
This developed angelology which became a
characteristic of orthodox Judaism had its
share in moulding, and ran parallel with, the
conception of divine transcendence which was
one aspect, as we have seen, of the Jewish
doctrine of God ; the teaching (of which the
passage from Philo is an example) concerning
semi-divine, superhuman beings who act as
God's intermediaries, and are His agents
in carrying out the divine will on earth is one
which is not unconnected with this developed
angelology. These semi-divine, superhuman
beings are worth a passing mention here ;
for the beginnings of this belief are also to be
seen in Isaiah lvi.-lxvi. These beings are the
quasi-personification of certain attributes
proper to God, and they occupy an interme
diate position between personalities and ab
stractions. While on the one hand, they
are represented as being so closely connected

128 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
with God as to appear as parts of Him, or
at all events attributes, they are, on the
1 other hand, so often spoken of as undertaking
individual action that they must be differ
entiated from God. They are : Metatron,
or the next in rank to the divine ruler ; the
Memra, or the word of God ; the Shekhinah,
or the divine glory ; and the Holy Spirit.
The first three, though of much interest
and importance, do not come into consider
ation in our book. But regarding the Holy
Spirit a word must be said about the passage
lxiii. 10 ff., which runs : " But they rebeUed
and grieved His holy Spirit . . ." ; and a
little further on there is mention of God
having put His holy Spirit in the midst of the
people. With the exception of Psalm li. ii
these are the only verses in the Old Testa
ment in 'which the holy Spirit of God is spoken
of. Worthy of note is the expression " grieved
the Holy Spirit," x for this clearly supposes
something coming very close to personality ;
the writer conceives of the Spirit as an in
dependent being. This is precisely what is
found to be the case in the teaching of later
Judaism ; in one place the Holy Spirit is
1 Cp. Eph. iv. 30.

DOCTRINAL STANDPOINT OF LVI-LXVI 129
spoken of as the defender of Israel who enumer
ates before God the merits of the Israelites ;
elsewhere quotations from the Bible are
referred to as the Holy Spirit's utterances,
which accords with what is said in another
passage that the Holy Spirit inspired men to
write the books of the Bible. Numbers of
other examples could be given, but these
must suffice.
In this and the other points to which
reference has been made — and other sub
jects as well which have not been touched
upon — we have examples of the truth that
Isaiah lvi.-lxvi. represents in a number of
respects the beginning of the new Judaism
of which the foundations were laid during
the Exile and, above all, after the Return.
What was said at the commencement
should, however, be repeated and emphasized
once more, namely, that Isaiah lvi.-lxvi. pre
sents, in addition to the type of Judaism
which we have been considering, a wider and
freer type ; indeed, this latter is, of the two
types, that which is more in evidence. But it
has been with the narrower type of Judaism,
of which these chapters contain so many
elements, that we have been concerned, and
this for two reasons ; first, because, generally

130 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
speaking, the commentaries do not give the
prominence to this subject which it deserves ;
and, secondly, because it is this type of Judaism
which finally conquered. It is weU to realize
that the beginnings of this type of Judaism —
which ultimately developed into Rabbinical
Judaism — are very clearly to be discerned|in
these chapters.

VII
EXEGETICAL STUDIES

VII
EXEGETICAL STUDIES
In the large amount of material at one's dis
posal in these chapters it is not easy to choose
out what passages should receive special
attention. In a number of those selected,
however, the object has been to illustrate the
influence which this book has had on later
thought among the Jews whether by ex
pression or ideas. Other passages have been
chosen because they are difficult ; yet others
because they seemed to offer some particular
point of interest. But at the best they can
only be few in number. For detailed exegesis
of the book the bigger commentaries must be
used. As far as possible discussions on the Hebrew
text have been avoided ; but here and there
it is quite indispensable to consider the original,
otherwise the point in the exegesis is lost.
But wherever possible we shall content our
selves with the text of the Revised Version.
133

134 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
xl. 3.
R.V. The voice of one that crieth, " Prepare
ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord ..."
R.V. (mg.) The voice of one that crieth in
the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way of the
the Lord. . . ."
There is no justification for the marginal
rendering as far as the Hebrew is concerned.
Possibly it was inserted in deference to the
way in which the passage is quoted in the
New Testament (Matt. iii. 3, Mark i. 3,
Luke iii. 4, John i. 23) ; but this is taken
from the Septuagint, not from the Hebrew.
In the Septuagint the point of the passage is
lost. But apart from that, the passage as
quoted in the Gospels offers a good example
of the way in which the Old Testament is
sometimes quoted in the New Testament.
When it is said in Matthew iii. 3, This is he
that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, as
though the prophet had foretold the coming
of John the Baptist, the supposition is ob
viously wrong, as the context in Isaiah xl.
shows. But the parallel between the words
in the Septuagint, — The voice of one crying in
the wilderness — and John the Baptist preaching
in the wilderness of Judaea, seemed so strong
that it was assumed that the earlier passage

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 135
was a prophecy of the later one. A further
step away from the meaning of the original
was the use of the Vulgate rendering : Vox
clamantis in deserto, which was quoted as an
example of some one calling upon those who
wiU not listen. This has come down to us in
the phrase : " It is like someone preaching
in the wilderness ! " where there is nobody.
The process was first to ignore the meaning
of the words in the Old Testament, i.e., by
the Septuagint, and then to ignore their
meaning, in the New Testament.
But to return to the text again. The latter
part of the verse runs : Make straight (or
" level ") in the desert a highway for our God.
The picture is here presented of God leading
His people back from captivity to their own
land upon this " highway." This word
comes from a root (^d) meaning to "cast
up " ; and this picture of constructing a
highway, or causeway, is borrowed later by
the writer of chapters lvi.-lxvi., e.g., in lvii.
14 : Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way,
take up the stumbling-block out of the way of the
people ; lxii. 10 : Cast up, cast up, the highway ;
gather out the stones. This is one example,
of many, of the writer of lvi.-lxvi. using
Deutero-Isaianic terms and phrases ; and

136 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
people have pointed to these as a proof of
unity of authorship for both parts. Needless
to say, the argument is superficial. The
fundamental differences which prove that the
two parts cannot have been from the same
author, compel us to see in these similarities
the strong influence which the earlier writing
had upon the author of Isaiah lvi.-lxvi.
xl. 22.
He that sitteth above the circle of the earth,
So that the inhabitants thereof are as grass
hoppers ;
Who stretcheth out the heavens as gauze,
And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
In the third line some commentators would
f oUow the Septuagint and read : Who stretcheth
out the heavens like a firmament ; but, as
Duhm points out, the heavens are not like
a firmament, but have been created such.
With this passage one must read Job xxii. 14 :
Thick clouds are a covering to Him that He
seeth not,
And He walketh on the circuit of Heaven.
Somewhat naive as this conception is of God
dwelling above within a tent, as it were,
formed of thick clouds whereby He is shrouded
from view, in later Judaism the idea is

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 137
much developed, and there can be little doubt
that passages like those before us formed the
basis of future developments. Thus, it is
taught that above the earth there are seven
heavens ; the highest of these, the seventh,
is called Araboth ; this is the dwelling-place
(technically caUed Mechiza) of God. Not
only does the Almighty dwell there, but the
angels who serve Him are there as well as the
souls of the righteous.1 Moreover, it is taught,
there are three divisions in this " seventh
heaven " ; God Himself dweUs in the inner
most division, which is hidden from view by
a curtain (technicaUy called Par god) of clouds ;
the righteous are in the next division, and the
angels in the outermost. Behind the Par god
of clouds where God dweUs is the heavenly
throne together with the " glory " of God.
It seems clear that these ideas have been
developed from such passages as those quoted
above. xliv. 3.
For I will pour water upon the thirsty
(land), -and streams upon the dry ground;
and I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thine offspring.
1 Babylonian Tzima&.Chagigah 156 ; for further de
tails see Weber, Jiidische Theologie, pp. 162 ff.

138 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
These words contain a twofold promise,
namely, of material and spiritual blessings.
But the special point of interest is the paral
lelism of the outpouring of water and of the
spirit. By the spirit here is not meant a
quasi-personality as in Isaiah lxiii. 10, but
" spirit " in the sense of divine influence and
power, resulting in well-being ; as in the
passage xxxii. 15, . . . until the spirit be
poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness
become a fruitful field . . . Nevertheless, the
mention of water and spirit in the same con
text here is worthy of note ; the outpouring of
the spirit completes that which is prepared by
the outpouring of the water. The words
remind us at once of some New Testament
passages in which water and the spirit are
mentioned in close connexion, e.g., Johni. 31-
33. iii- 5- xliv. 6.
Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts : I am
the first, and I am the last ; and beside
me there is no God.
The title " King of Israel " (cp. xii. 21,
" King of Jacob ") applied to God is found,
as a formal title, here and in Zephaniah hi. 15

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 139
only. In other passages, almost exclusively
in late books, God is spoken of as King ;
but this particular title " King of Israel "
does not occur. The term " Redeemer "
(Heb. ^j), used in the English connotation,
belongs in a special manner to Isaiah xl.-lxvi.
Elsewhere it is the technical term for one
whose duty it is to buy back a thing or a
person ; and especially is it applied to one
who acts as an avenger of blood. In this
sense, which is the older one, it does not occur
in this book. The phrase " I* am the first,
and I am also the last " (cp. xii. 4, xlviii. 12,
etc.) has an interest as being, almost certainly,
the original source of the Christian formula
A and 12, " the beginning and the end "
(Rev. xxi. 6, xxii. 13). Among the Jews the
first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet,
K and j"i, were used to express totality.
Adam, it is said, sinned from N to n, meaning
that he was guflty of every sin. And again, it
was said, that Abraham kept the Law from
N to n, meaning that he kept the whole
Law. The Hebrew X and n being a weU-known
formula expressive of entirety, was in all
probability the prototype of the Christian
A and fl. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhedrin
i. i8a) Emeth, which means " truth," is said

140 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
to be the name of God, Who includes all
things ; and the reason why this was the
name of God was because it consisted of the
first (n), middle (d), and last (n), letters of
the Hebrew alphabet, thus including aU
things. In the Syriac New Testament A and/2
is rendered 0Z0 zlL\ (=r\ and k) the first and
last letters of the Syriac alphabet — these two
letters are the same as the Hebrew, though
differently written. They are thus a formula
expressive of God ; and the idea contained
in it, " the first and the last," is taken from
this book (xliv. 6, xii. 4, xlviii. 12, etc.). So
that it is in these passages that we see the origin
of " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end," — " the first and the last."
xliv. 8.
. . . Ye are my witnesses : Is there a God
Or a Rock beside me at all ?
The text of this verse is not in order, but
with that we are not concerned just now.
The point of interest centres in the title
" Rock " used of God ; "it designates Jahwe,
by a forcible and expressive figure, as the
unchangeable support or refuge of His ser
vants ; and is used with evident appropriate
ness where the thought is of God's unvarying

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 141
attitude towards His people. The figure is,
no doubt, like crag, stronghold, high place,
etc. (Ps. xviii. 2), derived from the natural
scenery of Palestine." x It is, however, possi
ble that this title for God was originally
borrowed from extraneous sources, for, accord
ing to Cheyne, " Great Rock (or mountain) is a
common title of Assur and Bel in Assyrian." 2
However that may be, the title of " Rock "
being given to God has a further interest for
us on account of St. Paul's words in 1 Cor
inthians x. 1-4 : . . . for they drank of a
spiritual rock that followed them; and that
rock was Christ. The idea of the " spiritual
rock " of which St. Paul here speaks would
at first sight appear to have been derived
from the rock mentioned in Numbers xx.8ff.,
out of which Moses brought forth water by
striking it with his rod. But this is not so ;
the curious haggadic legend to which St. Paul
refers, and adapts, is seen, on reference to
ancient post-biblical Jewish literature, to refer
to the weU spoken of in Numbers xxi. 16-18.
In the Targum of Onkelos on this passage we
1 Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
Deuteronomy, p. 350.
p 2 Cheyne, on Psalm xviii. 2, quoted by Driver. In
Deuteronomy xxxii. 31 "Rock" is used of a heathen
deity.

142 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
read : " And from thence was given to them
the living well, the well concerning which the
Lord said to Moses, Assemble the people and
give them water. Then, behold, Israel sang
the thanksgiving of this song, at the time that
the well which had been hidden was restored
to them through the merit of Miriam . . .
from the desert it was given to them for a gift.
And from thence it was given to them in
Mattanah ; turning, it went up with them
to the high mountains, and from the high
mountains it went down with them to the
hills surrounding all the camp of Israel, and
giving them drink, every one at the door of
his tent." But how was it that this well came
to be spoken of as a rock ? The answer is to
be found in the Midrash Rabba on Numbers ;
this is of much later date, but it contains
many ancient elements. In its comment on
Numbers i. i it says : " They had the well
through the merit of Miriam, as it is written :
' And Miriam died, and was buried there.'
And what follows immediately after ? ' And
the congregation had no water.' And how
was the well formed ? It was a crag like a
beehive, and it use to roll along and accom
pany them on their journeyings. And when
the standards were pitched, and the Taber-

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 143
nacle rested, the crag came and settled in the
court of the Tent of Meeting, and the princes
came and stood beside it, and said ' Spring
up, O well,' and then it would spring up." x
St. Paul, in the Jewish manner which is so
often to be observed in his writings, utilizes
this old legend and makes the rock which was
supposed to contain the weU a type of Christ
Who gives the living water. In speaking of
that rock as Christ he was basing his words on
Old Testament usage as illustrated in such a
passage as that before us (cp. Hab. i. 12).
/. 10, 11.
Who is among you that feareth Jahwe ?
Let him obey the voice of his servant.
He that walketh in darkness,
He that hath no light,
Let him trust in the name of Jahwe,
And stay upon his God.
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,
That set alight firebrands :
Walk in the flame of your fire,
And among the brands which ye have kindled.
This shall ye have of mine hand,
Ye shall lie down in a place of torment.
These verses are added as an appendix
to the third of the Ebed-Jahwe Songs.
1 Quoted in Oesterley and Box, Op. cit., p. 97.

144 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
That they are a later addition is evident
from the fact they reflect the cleavage within
Israel after the time of Ezra ; the law-
abiding on the one hand and their oppres
sors and opponents on the other. The
phrase " fearer of Jahwe " is a late tech
nical expression for the faithful observers
of the Law ; like Chassidim. The eleventh
verse describes the anti-Law party who
by their subversive and destructive teach
ing are compared with such as kindle a fire.
The Revised Version reads : " AU ye that
kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about
with firebrands " ; this last phrase is a
little difficult, for it is not quite easy to
see how anyone can gird himself with fire
brands ; a very slight emendation of the
text, on the basis of the Septuagint and
the Syriac, permits the rendering " that
set alight firebrands," which is a more
reasonable figure and affords a better par-
aUelism with the first member of the verse.
These men are bidden to walk in the flame
of their fire, i.e., they are self-destructive.
The words, " Ye shaU lie down in sorrow,"
are not strong enough ; they should be :
" Ye shall lie down in a place of torment " ;
this, taken together with the immediately

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 145
preceding reference to the fire in which
these men shall walk, points quite clearly
to Gehenna, — described in another late pas
sage (lxvi. 24) — as a place where the worm
does not die and the fire is not quenched.
This is another indication that the verses
under consideration are a later addition ;
for this Gehenna-conception is a great ad
vance upon (and therefore belonging to a
later period) the Sheol-conception which
is the normal pre-exilic Israelite belief con
cerning the state of the departed beyond
the grave. li. 6.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look upon the earth (beneath) ;
For the heavens shall be torn asunder like
smoke,
And the earth like a garment ;
The [world] shall fade away, and its inhabi
tants
Shall die like gnats.
But my salvation shall be for ever,
And my " eternal welfare " shall not cease.
This rendering differs somewhat from the
Revised Version, so a word or two of justi
fication is demanded first. For the second
clause the Revised Version renders : " For
the heavens shaU vanish away hke smoke,

146 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
and the earth shall wax old like a garment."
The Hebrew word here translated " shaU
vanish away " is in^ZM and occurs here
only in the Old Testament in the form of
a verb (it is a passive form, the Revised
Version makes it active) ; but as a noun
the root is found in Jeremiah xxxviii. n,
12, where it means " rags," something
" torn asunder." It is, therefore, evidently
more correct to translate here " the hea
vens shall be torn asunder." The picture
is extremely realistic, being taken from
the ragged appearance of clouds when lashed
about by a high wind. The Revised Ver
sion continues : " and the earth shaU wax
old as a garment " ; but the verb here
belongs to the next clause ; it is not wanted
here because the first verb " torn asunder "
applies to the heavens and the earth, and
is especiaUy appropriate where the earth
is compared to a garment. Then the Re
vised Version goes on : " and they that
dweU therein shaU die in like manner " ;
we have just seen that the verb in the pre
vious clause belongs to this one, that verb
is '"^.n, " shall fade away," but as the text
stands there is no subject to the verb ;
now the whole, practically, of our book is

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 147
written in poetry, and in this clause the
measure is too short, showing clearly that
a word has fallen out of the text ; the
context makes it quite obvious what kind
of word is wanting, for it says " the inhabi
tants thereof," — whereof ? Of course, of
the world ; the Hebrew word for " world "
is ^n, which, excepting for one letter, has
the same letters as the verb which precedes
it, ^ri rf?^ ; this simflarity easily accounts
for a scribe having inadvertently left it out
in copying. Another point which goes to
substantiate the correctness of this emen
dation is the fact that the word ^IJi is
used of the inhabited world, as distinct
t
from the earth (Yy$) ; in the text we have
first mention of the destruction of the physical
earth, then the reference to the world in
the sense of the people dwelling on it. In
the Revised Version it is said : " and they
that dweU therein shall die in like man
ner," and that is literally what the Hebrew
text reads (p/vw P"i03 • • •) ; but the
parahelism is feeble ; we have doubtless
here, too, a copyist's error, and a very
excusable one, due again to the sameness
of letters ; he wrote as above instead of
Vi/T)Q? 0^3 iD3 (the letters 0' coming twice

148 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
would easily be omitted once by mistake)
meaning " like gnats." Then in the last
clause the Revised Version renders : " but
my salvation shall be for ever, and my
righteousness shaU not be abolished."
" Righteousness " is, generaUy speaking,
the right rendering of the Hebrew word
v~}% and njyis ; but it is not always so.
Here,* for example, it stands paraUel with
" salvation," and has a meaning correspond
ing with this ; we have rendered it " eternal
welfare." It is the same in li. i, 5, 8, where
the reference is to that which righteous
ness has brought about, the goal of right
eousness, in which is of course involved
the idea of righteousness. Lastly, there
is the word rendered in Revised Version
" shaU not be abolished " ; this word in
Hebrew is never used elswhere in this con
nexion ; the Septuagint has ov m IkX/xj?
(followed by the Vulgate) which presup
poses ^JCr-C1 ^, " shall not cease."
So much for the justification of the render
ing given above. One word as to the con
tents of the passage. The main thought
which it contains is reaUy very extra
ordinary considering the time at which it
was written. That not only the things of

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 149
the world, which day by day we see passing
away before our eyes, are doomed, and that
even the world itself is transient, but that
in and above the world there is that which
is eternal, namely, the glory and salvation
that come of God's goodness in giving us
religious belief ; that is the greatest and
most sublime thought that ever existed
before the coming of Christ. Thus Duhm
expresses himself in speaking of this pas
sage ; and assuredly he does not exaggerate.
One recaUs the words of Christ, " Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words
shaU not pass away," and one realizes how
much of great truth this prophet taught.
The thought of the passing away of heaven
and earth to which Deutero-Isaiah gives
utterance here seems to have been the
basis upon which in later days the expecta
tion of a new heaven and a new earth was
founded. This is expressed in lxv. 17 of
our book : " Behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth ; and the former things
shall not be remembered, nor come into
mind," and again in lxvi. 22.
li. 9-1 1.
Rouse thee, rouse thee, put on strength,
Arm of Jahwe !

150 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
Rouse thee as in days of old,
As in ages of old time !
Art not thou he that clave in pieces Rahab,
That pierced the Dragon ?
Art not thou he that dried up the Sea,
The waters of Tehom Rabbah ?
That made the depths of the Sea a way
For the redeemed to pass through ?
This is one of the many passages in the
Old Testament which refer to the ancient
Creation-myth in which was described the
conflict of Jahwe with Chaos, in the person
of the Dragon, identical with Rahab. The
Sea, which was regarded as the chaotic
element in the ancient myth and was per
sonified by Tehom Rabbah, the great deep
(the Babylonian Tiamat), was subdued in
this great conflict by Jahwe, but not finaUy
destroyed. It is rather strange that in
this passage (and the same occurs elsewhere
in the Old Testament) the references to
the myth of this primeval conflict are put
on the same level with the historical fact
of the passage of the Red Sea ; both are
assumed to be perfectly weU known, since
each is only alluded to, not described. No
thing could be clearer than that a belief
was current among the people of Israel that

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 151
in the distant past Jahwe had fought against
and overcome Rahab, the Dragon, or Tehom
Rabbah, and that this victory was regarded
as evidence of Jahwe's power to overcome
aU the difficulties that stood in the way
of the exUes' return. At the same time,
one cannot but be surprised that a prophet
who in general has such a high conception
of God should, nevertheless, couple with
it a belief involving such downright anthro
pomorphisms. Ivi. 4, 5.
. . . Unto them will I give in mine house
and within my walls a memorial and a
name
Better than sons and daughters ;
I will give them an everlasting name,
That shall not 'be cut off.
The first line seems overweighted and
probably the words " and within my walls "
are an explanatory gloss. In the same line
the word " memorial " involves an archaeo
logical note and wiU be spoken of later on.1
The point of interest here is the mention
of leaving a name by means of sons and
daughters ; it is true, the verse speaks of
a means of leaving a name behind after
1 See pp. 164 ff.

152 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
death which is better than that of having
children to preserve it ; this latter, however,
was the normal means. The desire " to
possess a seed " finds frequent utterance
in the Old Testament ; the reason, which
often occurs in the later Psalms x and other
books, was that the righteous might be re
warded after their death by having their
memory preserved, and thus living on, as
it were, after they had passed away. The
desire of having one's name preserved is
Ulustrated by a striking passage in Ecclesi-
asticus which is worth quoting in this con
nexion :
Have a care for thy name, for that abideth
longer for thee
Than thousands of sparkling treasures ;
Life's goods last for limited days,
But the reward of a name for days beyond
count?
This thought of living on after death by
means of one's name may weU have pre
pared men's minds for, and thus have con
tributed towards, the belief in life after
death in a fuller sense. Granted that it
1 E.g., Ps. xxV. 13 ; lxix. 36 ; cii. 28 ; cxii. 6, etc.
a xii. 12, 13, according to the Hebrew.

EXEGETICAL STUDIES 153
was only the memory that was meant, stUl
the name of the righteous departed con
tinued to be a living thing, while at the
same" time the belief was present in the
continuance of the existence, in however
nebulous a form, of those whose memories
were held in veneration. If one takes these
two parallel thoughts, and contemplates
them, is it not in the nature of things that,
taken together, they should have formed
one step upwards, at aU events, in the deve
lopment of the conceptions concerning the
Hereafter ? 1 lvii. 1, 2.
These verses belong closely to the pre
ceding passage (Ivi. 9-12) in which the
iniquitous rulers of the people are des
cribed. In contrast to this the verses before
us teU of the sad condition of the righteous.
We get a picture here of the religious state
of affairs as described in the books of Malachi,
in parts of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in a
number of the later Psalms. On the one
hand, the self-seeking priesthood, on the
other the " godly " or the " pious " who
1 See the present writer's Life, Death and Immortality r
Studies in the Psalms, pp. 161 ff. L

154 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
came to be known under the term Chas-
sidim (almost the same word occurs here
in verse i, ton "itfoN " men of piety "), who in
later days were represented by the Phari
saic party.
The rendering of the Revised Version
is a little misleading in parts ; the passage
should be read as follows : —
The righteous man perished, and no man
Laid it to heart ;
And the men of piety were swept away,
And no man took any heed.
For because of evil was the righteous man
swept away ;
He entered into peace.
They lie upon their resting-places,
(Every one) that walked uprightly.
The last four lines refer to the death
which the righteous suffered on account
of the prevalent evil. The phrase " entered
into peace " as equivalent to death is strik
ing ; it shows the beginnings of the exist
ence of a more advanced belief regarding
the future life ; it may be paralleled by
the words in Job iii. 17 :
There the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest.

VIII
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND OTHER
STUDIES

VIII
ARCH^OLOGICAL AND OTHER
STUDIES
There are a number of references in Isaiah
xl.-lxvi. to rehgious and other customs which
are of much interest. The meaning and
significance of many of these references,
though obvious enough to the people who
heard or read the prophet's words, are not
always clear to us at first sight, and need
to be studied in the light of other sources
before they can be properly understood.
Some of these subjects wfll now engage our
attention. xliv. 5.
One shall say, " I am Jahwe's " ;
And another shall call himself by the name
of Jacob ;
While another shall inscribe upon his hand
" Jahwe's,"
And shall surname himself by the name of
Israel. 157

158 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
These words occur in a passage describ
ing Israel's glorious and peaceful future ;
so happy wUl this be for Israel under the
gracious guidance and protection of Jahwe
that many from among the heathen nations
wiU come and declare their aUegiance to
Him by joining themselves to the nation of
Israel. But the passage has been chosen
on account of the point of archaeological
interest contained in the third line. The
Revised Version renders this : " And an
other shaU subscribe with his hand unto
the Lord " ; this is misleading ; but the
margin renders more correctly : " shaU
write on his hand, Unto the Lord " ; though
even this is not quite what the original
implies, which is rather this : " shaU inscribe
upon his hand ' Jahwe's.' " x This may
be paralleled by what one finds inscribed
on many seals which have been found in
Palestine, belonging to many different ages ;
most of these are inscribed with the name
of the possessor, e.g. " Shebaniah's " ; very
often the name of the possessor's father is
added : " Son of . . ." Every seal thus
marked denoted ownership. In the same
way, in the passage before us, a man marked
1 See also Isa. xlix. 16.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 159
himself with the name of Jahwe to show
that he belonged to Jahwe ; and this is to
be understood in a literal sense, for the
reference is to the custom of imprinting
marks on the person in sign of consecration
to a deity. Such a tattooed mark meant
that the person in question belonged to
the god whose sign he thus bore. There
is plenty of evidence that this custom was
widely prevalent among Semitic peoples
in ancient times ; one of the most strik
ing pieces of evidence is that of Lucian in
his De Dea Syria, lix. : " They aU tattoo
themselves — some on the hands and some
on the neck — and so it comes that all the
Assyrians bear stigmata." That the cus
tom was practised by the Israelites is seen
by Leviticus xix. 28 (cp. Lev. xxi. 5), where
tattooing is condemned as a heathenish
practice. As Robertson Smith points out,
in this passage in Leviticus the practice
" is immediately associated with incisions
in the flesh made in mourning or in honour
of the dead, and this suggests that in their
ultimate origin the stigmata are nothing
more than the permanent scars of punctures
made to draw blood for a ceremony of self-
dedication to the Deity " (The Religion of

160 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
the Semites, p. 334, cp. Kinship, pp. 249 ft).
The subject of these marks upon the
body recalls an interesting passage in the
Old Testament from which it is to be
gathered that the prophets of Israel, or at
least the earlier ones, were distinguished
by a special mark, either a tattoo or a cut
of some kind, on the forehead. In the
passage in question (1 Kings xx. 35-43) a
certain prophet is sent to rebuke king Ahab
for having permitted Benhadad, king of
Syria, to go free after his defeat, and for
having made a covenant with him, instead
of preventing him from injuring Israel, at
some later date, by imprisoning him or
putting him to death. The prophet delivers
his message in the form of a realistic par
able. In order to present himself before
king Ahab as one who had been in the battle,
he asks a fellow-prophet to wound him ;
on the latter refusing he gets another man
to do so. Then the prophet, with the
would-be marks of battle upon him, waits
for the king to pass by. But fearing lest
the king should not listen to the words
which the prophet feels called upon to
speak to him, if he knew that this speaker
was a prophet, he disguises himself with

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES i6r
" a headband over his eyes." The king
comes ; then the disguised prophet addresses
him, saying that during the battle a prisoner
had been entrusted to his care, and that
he had staked his life on the safe custody
of this prisoner ; but that the latter had.
escaped. The king is in no doubt as to
what the consequence must be — his life
is forfeit. Then the prophet suddenly
snatches the headband from his forehead,
and immediately the king " discerned that
he was one of the prophets." The pro
phet then delivers his message : Thus saith
the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy
hand the man whom I had devoted to destruc
tion, therefore thy life shall go for his life,
and thy people for his people.
It seems clear from this account that
there was some distinguishing mark whereby
a prophet could be at once recognized.
If it stood alone it would be precarious to
bufld too much upon it ; but there are
other indications which point in the same
direction. There is, in the first place, the
analogy of circumcision ; if the people of
Jahwe had a distinguishing mark in token
of their belonging to Him (see Gen. xvii.
ii ; xxi. 4), there would be nothing strange if

162 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
another distinctive sign should mark Jahwe's
prophets who were in a more intensive manner
Jahwe's people. In the second place, in
addition to various passages x which refer
to bodily marks, showing that the custom
was in existence among the Israelites for
one purpose or another, we have in Zechariah
xiii. 4-6 the direct statement that the pro
phets had a prophetical mark, not, it is
true, on the forehead, but on the hands :
And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the prophets shall be ashamed every one of
his vision, when he prophesieth ; neither
shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive ;
but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a
tiller of the ground ; for I have been made
a bondman from my youth. And one shall
say unto him, What are these wounds between
thy hands ? Then he shall answer, Those
with which I was wounded in the house of my
friends. Lastly, it is perhaps not fanciful to see
an analogy in the custom, evidently weU
known in early Israel, of putting a mark
1 Very possibly one of these is 2 Kings ii. 23, where
the prophet Elisha's baldness is spoken of ; this baldness
may have been a prophetic mark, for the same word is
used of a mark between the eyes in Deut. xiv. 1, though in
this last passage the cutting was a mark of mourning.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 163
on cattle to denote ownership ; just as the
owners of herds marked them as their pro
perty, so the people of Jahwe were marked
to show that they belonged to him ; and,
in the case of the prophets, there would
be a special mark. xlvii. 13. T*» :l -
Thou art wearied with the multitude of thy
counsellors,
Let them now stand forth
And save thee : the astrologers,
And they that gaze at the stars,
And they who foretell month by month
The things that shall come to pass.
Here we have reference to astrologers,
star-gazers, and monthly prognosticators.
The prophet, who is prophesying the im
pending faU of Babylon, mockingly calls
upon the Babylonians to seek the help
of their astrologers to avert the coming
catastrophe. Three expressions are used :
For the word rendered in the Revised Ver
sion " astrologers " the Hebrew has " di
viders of the heavens " ; the reference is
to the division of the heavens into the twelve
" stations " of the Zodiac ; these " sta
tions " are spoken of in 2 Kings xxiii. 5

164 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
as among the things to which the Israelites
burned incense. The fate of the nation,
as weU as of individuals, was supposed to
be indicated by the relative conjunction
of the sun, moon and the five planets, with
the signs of the Zodiac. The next expres
sion, "star-gazers," (lit. "gazers into the
stars") merely describes the method of the
astrologers ; while the third, rendered in the
Revised Version " prognosticated," is more
literally " those who make known at the
new moons " ; the reference " seems to
be to the official reports drawn up by the
Babylonian astrologers to be sent to the
king month by month. Many such As
syrian reports are stiU extant, and one of
them gives us an astrological calendar,
each month or day of which is noted as
being lucky or unlucky for the commence
ment of a campaign, or for other opera
tions " (Encyclopedia Biblica, iv. 4785).
Ivi. 4, 5.
. . . Unto them will I give in mine house and
within my walls a memorial and a name
Better than sons and daughters ;
I will give them an everlasting name,
That shall not be cut off.
We have already considered this passage

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 165
in another connexion ; x here we shall deal
with a smaU point which has some archaeo
logical interest. From the context it will
be noticed that the reward described in
the words quoted above is promised to certain
men who " keep my sabbaths, and choose
the things that please me, and hold fast by
my covenant." For these there is to be a
" memorial " in God's house, i.e. in the
Temple. The Hebrew word for " memorial "
here means hteraUy a " hand " ; it is used in
the technical sense of a memorial or " monu
ment " in 1 Sam. xv. 12 of Saul setting up a
monument in Carmel ; and in 2 Sam. xviii.
18 there is the following note which must be
read in connexion with the passage before us :
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and
reared up for himself the pillar, which is in
the king's dale ; for he said, I have no son to
keep my name in remembrance ; and he
called the pillar after his own name. And it
is called Absalom's monument (lit. " hand ")
unto this day. There is no doubt that the
reason why such a monument was called a
" hand " was because on the pillar a human
hand was depicted ; examples of this are in
1 See pp. 151 ff.

166 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
existence.1 As to what the meaning of
this was there is diversity of opinion ; some
think that it was in token of the person
commemorated being a true member of the
community ; others that it denoted a beckon
ing hand inviting the passer-by to remember
the name of the one commemorated ; others,
again, believe that it signified the hand
raised when taking the oath of fealty to the
Deity ; in the passage before us this would
apply to the oath made to keep the covenant
mentioned in the text. The last explana
tion would appear to be the most probable.
But the question is a difficult and complicated
one. However, this very ancient custom among
the Jews of setting up memorials of saintly
men in the house of God has been adopted
and continued ever since.2
lvii. 3-9.
5. Ye that enflame yourselves among the oaks,
And under every green tree ;
That slay the children in the valleys,
In the clefts of the rocks.
1 See, e.g. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites,
P- 457- 2 See Kohler in the Jewish Encyclopcedia, iii. 6716.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 167
6. Among the smooth stones of the valley is
thy portion ;
They, they are thy lot ;
Even to them hast thou poured a drink-
offering, Thou hast offered an oblation.
[Shall I be appeased for these things ?]
7. Upon a high and lofty mountain
Hast thou set thy bed ;
Thither also wentest thou up
To offer sacrifice.
8. And behind the doors and the posts,
Hast thou set up thy memorial.

And thou wentest to the king with ointment,
And didst increase thy perfumes ;
And didst send thine ambassadors afar off,
And didst debase thyself to Sheol.

In this passage there are several points worth
touching upon. The words are spoken in refer
ence to the practices of the mixed population
which, as we learn from the books of Ezra and
Nehemiah, was such a thorn in the side of
the Law-observing foUowers of Ezra. The pro
phet inveighs against the religious customs
and worship of these semi-Israelites which
constituted a grave danger to the purer
monotheistic worship of the returned exiles.

168 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
He speaks of their impure and cruel rites, the
offering-up of children in sacrifice, and of
their sacrificing to idols ; these are the things
which were practised in Israel long previously ;
they are described in 2 Kings xvii., where
it is said that owing to them the northern
kingdom had been carried away captive
into Assyria. One or two of the references
to these customs in the passage before us are
a little obscure. In verse 6 there is men
tion of " smooth stones of the valley " to
which drink-offerings are poured. By these
" smooth stones " are meant boulders of
unhewn stone which, according to ancient
custom, were used for altars (see Exod. xx. 25,
And if thou make me an altar of stone thou
shalt not build it of hewn stones ; for if thou
lift up thy tool against it, thou hast polluted it ;
cp. Deut. xxvii. 5, 6). Such stones would be
found in valleys smoothed by the action of
the water of the winter torrents. The true
Jahwe worshippers had chosen Him as their
" portion," as it is expressed in various Old
Testament passages (Ps. xvi. 5, Jahwe is the
portion of mine inheritance, cp. Deut. iv. 19 ;
Jer. x. 16), instead of this these people had
chosen as their portion these smooth stones.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 169
In the Hebrew there is a striking word-play
here: The way in which the drink-offerings
were poured upon these stones has been
illustrated in an interesting way thanks to
recent excavations in Palestine.1 The last
words in verse 6, Shall I be appeased for these
things? are so entirely out of place that they
cannot have formed part of the original text ;
they are probably a corrupt marginal note
which the Septuagint read in its correct form :
" ShaU I not therefore be provoked to wrath
for these things ? " In the following verse
the weU-known worship on the hiU-tops is
mentioned ; this, together with the preceding,
were the public forms of worship held out of
doors by the people already referred to.
Verse 8 speaks of the signs of heathen cus
toms in the houses, behind the doors and
the posts hast thou set up thy memorial.2 As
to what this actually was there is some differ
ence of opinion ; but we need not go into the
question. In verse 9 : And thou wentest to
the king with ointment . . . the reference
1 See the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Explora
tion Fund, 1903, p. 27.
2 Cp. the Mezuzah or Door-post Symbol found in the
houses of all orthodox Jews at the present day. M

170 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
is to the Ammonite deity Melek (the Hebrew
word for king), generally vocalized Milkom
in the Massoretic text. The last words of this
verse, and didst debase thyself to Sheol,
refer to those who went to consult oracles
in underground places of worship dedicated
to subterranean deities. From the words,
thou didst send thine ambassadors far off, it is
clear that messengers were sent far afield
to inquire of the gods of other countries ;
this was often done by the peoples of antiquity.
Ixv. 1-5 ; Ixvi. 17.
1. / was inquired of them that asked not for
me . . .
2. / have spread out my hands all the day
To a rebellious people ;
Which walketh in a way that is not good,
After their own thoughts ;
3. To a people that provoketh me
To my face continually ;
That sacrifice in gardens,
That burn incense upon bricks,
4. That sit among the graves,
And spend the night in vaults ;
That eat swine's flesh,
And broth of abominable things is in
their vessels ;
5. Which say, " Stand off,
Come not near me lest I sanctify
thee ! " . . .

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 171
The reference is again to the practices of the
mixed population of Palestine among whom
heathen rites were practised. Many of these
• rites went back in their origin to a hoary
antiquity ; there are some interesting points
about them which are worth discussing.
That sacrifice in gardens. In Isaiah xvii.
10, 11, in the " Oracle concerning Damascus,"
it is said, according to the Revised Version :
. . . Therefore thou plantest pleasant plants,
And settest it with strange slips ;
In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in,
And in the morning thou makest thy seed to
blossom ;
But the harvest fleeth away in the day of grief,
And of desperate sorrow.
In the first line " pleasant plants " should
be, as the margin of the Revised Version
renders it, " plantings of Adonis." In the
third line "thou hedgest it in" should be
" thou makest it to shoot up," or something
similar ; the Hebrew word has this sense
as well. And in the last line but one " the
harvest fleeth away " is explained in the
margin of the Revised Version by the ren
dering, " the harvest shaU be a heap," i.e.
of rubbish. The meaning is that the plant
very soon grows up and very soon withers.

172 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
The reference in this passage, as weU as in
lxv. 3 where the " sacrificing in gardens "
is spoken of, is to the so-called " gardens
of Adonis " which are mentioned by a
number of ancient authors. " These were
baskets or pots filled with earth, in which
wheat, barley, lettuces, fennel and various
kinds of flowers were sown and tended for
eight days, chiefly or exclusively by women.
Fostered by the sun's heat, the plants shot
up rapidly, but having no root they withered
as rapidly away, and at the end of eight
days were carried out with the images of
the dead Adonis, and flung with them into
the sea or into springs. These gardens
of Adonis are most naturally interpreted
as representatives of Adonis or manifesta
tions of his power ; they represented him,
true to his original nature, in vegetable
form, while the images of him, with which
they were carried out and cast into the
water, portrayed him in his later human
form. All these Adonis ceremonies, if I
am right, were originally intended as charms
to promote the growth or revival of vege
tation ; and the principle by which they
were supposed to produce this effect was
homceopathic or imitative magic. For

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 173
ignorant people suppose that by mimicking
the effect which they desire to produce
they actually help to produce it ; thus by
sprinkling water they make rain, by light
ing a fire they make sunshine, and so on.
SimUarly, by mimicking the growth of crops
they hope to ensure a good harvest. The
rapid growth of the wheat and barley in
the gardens of Adonis was intended to make
the corn shoot up ; and the throwing of
the gardens and of the images into the
water was a charm to secure a due supply
of fertilizing rain." x It is against some
form of this rite, connected as it was with
a heathen deity, that the prophet inveighed ;
see further below on lxvi. 17 (p. 176).
That burn incense upon bricks. It is not
easy to understand what is referred to by
this practice, nor why it was regarded as
objectionable. We know, however, that
bricks were made of sun-dried clay and it
is quite possible that the reference is to the
burning of incense on small altars made
of clay. That this is what is meant is the
more likely inasmuch as such a clay incense-
1 Frazer, The Golden Bough ; Adonis, Attis, Osiris, pp.
194 f. (1907). Cp. also Lagrange, Etudes sur les Religions
SSmitiques, pp. 173 ff.

174 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
altar was discovered not long ago by Dr.
Sellin on the site of ancient Taanach, lying
to the west of Mount Gilboa in the north of
Palestine ; the decorations on , this little
altar would fully explain why the prophet
inveighed against the use of such things.
It was a four-sided vessel of baked clay,
about three feet high ; there was no bottom
to it,-but on the front of it at the base were
two small holes ; on each of the sides there
were four holes, rather larger, and at the
back was a somewhat larger opening. The
method of procedure was the same as that
of an ordinary oriental oven ; the fire was
lighted on the ground, and the vessel placed
over it ; sufficient draught was secured
by the way in which the holes were made ;
and the incense was placed in a receptacle
made for it at the top. The decorations
consist of three winged figures with the
head of a man and the body of a beast ;
these are on either side of the altar ; on the
front of it there is the representation of a
figure in conflict with a great serpent.
Below this mythological picture is another ;
a tree having a goat on either side with its
head turned towards the tree. It cannot
be doubted that the presence of these figures

ARCHaEOLOGICAL STUDIES 175
points to some form of worship other than
or in addition to, that of Jahwe. So that
if this incense-altar is in any way connected
with the practice referred to in our pas
sage as " burning incense upon bricks,"
one can understand the prophet's objection
to it as it was a violation of the monotheism
upon which he naturally lays so much stress.
That sit among the graves, and spend the
night in vaults. The reference here is to
the practice of seeking an oracle from the
dead. This is referred to in Isaiah viii.
19, where the prophet speaks of those who
say : Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and
mutter ; Should not a people seek unto their
God ? On behalf of the living should they
seek unto the dead ? See also xxviii. 15 ;
2 Kings xxi. 6. The object was to obtain
knowledge, as was believed, of the future;
this we learn from the most striking passage on
the subject in the Old Testament, 1 Samuel
xxviii. 7-21. With this last passage (the
witch of Endor episode) we cannot concern
ourselves here ; but from Isaiah viii. 19
it is easy to see that the wizards resorted
to impudent 'chicanery; for, by means of
what may have been a species of ventrilo-

176 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
quism, they pretended to receive communi
cations from the departed. The rendez-vous
at night (this is implied by the Hebrew
word, though not expressed in the Revised
Version) at grave-sides or in rock-hewn
vaults was well calculated to arouse the
superstitious expectations of the dupes.
That eat swine's flesh, and broth of abomin
able things is in their vessels. With this pas
sage we must read lxvi. 17 :
They that sanctify and purify themselves
For the gardens behind the one in the centre,
That eat swine's flesh,
And creeping things, and the mouse . . .
To deal first with this last passage ; the
two first lines refer to the mystery rites
in which a central initiated person took
the lead ; ablutions and the like were pre
paratory to the religious exercises which
took place in the gardens of Adonis, already
referred to. In the last line " creeping
things " x is a rendering based on a slight
emendation of the Hebrew in accordance
with Leviticus xi. 29 ff., where it says :
And these are they which are unclean unto
you among the creeping things that creep
1 The Revised Version renders " the abomination."

ARCH.E0L0GICAL STUDIES 177
upon the earth ; the weasel and the mouse
and the great lizard after its kind. ... In
another passage, Isaiah Ixvi. 3, the swine
is again spoken of, and mention is also made
of the dog as an unclean animal which was
sacrificed. In regard to all these and similar
passages in the Old Testament, Robertson
Smith says : " .All these passages refer to
the same circle of rites, in which the victims
chosen were such animals as were strictly
taboo in ordinary life — the swine, the dog,
the mouse and vermin generally. To such
sacrifices, as we learn from Isaiah Ixvi. 17,
a peculiar consecrating and purifying efficacy
was attached, which must be ascribed to
the sacramental participation in the sacro
sanct flesh.1 The flesh was eaten in the
form of broth which in lxv. 4 is caUed broth
of piggulim, i.e. of carrion, or flesh so killed
as to retain the blood in it (Ezek. iv. 14 ;
cp. Zech. ix. 7). We are to think, there
fore, of a broth made with the blood, like
the black broth of the Spartans, which
seems also to have been originally a sacred
1 Robertson Smith thus connects the purifying and
sanctifying, spoken of in Ixvi. 17, with the sacrificing
and partaking of these animals ; we are, however, con
vinced that the two rites were entirely distinct. The pro
phet, as in lxv. 1-5, is enumerating a whole series of heathen
practices which are not necessarily connected.

178 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
food, reserved for warriors. The dog-sacri
fice in Ixvi. 3 is killed by breaking its neck,
which agrees with this conclusion." 1
Which say, " Stand off ; come not near
lest I sanctify thee." This passage, as pointed
out by Duhm, is to be understood in the
light of Ezekiel xliv. 19 : And when they
go forth into the outer court, even into the
outer court of the people, they shall put off
their garments wherein they minister, and
lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall
put on other garments, that they sanctify not
the people with their garments. Just as the
priests here mentioned had to take care
that the people should not come in contact
with their holy garments lest the people
should become " sanctified," so the heathen
mystic, in the passage under consideration,
had to warn the worshippers not to come
near him lest they should be " sanctified "
by the atmosphere impregnated with magic
charm which surrounded him.2 The matter
may be explained somewhat in this way :
To man in a more or less low state of cul
ture and religion the distinction between
the conceptions of what we speak of as holi
ness and uncleanness does not exist ; but
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 343.
2 Cp. Elijah's magic mantle in 2 Kings ii. 14 (Duhm).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES 179
as soon as a higher form of religion develops
a distinction begins to be discerned. Thus,
in the lower stage a dead body, for example,
would be regarded as " holy," i.e. some
thing to be kept separate x and avoided
because it was thought of as being possessed
by evil spirits ; a medicine man's belong
ings would be regarded as " holy," i.e.
something to be kept separate and avoided,
because they partook of, the " holiness "
of the medicine man who was looked upon
as a " holy man." Both the dead body and
the medicine man's belongings are uncanny
things inspiring mysterious fear ; both
impart a supernatural infection and are
therefore dangerous. It is this which, to
the mind of man in a low stage of culture,
puts both in the same category. With the
rise of a higher religion the dead body would
come to be regarded as "unclean," while
a priest's vestments (corresponding in some
sense, for the purposes of our present argu
ment, to the medicine man's utensils) would
come to be regarded as "holy." But, and
this is the important point, both would
still be avoided ; the former because con
tact with it involved pollution, the latter
because a certain indefinable holiness ad-
1 The Hebrew word for " holy " connotes " separateness."

180 STUDIES IN ISAIAH XL-LXVI
hered to it. In the case before us the performer
of the mystic rites (himself immune, of course,
because he is a qualified agent) warns the
worshippers not to come near him because
of the conviction that harm would come
to them if they were infected by the divine,
or demonic, atmosphere in which he stood.
* * *
The above are only a few of the many
passages of archaeological interest which
occur not only in Isaiah xl.-lxvi., but through
out the book of Isaiah. They have been
chosen because they well illustrate many
of the beliefs and superstitions which had
to be shaken off before a purer form of
religion could become dominant among the
Jewish people. The task which lay before
the prophets and teachers of this period
was of profound difficulty ; but they suc
ceeded ; and it is difficult to see how they
could have succeeded unless it had been
by means of putting the Law and its mani
fold observances before the people as a set
off against the religious activities of a low
and revolting character, in many respects.
The Law kept them busy and occupied
their minds with better things ; and this,
failing the best things, for which the people
were not yet prepared, was very good.

INDEX

Ablutions, 176
Abraham, 139
Absalom's monument, 165
Activity of angels, belief in, 79
Adonai, 27
Adonis, plantings of, 171
Advocate of the Jews, 127
Ahab, 160
Aleph to Tau, 139
Alexander, 8
Alliterations, 9
Alms greater than sacrifice, 119
Almsgiving, 117 ff.
Alpha and Omega, 139 f.
Altar of clay, 173 f.
Altars of unhewn stone, 168
Ammonite deity, 169
Ammonites, 59
Angel, guardian, 127
Angelic beings, 78 f., 122 ff.
Angels, grades among the, 126
— , names of from Babylonia, 124
— , intercessors, 125
Animal sacrifices, 101
Anthropomorphic conceptions, 74
Anthropomorphisms, 82, 150
Apocalyptic passages in Isaiah, 9
Arabians, 59
Araboth, 137
Armenians, 61
Assur, 141
Assyria, 53, 168
Assyrian colonists, 58
Assyrians, 159
Astrologers, 163
Astyages, 56
Atonement, 56, 74. 101
— , doctrine of, 69 ff-, 85 ff.
— , false doctrine of, 103
— , later Jewish teaching on, 71
— , spiritual doctrine of, 103
— , through chastisement, 71
— , through suffering, 70
— , vicarious, 101 f.
Avenger of blood, 139
Babvlon, 28, 51. 52, 57, 63, 163
— , downfall of, 5
— , exiles in, 54 ff«
Babylonian exile, 50

Babylonian influence, 123
Babylonians, 61
Badge of prophet, 160
Baldness of Elisha, 162
Beings, superhuman, 121
Bel, 141
Beliefs, superstitious, 180
Benhadad, 160
Biblical books, dates of, 49
— books, editing of, 56
— quotations utterances of the Holy
Spirit, 129
Blood, avenger of, 139
Bricks, 173
Broth, 177
Canaan, language of, 8
Captives, enumeration of returned, 50
Captivity, no sacrifices during, 72
Chassidim, 144, 154
Chastisement, 96
— , a means of atonement, 71
Chaos, 150
Christ, dual nature of, 82
Christian doctrine, influence of Judaism
on, 46
Christianity, difference between Juda
ism and, 120
Circumcision, 56, 114
Clay altar, 173 f.
Colonists, Assyrian, 58
Commentators, Jewish, 123
Conjectural emendation of Hebrew text,.
90
Consecration to a deity, 159
Corruption in Hebrew text, 72, 88, 89 ff . ,
99, 147
Creation-myth, 150
Croesus, 57
Cyrus, 29, 35, 36, 56
— , God's instrument, 57
Damascus, 171
Darius, 61
Dates of Biblical books, 49
Day of the Lord, the, 62
Dead Sea, 59
Debt, payment of, 70
Deity, consecration to, 159
Deutero-Isaiah, idealism of, 29 ff.

181

182

INDEX

Deuteronomy, book of, 56
Distinguishing marks of Jews, 56
Dividers of the heavens, 163
Divine grace, 73, 119
— love, 73
Doctrinal Standpoint of Isaiah xl.-lv.,
67 ff.
 , lvt-lxvi., 107 ff.
Dog, 177
Dragon, 150 f.
Drink-offerings, 168
Dwelling-place of God, 137
Kbed- Jahwe Songs, 26, 31 ff.
 , doctrinal teaching of, 85 ff.
 , reason for their presence, 35 ff .
 , rhythm of, 88
Ecclesiasticus, 152
Edomites, 59
Efficacy of works denied, 120
Egypt, 7
— , emigration to, 51
— , Jewish colonists in, 8
Elisha's baldness, 162
Emendation of Hebrew text, 90
Emeth, 139
Endor, witch of, 173
Enoch, book of, 124 f.
Esarhaddon, 7
Eschatological passages in Isaiah, 10, 12
Eternal life gained by alms, 119
Exegetical studies, 133 ff.
Exiles, condition of, 55 f-
— , intercourse with Judasa, 54
— , quality of, 51
— , returned, chsiUusionment of, 60
— , — , enemies of, 60
External influence on Jewish religion,
77
Externalism in worship, 62
Ezekiel, 46, 55
— , book of, 123
Ezra, 45, 62, 107, 111, 144
— , activity of after the Return, 114
— , foUowers of, 167
— , reforms of, 63
— , return to Jerusalem, 45
Fasting, spirit of, 109 f.
Forgiveness, 71, 74
Formalism, 43
Fusion of divine and human, 76, 82
Gardens of Adonis, 172, 176
Gaumata, 61
Gedaliah, 53
Gehenna, 145
Gibeonites, 94
Gilboa, Mount, 174
¦Glory, the divine, 137
Gloss, explanatory, 151
Glosses, 16
God, apprehension of, 56, 104
— , conception of in later Judaism, 81

God, doctrine of, 74 ff.
— , doctrine of in the Psalms, 74
— , false doctrine of, 103
— , majesty of, 56
— , quasi-persomfications of, 127
— , relationship with, 104
Gods, national, 80
Goel, 139
Grace, divine, 73, 1-19
Great Rock, 141
Grecian period, 8, 49
Guardian angel, 127
Hananiah, 54
Hand, 165
Headband, i6r
Heathen customs, 62
— ¦ rites, 171
Heavenly hierarchy, 123
Hebrew text, emendations of, 90, g2, 114
 corruption, 72, 88, 89 ff.f 147
— word-play, 168
Hebron, 59
HeUenistic influences, 108
Heretical worship, 43
Hezekiah, Song of, 10
Hierarchy, heavenly, 123
Highway, 135
Historical background of xl.-lxyi., 49 ff .
 of lvi.-lxvi., 43 ff.
" Holy," 179
Holy One of Israel, the, 77
Holy Spirit, 128
Hypocritical worship, 43
Idealism of Deutero-Isaiah, 29 ff .
Idols, 79
Iduma?a, 59
Imitations of Isaiah, 8
Incense altar, 173 f.
Individual, the servant of the Lord, 85,
93
Infection, supernatural, 179
Isaac, 71
Isaiah, book of, apocalyptic passages
in, 9
— , — , composite character of, 3
— , — , eschatological passages in, 10
— , — , historical references in, 3
— , — , non-Isaianic elements in, 5 ff.
— , style of, 15
— xl.-lxvi., component parts of, 25 ff.
Jahwe, a proper name, 27
Jeconiah, 54
Jehoiachin, 51, 52
Jehoiakim, 54
Jeremiah, 50, 55
Jerusalem, building of the walls of, 107
— , fall of, 55
— , Jews in after the Return, 58
— , reformation in, 62
— Talmud, 139

INDEX

183

Jewish colonists in Egypt, 8
— commentators, 123
— religion, external influence on, 77
Jews, advocate of, 127
— , distinguishing marks of, 56
— in Judasa during the Exile, 51
— ¦, religious state after the Return,
153 f-
John the Baptist, 134
Jordan, 59
Judaaa a Babylonian province, 53
— after the fall of Jerusalem, 50 ff .
— during the Captivity, 50 ff.
Judaism, 44, 45, 63, 71, 75, 108, 118,
128, 129
— , background of early Christianity,
121
— , difference between Christianity and ,
120
— , post-exilic, 121
Judicial murder, 98
Justification, 74, 119
King of Jacob, 138
Law, 12, 13, 44, 56, 120, i8r, 144
— , new conception of, 107
— , observance of, 111 ff.
Levites, 63
Life after death, 101
Logos, 126
Love, divine, 73
Magic, 178
Marginal notes, 16
Mark, 158
Marks, bodily, 162
Mattanah, 142
Mattaniah, 52
Meckiza, 137
Medes, 56, 61
Melek, 169
Memorial, 165
— after death, 152
Memorials in the house of God, 166
Memra, 128
Mercy, deeds of, no f.
Merit, doctrine of, 119
Messiah, 86
— ¦, advent of, 60
Messianic Era, 60, 112
— expectations, 61
— times, 17
Metatron, 128
Michael, 126
Midrash, 71, 86
Milkom, 170
Miriam, 142
Mixed marriages, 62
Mizpah, 53
Moses, 63, 125, 141, 142
Mourning, mark of, 162
Mouse, 177

National gods, 80
Nebuchadrezzar, 50, 54
Nebuzaradan, 50
Nehemiah, 45, 63, 107 f.
New views, beginning of, 67
Oath of fealty to the Deity, 166
Obliteration of sin by man's act, 72
 through suffering, 94
Old views, modification of, 67
Onkelos, Targum of, 141 f.
Ordinances, legal, 113
Ownership, 158
Palestine, condition of, 58
— , excavations in, 169
Pargdd, 137
Parthians, 6r
Particularistic views, ro8
Paul, St., 141, 143
Peace, 96
Permanent and transient, 149
Persia, religion of, 57
Persian rule, 43
Personal responsibility, 56
Philistines, 59
Philo, quotation from, 126
Piggulim, 177
Plantings of Adonis, 171
Prognosticators, 163
Prophet, office of, 6
Prophet's badge, 160
— , rdle of, 122 f.
Psalms, doctrine of God in, 74
Psammetichus, 7
Punishment for sin, 94
Punitive action, divine, 96
Rabbis, teaching of, 125
Rabbinical comment, 119
— hterature, 126
Rahab, 150 f.
Raphael, 125
Reckoning in O.T., 50
Red Sea, passage of the, 150
Redeemer, 139
Redactional additions, n ff.
 , reasons for, 19 f.
 , signs of, 20 f.
— modifications, n
Redactor, n
Reformation in Jerusalem, 62
Relationship with God, 104
ReUgious state of Jews after the Return,
153 f-
Responsibility, personal, 56
Rhythm in Ebed-Jahwe Songs, 88
Righteousness, 148
Rites, heathen, 171
Rock, 140, 143
— , spiritual, 141
Sabbtah, 56

184

INDEX

Sabbath observance, pre- and post-
exilic, 115 f.
Sacramental symbols, 114
Sacrifice of dog, 178
Sacrifices, acception of, 69
— , animal, 101
— , non-necessity of, 72
— , spiritual, 103 f.
Sacrificial system, 72
 , abrogation of, 104
•  , cessation of, 114
 , inadequacy of, 103
Samaria, 108
Samaritans, 58
Sargon, 7
Saul, 94
Scribes, 13, 18, 56
Seals, 158
Sennacherib, 7
Septuagint, 16, 21, 73, 98, 100, 134, 135,
137, 144, 148, 169
Servant of the Lord, 31 ff.
 , characteristics of, 41
 , individuaUty of, 85, 93
 , Jewish belief concerning, 86
 , mission of, 40
Servitude, time of, 69
Shebaniah, 158
Shekkinah, 128
Sheol, 145, 170
Sheshbazzar, 57 f., 60
— , arrival of, 58
— , task of, 59
Sin involves suffering, 101
— , problem of, 56
— , punishment for, 94
Smooth stones, 168
Song of Hezekiah, 10
Sopherim, 56
Spartans, 177
Spiritual rock, 141
— sacrifices, 103 f.
— suffering, 97, 101
Star-gazers, 163
Stigmata, 159
Suffering, 56
— , a means of atonement, 70
— a means of obliterating sin, 94
— an ethical necessity, 96
— not a sign of divine wrath, 102
— , spiritual, 97
— , the innocent for the guilty, 93 f.
— , voluntary, 94, 102
Superhuman beings, 121

Supernatural infection, 179
Superstitious beliefs, 180
Swine, 177
Symbolic act, 8
Symbols, sacramental, 114
Syria, 160
Taanach, 174
Talmud, Jerusalem, 139
Targum of Onkelos, 141 f.
¦ — to the Prophets, 86
Tarshish, ships of, 18
Tattoo, 159
Tehom Rabbah, 150 f.
Temple, 57
— , completion of, 61
— , foundation of,. 57
— , rebuilding of, 60
— rebuilt, 44
— , the second, 61
Tetragrammaton, the, 26 f.
Tiamat, 150
Tobit, book of, 125
Torah, 117
Transcendentalism, 74
Transient and permanent, 149
Tyre, lamentation over, 18
Uncleanness, 179
Universalism, 8
Vengeance, divine, 94 f.
Ventriloquism, 175 f.
Vicarious atonement, 101
Voluntary suffering, 94, 102
Vulgate, 135, 148
Watchers, 122 ff.
Water and the Spirit, 138
Witch of Endor, 175
Wizards, 175
Word-play, Hebrew, 9, 168
Works, 74, «7 ff-
Zechariah, 162
— , book of, 123
Zeddkah, 119
Zedekiah, 52, 53
Zephaniah, 138.
Zerubbabel, 60
¦ — , Temple of, 61
Zodiac, stations of, 163

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