Isaiah 2 - Introduction

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In these three Chapter s we seem to have one of the minor collections of Isaianic oracles from which the present book of Isaiah has been compiled (see Introd., p. lxvii). That they once existed as a separate volume is strongly suggested by two circumstances. (a) The form of the superscription (Isaiah 2:1) as compared with that of ch. Isaiah 1:1. The repetition of the full designation of the prophet, without any note of time or subject specially applicable to what follows, would seem to indicate that this heading was written independently of the general title in ch. 1. (b) The artistic unity and completeness of the section as a whole confirms the impression of its original independence. It contains (1) an introduction (Isaiah 2:2-4), describing the future glory of Zion as the religious metropolis of the world; (2) a series of discourses in which the prophet assails the prevalent vices and evils of his own day, and announces the judgment about to fall on the nation (Isaiah 2:5 [6] 4:1); and (3) a conclusion (Isaiah 4:2-6), shewing how through judgment the ideal set forth at the outset shall be realised in the blessings reserved for those who escapethe judgment. The enclosing of the oracles of judgment between two passages of Messianic import affords clear evidence of literary design: which is admitted even by critics who (see below) question the Isaianic authorship of the opening and closing sections.

With regard to the date little difference of opinion exists. At least the middle portion (Isaiah 2:6 to Isaiah 4:1) is assigned with hardly a dissentient voice to the very earliest period of Isaiah's prophetic career. In Isaiah 2:6-22, the material prosperity attained under Uzziah still exists in undiminished splendour, and (since Isaiah did not receive his prophetic call till the year of that king's death) the passage is most naturally assigned to the succeeding reign, that of Jotham. Ch. 3 may have been written somewhat later. Its picture of anarchy may have been suggested by tendencies which Isaiah saw around him, caused by the removal of a strong hand from the helm; and at all events Isaiah 2:12 applies to no king so well as to the weak and irresolute Ahaz. On the other hand, the absence of any explicit allusion to the Assyrians shews that the prophecies belong to the very beginning of the reign, prior to the events recorded in ch. 7. The whole passage is thus of great importance as a record of the impressions and ideas with which Isaiah entered on public life.

II. 1. On the scope of the heading see Introd. Note above. The word … saw The combination of the verb "see" with the obj. "word" is not uncommon: Jeremiah 38:21; Habakkuk 2:1; Amos 1:1; Micah 1:1, and cf. Isaiah 13:1; Habakkuk 1:1 (burden). In such expressions both words have undergone a certain process of generalisation; "word" denoting the substance of the prophetic revelation, in whatever way received, and "see" (ḥâzâh) describing the spiritual intuition by which the prophet was enabled to apprehend it. (See on ch. Isaiah 1:1)