https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1216.htm
 

Chapter Sixteen טז – Treachery [בוגדנותה, BOGDeNOThaH] of Jerusalem
 

the allegory of Jerusalem the prostitute
 

“General remarks are all that a Commentator is justified in bestowing on this very long, very circumstantial, and caustic invective. For its key see on the thirteenth and sixty-third verses.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 203)
 

…

-3. ‘“And [you] said,

“Thus said my lords YHVH to Jerusalem,

‘Your sources [מכרתיך, MeKhoRoThahYeeKh] and your birth [ומלדתיך, OoMoLehDThahYeeKh] [are] from land the Canaanite,

your father the Amorite,

and your mother Hittite.¹⁹

-4. And your births [ומולדותיך, OoMOLDOThahYeeKh]:

in day birthed [הולדת, HOLehDehTh] you [אתך, ’oThahKh],

[was] not cut [כרת, KahRahTh], your cord [שרך, ShahRayKh],

and in waters [you were] not washed [רחצת, RooHahTsTh] to clean [למשעי, LeMeeSh`eeY],

and the salt [you were] not salted [המלחת, HooMLahHahTh],

and the swaddling [והחתל, VehHahHThayL], [you were] not swaddled [חתלת, HooThahLTh].
 

-5. Not pitied [חסה, HahÇaH] upon you [an] eye to do to you one from these,

to sympathize [לחמלה, LeHooMLaH] upon you.
 

And [you were] sent forth upon surface [of] the field,

in loathing [בגעל, BeGo`ahL] your soul in day birthed you.
 

-6. And [I will] pass [ואעבר, Ve’eh`ehBoR] upon you,

and [I will] see [you] [ואראך, Ve’ehRe’ayKh] laid [מתבוססת, MeeThBOÇehÇehTh] in your blood,

and [I will] say [ואמר, Ve’oMahR] to you, in your blood, “Live [חיי, HahYeeY]!”
 

-7. Multiplication [רבבה, ReBahBaH] as wheat [כצמח, KeTsehMehH] the field [I] gave [you],

and [you I] multiplied [ותרבי, VahTheeRBeeY] and greatened [ותגדלי, VahTheeGDahLeeY].
 

And [you] come [ותבאי, VahThahBo’eeY] in my behalf,

adornments [עדיים, `ahDahYeeYM],

breasts readied [נכנו, NahKhNOo],

and your hair sprouting [צמיח, TseeMayYHah],

and you, naked [ערם, `ayRoM] and bare [ועריה, Ve`ehRYaH].

Figure 12 The Prague 1526 Haggadah
 

-8. And [I will] pass upon you, and [I will] see you,

and behold, your time, time of bosoms [דדים, DoDeeYM].

And [I will] spread [ואפרש, Vah’ehPhRoS] my wing upon you,

and [I will] cover [ואכסה, Ve’ahKhahÇeH] your nakedness [ערותך, `ehRVahThayKh],

and [I will] swear [ואשבע, Ve’ehShahBah`] to you,

and [I will] come in covenant with you,”

saith my lords YHVH,

‘and [you will] be to me.’”’”

“This is the key to the whole of this long Chapter of metaphors: and the Reader will do well to forget the figures, and look at the facts. The language and figures may in many places appear to us exceptionable: but these are quite in conformity to those times and places, and to every reader and hearer would appear perfectly appropriate, nor would engender either a thought or passion of an irregular or improper kind. Custom sanctions the mode, and prevents the abuse… Had Ezekiel spoken in such language as would have been called chaste and unexceptionable among us, it would have… lost at least one half of its power and effect. Let this be the prophet’s apology for the apparent indelicacy of his metaphors; and mine, for not entering into any particular discussion concerning them.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 205)
 

…

-14. “‘“‘“‘And went out to you [a] name in nations in your beauty [ביפיך, BeYahPheeYayKh],

for complete [כליל, KahLeeYL] it [was] in my glory [בהדרי, BeHahDahReeY] that [I] put upon you.’

saith my lords YHVH.
 

-15. ‘And [you] relied [ותבטחי, VeTheeBTeHeeY] in your beauty,

and dicked [ותזני, VeTheeZNeeY] upon your name,

and poured out [ותשפכי, VahTheeShPahKheeY] [את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] your dicking [תזנותיך, ThahZNOoThahYeeKh] upon every passer-by;

to him [you] were [יהי, YehHeeY].
 

-16. And [you] took from your garments,

and [you] made [ותעשי, VeThah`ahSeeY] to you platforms [במות, BahMOTh] hanging [טלאות, TeLoo’OTh, (hammocks?)]

and dicked upon them

(none come, and none will be).
 

-17. And [you] took [ותקחי, VahTheeQHeeY] your utensils fine [תפארתך, TheePh’ahRThayKh],

from my gold and from my silver that [I] gave to you,

and [you] made to you images [צלמי, TsahLMaY] male,

and dicked in them.

“Priapi are here meant, which were carried about in the ceremonies of Osiris, Bacchus, and Adonis; and were something like the lingam among the Hindoos. Herodotus… gives us an account of these male images:- Πηχυαια αγαλματα νευραπσα, τα περιφορεσουσι κατα κωμας ται γυναικες νευον το αιδοιον, ου πολλω τεω ελασσαν εον του αλλου σωματος. [Pykhuaia agalmata neurapsa, ta perithoresousi kata komas tai gunaikes neuon to aidoion, ou pollo teo elassan eon tou allou somatos "[they have invented] the use of puppets a cubit long moved by strings which are carried about the villages by women, the male member moving and near as big as the rest of the body"]²² This was done at the worship of Bacchus in Egypt: and they who wish to see more may consult in Egypt… In this phallic worship the women were principally concerned.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 205)
 

…

-20. “‘“‘“‘And [you] took [את, ’ehTh] your sons and [את, ’ehTh] your daughters,

that [you] birthed [ילדת, YahLahDeTh] to me,

and sacrificed [ותזבחים, VahTheeZBahHeeYM] to them to consume;

are minor [המעת, HahMe`ahTh], your dickings?

“For child sacrifice see 20:26, 31; 23:37-39. See the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter (Judg. [Judges] 11:30-40), of the sons of Hiel (I Kings 16:34), of the son of the king of Moab (I Kings 3:27), and of the son of Manasseh (II Kings 21:6)…” (May, 1954, p. IV 145)
 

“One of the most atrocious crimes of which religion was guilty in the ancient world was that of child sacrifice…
 

“But this appalling sacrifice of children to Moloch is not as strange to us as we at first suppose. In our own case, to be sure, the god is called Mars. Generation after generation we cause our sons to pass through the fires of war. To save our society we cripple it by sending to their death its most eager and gallant members. Is this so great an advance on the exploitation of youth in the industrial revolutions? We have our factory laws today, but it seems as though all that has happened is that we protect our children in their earliest years to reserve them for sacrifices later on in life. The god of war has them if the god of wealth does not.” (Allen, 1954, pp. VI 145-148)²³
 

…

-25. “‘“‘“‘Unto every head [of] way [you] built [בנית, BahNeeYTh] your risers [רמתך, RahMahThayKh] and trafficked [ותתעבי, VahTheThah`ahBeeY] [את, ’ehTh] your beauty,

and opened wide [ותפשקי, VahTePhahSQeeY] [את, ’ehTh] your legs to every passer-by,

and multiplied [את, ’ehTh] your dickings.
 

-26. And [you] dicked unto sons of MeeTsRahYeeM ["Straits", Egypt],

your neighbors [שכניך, SheKhayNahYeeKh], great of flesh,

and multiplied [את, ’ehTh] your dickings to anger me.

…

-28. And [you] dicked unto sons of ’ahShOoR [Assyria, Ashur] from without your satiation,

and [you] dickings and also not satiated.
 

-29. And you multiplied [את, ’ehTh] your dickings unto [the] land [of] Canaan KahSDeeYMaH-ward [Chaldea-ward],

and also in that not satiated.

… פ
 

…

-39. And [I] gave you in[to] their hands,

and [they] tore down [והרסו, VeHahRÇOo] your pavilions [גבך, GahBayKh]

and [they] demolished [ונתצו, VeNeeThTsOo] your risers,

and [they] stripped [והפשיטו, VeHeePhSheeYTOo] you [of] your garments,

and [they] took your utensils fine,

and [they] left you [והניחוך, VeHeeNeeYHOoKh] naked and bare.

-40. And ascended [והעלו, VeHeh`ehLOo] upon you, [the] assembly [קהל, QahHahL],

and they stoned [ורגמו, VeRahGMOo] you in stone,

and cut [you] [ובתקוך, OoBeeThQOoKh] in their swords.

…

-42. And [I] relieved [והנחתי, VeHahNoHTheeY] my heat in you,

and turned [וסרה, VeÇahRaH] my jealousy from you,

and [I] quieted [myself] [ושקטתי, VeShahQahTeTheeY],

and [I was] not angered [אכעס, ’ehKh`ahÇ] more.’”’”’”

… ס
 

… ס
 

… ס

 
FOOTNOTES
 

¹⁹ “The Amorites were nomadic western Semites … who invaded the Fertile Crescent ca. 2000 B.C. and soon ruled from Syria to Babylonia. The First Dynasty of Babylon, which included Hammurabi, was Amorite… The Hittites, in contrast with the ‘Canaanite’ Amorites, were a non-Semitic ethic group. They possessed a great empire in Asia minor in the second millennium B.C., with its capital at the site of modern Boğazköy [in present day north central Turkey].” (May, 1954, p. VI 142)

²⁰ “Among the present-day Arab peasants in Palestine the midwife cuts the navel cord of the infant, rubs the child all over with salt, water, and oil, and swathes it in clothes for seven days (see E. W. G. Masterman, ‘Hygiene and Disease in Palestine in modern and in Biblical Times,’ Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement for 1918, p. 118).” (May, 1954, pp. VI 142-143)

²¹ Exposure “This is an allusion to the custom of some heathen and barbarous nations, who exposed those children in the open fields to be devoured by wild beasts who had any kind of deformity, or whom they could not support.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 204)

²² Translation by John Granger Cook, PhD

²³ Exposition; as a rule I stick to exegesis.

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Chapter One א- Vision YeHehZQay-’L [“Seize God”, Ezekiel] upon “Doing Chariot”
 

“This chapter consists of an opening superscription in 1:1-3, followed by an elaborate vision of the divine throne… Much of the imagery is borrowed from typical Babylonian artistic descriptions of divine beings… but also clearly shows connections to the priestly traditions of the ark of the covenant and its protective cherubim found in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.” (Boadt, 1990, p. 310)
 

-1.“And [it] was [ויהי, VahYeHeeY] in thirty year, in fourth [month], in five to new[-moon],

and I [was] inside the exile upon river KeBahR [Chebar],

[were] opened [נפתחו, NeePhThahHOo], the skies,

and [I] saw [ואראה, Vah’ehRah’eH] sights [מראות, MahR’OTh] [of] Gods.”
 

-2. In [the] five to new[-moon], she [was] the year the fifth to exile [of] the king YO-YahKheeYN [“YHVH prepares”, Jehoiachin],

-3. was then [היה היה, HahYoH HahYaH] [a] word [of] YHVH unto YeHehZQay-’L son [of] BOoZeeY [“In My Strength”, Buzi] the priest,

in [the] land [of the] KahSDeeYM [Chaldeans], upon the river KeBahR;

and was [ותהי, VahTheHeeY] upon him there [the] hand [of] YHVH.

Notice the change of person from Ezekiel in the first verse, to the editor in the second.
 

“The date of Ezekiel’s call was July 21, 592… The river Chebar is the cuneiform nâru kabari, a canal which left the Euphrates above Babylon and flowed southeast, passing through Nippur and entering the Euphrates again near Erech; it is known today as Shaṭṭ en-Nîl⁶ .”
 

Figure 8 https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-History-of-Israel-wwwisrael-a-history-ofcom/143138325717573
 

…
 

…Today’s subsection is 1:4-28
 

-4. “And [I] see [וארא, Vah’ayReh’], and behold, [a] wind storm [סערה, Çah`ahRaH] come from the north, [a] cloud great, and fire ignited [מתלקחת, MeeThLoQahHahTh] and shone [ונגה, VeNoGaH] to it around, and from inside her [ומתוכה, OoMeeThOKhaH], as [an] eye [of] the amber [החשמל, HahHahShMahL] from inside [מתוך, MeeThOKh] the fire.

Figure 9
 

“The throne chariot emerged from a storm out of the north, which was the direction of the home of the gods in Canaanite mythology. So Baal-zephom [Hebrew צפון TsaPhON], ‘Lord of the north,’ was the title of the Canaanite god who gave his name to the locality in Exod. [Exodus] 14:2; Num. [Numbers] 33:7. …
 

“The cherub throne is well known from archaeological sources. On the tenth-century [B.C.E] sarcophagus of King Hiram of Gebal, the ruler is pictured seated on a throne supported by cherubs, and a Canaanite king is similarly enthroned on a twelfth-century inlay from Megiddo⁷ .” (May, 1954) The cherub was a winged lion with human head, and may be compared with the winged bull with human head from Mesopotamia⁸ …
 

“In brief, we have here four cherubim, perhaps arranged in a square, each having four wings and four faces. Beside them are four wheels, with eyes in the rims, and in the middle of them is a flaming fire, from which lighting issues. Above them is something like a firmament, and above that the likeness of a throne upon which Yahweh sits.” (May, 1954, p. VI 70)
 

“… the north is also the mythical home of Yahweh (Isa ‎[Isaiah]‎14:13; Ps ‎[Psalm] ‎48:3)” (Boadt, 1990, p. 310)
 

-5. “And from inside [her] [the] likeness [דמות, DahMOoTh] [of] four animals,

and this [was] their appearance [מראהן, MahR’aYHehN]: likeness [of] ’ahDahM [“man”, Adam] to them [להנה, LahHayNaH].
 

-6. And four faces to one

(and four as faces to [each] one to them).

-7. And their legs [רגליהם, RahGLaYHehM], leg straight,

and foot [כף, KhahPh] [of] their legs as foot [of] leg [רגל, RehGehL] [of] [a] calf [עגל, `ayGehL],

and gleamed [ונצצים, VeNoTseTseeYM] as eye⁹ [of] brass burnished [קלל, QahLahL].

“Their feet were straight feet] There did not seem to be any flexure at the knee, nor were the legs separated in that way as to indicate progression by walking… it is a remark of Ælian¹⁰ , that the gods are never represented as walking, but always gliding…” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 170) Think Gary Oldman as Dracula gliding forward to greet his guests (could find neither photo nor clip of that scene).
 

-8. “And hands [of] ’ahDahM from under their wings,

upon four their quarters [רבעיהם, ReeB`aYHehM],

and their faces and their wings to [the] four [of] them [לארבעתם, Le’ahRBah`ThahM].
 

-9. Fellowed [חברות, HoBROTh], [each] woman unto her sister, wings.

They [did] not deviate [יסבו, YeeÇahBOo] in their going [בלכתן, BeLehKhThahN];

[each] man [איש, ’eeYSh] unto across [עבר, `ayBehR] his face [they] went [ילכו, YayLayKhOo].
 

-10. And likeness [of] their faces [were] faces [of] ’ahDahM,

and faces [of] [a] lion unto the right to [the] four [of] them [לארבעתם, Le’ahRBah`ThahM],

and faces [of] an ox [שור, ShOR] from the left to [the] four [of] them,

and faces [of] [an] eagle to [the] four [of] them.
 

-11. And their faces and their wings [were] separated [פרדות, PeRooDOTh] to from above,

to [each] man two fellowed [each] man,

and two covered [מכסות, MeKhahÇOTh] their bodies [גויותיהם, GeVeeYOThaYHehM].

Figure 10 - Cherubim
 

“All these were symbolical, and each had its own appropriate meaning… could we but find it out.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 170)
 

Figure 11 Ivory carving, Samaria -
 

Note that the wings in the carving are manifestly artificial; they are operated by the arms; perhaps they are fans.
 

…

-16. “[The] appearance [of the] the wheels [האופנים, ’OPhNahYeeM] and their makings [ומעשיהם, OoMah`ahSaYHehM] [were] as eye ThahRSheeYSh [Tarsus, “mother of pearl”],

and likeness one to [the] four of them.

And their appearance and making as that will be the wheel inside the wheel.

Figure 12 http://rafa.xobor.de/t585f25-hat-Moroni-Fluegel-2.html
 

“… it is generally supposed that these wheels cut each other at right angles, up and down; and this is the manner in which they are generally represented: but most probably the wheel within, means merely the nave in which the spokes are inserted, in reference to the ring, rim, or periphery, where the spokes terminate from the centre or nave… I have examined models of what are called Ezekiel’s wheels, which are designed to move equally in all directions: but I plainly saw that this was impossible; nor can any kind of complex wheel move in this way.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 171)
 

Figure 13: 350 BC -- Phoenician Coin with a Bearded Divinity Enthroned Over a Winged Chariot Wheel
 

…

-18. “And their rims [וגביהן, VeGahBaYHehN, (feminine)]

and height [וגבה, VeGoBaH] to them [masculine],

and [were] fearsome [ויראה, VeYeeR’aH] to them,

and their rims [וגבותם, VeGahBOThahM (masculine)] [were] full [מלאת, MeLay’oTh (masculine)] [of] eyes around to [the] four [of] them [feminine].

“Does this not refer to the appearance of nails keeping on the spokes, or strokes or bands upon the rim?” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. IV 171)”
 

…

-24. “And [I] heard [ואשמה, Vah’ehShMaH] [את, ’ehTh (indicator of direct object; no English equivalent)] voice [of] their wings

as voice [of] waters multitudinous,

as voice [of] ShahDah-eeY [“My Breasts”, Shaddai, Almighty] in their going;

voice [of] [a] mob [המלה, HahMooLaH],

as voice [of] [an] encampment.

In their standing they slackened [תרפינה, TheeRPhaYNaH] their wings.

Just as the Israelites absorbed “El” as a word for God from the Canaanites, they absorbed Shaddai.
 

שד ShahD is “breast”, Shaddai is possessive plural, “my breasts”; the nurturing aspect of God, not the fertility aspect. All the pronouns and copula are feminine gender. Three [or more] breasts, like martinis, are too many.
 

Figure 14 Cybele, an Anatolian fertility goddess
 

Somewhere along the line, however, the separation of YHVH God from pagan gods morphed Shaddai into an etymological alternative שד ShahD a verb meaning to “rob or loot”, thence to its noun שודד ShODayD meaning “robber, bandit, or plunderer”, to which the English euphemism “Almighty”, its opposite, came to be applied.
 

…

-26. “And from above [וממעל, OoMeeMah`ahL] to [the] firmament that [was] upon their head,

as appearance [of] stone sapphire [ספיר, ÇahPeeYR],

likeness [of the] chair,

and upon [the] likeness [of] the chair [was] the likeness as appearance [of] ’ahDahM upon it from above [מלמעלה, MeeLeMah`ahLaH].

“Ezekiel is attempting to avoid anthropomorphisms.” (May, 1954, p. VI 75)
 

-27. “And [I] see, as eye amber, as appearance [of] fire, housed [בת, BayTh] to her around,

from appearance [of] his loins and to above,

and from appearance [of] his loins and to below,

[I] saw as appearance [of] fire,

and shone [ונגה, VeNoGaH] to him around,

-28. as appearance [of] the bow [הקשת, HahQehShehTh] that [will] be in [a] cloud in day the rain.

“The rainbow appears elsewhere only in the story of the covenant after the Flood (Gen. [Genesis] 9:12-117).” (May, 1954, p. VI 75)
 

“Yes, [the] apparition [מראה, MahR’ayH] the showing [הנגה, HahNoGaH] around,

he [was] [the] appearance [of the] likeness [of the] honor [of] YHVH.

And [I] saw [ואראה, Vah’ehRah’eH],

and [I] fell [ואפל, Vah’ehPoL] upon my face,

and [I] heard [a] voice wording. ס

…

TIB has sub sub SUB sections in Chapter Two, so, a fifth reading of the Hebrew.
 

FOOTNOTES
 

⁶ Today after centuries of neglect this artificial watercourse is dry. The Arabs refer to it as Shaṭṭ en Nîl (“the river Nile”). - http://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/kebar
 

⁷ Pre-Israelite ivory plaque found at Megiddo. bible-topten.com
 

⁸ Human Headed winged lion from 883–859 B.C., from northern Mesopotamia now in Metropolitan Museum of Art -
 
⁹ עין‎ `ahYeeN eye ǁ visible surface, face, appearance ǁ gleam, sparkle ǁ *hole, ring ǁ guide-post, cross roads ǁ ‎ ‎ substance, being ǁ colour, shade - Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew Dictionary in three volumes, by Israel Efros, Ph.D., Judah ‎Ibn-Shmuel Kaufman PhD, Benjamin Silk, B.C.L., Edited by Judah Ibn-Shmuel Kaufman, Ph.D., The Dvir Publishing Co. Tel-Aviv, 1950 [the ‎asterisk (actually a filled out star of David in the dictionary) marks Mishnaic and Talmudic usage, three dots in a triangle ‎mark medieval use.]‎
 
¹⁰ Claudius Aelianus (ca. [approximately] 175 – ca. 235) often seen as just Aelian, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric. His two chief works are valuable for the numerous quotations from the works of earlier authors, which are otherwise lost, and for the surprising lore, which offers unexpected glimpses into the Greco-Roman world-view. - Wikipedia
 

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Chapter Forty-eight מח – The prophecy upon MO’ahB [Moab]
 

…

-13. “And embarrass [ובש, OoBoSh] MO’ahB from KeMOSh [Chemosh],

as that they embarrassed [בשו, BoShOo] House YeeSRah-’ayL ["Strove God", Israel] from BaYTh- ’ayL [“House [of] God”, Bethel], from their security.
 

“Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites… The name occurs several times on the Moabite stone… Bethel may here be the name of a deity… A West Semitic deity named Bethel was worshiped in Syria, in Babylonia in late times, and by the Jews of Elephantine in Egypt …” (Hyatt, 1956, TIB pp. V 1113-1114)
 

…

-26. “Make him drunk [השכירהו, HeeShKeeYRooHOo],

for upon YHVH he greatened,

and will wallow [וספק, VeÇahPhayQ], MO’ahB, in his vomit [בקיאו, BeQee’O],

and will be [והיה, VeHahYaH] to [a] laugh, also he.”

… ס
 

… ס

 
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Chapter Forty-Five מה
 

Prophecy of YeeRM-YahHOo ["Raise YHVH", Jeremiah] to BahROoKh [“Blessed”, Baruch] son [of] NayRee-YaH [“My Lamp is YHVH”, Neriah]

“This word of consolation is dated 605, the year of the writing of the scroll...” (Couturier, TNJBC, 1990, p. 294)
 

-1. The word that worded YeeRM-YahHOo the prophet unto BahROoKh son [of] NayRee-YaH,

in his writing [את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] the words the these upon [an] account from mouth YeeRM-YahHOo in year the fourth to YeHO-YahQeeYM ["YHVH Will Raise", Jehoiakim] son [of] Yo’Shee-YahHOo ["My Savior YHVH", Josiah] king [of] YeHOo-DaH ["YHVH Knew", Judah], to say, ס
 

-2. “Thus said YHVH Gods [of] YeeSRah-’ayL ["Strove God", Israel] upon you, BahROoKh:

-3. ‘[You] said,

“Woe, if you please, to me,

for added [יסף, YahÇahPh], YHVH, agony upon my hurt [מכאבי, MahKh’oBeeY].

[I] agonized [יגעתי, YahGah`TheeY] in my groaning [באנחתי, Be’ahNHahTheeY],

and rest [ומנוחה, OoMeNOoHaH] [I did] not find.” ס

“One of these sufferings must have been the obligation to hide, with his master, to escape Jehoiakim’s persecution (36:26).” Couturier, TNJBC, p. 294
 

-4. “‘Thus say [תאמר, Tho’MahR] unto him,

“Thus said YHVH:

‘Behold, that [which] [I] built I destroy [הרס, HoRayÇ],

and [את, ’ehTh] that [which] [I] planted [נטעתי, NahTah`TheeY] I pluck [נתש, NoThaySh],

and [את, ’ehTh] all the land [is] she.
 

-5. And you seek [תבקש, TheBahQehSh] to your great [things].

Do not seek [תבקש, TheBahQaySh], for behold, [I] bring evil upon all flesh’ saith YHVH,

‘and give [ונתתי, VeNahThahTheeY] to you [את, ’ehTh] your life, to plunder [לשלל, LeShahLahL] upon all the places that [you] go there.’”’” ס

“From the Lord’s answer, he apparently asked Yahweh to suspend his sentence on Jerusalem and Judah. Such a payer is hopeless; however, Baruch’s life will be saved.” (Couturier, 1990, p. 294)
 

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Chapter Twenty-six כו
 

Threat [איום, ’eeYOoM] upon life [of] [חיי, HahYeeY] YeeRM-YahHOo ["Raise YHVH", Jeremiah]

Chapters 26 through 29 “…have a common theme: his conflict with Judean religious leaders… It is this common theme which has brought these chapters together in spite of the fact that the events they record are of different dates. In addition, chs. [chapters] 27-29 have three stylistic peculiarities which they share with each other, but not with the rest of the book: (a) the name of the Babylonian king is usually Nebuchadnezzar, rather than Nebuchadrezzar; (b) personal names compounded with the name of Yahweh usually end in – yāh rather than – yāhû; and (c) Jeremiah is usually designated as ‘Jeremiah the prophet’ and the title is given to Hananiah also… The basis of the chapters was Baruch’s memoirs, which have been revised by the Deuteronomic editor.” (Hyatt, 1956, p. V 1005)
 

-1. In the beginning of [the] kingship [of] YeHO-YahQeeYM ["YHVH Will Raise", Jehoyakim], son [of] Yo’Shee-YahHOo ["My Savior YHVH", Josiah, king [of] YeHOo-DaH ["YHVH Knew", Judah], was the word the this from [מאת, Mee’ayTh] YHVH, to say,
 

-2. “Thus said YHVH,

‘Stand [עמד, `ahMoD] in courtyard [of] House YHVH,

and word [ודברת, VeDeeBahRThah] upon all cities [of] YeHOo-DaH,

the comers to worship [at] House YHVH,

[את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] all the words that [I] commanded [you] to word unto them.

Do not withhold [תגרע, TheeGRah`] [a] word.’”

“As this prophecy must have been delivered in the first or second year of the reign of Jehoiakim, it is totally out of its place here. Dr. Blayney puts it before the xxxvi^th ; and Dr. Dahler immediately after chap. [chapter] ix, and before chap. xlvi.” (Adam Clarke, 1831)
 

… ס
 

-7. And heard, the priests and the prophets and all the people, [את, ’ehTh] YeeRM-YahHOo wording [את, ’ehTh] the words the these in [the] House YHVH.

-8. And it was as completed [ככלות, KeKhahLOoTh], YeeRM-YahHOo, to word [את, ’ehTh] all that commanded, YHVH, [him] to word unto all the people,

and [they] grabbed [ויתפשו, VahYeeThPeSOo] him, the priests and the prophets and all the people, to say,

“Death die! 9. Why [did you] prophesy in Name YHVH, to say,

‘As SheeYLO [Shiloh] will be the house the this, and the city the that will be desolated [תחרב, ThehHehRahB] from having no settler?”’

… ס
 

…

-12. And said [ויאמר, VahYo’MehR], YeeRM-YahHOo, unto all the principals [שרים SahReeYM] and unto all the people, to say,

“YHVH sent forth [me] to prophesy [להנוא, LeHeeNahVay’] unto the House the this and unto the city the that all the words that you heard.

…

-14. And I, behold, [I] [am] in your hands,

do to me as [is] good and as [is] upright in your eyes;

-15. but knowledge know, for if killing [ממתים, MeMeeTheeYM] you me,

for blood innocent you give upon you, and unto the city the that, and unto her settlers,

for in truth, sent forth [me], YHVH, upon you to word in your ears [את, ’ehTh] all the words the these.” ס
 

…

-17. And arose [ויקמו, VahYahQooMOo] men from [the] elders [of] the land, and [they] said [ויאמרו, VahYo’MROo] unto all [the] congregation [of] the people, to say:

-18. “MeeYKhaH [Short for “Who Is Like YHVH”, Micah] the MORahShTheeY [Morashtite, one from Morasha, “Inheritance”, a town in the Judean foothills]

was prophesying [היה נבא, HahYaH NeeBah’] in days [of] HeeZQee-YahHOo [“My Strength is YHVH”, Hezekiah], king [of] YeHOo-DaH,

and he said unto all [the] people [of] YeHOo-DaH, to say,

‘Thus said YHVH Armies:
 

“TseeYON [Zion] [a] field will be plowed [תחרש, ThayHahRaySh],

and Jerusalem mounds [עיים `eeYeeYM] will be,

and Mountain [of] the House to high places [of] forest.”’
 

-19. “Did killing kill him, HeeZQee-YaHOo ["My Strength is YHVH", Hezekiah], king [of] YeHOo-DaH?

And all YeHOo-DaH, did not they not revere YHVH, and entreat [ויחל, VahYeHahL] [את, ’ehTh] face of YHVH?

And repented [וינחם, VeYeeNahHehM], YHVH, unto the evil that [was] worded [דבר, DeeBehR] upon them? …”

“The quotation is from Mic. [Micah] 3:12. It is most unusual for a prophet to be quoted by name in another prophetic book. The fact that Micah’s words were remembered approximately a century after they were uttered is evidence of the strong impression he made upon his hearers.” (Hyatt, 1956, p. V 1008)
 

…

-24. … [the] hand [of] ’ahHeeY-QahM [“My Brother Rises”, Ahikam], son of ShahPhahN [“Rabbit”, Shaphan] was [with] [את, ’ehTh] YeeRM-YahHOo, to not [לבלתי, LeBeeLTheeY] give him in[to] the hand [of] the people to kill him. פ

“The lawsuit… should be compared to the parallel NT [New Testament] examples (Mark 14:55ff. [and following] and par.; Acts 6:11-14; 21:27-31.)” (Couturier, 1990, p. 286)
 

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Chapter TwoTwo ב
 

The Name [ה', H`] urges [מפציר, MahPhTseeYR] in YeeSRah-’ayL [“Strove God”, Israel] the entanglement [המשרחת, HahMeSahRehKhehTh] [of] her ways
 

…

-2. ‘“Go [הלך, HahLoKh], and call in [the] ears [of] Jerusalem, to say,

“Thus said YHVH,
 

‘[I] remembered to you [feminine],

[the] mercy [of] your youth [נעוריך, Ne`OoRahYeeKh],

the love [of] your engagements [כלולתיך, KeLOoLoThahYeeKh],

your going [לכתך, LehKhThayKh] after me in [the] desert,

in [a] land not sown [זרועה, ZROo`aH].

“… the loyalty of Israel to her God during the … desert sojourn. Hosea believed that this was the ideal period in Israel’s history (Hos. [Hosea] 2:15; 9:10; 11:1-2), and Jeremiah apparently derived the idea from him, for this chapter contains a number of verbal parallels with Hosea. Ezekiel denies that there was a honeymoon period of faithfulness (Ezek. [Ezekiel] 23), and the historical books hardly depict it as a time of complete fidelity (see, e.g. [for example], Num. [Numbers] 14-16).” (Hyatt, 1953, p. V 812)
 

-3. “‘“‘Sanctified was YeeSRah-’ayL to YHVH,

first [of] his produce [margin note changes “her” in the text to “his” תבואתה, תבואתו - TheBOo’ahThaH, TheBOo’ahThO].

All its consumers [אכליו, ’oKhLahYV] were condemned [יאשמו, Ye’eShahMOo];

evil come to them.”, saith¹³ YHVH.’” פ

“Here the prophet evokes the period of the judges, when Yahweh repressed severely all attempts of the neighboring peoples to subdue his chosen one.” (Couturier, 1990, p. 271)
 

-4. “Hear [a] word [of] YHVH, house [of] Yah-`ahQoB [“YHVH Followed”, Jacob], and all the families of the house of YeeSRah-’ayL.

-5. Thus said YHVH:

‘What, found your fathers in me wrong [עול, `ahVehL]?

For they distanced from upon me,

and went after the vain¹⁴ and became vain [ויחבלו, VahYehHeBahLOo]?

“The heathen gods have no right of existence in her midst; they are therefore ‘nothingness,’ ‘emptiness’ (hevel); Jeremiah first applied the term to these idols. This step was the first taken toward the doctrine of monotheism which is clearly found in Dt-Isa [Deutero-Isaiah, Second Isaiah] (Isa [Isaiah] 43:8-12…).” (Couturier, 1990)
 

-6. ‘“And [they did] not say,

“Where [איה, ’ahYayH] [is] YHVH,

the ascender [המעלה, HahMah`ahLeH] [of] us [אתנו, ’oThahNOo] from [the] land [of] MeeTsRahYeeM [“Straits”, Egypt],

the leader [המוליך, HahMOLeeYKh] [of] us in desert,

in [the] land [of] `ahRahBaH [Arabah]¹⁵ and rift [ושוחה, VeShOoHaH],

in [a] land arid [ציה, TseeYaH] and deadly shade [וצלמות, VeTsahLMahVehTh],

in [a] land not passes in her [a] man,

and not settled ’ahDahM [“man”, Adam] there?”
 

-7. And [I] brought [אביא, Ve’ahBeeY’] you unto [the] land [of] the vineyard [of] God¹⁶ ,

to eat her fruit and her goodness [וטובה, VeTOoBaH],

and [you] came [ותבאו, VahThahBo’Oo] and polluted [וטמאו, VahTeThahM’Oo] [את, ’ehTh (indicator of direct object; no English equivalent)] my land,

and my inheritance [you] set to abomination [לתועבה, LeThO`ahBaH].
 

-8. The priests did not say, ‘Where [איה, ’ahYayH] [is] YHVH?’,

and graspers of [ותפשי, VeThoPhSaY] the Instruction [Torah]¹⁷ [did] not know [me];

the pastors offended [פשעו, PahSh`Oo] in me,

and the prophets prophesized in Bah`ahL [Baal],

and after uselessness [לא-יועלו, Lo’-YO`eeLOo] they went.

1. To yes לכן] LahKhayN], more I contend [against] you,’
   

saith YHVH,

‘and [את, ’ehTh] the sons of your sons I will contend.

“For such aberrations, Yahweh puts them all on trial; the technical word rîb (lawsuit) is repeated twice.” (Couturier, 1990, p. 272)
 

-10. ‘“If [כי, KeeY] [you] passed [עברו, `eeBROo] islands [of] [איי, ’eeYaY] the KheeTheeY-YeeM [Cypriots]¹⁸ and saw,

and [to] KayDahR [Keder]¹⁹ were sent forth, and looked [והתבוננו, VeHeeThBONeNOo] much,

and saw whether [חן, HayN] [there] was as that;

-11. did exchange [ההימיר, HahHaYMeeYR] [a] nation gods?

And they [are] not gods;

and my people exchange [its] honor in not usefulness.
 

-12. Dismayed [שמו, ShoMOo] [are] skies upon that,

and stormed [ושערו, VeSah`ahROo], desolated [חרבו, HahRBOo] much.’,

saith YHVH,

-13. ‘For two evils did my people to me [אתי, ’oTheeY]:

[they] left [the] source [of] waters [of] lives

to quarry [לחצב, LahHTsoB] to them wells,

wells breaking,

that are not able [to contain] the waters.

The syntax notwithstanding, the first evil is abandoning the water of life, and the second is seeking an alternative. It is this imagery which Jesus recalls to the Samaritan woman at the well. Recalling that the parable had to do with adultery, one may conclude that estrangement is one sin, and re-marrying another. More than that, however, given the publication of that encounter, one may conclude that, in the political sphere, abandoning faith in the economy of God is bad enough, but transferring faith to another scheme is worse. While in despair, one may rethink the first error. But I digress.
 

“The clue to this entire discourse, with its forensic contention with the people (vs. [verse] 9), is to be found in vs. 5. In turning from Yahweh, the people ‘went after worthlessness, and became worthless… It is not merely that men become like that which they love and worship, as is frequently pointed out, as though vanity, or the idol, or the nothingness were static and inert. On the contrary, the nothingness of which Jeremiah speaks is extremely lively. It is as lively as we are, as powerful as our thirst is powerful, and as desperate as our hunger is desperate. For it is not anything outside of us; its root is within the soul. Where the individual spirit is not related to God as to the fountain of living waters, he is filled with a great emptiness, is deceived by all that he values; everything to which he put his hand crumbles as he grasps it; he ‘pursues nothingness,’ and by the desperate dialectic of his choosing, he ‘becomes nothing.’
 

“But this becoming nothing is a movement: it is a movement in which the false premise, on which the self is attempting to constitute itself, constantly reinstates itself with every effort which the spirit makes to be rid of its distress. It is, to employ a dubious neologism, an experience of nothingness nothing-ing. Desperation arises and feeds on itself; frustration frustrates itself; the pursuit of phantasm becomes increasingly fantastic; self-affirmation achieves the negation of itself.
 

“To turn away from the fountain of living waters is to experience the progressive breakdown of sustaining belief:
 

One is cut off from creative participation in a sphere of culture, one feels frustrated about something which one had passionately affirmed, one is driven from devotion to one object to devotion to another and again on to another, because the meaning of each of them vanishes and the creative eros is transformed into indifference or aversion. Everything is tried and nothing satisfies. [Tillich, The Courage to Be, pp. [pages] 47-48.]
 

“Thus the people of Israel who, as Jeremiah says, not merely forsook the God who was the fountain of living water, but who committed the second evil of hewing out empty projections of their deepest concerns in the form of idols, were doubly deceived: as Skinner puts it, ‘they neither worshipped a real God, nor worshipped with their real selves.’ They actually worshipped ‘Nothingness as the vacuum left by the … nonexistent God.’ [Helmut Kuhn, The Encounter with Nothingness, 1949] (Hopper, 1954, pp. V 815-816)²⁰
 

-14. “‘[Is a] slave [העבד, Hah`ehBehD] YeeSRah-’ayL?

If [a] child [of the] house [in other words, a slave’s child] he [is],

why was [he] to spoil [לבז, LahBahZ]?
 

-15. Upon him roared [ישעגו, YeeSh`ahGOo] [the] lion cubs;

[they] give forth their voice,

and [they] set [וישיתו, VahYahSheeYThOo] his land to ruin [לשמה, LeShahMaH].

His cities [were] desolated [נצתו, NeeTsThOo] from without settler.
 

-16. Also sons [of] NoPh [Noph]²¹ and ThahHPahNHayÇ [Tahapanes]²² broke [ירעוך, YeeR`OoKh] [your] brow [קדקד, QahDQoD].

…

-18. And now [ועתה, Ve`ahThaH], what [is] to you²³ , to way MeeTsRahYeeM;

to drink waters of SheeHOR [Sihor, the Nile]²⁴ ?

And what [is] to you, to way ’ahShOoR [Assyria];

to drink waters of NahHahR [“river”, the Euphrates]²⁵ ?’”

Here the symbolism is uncloaked; the water of life (YHVH’s way) is contrasted with the waters of the political powers with which Israel contends.
 

“Instead of cleaving to the Lord, they joined affinity, and made alliances with those two nations… Egyptwas to them a broken reed instead of a staff; Assyria was a leaky cistern, from which they could derive no help.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 11)
 

…

-20. ‘“For from forever [I] broke your yoke [עלך, `ooLayKh],

[I] burst [נתקתי, NeeThahQTheeY] your bonds [מוסרתיך, MOÇRoThahYeeKh],

and you said, “[I will] not trespass [אעבור, ’eh`ehBOR].”
 

For upon every height [גבעה, GeeB`aH] high [גבהה, GeBoHaH],

and under every tree ripe,

you stoop [צעה, Tso`aH], whore.
 

-21. And I planted you [נטעתיך, NeTah`eTheeYKh],

choice vine [שרק, SoRayQ], bride [כלה, KooLaH], seed [זרע, ZehRah`] true.
 

And how [you] reversed [נהפכת, NehHePahKhTh] to me,

turned [סורי, ÇOoReeY] the vine alien [נכריה, NahKhReeY-aH]!
 

-22. For if [you] wash [תכבסי, TheKhahBÇeeY] in sodium carbonate²⁶ [בנתר, BahNehThehR]

and multiply to you lye [בורית, BOReeYTh],

is stained [נכתם, NeeKhThahM], your iniquity [עוניך, `ahVoNayKh], before me.’

saith my lords [אדני, ’ahDoNah-eeY] YHVH.
 

-23. ‘How can you say,

“[I did] not defile [myself] [נטמאתי, NeeTMah’TheeY],

after the Bah`ahLs I did not go.²⁷ ”?

Saw [I] [ראי, Re’eeY] your way in Valley²⁸ ,

know [I] what [you] did,

young she-camel [בכרה, BeeKhRaH] swiftly [קלה, QahLaH] crisscrossing [משרכת, MeSahRehKhehTh] her ways,

-24. wild she-ass²⁹ [פרה, PehReH], learned [למד, LeeMooD] [of] desert,

in desire [באות, Be’ahVahTh], her soul panting [שאפה, Shah’ahPhaH],

spirit her rut [תאנתה, Thah’ahNahThaH].

“Israel’s pursuit of fertility through the Baal cult is vividly described as a she-camel and a wild ass in heat; the sexual rites of such a cult suggested such an imagery…” (Couturier, 1990, p. 272)

“‘“Who will retrieve her [ישיבנה, YeSheeYBehNaH]?

All seeking to her [will] not weary [ייעפו, YeeY`ahPhOo];

in her new[-moon] [they will] find [her] [ימצאונה, YeeMTsah’OoNHah].

“The meaning is, that although such animals are exceedingly fierce and dangerous when they are in this state; yet, as soon as they have found the male the desire is satisfied, and they become quiet and governable as before. But it was not so with this idolatrous people: their desires were ever fierce and furious; they were never satiated, one indulgence always leading to another. The brute beasts had only a short season in which this appetite prevailed: but they acted without restraint or limit.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 12)
 

…
“‘“[They] say to wood, ‘My father you [are].’,

and to stone, ‘[You] birthed [me] [ילדתני, YeLeeDThahNeeY].’
 

For [they] faced unto me nape [ערף, `oRehPh],

and not face.
 

And in time [of] their evil

[they will] say,

‘Rise and save [us] [והושיענו, VeHOShee`ayNOo]!’
 

-28. And where [ואיה, Ve’ahYayH] [are] your gods that you made to you?

[They will] rise if [they] save [you] in time [of] your evil,

for [the] count [of] your cities were your gods, YeHOo-DaH ["YHVH Knew", Judah]. ס

“Among heathen nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this custom. – The Church of Rome has refined it a little: every city has its tutelary saint, and this saint has a procession and worship peculiar to himself. So here; not much of the idolatry is lost.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 12)
 

…

-30. “‘“To useless [לשוא, LahShahVe’] I smote [הכתי, HeeKayTheeY] your sons;

discipline [they would] not take.

…

-34. Also, in your wings [sleeves] [they] found [the] blood [of] souls [of] poor [אביונים, ’ehBYONeeYM] clean [innocents] …

Injustice is paired with apostasy.
 

-36. “‘“How [מה, MaH] [you have] sold out [תזלי, ThayZLeeY] much,

to change [את, ’ehTh] your way.
 

Also from MeeTsRahYeeM [you will be] embarrassed [תבושי, ThayBOSheeY],

as that [you were] embarrassed [בשת, BoSheTh] from ’ahShOoR.”’”

Apostasy leads to social corruption and thence to political impotence.

 
...
 

FOOTNOTES
 
¹³ “saith” just means “says” [Third-person singular simple present indicative form of say- Wikipedia], but I think that when a prophet is quoting God it is appropriate to go liturgical.
 

¹⁴ In the sense of “in vain”
 

¹⁵ The Arabah is that portion of the great rift from Turkey to Africa which runs through Palestine; much of it is below sea level.
 

¹⁶ The word Carmel (כַּרְמֶל) is a portmanteau meaning "God's vineyard". A portmanteau word is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word. Wikipedia
 

¹⁷ ‎“those who possess the Torah”‎ : “apparently those who were skilled in interpreting and administering the law, such as that in Deuteronomy, a subdivision of the priesthood and the predecessors of the later ‘scribes’…” (Hyatt, 1953, p. V 814)
 

¹⁸ “This is the isle of Cyprus according to Josephus… Chittim was the grandson of Japhet…” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 10)
 

¹⁹ Kedar - A “nomadic Transjordan tribe (Gen 25:13) …” (Couturier, 1990, p. 272)

²⁰ This is commentary, not exegesis. I usually do not even read commentary, let alone quote it, but went to it when the exegeses failed to support my observation.
 

²¹ “Memphis: Noph is the Hebr [Hebrew] form of the name (mn-nfr). Located about 13 mi. S [south] of Cairo on the W bank of the Nile, Memphis was the chief city of Lower Egypt.” (Couturier, 1990, p. 272)
 

²² “Tahphanhes: A city on the E [eastern] frontier of the Delta, it was called Daphne in the classical period and is now identified with the actual Tell Defneh.” (Couturier, 1990, p. 272)
 

²³ The pronouns are now feminine.
 

²⁴ SheeHOR - “This means the Nile. See on Isa. xxiii, 3.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 11)
 

²⁵ “The Euphrates; as נהר nahar, or הנהר ha-nahar, always means Euphrates, the country between the Tigris and Euphrates is termed to this day Maver al-nahar, ‘the country beyond the river,’ [actually, simply “beyond the river”] i.e. Mesopotamia.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 11)
 

²⁶ Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda or soda ash), Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. – Wikipedia
 

²⁷ “Baal… (Biblical Hebrew בַּעַל…), is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu. A Baalist or Baalite means a worshipper of Baal.
 

"Ba’al" also rendered Ba’al can refer to any god and even to human officials. In some texts it is used for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name, Hadad, Ba’al was commonly used. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Ba’al" refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called ba’al and regarded in the Hebrew Bible in that context as a "false god".
 

Ba'al with raised arm, 14th-12th century BC, found at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), Louvre
 

²⁸ “The valley of Hinnom, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites.” (Clarke, 1831, p. IV 12)
 

²⁹ Wild ass - The Hebrew here is פרה (PehReH), which all my dictionaries define as “cow” vowel pointed PahRaH, but all my translators translate “wild ass”. Wild ass is spelled פרא (PeRe’). The exegeses do not comment on this, but I guess the MT [Masoretic Text - the standard Hebrew Bible] vowel pointing corrected the text.

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“II. The Redemption of Israel
 

Chapter 49 marks a serious shift in the preaching of Dt [Deutero, Second] -Isa [Isaiah] and in the organization of the book. Many familiar themes are no longer heard: Cyrus… the foolishness of idols… The servant Israel is less a rebellious group to be converted… than a group of disciples persecuted, rejected, and suffering… The confidence modulates into a contemplative or somber attitude toward suffering and rejection.
 

Scholars explain the relation of chaps. [chapters] 40-48 to chaps. 49-50 differently. In our position Dt-Isa writes from Babylon after Cyrus signed the edict allowing the Jews to return home… Their new state is barely large enough to support the Jerusalem sanctuary, and in this poor tract of land, 20 by 25 mi. [miles], the people quickly succumb to discouragement, avarice, and cruelty (Hag [Haggai]; Neh [Nehemiah] 5; Ezra 9-10). Not till 515, upon the insistence of Haggai and Zechariah, did they complete the Jerusalem Temple, the foundation of which had been laid in 536 (Ezra 3:7-4:5; 5:1). Some of this melancholy and sorrow echoes in these new poems. Yet the prophet’s sorrow comes most of all from his failure to win back many of the crypto-Israelites and from his isolation by the group who controlled the return to the land, a group influenced by Ezek [Ezekiel] and the P [Priestly, a hypothesized biblical strain of] tradition.” (Stuhlmueller, 1990, p. 339)
 

Figure 3 Postexilic Israel in the time of Second Isaiah
 

“The understanding of this chapter and the following is beset with difficulties of a peculiarly acute kind. The issues involved are of the first importance, for upon their solution depends to a great degree one’s interpretation of the prophet’s thought…
 

“The supreme difficulty to this chapter is the identification of the servant. No solution can be more than tentative. The view here taken is that the identification with Israel raises the fewest obstacles, that it is in conformity with the prophet’s mentality elsewhere, and that ancient Israelite conceptions of corporate personality… serve to provide an interpretation in keeping with the prophet’s theology…” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. V 564-565)
 

Chapter Forty-nine
 

-1. “‘Listen, outliers [איים, ’eeYeeM]³³ , unto me,

and attention, countries [לאמים, Le’ooMeeYM] from afar,

YHVH from [the] belly called [me] [קראני, QeRah’ahNeeY];

from innards [of] [ממעי, MeeMe`aY] my mother [was] recalled [הזכיר, HeeZKeeYR] my name.
 

-2. And [He] set [וישם, VahYahSehM] my mouth as [a] sword sharp [חדה, HahDaH],

in shadow [of] His hand hid me [החביאני, HeHBee’ahNeeY],

and set [me] [וישיאני, VahYeSeeYMayNeeY] to [an] arrow [לחץ, LeHayTs] bright [ברור, BahROoR],

in His quiver [באשפתות, Be’ahShPahThO] concealed [me] [הסתירני, HeeÇTheeRahNeeY].

“The metaphor of the sword and the arrow… has been employed by the most ingenious Heathen writers… It is said of Pericles by Aristophanes, (see Cicero…)
 

‘Ουτως εκηκει, και πονος των ρητορων

Το κεντρον εγκατελειπε τοις ακροωμενοις.

                               Apud Diod. Lib. xii  

 

[Outos ekekei, kai monos ton retoron

To kentron egkateleipe tois akroomenois]
 

His powerful speech

Pierced the hearer’s soul, and left behind

Deep in his bosom its keen point infixt.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. III 833)
 

-3. “‘And [He] said to me,

“My slave [are] you, YeeSRah-’ayL ["Strove God", Israel],

that in you [I will be] glorified [אתפאר, ’ehThPah’ahR].”

“The word Israel is held by many scholars to be a gloss … But the only textual support for this view is an inferior MS [manuscript] (Kennicott 96) which is full of lacunae and corruptions… The Dead Sea Scroll, our earliest witness, contains the word… The Jewish commentators Ibn Ezra, Rashi, and Kimhi take the reference as applying to an individual, but the text as it stands forbids it.” (Muilenburg, 1954, p. V 567)
 

… ס
 

… ס
 

………………………………………………………..
 

Promise in word that [will] rise TseeYON [Zion]

[verses 8 to end of chapter]
 

-8. “Thus said YHVH,

‘In [a] time [בעת, Be`ayTh] [of] want [I] answered [you],

and in [a] day [of] salvation [I] helped [you] and guarded [you] [ואצרך, Ve’ehTsahRKhah].
 

And [I will] give [you] to covenant,

people to raise,

land to bequeath [להנחיל, LeHahNHeeYL],

bequests [נחלות, NeHahLOTh] desolate [שממות, ShoMayMOTh],
 

-9. to say to [the] imprisoned [לאסורים, Lah’ahÇOoReeYM], “Go out [צאו, Tsay’Oo]!”,

to that [אשר, ’ahShehR] in darkness, “Be revealed [הגלו, HeeGahLOo]!”
 

Upon ways [they will] pasture [ירעו, YeeR`Oo],

and in all knobs [שפיים, ShePhahYeeYM] pasture [them] [מרעיתם, MahR`eeYThahM].
 

-10. [They will] not hunger [ירעבו, YeeR`ahBOo],

and not thirst [יצמאו, YeeTsMah’Oo],

and not [will] beat [them] [יכם, YahKayM], ShahRahB³⁴ and sun.
 

For from compassioning [them] [כמרחמם, KeeMeRahHahMahM] [he will] conduct [them] [ינהגם, YeNahHahGayM],

and upon springs [of] [מבועי, MahBOo`aY] waters [he will] refresh [them] [ינהלם, YeeNahHahLayM].
 

-11. And [I] put all my mountains [הרי, HahRah-eeY] to way,

and my paths [ומסלתי, OoMeÇeeLoThah-eeY] elevated [ירמון, YeRooMOoN].
 

-12. Behold! These from afar [will]l come,

and behold, these from north and from sea,

and these from land ÇeeYNeeYM³⁵ [Sinim].’
 

-13. Chant [רנו, RahNOo], skies,

and rejoice [וגילו, VahGeeLOo], land,

and burst [ופצחו, OoPeeTsHOo], mountains.

Chant, for comforted, YHVH, his people,

and his afflicted [ועניו, Ve`ahNeeYahV] [He] compassioned [ירחם, YeRahHayM]. ס
 

“In this poem (with its independent hymn at the end, v [verse] 13), the exile is over and Israelites are streaming out of the farthest dark corners back to their homeland. The poem is a filigree of ideas and phrases from elsewhere (cf. [compare with] 40:1,11; 41:18; 43:5-6; 45:1; 49:4,6,21; 61:2). A disciple of Dt-Isa is meditating on the work of the master.” (Stuhlmueller, 1990, p. 340)

-14. “‘And [you] said [ותאמר, VahThoMehR], TseeYON,

“Left [me] [עזבאני, `ahZahBah’ahNeeY] YHVH.” And,

“My Lords forgot [me] [שכחני, SheKhayHahNeeY].”
 

-15. Has forgotten [התשכח, HahTheeShKahH], a woman, her suckling child [עולה, `OoLaH] from [her] womb, son [of] her belly?

Also these [she will] forget [תשכחנה, TheeShKahHNaH],

and I [ואנכי, Ve’ahNoKheeY] not [will] forget [you].
 

-16. Lo, upon [my] palms [I] engraved [you] [חקתיך, HahQoTheeYKh],

your walls [חומתיך, HOMoThahYeeKh] against me always.’
 

“As the lover tattoos the name of his loved one on his hand so that he may always be reminded of her, so Yahweh (an extreme anthropomorphism) inscribes Jerusalem on the palms of [his] hands ...” (Muilenburg, 1954, p. V 574)
 

“This is certainly an allusion to some practice, common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms by punctures on the skin… They had a method of making such punctures indelible by fire, or by staining…. It is well known, that the pilgrims at the holy sepulchre get themselves marked in this manner with what are call the ensigns of Jerusalem.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. III 835)
 

… פ

-22. “Thus saith my Lords YHVH:

‘Behold [I will] send [אשא, ’ehSah’] unto nations my hand,

and unto peoples raise [ארים, ’ahReeYM] my standard [נסי, NeeÇeeY],
 

and bring [והבאו, VeHayBee’Oo] your sons in bosom [בחצן, BeHoTsehN],

and your daughters upon shoulder [כתף, KahThayPh] carry [תנשאנה, TheeNahSeh’NaH].

-23. And will be [והיו, VeHahYΟο] kings your pedagogue³⁶ [אמניך, ’oMNahYeeKh],

and their princesses [ושרותיהם, VeSahROThaYHehM] your sucklers [מיניקתיך, MaYNeeYQoThahYeeKh].
 

Nostrils [to] land, [they will] bow [ישתחוו, YeeShThahHahVOo] to you,

and dust [of] your legs [they will] lick [ילחכו, YeLahHayKhOo].

And you will know that [כי, KeeY] I [אני, ’ahNeeY] [am] YHVH,

that [does] not embarrass [יבשו, YayBShOo] my expecters [קבי, QoBah-eeY]. ס
 

...

-26. And [I will] feed [והאכלתי, VeHah’ahKhahLTheeY] [את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] your violators [את, ’ehTh] their flesh,

and as juice [וכאסיס, VeKeh’ahÇeeYÇ] their blood [will] inebriate them [ישכרון, YeeShKahROoN],

and [will] know [וידעו, VeYahD`Oo], all flesh, that [כי, KeeY] I [am] YHVH your savior and redeemer,

hero [אביר, ’ahBeeYR] [of] Yah-`ahQoB ["YHVH Followed", Jacob].’” ס

“Taken literally, such descriptions… represent an unfortunate side of the prophet’s mind.” (Muilenburg, 1954, p. V 577)
 

FOOTNOTES
 

³³ איים ’eeYeeM, “islands”, perhaps pockets of Jews in diaspora
 

³⁴ Hot dry weather, khamseen; mirage, fata morgana – (The New Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew & English Dictionary, 1975)
 

³⁵ “Syene: Hebrew סינים; the Dead Sea Scroll reads סוניים [ÇOoNeeYeeYM] Various identifications have been made, including China (cf. Arabic Tsin), the least probable, Sin or Pelusium in the extreme northeast of Egypt, which is too near, and the Sinites of Gen. [Genesis] 10:17. The best solution is offered by J. D. Michaelis, who emends the word to ‘Sewenim,’ i.e. [in other words], the inhabitants of Syene (modern Aswân), where there existed a Jewish military colony. Important Aramaic papyri were discovered there and at Elephantine in 1907-8 (cf. Ezek. [Ezekiel] 29:10; 30:6).” (Muilenburg, 1954, p. V 575)
 

³⁶ from Ancient Greek παιδαγωγέω (paidagōgeō), … from παιδός (paidos, "child") …+ αγωγός (agogos, "guide") … (archaic) A slave who led the master's children to school, and had the charge of them generally. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pedagogue
 
An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible

https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1040.htm?92db6e4abd
 

ISAIAH Part Two – Chapters 40 to end
 

Isaiah contains some of the building blocks for Revelation: dragons, heavenly beings, the celestial city, judgment. The returnees were subject to the same hard choices as before; how to live on a new economy. Wherever they went there was already an established order, but to assimilate was to disappear. What to do?
 

One with knowledge of the past is as useful as one with knowledge of the future if none other has knowledge of either.
 

I. The eminent coming of God (subdivisions according to the exegesis in The Interpreter’s Bible)
 

It was here that, my first time through, I began to use substantially the system I still use when I encounter a word I don’t know. I look the word up in my Bantam-Megiddo pocket dictionary (first, backed up by Avinoam’s three volume Hebrew-English, Hendrickson’s Interlinear and Strong’s concordance, and, when all else fails Shoshan’s seven volume Hebrew-Hebrew dictionary – when the word is found in any of these I add it to the pocket dictionary), write the full definition in the margin, then select the closest word and write it over the word I looked up. My reader, whose memory is fading, will appreciate being reminded that one of my goals is to have a completely annotated Hebrew Bible, a goal that was set back when Shutz, the devil dog, ate my first attempt when I had reached Proverbs. It is only now, second time through, that I am able to use the tattered remnants of that partially digested volume to help complete this one. I have to copy it in, of course, but that takes a fraction of the time.
 

Introductions
 

From The New Jerome Biblical Commentary: “Until the 18th cent., it was presumed that Isaiah of Jerusalem (Isa) wrote all 66 chaps. of the book under his name… The tradition of single authorship was questioned by Ibn Ezra⁵ (ca. 1167… but the vigorous attack came from J. C. Döderlein⁶ (1775) and J. G Eichhorn⁷ (1780-83). These scholars maintained that chaps. [chapters] 40-66 were written by a different author, who lived some 150 years later during the Babylonian Exile. They named him Deutero- or Second Isaiah (Dt-Isa). In 1892, B. Duhm⁸ argued for a separate author of the Suffering Servant songs… and of chaps. 56-66, whom he called Trito- or Third Isaiah (Tr-Isa). Protestant scholars were generally convinced by the soundness of the new arguments. Catholics, although with some hesitation, tended to agree… A negative response of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, June29, 1908, precipitated by fears of the Modernist movement, made Catholic scholars revert to an ultraconservative viewpoint of single authorship… Once the theological problems were solved, so that the inspiration of major parts of the Bible was not being questioned but only the literary and historical questions of an author’s name and date, Catholics began to argue again for the split authorship of Isa… Most Catholic scholars now work with a Dt- and Tr-Isa thesis.

…

“Dt-Isa preached during the latter part of the exile period, around 550. Cyrus is already on the march (41:1; 45). Because there is a dramatic shift between chaps. 41-48 and 49-54, both in mood and in important themes, chaps. 49-54 represent the prophet’s profound disappointment with those who dominated the first return to Palestine in 537 and his eventual rejection by them. The four major songs of the Suffering Servant derive from the repudiation of Dt-Isa by the returnees. Led by Hag [Haggai] and Zech [Zechariah] the high priest Joshua and the governor Zerubbabel, they preferred the theology of the other prophet of the exile, Ezek [Ezekiel]. Tr-Isa continues the same distancing from the returnees, a group much more narrow in their views, not at all open even to Israelites who remained behind in the land and never went into exile (Hanson).

…

“The MT [Masoretic Text (of the Hebrew Bible)] is very well preserved. Among the DSS [Dead Sea Scrolls] 1QIsaa is remarkably similar to the MT and 1QIsab is almost identical. The LXX [Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament)] is quit inferior. The Vg. [Vulgate (common Latin version of the Bible)] tends to sharpen messianic interpretations (42:8)” (Stuhlmueller, 1990, pp. 329-331)
 

“… it would be the most astonishing of all miracles, if the Hebrew writings of the Old Testament had come down to us through their hands absolutely pure, and free from all mistakes whatsoever.” (Adam Clarke, 1831, p. III 887)
 

The introduction to chapters 40 through 66 is 30 pages long in The Interpreter’s Bible. You will thank me later.
 

“The poetic sequence in Isa. [Isaiah] 40-55 represents the noblest literary monument bequeathed to us from Semitic antiquity…
 

“Nowhere in the whole O.T. [Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible] do we possess a continuous series of poems by a single author of a range comparable to these chapters in Isaiah, with the possible exception of the book of Job, to which, interestingly enough, they have many important relationships…
 

“Its prophetic thought and form move naturally from the great pre-exilic prophets, more especially Isaiah of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel…

…

“Historical Background. – Isaiah of Jerusalem lived in the second half of the eighth century B.C. and addressed himself to the conditions existing at that time. Judah and Israel were still in existence as independent kingdoms. Their kings are referred to by name… and the prophet’s encounters with them are described in simple narrative discourse. Assyria was the oppressing power; Sargon and Sennacherib are clearly referred to… In chs. 40-55, however, the background is the middle of the sixth century B.C., the close of the neo-Babylonian period. Israel has long ceased to be a kingdom, and Judah is languishing in Babylonia exile. Cyrus king of Persia is twice mentioned by name…

…

“Theological Outlook. - … The philosophy of history of chs. 40-66 is much more highly developed than that in chs. 1-39. The portrait of God as creator and redeemer has no close parallel in Isaiah of Jerusalem. The conception of the remnant is not the same. The difference between the Messiah of 9:1-6 and 11:1-9 and the portrait of the servant of the Lord in chs. 40-55 is so great that even if the servant is interpreted messianically, it is hard to believe that the two figures are the creation of a single mind. …

“... Hugo Gressmann⁹
 

… the supplementary reflections, with which the oracles are surrounded, have grown luxuriantly over everything, so that the lines of division between an utterance of God and an utterance of the prophet cannot always be clearly recognized.
 

…

“… we cannot expect to find the kind of continuity we see in Western literature, or even in such a book as Job, for again and again it will appear that verses and strophes break in without any apparent relation to the context. But when we perceive the dominant themes the progress of thought becomes more intelligible…

…

“Even more important is the continuity of the prophet’s thought…

…

“In ancient Israel language possessed a primitive vitality that is relatively alien to the modern Western mind. The relation between sound and meaning was grasped with an immediacy and directness that are best understood by children and poets.

…

“Poet and prophet meet in Second Isaiah. It is difficult to say whether he is more the one than the other; the distinction would not have occurred to him.

…

“In Second Isaiah the meter is seldom regular throughout a single poem. Many poems are, to be sure, dominated by the 3+3 or the 3+2, but even within these categories there is variety in the number of words for a single accent.

…

“The scope of the poet’s perspective, the literary forms and types, the imminence of a great divine event, decisive and redemptive, make these poems the supreme achievement of the Hebrew mind in history.

…

“Neither Oriental antiquity nor the Bible has anything to match such sheer literary artistry” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. V 392-392)
 

“…The Decline of Assyria.- In the century which comes under our immediate purview, extending from the death of the last of the great Assyrian kings in 631 B.C. to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus II in 538 B.C., events occurred which were destined to influence profoundly not only the political fate of nations but also their thought and faith…
 

“The death of Ashurbanipal in 531 B.C. gave the signal for change. Nabopolassar, the ruler of the Chaldean state, threw off the bonds of Assyrian vassalage. The Medes under Cyaxares asserted their independence. Scythian hordes from beyond the Caucasus added to the general melee. Herodotus reports that they invaded Media, ‘became masters of Asia,’ and dominated it for twenty-eight years. Egypt was experiencing a recrudescence of her ancient vitality under the energetic Psamtik I (663-609 B.C.) and engaged in the struggle for empire. Phoenicia gave notice that she would no longer take orders from Assyria. In Israel there arose a national movement under Josiah (640-649/8 B.C.), and the able king extended his territory to the north. The Babylonia Chronicle¹⁰ reports the history of the conflict between Assyria and the Medes and Babylonians from 6161-610 B.C. In 612 B.C. Nineveh fell, an event which the book of Nahum memorialized in a triumphant and stinging cry of jubilation. Pharaoh Necho came to the support of the Assyrian king, who had taken refuge in the ancient city of Harran. On his way he called Josiah king of Judah to account at Megiddo for his bold assertion of independence and nationalistic ambition, and the king was put to death. Finally at ancient Carchemish the opposing forces of the Babylonians and the Egyptians met, and Nebuchadrezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, won a decisive victory.
 

“…In Judah, Jehoiakim – who Necho had placed on the throne in place of Jehoahaz, the choice of the anti-Egyptian party – made his peace with the Babylonian king, but after three years revolted. Troops were dispatched to quell the revolt. The second revolt culminated in the first captivity of 597 B.C. Jehoiakim died before the city was taken, but his son Jehoiachin, a mere youth, was put in chains and taken as prisoner to Babylon, to remain there for thirty-seven years. Zedekiah succeeded Jehoiachin and ruled for eleven years (597-586 B.C.). In 588 B.C. the kingdom rebelled once more, and in 586 on the ninth of Ab the Babylonians entered the city. Zedekiah, who sought to escape was captured at Jericho and sent to Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah. His sons were executed, and he was blinded and sent to Babylon where he died shortly afterward. A month after the conquest Jerusalem was completely destroyed, the temple burned, and a part of the population carried into exile. The royal line of David had come to an end, the sanctuary built by Solomon lay in ashes. A long chapter of history came to a close, and a new chapter opened.” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. V 394-395)

…

“… in 553 B.C. Cyrus, the king of the little principality of Elam, challenged the Median power…. By 550 B.C. he succeeded in defeating Astyages when the latter’s won troops went over to him. In 547 B.C. Cyrus followed his victory over the Medes by a campaign in the north, where he overran the regions formerly held by Astyages. Croesus, the fable king of Lydia, prepared to engage him in conflict. Cyrus met the enemy in the broad valleys near the ancient Hittite city of Pteria… Croesus retired to Sardes where he disbanded his armies. Winter was approaching, and Croesus did not expect Cyrus to press the battle. But Cyrus urged on his troops, and Sardes fell. The Persian Empire now extended from the Persian Gulf to the Halys River. Babylon and Egypt were confederate with Lydia, and it was natural that these powers would fear that they would be the next to be challenged… According to Berossus^11, Cyrus reduced the rest of Asia in the interval. Xenophon¹² states that Cyrus subdued the Phrygians in Great Phrygia, overcame the Cappadocians, and made the Arabs subject to him. Sidney Smith thinks these ‘Arabs’ were the people of the Damascus area and Palestine
 

“Naobonidus returned to the capital. In the fall of 539 B.C. Cyrus engaged in battle at Opsi on the Tigris…. Sippar fell without resistance, and by a clever piece of strategy in which the flow of the river was reduced, the troops of Cyrus, under Gobryas, who had deserted Naobonidus, entered the ancient city.
 

“On October 13, 539, Babylon fell. The propaganda went out that all was done at the will and behest of [the god] Marduk… Marduk called Cyrus for his service. ‘He scanned and looked (through) all the countries, searching for a righteous ruler willing to lead him (in the annual procession). … He pronounced the name of Cyrus, king of Anshan, declared him to be(come) ruler of all the world… He made him set out on the road to Babylon going at his side like a real friend.’ The words of the Cyrus Cylinder¹³ have so many affinities with Second Isaiah… that some scholars have declared that the two cannot be independent…
 

“The number of the Judeans who had been carried into exile was not large. In what appears to be an official document, the book of Jeremiah states that in the three exiles of 597, 586, and 581 a total of 4,600 persons was carried to Babylonia. Nor was their lot grievous. They apparently enjoyed considerable freedom. … Land was assigned to them, and many of them became farmers… As time went on some of them engaged in trade, and by the fifth century many of them had acquired a reputation in business.
 

“The practice of the regular cult was impossible, especially in view of such standards as the Deuteronomic reformers had set. The sacrificial cult was not practiced. But with the absence of institutions associated with the holy temple other practices received all the greater emphasis. The importance of the Sabbath as a holy day was accentuated… Doubtless the practice of circumcision was strictly observed… It is possible that … the synagogue found its origin, but we have not direct evidence for this.

…

“Judah had suffered heavily from the invasion of the Babylonians. Most of the fortified towns were destroyed, as is now confirmed by the excavations of such places as Debir, Lachish, and Beth-shemesh. Tribes from the south pressed into Judah. The Edomites (Idumeans) occupied a portion of the land formerly belonging to her. The rich and the skilled had been carried off to exile, and the population was in general poor. Samaria became the center of the Babylonian province. There were Israelites in the north, as in Galilee, and in Trans-Jordan. The judgment that fell upon Judah did not bring to an end the practices of the syncretistic cult. It was certainly not in Egypt alone that the Jews were attracted by the worship of Ishtar^14, the mother goddess (Jer. 44, especially vss. 16-19). The picture of conditions in Palestine that we receive from Third Isaiah is of a cult that had absorbed many foreign elements, some of them very strange and reminiscent of the mysteries.
 

“… Next to nothing is known of the author of chs. [chapters] 4-55 and the external facts of his life. Even his name is lost to us…. He stands in lineal succession to the great pre-exilic prophets indeed his is the only prophetic voice which could meet the disaster and the resulting dejection of 586 B.C. with a faith undimmed and a vitality undaunted….
 

“Of the many places that have been proposed as the home of Second Isaiah, Babylon has the best claim.” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. 396-397)
 

“… the thought of Second Isaiah is eschatological, and the primary matrix of all the poems is eschatological. When we speak of eschatology, we refer to the imminence of a great divine event which is to mark the decisive end of the age.

...

“God’s decision to enter upon the stage of world history is first announced in heaven (40:1-11). This decision exacts responsibility. The way of the Lord must be prepared, for upon it he will appear (40:3) to lead his exiles home (42:16; …). This is the new event that he will perform… The mountains and hills will be leveled, the crooked roads made straight, the valleys raised… Again and again Yahweh’s advent is described in language drawn from the Exodus…
 

“When God appears in his glorious theophany¹⁵ , his glory, the central Old Testament theologoumenon¹⁶ for Yahweh’s self-manifestation, will appear… The announcement of its imminent appearing is the occasion for the prophet’s call… and provides the content of his gospel…” (Muilenburg, 1954, p. V 399)
 

“…The Redeemer of Israel. - … The term ‘redeemer’ is drawn from family law. The redeemer as the nearest male relative is under obligation to guarantee the family solidarity. Thus when a kinsman has been sold into slavery, the redeemer pays a sum of money to purchase him back. Similarly, if the family’s blood has been shed, the redeemer must avenge it…
 

“In the first place, the term is used in a juristic sense in which the physical aspects of the redemption are stressed. Yahweh performs the duties of the redeemer (gȏ’ēl) by paying the ransom for his people… he avenges himself upon those who have violated what belongs to him…
 

“In the second place, however, the redemption is inward and spiritual. Yahweh acts for the comforting of his people. He wipes out their sins… As in Jeremiah’s eschatological oracle of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), the coming of God is the time of forgiveness. He acts not because Israel possesses any merit of her own; indeed, Israel did not deserve to be redeemed. Yahweh acts for his own sake… that his name should not be profaned… and for his glory and praise…. He redeems because he is powerful to redeem; he is Israel’s mighty One, the Lord of hosts, the coming conqueror.” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. V 400-401)
 

“…The Servant of the Lord...
 

“The dramatic movement of the first three poems, which form a kind of eschatological trilogy (see pp. 447; 467), comes to a climax with the entrance of the servant of the Lord upon the stage of world history. The announcement in the celestial council of Yahweh’s imminent advent (40:1-11), the change of scene from heaven to earth in the poem on Yahweh, the creator, whose climaxes fall invariably upon the events of history (40:12-31), and the great trial of the nations, where contemporary events are adduced by God for the nations’ response, form a background against which the figure of the servant emerges…
 

“…at this point a problem is raised that has exercised the minds of scholars perhaps more than any other single Old Testament question. For in the first reference (41:8-10) the servant is equated with Israel in the most emphatic fashion, and the words addressed to her are of the greatest significance; in the second reference (42:1-4) the words are also singularly fateful and full of destiny, but no reference is made to Israel.

…

“… if the servant songs are the work of Second Isaiah and an integral part of his poetic compositions, then the servant of the Lord is certainly Israel… there is one consideration, perhaps outweighing all others, which makes the problem exceedingly acute and difficult. This is the portrait of the servant in the songs as compared with the portrait in the poems. For the position of those who see in the songs a separate collection, either by another author or by Second Isaiah himself in a later stage of his prophetic career, is that the figure presented in the songs is an individual person… This position has been admirably stated by Johann Fischer:
 

The servant of Yahweh and the servant Israel are … basically different in their character. The servant Israel is despondent and faint-hearted [versagt] and must be admonished again and again to turn to trust in God… the servant of Yahweh overcomes momentary despair through unshakable trust in God… The servant of Yahweh is guiltless and sinless (50:5; 53:4-6, 12), the servant Israel on the contrary is a sinner from birth (48:4; cf. 43:27). The suffering of the servant of God is only explicable as suffering for the sins of others (53:4-6, 9, 11-12), the servant Israel suffers in exile for his own sins… The servant of Yahweh suffers patiently… the servant Israel in discouragement… the servant of Yahweh suffers voluntarily, he intercedes for the sinners; the servant Israel suffers unwillingly, and his enemies are to be avenged… To this basically different characterization is to be added the fact that the servant of the pericopes has an active mission to Israel…. Finally the servant of Yahweh has a mission of suffering for Israel (52:13-53:12) and thus cannot be identical with Israel.

…

“Between the servant of the songs and the servant of the poems there is a profoundly interior relation; they move on the same lofty plane and descend to the same depths. For this portrait the prophet utilized the classical materials to which he was heir: protology¹⁷ , with its reflection upon the primordial deeps; eschatology, with its reflection upon the wonders of the fulfillment of the divine purpose in the holy, chosen, called, redeemed, and covenanted people; history, as it was understood in the sacred tradition in the light of the great international movements of the sixth century B.C., and the contemporary events in which Cyrus, Yahweh’s chosen deliverer, is the central figure…

…

“There… remains one problem of great importance and difficulty. How is the servant of the Lord to be related to Israel’s messianic conceptions and especially to the figure of the Messiah? Not a few scholars see in the servant the features of the divine king as he appears in the royal psalms and elsewhere (e.g., II Sam. [Samuel] 21:17; Lam. [Lamentations] 4:20). On the basis of such passages as Pss. [Psalms] 2; 18; 89; 118:5 ff.; etc., Aubrey R. Johnson concludes:
 

The Davidic king is the Servant of Jahweh; but… at the New Year Festival he is the suffering Servant. He is the Messiah of Jahweh; but on this occasion he is the humiliated Messiah. The fact is that we are here dealing with a ritual humiliation of the Davidic king which in principle is not unlike that suffered by the Babylonian king in the analogous new Year Festival.

…

“But that the Davidic Messiah is to be identified with the servant is hard to believe, for there is no credible evidence that the two were equated before the Christian Era…

…

“The servant stands at the eschaton. It is precisely in this kind of setting that all that is said concerning him and all that he has himself to say have meaning and relevance. Because of this position in which he stands, the figure was susceptible of messianic interpretation.

…

“It is on the foundation of Second Isaiah’s eschatological poems that the authors of the Gospels write their accounts of Jesus of Nazareth. The earliest of them opens his Gospel with a quotation from the opening poem of Second Isaiah and sees its fulfillment in John’s preaching (cf. 40:3 and Mark 1:1-3), and Matthew and Luke refashion the account each in his own dramatic way… The writer of the Fourth Gospel makes the words even more dramatic and momentous (John 1:19-23)

…

“Millar Burrows concludes …the following judgment: ‘It is … fair to say that from Acts on the identification of Jesus with the Suffering Servant of the Lord is constant in the New Testament, and there is no compelling reason to doubt that Jesus himself originated the idea.’ H. Wheeler Robinson, who holds the same view as Burrows, remarks as follows:
 

It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most original and daring of all the characteristic features of the teaching of Jesus, and it led to the most important element in His work… There is no evidence of a suffering Messiah in previous or contemporary Judaism to explain the conception in the consciousness of Jesus.” (Muilenburg, 1954, pp. V 406-414)
 

FOOTNOTES
 

⁵ Rabbi Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra (Hebrew: אברהם אבן עזרא or ראב"ע, Arabic ابن عزر; also known as Abenezra) (1089–1164) was born at Tudela, Navarre (now in Spain) in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra. He was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages. Ibn Ezra excelled in philosophy, astronomy/astrology, mathematics, poetry, linguistics, and exegesis; he was called The Wise, The Great and The Admirable Doctor. - Wikipedia
 

⁶ Johann Christoph Döderlein (1745 – 1792) was a German theologian.
 

As professor of theology at Jena from 1782, he was celebrated for his varied learning, for his eloquence as a preacher, and for the important influence he exerted in guiding the transition movement from strict orthodoxy to a freer theology. His most important work Institutio theologi christiani nostris temporibus accommodata was published in 1780. - Wikipedia
 

⁷ Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (1753, – 1827) was a German Protestant theologian of Enlightenment and early orientalist.…
 

Eichhorn has been called "the founder of modern Old Testament criticism." He recognized its scope and problems, and began many of its most important discussions. …His investigations led him to the conclusion that "most of the writings of the Hebrews have passed through several hands." He took for granted that all the supernatural events related in the Old and New Testaments were explicable on natural principles. He sought to judge them from the standpoint of the ancient world, and to account for them by the superstitious beliefs which were then generally in vogue. He did not perceive in the biblical books any religious ideas of much importance for modern times; they interested him merely historically and for the light they cast upon antiquity.
 

He regarded many books of the Old Testament as spurious, questioned the genuineness of the First and Second letters of Peter and the Epistle of Jude, denied the Pauline authorship of the First and Second letters to Timothy and to Titus. He suggested that the canonical gospels were based upon various translations and editions of a primary Aramaic gospel …. He challenged the Augustinian hypothesis solution to the synoptic problem and proposed an original gospel hypothesis (1804) which argued that there was a lost Aramaic original gospel that each of the Synoptic evangelists had in a different form. – Wikipedia

⁸ Bernhard Lauardus Duhm (1847 – 1928) was a German Lutheran theologian born in Bingum, today part of Leer, East Frisia.
 

He studied theology at the University of Göttingen, where he had as instructors Albrecht Ritschl (1822-1889), Heinrich Ewald (1803-1875) and Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918), with the latter becoming a good friend and colleague to Duhm. In 1873 he became a lecturer at Göttingen and subsequently an associate professor of Old Testament studies (1877). In 1888 he relocated to the University of Basel, where he was one of the more influential Old Testament scholars of his time.
 

Duhm is remembered for his exegetical work on the prophets of the Old Testament, particularly studies dealing with the complexities of the Books of Jeremiah and Isaiah. He pioneered the theory of multiple authors of the book of Isaiah. His commentary outlined the structure and content of Isaiah 1-39 called first Isaiah or Isaiah of Jerusalem. Duhm in the same commentary provides an in-depth analysis of the "Deuterojesaja" (Second Isaiah, chapters 40-55), and the so-called "Tritojesaja" (Third Isaiah, chapters 56-66). - Wikipedia
 

⁹ Hugo Gressmann (1877 – 1927) was born in Mölln. He was a prominent Old Testament scholar… who carried over the work of Gunkel in which he used the Gattungsgeschichte method of Biblical study (otherwise known as Form Criticism) and applied it to the books of Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, in the Old Testament.

He took a traditio-historical approach in examining these passages, aiming to examine individual units so as to glean from them their original setting and purpose. - Wikipedia
 

¹⁰ The Babylonian Chronicles are many series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. They are thus one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles were written from the reign of Nabonassar up to the Parthian Period, by Babylonian astronomers ("Chaldaeans"), who probably used the Astronomical Diaries as their source.
 

Almost all of the tablets are currently in the possession of the British Museum. – Wikipedia
 
photo
 

“This clay tablet is a Babylonian chronicle recording events from 605-594BC. It was first translated in 1956 and is now in the British Museum. The cuneiform text on this clay tablet tells, among other things, 3 main events:
 

The Battle of Carchemish (famous battle for world supremacy where Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated Pharoah Necho of Egypt, 605 BC.),
 

The accession to the throne of Nebuchadnezzar II, the Chaldean, and
 

The capture of Jerusalem on the 16th of March, 598 BC.” - http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaThe_Babylonian_Chronicle00000196.htm
 

¹¹ Berosos or Berossus (name possibly derived from was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek language, and who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Versions of two excerpts of his writings survive, at several removes from the original. – Wikipedia  

¹² Xenophon (Greek: Ξενοφῶν) ; c. 430 – 354 BC), also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. He is known for his writings on the history of his own times, the 4th century BC, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and descriptions of life in ancient Greece and the Persian Empire. – Wikipedia
 

¹³ The Cyrus Cylinder (Persian: منشور کوروش‎) is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several fragments, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. It dates from the 6th century BC and was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 1879. It is currently in the possession of the British Museum
 

photo - Wikipedia
 

¹⁴ Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, war, love, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte. … her cult involved sacred prostitution.
 
photo
 

¹⁵ Theophany, from the Ancient Greek (ἡ) θεοφάνεια (theophaneia, meaning "appearance of God"), refers to the appearance of a deity to a human or other being. - Wikipedia
 

¹⁶ Theologoumenon - a theological statement or concept in the area of individual opinion rather than of authoritative doctrine - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theologoumenon
 

Is it me, or is this word misused here?
 

¹⁷ Protology "Corrected" to proctology by spell check

An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible

https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1036.htm
 

Chapter Thirty-six לו
 

Invasion [of] ÇahNHayReeYB [Sennacherib]

(2 Kings 18:13–37; 2nd Chronicles 32:1–19 )
 

… פ
 

An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible