Isaiah 49:1 13 God’s Love And Mercy

Target year level: Year Ten

Scripture text

Introduction

One common way of dividing the Book of Isaiah is based on assumed authorship of various sections of the Book of Isaiah:

Proto-Isaiah/First Isaiah (Is.1–39)
Deutero-Isaiah/Second Isaiah (Is. 40-55)
Trito-Isaiah/ Third Isaiah (Is. 56-66)

Proto-Isaiah contains the words of the original historical prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, whose prophetic ministry covered a period circa 740 BCE to 680 BCE.

Deutero-Isaiah/Second Isaiah (Is. 40-55) is the work of an anonymous author during the time of the Babylonian Exile (circa 598 BCE to 538 BCE).

Trito-Isaiah/ Third Isaiah (Is. 56-66) is an anthology of various texts. The Book of Isaiah may also be structured according to its literary and formal characteristics into TheBook of Judgment (Chapters1-39) and The Book of Comfort (Chapters 40-66).

For further information, see the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Introduction to Isaiah. See the Outline section for detail on the structure of the Book of Isaiah and the Position in the Hebrew Bible section for the position of Isaiah among the Latter Prophets.

World behind the text

The consensus among scripture scholars is that the Book of Isaiah is the work of more than one author. Scholars, for the most part, accept that the Book of Isaiah is rooted in the historic prophet Isaiah of Amoz but believe that Isaiah was not himself the author of the entire text of the Book of Isaiah. In ancient times it was not regarded as inappropriate to add text to an existing work while remaining anonymous. Nor was it considered inappropriate to anonymously edit the text of a named author so that those texts better addressed the cultural, theological and historical events and concerns of a given historical period.

Go to the Wikipedia entry on Authorship of Isaiah for a more detailed consideration of multiple authors.

Proto Isaiah (Is.1-39) reflects historical events in the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel in the mid to late 8^thcentury BCE when the Jews were under threat from Assyria. Deutero-Isaiah (Is.40-55) reflects the historical context of the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century BCE. Trito-Isaiah (Is.56-66) is situated in an historical context around 515 BCE by which time some Jews had returned to Jerusalem having been freed for Israel by the Persian, Cyrus the Great.

Go to Historical Context for further detail.

World of the text

From a literary point of view, Isaiah 1-13 is in the section of Isaiah known as the Book of Comfort (sometimes called the Book of Consolation). The text is part of Trito-Isaiah and the Jews who returned to Jerusalem from Exile in Babylon needed reassurance as they began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and strengthen their religious and national identity.

In the historical context of Trito-Isaiah the Servant’s Mission (Is.49:1-7) and Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home (Is. 49:8-13) can be interpreted in the light of the travails of the People of Israel in exile in Babylon, their struggles to preserve their identity as Yahweh’s chosen people in a foreign land and their repatriation and return under Cyrus the Great. In a wider sense, however, these texts can be read to refer to a more generalised pattern of falling from grace, restoration and return characteristic of the entire history of the People of Israel. This is also a characteristic pattern of the human journeys of individuals and nations the world over in many times and many places.

Go to Michael Fallon p. 233-235 for a more detailed commentary.

World in front of the text

In contemporary times, people have become rather sceptical about so-called Grand Narratives /Meta-Narratives that purport to give valid universal understandings of historical meaning, experience and knowledge. These ‘Big Stories’ are asserted to be universally valid and applicable across history and culture. The great biblical narratives draw on themes such as liberation from slavery, journey to a promised land, fidelity to a covenant, fall and redemption, exile and return. From a Judaeo-Christian perspective, such biblical ‘Grand Narratives’ resonate with the individual and collective experience of people universally. They seem to speak truths about the human experience that are true to human experience everywhere, transcending particular historical periods and particular cultures.