Isaiah 49:15 16 "i Will Never Forget You"

Target year level: Year Three

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

This text has two very beautiful and intimate images of God's love. In Isaiah 49:15 the image is very feminine - God is compared to a mother breastfeeding her baby or a pregnant woman carrying her unborn child.

The image in Isaiah 49: 16 is more masculine as God is remembering and protecting where we live.

Go to Michael Fallon p. 236 for a more detailed commentary.

World in front of the text

This text became the lyrics of a very popular Catholic hymn by Carey Landry in the 1980s (Isaiah 49). Consequently this text very will known to many Catholics and has been a source of spiritual comfort and consolation. The lyrics of the song remind believers that God loves them and will never forget them.