3.1. Introduction
The last chapter showed that peace through subjugation of the nations would require Israel’s submission to hwhy-rbd and hrwt. In this chapter, I examine the profile of Isaiah ben Amoz, with particular attention to FI’s depiction of Isaiah’s commission, witness, and writing. My interest is neither to construct a biography nor to understand his subjective experience, but to discover the contribution of Isaiah’s profile to the intentio
operis. Narrative accounts detail the prophet’s experience and official task (chs.6; 7-8; 20;
36-39), enhancing and deepening understanding of both chs.1-5 and the import of his witness and writing (8:16-23; 28:9-13; 30:8-17). In the profile of Isaiah, through graphic depictions of Isaiah’s experience, speech, and actions, a theological model or redemptive pattern emerges for Israel of the new arising from the old.1 Hence, these descriptions were written ‘for our instruction’ (cf. Rom 15:4), for the benefit of Isaiah’s disciples (including later readers). The prophet’s commissioning in Isaiah 6 provides a logical starting point, for here we begin to perceive why YHWH calls him a sign and portent in Israel (20:3; cf. 8:18).
3.2. Isaiah’s Paradigmatic Service 3.2.1. Isaiah 6:1-13, “How long?”
Like ch.5, ch.6 is transitional and underscores both the rectitude and the inevitability of judgment. Millard Lind observes its location, suggesting it functions as a “hinge between two emphases: Israel and Judah’s transgression of the rule of the Holy by integrating with Near Eastern power politics (7:1-8:15), and their violation of that same rule in their
domestic relationships (2:1-5:30).”2 Hence, chs.2-5 (injustice in domestic relations) and 7- 8 (disloyalty in foreign policy) make the prophet’s charge in ch.6 comprehensible,3
while ch.6 authorizes and confirms the message (and the messenger) of God’s rule. Chapter 6
1
Childs comments regarding ch.6, “His experience of ‘death and rebirth’ is constitutive of his role in this chapter” (Childs, Isaiah, 52).
2 Millard C. Lind, “Political Implications of Isaiah 6,” in Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah
(C. C. Broyles and C. A. Evans, eds.; Leiden: Brill, 1997), 337.
3
See Willem A. M. Beuken, “…the people’s unwillingness and incapacity to hear, see, and to convert cannot be understood without the preceding series of accusations in chapters 1-5.” See W. A. M. Beuken, “The Manifestation of Yahweh and the Commission of Isaiah: Isaiah 6 against the Background of Isaiah 1” CTJ 39 (2004): 73.
grounds the prophet’s words in a decree of the divine council.4
Unlike ch.2 or ch.5, however, ch.6 does not begin with a vision of the future (2:1) or a poetic parable (5:1-7); rather, 6:1-13 is a coherent unit of 1st-person narrative.5 Chapter 6 accords well with the content and purification theme of chs.1-5, though its narrative form is quite distinct from the preceding poetic material. Their correlation is seen particularly in the depiction of Israel as intractable and idolatrous, a people whose disloyalty to YHWH is evident in their rejection of the prophetic word (1:10; 2:3, 5; 5:12, 19, 24). In ch.6, Isaiah discovers that his own role in the unholy movement of Israel’s history will be to advance his people’s hardening (6:9-10) until YHWH’s vineyard (5:1-7) becomes a desolate wilderness (6:11- 13). Notably, then, the purpose of YHWH and the words of his prophet continue to come together as ch.6 casts its shadow over chs.7-8. Subsequent chapters outline the course YHWH will take and why the people should have taken God’s word seriously.6
Because they fail to comprehend and embrace God’s purposes, Isaiah does not bring them glad tidings; instead, the prophet’s word becomes the catalyst for judgment.7
Isaiah 6 begins with a superscription (cf. 2:1), a temporal clause tethering this narrative to the intra-textual sequence of ‘days’ concerning Judah’s kings (cf. 1:1; 7:1; 14:28; 36:1; 38:5). The episode takes place “in the year King Uzziah died” (twm-tn#Ob whyz( Klmh, 6:1a), and a superscription introducing Ahaz’s time, rapidly follows (yhyw Mtwy-Nb zx) ymyb, 7:1).8
However, when in 6:1 the prophet testifies, “The old king is dead,” he does not name an earthly successor to David’s throne.9
Instead, the prophet is
4
So also B. Childs, Isaiah, 58 and M. Sweeney, Isaiah 1-39, 140.
5 Wayyiqtol forms initiate each section in vv.1, 5, 8, and 11.
6 See J. Goldingay, Isaiah, 60. Aside from the content of Isaiah’s confession in v.5 (“unclean”), the
reasons why Isaiah is to harden the people are never specified in ch.6. This, of course, also points to its role as a ‘hinge’.
7 Their lack of understanding, which as Rendtorff explains is “now laid upon Israel as doom… has
its roots in Israel’s own sin.” See R. Rendtorff, “Isaiah 6 in the Framework of the Composition of the Book,” in Canon and Theology: Overtures to an Old Testament Theology (M. Kohl, ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 174-75.
8 Chapter 7 continues with 3rd-per. narrative accounts of Isaiah’s role during the latter king’s reign. 9 FI says nothing about the circumstances of Uzziah’s death or Jotham’s succession to the throne. It
merely reminds the reader that the Davidic king, Uzziah, has died (6:1). Elsewhere, the Chronicler reports that Isaiah also wrote an account called “The Acts of Uzziah” (2 Chr 26:22), but no such document is extant. According to the Chronicler, Uzziah was a good king until he became strong militarily (cf. vv.13-15). In his might, he exalted himself and violated the priestly torah (vv.17ff). As an immediate consequence, he was cursed with skin disease and condemned to die unclean: “When he became strong, he grew proud [wbl hbg; cf. wbbl-Mwr, Deut 17:20], to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to YHWH his God and entered the temple of YHWH to burn incense on the altar of incense . . . . Thus, king Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death” (2 Chr 26:16, 21; cf. the account of Uzziah [= Azariah] in 2 Kings 15:5).
Although this Chronicles text is an interesting inter-text with Isa 6, within the book of Isaiah, the death of Uzziah merely serves as a temporal marker. It indicates in a general way the time when Isaiah’s vision took place; its significance is its connection to Isa 1:1 and its role as the point of transition from a period of basic stability to an initial phase of divine judgment (‘death’). The details of Isaiah’s vision (and his failure to mention Uzziah’s successor) also focus the reader’s attention on the living God, the presence of YHWH as the true king (Klmh, 6:5). Still, the correlation of Isa 6:1-13 with 2 Chr 26:16-22 supports the
met head-on by a theophanic vision: “I saw the sovereign Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne” (v.1b).
The entire episode occurs within the Jerusalem temple (lkyh, v.1 || tyb, v.4), though earthly symbols transpose into their heavenly archetypes.10 The most outstanding feature of the place is its high and lofty throne ()#nw Mr )sk, v.1).11 The astonishing picture thus evokes Zion’s exaltation in 2:2 (cf. v.12),12
and the divine Lord is the only ruler present. God has already taken his exalted seat to direct the world’s affairs (6:1, 8), and the temple doubles as his cultic-center and court. Here, the Lord is revealed before the prophet’s eyes visibly and dramatically, with six-winged seraphs (Mypr#) hovering in attendance about the heavenly throne. It is striking that, as they fly, these dazzling
creatures must cover (hsk) or shield themselves13 from the awesome splendor, glory, and holiness of God (v.2). Their task is to herald his majesty and declare his praises (v.3). As they do, the very thresholds of the temple quake, their voices thundering: #wdq #wdq #wdq.14
These heavenly creatures not only proclaim the Lord’s unparalleled holiness and unrivaled glory (dwbk)—they also publish the name and identity of God: tw)bc hwhy. The Holy One of Israel,15 the majestic Lord of glory, is none other than YHWH, the Divine Warrior who commands all armies.16
observation that the majestic vision of YHWH as the only properly exalted one (6:1; cf. 2:9) underscores the requirement of holiness and explains YHWH’s decision to purify and refine the people through judgment. Thus, 2 Chr 26 helps the reader to see that the cleansing-action in Isa 6:5-6 and the commission and message of Isa 6:8-13 are the natural repercussion of Isaiah’s solidarity with an unclean people.
10 That the “skirts” (lw#O, or “bottoms”) of YHWH’s robe filled the temple (lkyhh-t) My)lm) as
his glory fills the entire earth (wdwbk Cr)h-lk )lm) suggests that no temple built by human hands is really able to house the sovereign Lord who made heaven and earth (1 Kgs 18:27; Isa 66:1-2). See J. J. M. Roberts, “The Visual Elements in Isaiah’s Vision in light of Judean and Near Eastern Sources,” in From
Babel to Babylon: Essays on Biblical History and Literature in Honour of Brian Peckham (J. R. Wood and
M. Leuchter, eds.; New York: T & T Clark, 2006), 204.
11Thus, Wildberger identifies vv.1-4 formally as a Thronratsvision (Jesaja, 236).
12 Consistent with the theme of chs.1-5, then, YHWH will be exalted above all rival powers, as
ultimately YHWH realizes his plan on earth as in heaven. Indeed, YHWH brooks no rival, anyone and anything that sets itself or its policies above YHWH and his plan will be humiliated and abased, cut down and destroyed—including his chosen king and chosen people (Isa 2:2-4, 5, 8-22; 5:19, 24; 6:11-13; 13-23).
13 J. J. M. Roberts finds a parallel in the Egyptian art and iconography of this period, in which
winged-cobras extend their wings to shield the divine king or deity from evil. The contrast with Isaiah’s vision is clear, for here, “Nothing is said of any attempt of these creatures to protect the enthroned king Yahweh. Instead, they seem to be protecting themselves from Yahweh’s glory.” Compare the response of both earthly and heavenly creatures in Exod 3:6; 1 Kgs 19:13; Ps 89:7, and see Roberts, “The Visual Elements in Isaiah’s Vision,” 207.
14
YHWH’s superlative holiness (the Trishagion of Christianity or the Kedushah of Judaism) is here expressed through a three-fold repetition, the number three expressing completeness (cf., e.g., Gen 6:16; 22:4; Exod 19:1, 11; Lev 19:6; 1 Kgs 17:21; 18:1; Isa 19:24; 3:30; Hos 6:2). For a discussion of the value of numbers in the Hebrew Bible, see the introduction to Cornelis Houtman’s Exodus Volume 1 (HCOT; Kampen: Kok, 1993).
15 The reader is meant to understand that it is this vision that prompts Isaiah to use the title, “The
The prophet is the only “earthly intruder into the heavenly scene,”17
and yet, to his amazement (v.5c), he survives to interpret the vision.18 Isa 6:1-4, 5 is the written
testimony concerning what he perceived: verbs of seeing (h)r) in v.1 and v.5 enclose the report, providing the reader with a 1st-person account of the prophet’s encounter with the sovereign Lord. In fact, the prophet identifies the figure as the true King and
acknowledges his name: “I saw the Lord of all… the true King,19
YHWH of Hosts, my own eyes have seen.”20
Sweeney observes correctly that the theophany (vv.1-4) provides the context for the activities and speeches that appear in the following verses (vv.5-7, 8-10, 11-13).21 A textlinguistic observation supports his remark, for in each section the prophet identifies YHWH as the sovereign Lord (ynd), vv.1, 8, 11). Therefore, in addition to the time, place, and circumstances of ch.6, his identification of YHWH brings each part together into a cohesive whole.
The thematic movement of the chapter also achieves integration. Although the first note concerns death (twm, v.1), the closing note in the vision of a holy seed (#dq (rz, 6:13c) indicates hope for the renewal of life.22 In fact, holiness not only brackets the entire report (6:3, 13c), but comprises its principal theme: YHWH’s purity or holiness—which indicates his transcendence and total separation from all that is profane or unclean23— qualifies the entire picture of the Lord’s exalted presence and the manifestation of his
Hebrew Bible,” in Backgrounds for the Bible (M. O’Connor and D. N. Freedman, eds.; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1987), 253.
16 The context of ch.6, subsequent to 5:25-30 and preceding chs.7-8, expresses the glory and
majesty of the true King that provokes dread and awe from his subjects both heavenly and earthly. This context also suggests that tw)bc ()bc) describes YHWH in his capacity to command armies. Norman K. Gottwald describes it as a double-entendre, referring to both heavenly and Israelite armies. In this context, however, the Divine Warrior also commands foreign armies as the instrument of just judgment. See N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979; repr., Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 682.
17
Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah 1-39 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1998). The speaker does not identify himself by name, “although it is generally assumed that Isaiah, the eighth-century prophet, is speaking.” So, Peter Miscall, Isaiah, 2nd Edition (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2006), 45.
18 Notice that while the reader is instructed by the vision report, and the prophet’s survival is of
course significant, the prophet’s charge does not include telling the people about this vision of YHWH (so, Beuken, “The Manifestation of Yahweh,” 75). Nevertheless, this aspect of the prophet’s profile is integral to the message of the prophetic book.
19 “the true King” (v.5): In addition to the definite direct object marker (t)), Klm is marked with
the article. YHWH is the king who alone is truly King; the sovereign Lord cannot be compared to any other king.
20yny( w)r tw)bc hwhy Klmh-t)…ynd)-t) h)r)w 21 Sweeney, Isaiah 1-39, 133.
22
Most scholars regard v.13c as a redactional element, but as Gene Tucker recognizes that it is impossible to reach a firm conclusion on the matter: “The editors of the book, if not Isaiah or the earliest tradents, saw that the national disaster could be a cleansing punishment and that new life could grow out of it” (Isaiah 1-39, 104). It is best to see it as a concise commentary on YHWH’s words; hence, as an element of inner-biblical interpretation, it is an instance of inspired redaction.
23 For this conception of holiness or impurity, see Gordon Wenham, Leviticus (NICOT; Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 26, and see Phillip P. Jenson, Graded Holiness: A Key to the Priestly Conception
majestic glory in all the earth.24 The identification of “The Holy One” as “YHWH of Hosts” heralds God’s government of society, involving just retribution, blessing and curse, harmony and disorder, life and death.25 It also proclaims that God requires holiness from his people.26 In the absence of holiness, cleansing-judgment is the expected repercussion, entailing disorder, disharmony, and death both for Israel and the prophet. Nevertheless, if 6:13c recognizes hope, then the movement of ch.6, like that of chs.2-5, reinforces the point that judgment is the inevitable path to renewal for Israel.
Confronted only with this vision of God, however, the prophet discerns that Israel’s circumstances are quite desperate and hopeless. Indeed, as his reaction demonstrates, he understands the situation perfectly, for he immediately pronounces another woe—only this time upon himself (yl-yw))!27 His eyes have seen the sovereign Lord—this alone
warrants destruction (“I am cut off,” hmd, nip‘al; cf. Exod 33:20)—but most significant in the proximate context are the reasons he gives for this expectation. The first involves his self-assessment: “I am a man with unclean lips.”28 According to Victor Hurowitz, “Upon seeing YHWH by surprise, Isaiah panics, because he knows he is unprepared [for an audience with the sovereign Lord].”29
Hence, this realization prompts a confession, as the prophet immediately acknowledges his guilt.
The second reason reveals the prophet’s profound grasp of his collective responsibility, the concept that a prophet cannot safely be isolated from the people he serves (v.5; cf. 1:9; 2:5).30 As R. P. Carroll explains, the relationship between speaker and
24 McConville notes many examples of the use of ‘glory’ for the dramatic manifestation or self-
disclosure of God in “God’s ‘Name’ and ‘Glory’” TynBul 30 (1979): 149-163. Psalm 108:6, for example, expresses the hope that God’s glory would cover the earth (cf., e.g., Exod 19:6; 24:15ff; Num 14:21; Deut 5:24; Pss 102:16; 104:31f; 96:3; 72:18; 145:11f; Isa 28:5; 35:2 || “majesty” rdh; 40:5; 42:8; 48:11), and Exod 14:18 indicates its purpose, namely, that “…you shall know that I am YHWH” (cf. Isa 11:9). See also, Tremper Longman III, “The Glory of God in the Old Testament,” in The Glory of God (C. W. Morgan and R. A. Peterson, eds.; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 47-78.
25 See Isa 5:16, 19, 24; 4:3; cf., e.g., Exod 19:5-6; Lev 10:3; 11:44-45; Num 15:40; 16:7; Deut 7:6;
14:2; 23:14.
26
At Sinai the whole nation became holy, a kingdom of priests (Exod 19:6), and Israel’s response in holiness and purity was to reflect God’s maintenance of order and harmony in the created world (Lev 11:45; 19:2; 20:7, 26). John Gammie writes, “A unity of the Old Testament can be discerned in this unified response to holiness on the part of Israel: holiness requires purity.” J. G. Gammie, Holiness in Israel (OBT; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989), 1.
27 Isa 3:9; 11; cf. 24:16; [ywh] 5:8, 11, 18, 20, 21, and 22. 28
Victor Hurowitz has shown from Akkadian parallels that the reference to lips is a synecdoche, expressing the totality of the person’s being (“Isaiah’s Impure Lips and their Purification in Light of Akkadian Sources” HUCA 60 [1989]: 41).
29 See Victor Hurowitz, “Isaiah’s Impure Lips,” 83. “Panic” may be an infelicitous term, since
Isaiah wisely discerns his woeful estate; that is, he recognizes his (unintentional) ritual impurity ()m+).
30
See the excellent study by Joel S. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup 196; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).
community is a relationship of solidarity,31 which here is expressed by identifying his pollution with that of his people: “I live among a people with unclean lips” (cf. 29:13).32
The placement of this encounter after chs.1-5 supports the connection, explaining why the prophet offers no defense of his people: he already recognizes their pollution and guilt.33 Now, as Brueggemann clarifies, “[H]e stands within that community, condemned along with all the others.”34
Thus exposed, the prophet awaits the judgment due him in part because of the impurity of the people with whom he identifies.
YHWH does not dispute the prophet’s assessment or the implications of his communal relationship, but heaven’s response is both surprising and significant (6:6-7). First, a seraph acts, applying a glowing coal from the altar (probably the altar of incense35) to one of the most indispensable and sensitive parts of a prophet’s body, his lips (Mytp#)! Next the seraph speaks, interpreting its actions through words. By a painful process of burning, the seraph has purified the prophet. The cauterizing has removed his guilt, purged his sin (rpk, pu‘al), and enabled his healing (v.7).36 Thus, by wounding him, the seraph has transformed him from unclean to clean. Consequently, the prophet no longer shares the impurity of the nation. Since the seraph’s operation has symbolically cleansed him, Isaiah is now ritually prepared to participate within the heavenly society. With clean lips, he is fit not only for an audience with the Lord, but also for serving on God’s behalf.
Indeed, the next thing he hears ((m#, v.8) is the voice of the sovereign Lord addressing his court: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah now stands on the Lord’s side as a participant (wnl, 1st-per. pl.) in the divine council,37 “the policy room of
31 R. P. Carroll, “Blindsight and the Vision Thing: Blindness and Insight in the Book of Isaiah” in
Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah (C. C. Broyles and C. A. Evans, eds.; Leiden: Brill, 1997), 85.
32 Again, the lips are clearly synecdochic, but highlighting the specific connection between Isaiah’s
lips and the lips of his people may have in view the prophet’s role in intercession and the people’s prayer in the context of worship (cf. 1:15). This is significant since the passage marks the same transition in Israel’s story as the stopping of Ezekiel’s mouth in Ezek 3:26. By his inability to intercede for the people, YHWH indicated the inevitability of their judgment—only here Isaiah will speak, but his speaking will have a negative impact (see below). The study by V. Hurowitz supports this view, for in several of the texts he examines the purification initiated by cleansing the mouth is a prelude to standing before a divine council sitting in judgment (“Isaiah’s Impure Lips,” 41).
33 Isa 1:10-17, 21, 23; 2:6; 3:8; 5:7, 19, 20, 24.
34 W. Brueggemann, Isaiah 1-39, 59. Of course, pollution and sin are never merely individual or
merely corporate matters.
35
The presence of smoke filling the temple (v.4), the solidarity of the prophet with the community, and the correlation with 2 Chr 26:16-22 suggest that the altar in Isa 6:6 may be the altar of incense (cf. Num 16:46-47). The appearance of YHWH in the Holy of Holies, in the cloud above the mercy seat (Lev 16:14, 30-34), suggests to Sweeney that the time of the vision must be identified with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) (Sweeney, Isaiah 1-39, 140).
36 Cf. 1:16, 24-27; 4:4.
37 See the correlative experience of Micaiah ben Imlah, whose vision also coincides with his