The Fundamentals: Volume 7, Chapter 5: One Isaiah

8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 7, Chapter 5: One Isaiah

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CHAPTER V

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0NE ISAIAH

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BY PROFESSOR ,G,E,ORGE L, ROBlNSO ,N, D

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MCC-ORMICK

THEOLOGICAL

SE .lINARY,

CHICAGO ,,

ILLINOIS

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''For about twenty-five

centu,ri,e,s

n.o one dreamt of doubt

ing that Isaiah the son of , ·oz wa:s

the author

of

every

part

.of the book, that goes und,er his name ; and

thos,e

who still

~aintain the unity of authorship are accustomed to point,

with satisfaction., to the unanimity of the Christian Church

on

the

matter,

till

a few German scholar 's arose, about

a

century ago,

an,d called

in

question

the

unit .y of this

book.''

Thus , wrote the late Dr. A. B. Davidson, Professor of I-Iebrelf

in

New

College.,

Edinburgh,

Old Testament Prophecy,

p.

244,

1903).

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The c.ritical

disintegration of the

Book

of Isaiah

began

with

Koppe, who

ill 1780 first doubted the genuineness

of

chapter SO. Nine years later D

1

oed·erlein

suspeeted the

whole

of chapters ·40'"66. He

was followed

by

Rosenmueiler,

who

was the first to deny to Isaiah the prophecy against

Babyloll

in chapters 13 :l-14 :23.

Eichhorn, at

the

beginning

of the

last

century,

further

eliminated . the oracle

against

Tyre in

chapter 23, and, , with

Geseniu:s

and .Ewal

1

d, also d,enied the

Isaia~ic origin

of

chapters

24-27. Gesenius

also

ascribed to

some

Unkn.own

prophet

chapter 's 15 land

16~

Rosenmueller

went further, and prononnced

against

chapters

34

and

35

1

;

and

not long afterwar

1

ds ( 1840),

Ewal ,d qu,es,tioned

chapters

z

and 33. Thus by the

middle

of

the nineteenth century

sorne

thirty-seven or thirty-eight chapters were rejected as no pad

of

Isaiah's

actu~J ·writings.

In 1879-80, the celebrated Leipzig pro£essor, Fran•

fO

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One

Isaiah

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Delitzsch, who for

years

previous had def ended the genuine•

ness of the entire book, finally yielded to the modern critical ·

po,sition, and in the new edition of his commentary pub

lished

in

1889, interpreted chapte .rs 40-66, though with con·

siderable hesitation; as coming from the clo,se of the period of

Babylonian

exile. About the same time (

1 90 ,

Canon

Driver and

Dr.

George

Ada ·m Smith gave popular

impe·tus

to

simi'lar

views

in

Great.

Bri 'tain.

Since

1890, the

criticism of

Isaiah has

been even mare

- ,

trenchant aJJd microscopic

than

before. Duhm, Stade, , Guthe,

Hackmann, Comill and Marti on the Continent, ·and Cheyne,

' itehouse, Box, Glazebrook, Kennett and others in Great

Britain a.nd

A.me·rica, hav~

questioned

portio .ns

which

hitherto

were supposed to be genuine .

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THE DISINTEGRATION

OF' ·'DEUTERO-ISAIAH'

Even the unity ·of chapters 40-66, which were supposed

to be

the work

of the Second,

or ''Deutero-Isaiah,,'

is

given

up.

What prior

to

1890

was

supposed

to be

the unique

pro

duct of some

celebrated but

anonymous

sage

who

lived

in

Babylonia · (about 550 B. C.),

is

now cominonly divided and

subdivided and in large part distributed am~ng various writers ·

from

Cyrus

to Simon. ·

At

first

it

was thought sufficient to,

separate chapters 63~66

as

a

l.ate··

additio 111

to ''De .uter'o-Isaiah's''

prophec ies ; bLtt

more

rece nt ly it bas become the

fashion

to distinguish

between

chapters 40-55, which are alleged to have been written in

Babylonia

about 549-538 B. C., and chapters

56-66, which

are now claimed to

have

'been

composed

abo·ut ,

u445 B,.

C.

Some carry disintegration

farther

even than this, especially in

the case of

chapters

56~66,which are subdivided into various

-fragments

and said to be the product of a school of writers

rather

than

of

a

single pen. Opinions

also

conflict

as to

the

plaoe 0£

tl1eir composition, whether in Babylonia, Palestine,

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Phoenici ,a, or E,gypt.

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72

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RECENT VIEWS 1

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.t\mong the latest to investigate the problem

is the

Rev.

Robert H. Kennett, D.

D.,,

Regius Professor of

Hebrew

and

F

1

ellow of Que ,en's

Colle,ge,

Cambridge,

wl1ose

Schweich Lee--

. tu ,res ( 1909) have t

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ecently been publisl1ed for the British

Acade,my by the Oxford Universit ,y

Press,

1910, ·Th ,e

vol

ume is

entitled, ,

'~The Com,position of

the Book of

Is ,aiah

in

th

1

e Light ,of History and .A,rcl1aeo1ogy'',and is a profe ,s,sed

''attemp ,t to tel1 in a ,s

1

imp,le

w,ay

the

,story

of

the

bock

of

Is ,aiah. '' The

res,ults

of hi,s, inves,tigations he

[sums

up

as fol·

· lows,

(pp. 84--851:

(1) All of

cI1apter s

,3, 5

,

6, 7 20 and 31,

and portions , ,of chapters

1,, 2, 4, 8, 9,

t,O,

14,

1 7

22 and 23,

may he

assigned

to Isaiah tl1e son

1

0£

Amoz.

(2) Al,l oi

chapters 13, 40 and 47, and portions o,f chapters 14, 21, 41,

43, 44, 45, 46 and

48, may

be

assigned

to

the

time

of

Cyrus.

(3) All of chapters 15, 36, 37 and

·39,

and portions of cl1ap-

·trers

16

a11d

38, may be assigned to

the , period between

Nebu

chadnezzar and Alexander tl1e Great,

but

cannot be dated pre

cisely. (4') Chapt er 23 :1-14 may be assign~d to the

time

of

Ale ·xander

the

Great (

332 B. C.) . (

5)

All

of

chapters

11,

12,

19, 24-.27, 29, 30, 32-35, 42,

49-66,

and portions

of

chapters 1, 2, 4, 8,

9,,

10, 16, 17, 18, 23, 41, 44, 45

and

48,

may be ,assigne

1

d to the second century

B

C. Dr. Kennett

tl1us, assigns more

t,han

one,-half of the

book

of Js,ai,ah to th

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e

Macca,b,ean Ag

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e.

· Pro ,£,. C. ,F. Kent,

a,),,o,

in his ''Sermons ,,

Epistl .es

and

Ap,oc,alyp ,ses of Isra

1

el's Prophets,

1910,

makf-s the

following

,noteworthy

,ob

serv ,a'tions

on t'he

prophe

1

ci,es

of

the

so,-caJ,Jed

''Deutero-Isaiah. He

says:

''The prophecies of Haggai

and Zechariah. . . . a:ff

rd

by

far the

best

approach

for

tht

study

O'f the difficttlt problems

pr,esented

by Isaiah

40-6,6 ...

Chapter 's 56-66 are g·ene,r,ally .reco ,gniz ,ed as P0st-exiiic.,

. . • In

Isaiah

56 and the

following

chapters there

are

repeate ,d references to th ,e temple and i'ts service,

indicating

that

it

l1ad

already

been

restored.

More-

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One saiah

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over, these ref e,rences are 11ot confined to ·the latte,r part

of the book. • . . . The fa

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ct, on th

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ne

ha11d,

that there

are fe

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w,

if '

any, allusions to contemporary events , in these

chapters, and ., on the other hand, that little or nothing is

known of th ie. condition and hope,s

1

of

t'l1

e J ,e,vs durin g this

period ( th ,e closing years of the Babylonian ·

exile)

makes the

dating of tbesle prophecies ,pos,sible .al·thottgh f.ar from cer

tain. • • • Also the assumption

that

the at1thor of these

chapters lived ~n the Babylonian exile is no·t su,pported

by

a

close examina ·tion

of thie

p

1

rop'hecie·s tl1e,1nselv,es. Possibly

their author was one of the few who, lil


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74

The

Fundatiienlals

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·book may be

1

divid .ed int0· two groups which we 1nay call

moderates and radicals. · Among the moderates may lie in·

eluded Drs .. Driver, G. A. Smith, Skinner, Kirkpat1·ick, Koe-

11ig,A. B. Davidson and Whitehouse. T~

1

ese all

practically

agre

1

e ·that , the

f

1

0Jlo,wing chlapters

and ver ·ses

a,re: ·not

I

saiah

1

·s

11 :10-16; 12

:1-6;

13

:1-14 :23;

15

:1-16

:12; 21 :1-10.;

24-27;

3 I ·. Th.at isl to

say,,

so:me

f

1

rty-four , c·hapter ,s

,out of

1

the

whole number, sixty-six, were not written

by·

Isaiah;

or,

ap

proximat .ely

800

out

of

.1,292

verses

are n.ot ·

g

1

enu,ine. ·

Among the radicals are Drs.

Ch,eyne,

D

1

uhm, Hackmann,

Guthe, Marti and Kennett. . Th

1

es·e all reject approximately

1,030 v

1

erses out of the total ·t ,292, retaining the f,ollowing only

as

the genuine produict o f Isaiah and his age:

1 :2-26, 29-31;

2

:6-19 ;

3

1

:1, s,

8,

9,

12-17, 24; 4 :1;

5 : 1-14,,

17 ~29;

6 :l -13;

7:1-8:22; 9:8-10:9; 10:13, 14, 27-32; 14:24-32; 17:1-14;

18

:.1-6; .

20 :1-6;

2,2 :1-22;

28 : 1-4,, 7-,22; 29

:l-6 1

9,

l,

0,

13-15; 30 :1-17; 31 :1-4. That is, only about 2 62 verses out

of

•

th.i total, , 1,292,are allowed to be genuine ,. .

This is, we believe, a

fair

state·ment of the Isaiah question as

it exists

tod,ay.

On the other hand, there are those who still def end the

unity

of Isai ah s book, e.

g.,

Strachey (

1874),

Naegelsbach

(1877), Brede ,nkamp (1887), D,oug~Jas (18

1

9

1

5)

1

, W. H . Cobb

(1883-1908), W. H. Green (1892), Vos - (1898 -99), Thirtle

( 1907) an.d Margoli

1

outh ( 1910) *·

THE PRIME REASON FOR DISSECTING ISAIAH

The fundamental axiom of criticism is the diotum tha ·t a

prophet

always spoke

out of a

d,efinite

bist

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orical situation

t

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the, present need s of

the people

among wh

1

om he

liv,ed,

land

that a definite historical sitt1.ation shall be pointed out for each

prop

1

hecy. This f unda111en·ta.l postulate

unde1·]ies

all modern

criticis m of 01

1

d Testament p

1

rophecy.

*Compare also the writer s

1

The B,ook of Is .aiah, * Y. M·. C~A~

Press,

N.

Y.,

1910.

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7

The Fundamentals

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For

it

is not th,e

prediction

co

1

nce1·ning

Cyrus

to

which the

chronicler

points

as ''the word of Jehoval1 by the

mo,uth

of

J

ere:mia·h,'' b·ut

''the

tl1ree-score-.an

1

d-t,en

y·ears''

spo

1

ke.n

of

in

1 verse

21

of the

same

context w'l1ichJ remia ,h

did p

1

re,dict.

Cf~

2 Chron. 36 :2·1. On the other

hand,

tl1e order of the

p,rophets

among the Jews of antiquity ~,as

1

(

1)

J

rerniah ., (2) Ezekiel,

. ( 3) Isa ·iah, and . ( 4) The Twelve ,; accordingly, a.ny portio

1

n of

any ,of these p,ro

1

pl1ec.ies

might be cited as belonging

to

Jere

miah, because

l1is book

sto

1

od first.

In

any

cas,e, to ,seek fo

1

·r e,xt.ernal eviden ,ce in beh,aif 0

1

£

th,e

dissection of

the

book

is

ind icative

THE

LITERARY HISTORY OF THE

BOOK

•

When or how the Book of Isaiah ,vas edited

a11d

broug~1t

into its present form is unknown. Jesus ben-Sirach, the

a,utl1or

of

Eccles

1

iasticus, writing c. 18

1

0

B.

C.

cit,es

Isaiah as

one

of

the

notable wortl1ies of

I-Iebre·w· antiq ,uity', in who,se

day s, ''the sun went backvvard and he added life to the king''

(Ecclus. 48 :?0-25; cf. Isa .. 38 :4-,8) ; and he adds, who ''saw

by an

ex~llent

spirit

tl1at

which sho,u1d

1

0111e

to passl at

the

last, and

1

comforted th em that mourned in 2:ion.'' Evidently,

therefore,

at

the

hegi11ning

of

tI1e

second century B.

C'.,

at

the

1atest ·, the Book of Isaial1 .h a d reached its p

1

r'e,sent form ,, and ·

the last

twenty -seven chapters were already ascribed

to the son

of Amoz.

Furth ,ermo,re,, the1~e is ab

1

,£01u·te1y

no p,roof that chapters ,

1-39, or

any

other considerabl ,e section of 1.saia h·s prophecies

ever existe ,d by themselves as an independent collection; nor

i,s th,er,e any groitnd for tl1inlcing that th

1

e promis ,sory and M·es

siani1 pot·'tions

1

have,b,een sys,tematical ,]y interp

1

lated by editors ..

Jong subsequen t to Isaiah's own time., It is quite arbitrary to

suppo se that

the earli

1

er prophets

only

threatened.

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CERTAIN FALSE PRESUPPOSITIONS

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Cert ·ain

false presuppositions

govern

critics in their

dis,in-

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One Isaiah

tegration of the Book of Isaiah. Only a few examples need

be given

by way

of illustration.

1) To one, the conversion of the heathen lay quite

beyond the horizon of any eighth-century prophet, and conse

quently Isa. :2-4 and all similar passages should be relegated

to a subsequent age.

(2) To another, the picture of universal peace in Isa.

11 :1-9 is a symptom of late date, and therefore this sectiol\

and kindred ones must be deleted. ·

(3) To another, the thought of universal judgment''

upon the whole earth in chapter 14 :26 quite transcends

Isaiah' s range of thought.

( 4) To still another, the apocal yptic character of chap

ters 24-27 represents a phase of Hebrew thought which pre

vailed in Israel only after Ezekiel.

( S) Even to tho se who are considered moderates the

poetic character of a passage like chapter 12 and the references

to a

return

from captivity as in 11 :11-16, and the promises

and consolations such as are found in chapter 33, are cited as

grounds for assigning these and kindred passages to a n1uch

later age. Radicals deny

in toto

the existence of Messianic

passages among Isaiah's own predictions.

But, to deny to Isaiah of the eighth century all catholicity

of grace, all universalism of salvation or judgment, every

highly developed Messianic ideal, every rich note of promise

and comfort, all sublime faith in the sacrosanct character of

Zion, as some do, is unwarrantably to create a new Isaiah of

greatly reduced proportions, a mere preacher of righteousness,

a statesman of not very optimistic vein, and the exponent of a

cold ethical religion without the warmth and glow of the mes

sages which are actualiy ascribed to the prophet of the eighth

century.

THE WRITER'S PERSONAL ATTITUDE

More and more the writer is persuaded that the funda

mental postulates of much critici sm are unsound, and that


9/18

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T he

Fundamentals

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broad facts must decide the

unity

or collective character of ,

Isaiah s book. To determine

th ,e ·

exact

historical

background

0£

each individual section is simply impossible, as the history

of criticism plainly shows. Verbal exegesis may

do

more

harm than

good. Gre .ater

regard must be paid to the struc-

t~re

of

the boolc.

When t·reated as

an

organic

who,le, ·th~ bool<

is, a

grand masterpiece. ·

One great purpOse dominat~s

the

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aut hor throughout, , whicl1, as he proceeds, is. brough .t to a

cli-

max

i11

a pi.ct·u.re of

Is.rael s redempt ·ion

an ,d th

1

e glo

1

rificatio ,n

of Zion. Failure to recognize · this unity

inc.apacitates

a mari

to do it exegetical j ustice. The prophecies of the Book of

Isaial1 simply can not be properly und

1

erstood witho ,ut some

comp1·ehension .of

the

author s scheme of

thought as

a w.hole.

Th

1

ere. is an o·bvious, though

it

may be to som,e exten .t an edi.

tori .al, unity

to

Isaial1 s prophe ·cies. But there is a.s

true a

unity

in the Book 0£ Isaiah as

is

usually

found

in a Volu ne

of ser~

mons To

1

regard tl1em as a he·tero ,geneous mass o,f miscel

laneous pro ,pheci

1

es which were written at widely separated

times and u.nder

varied

circums ,tances

from Isaiah s o,vn

period down to the Maccabean age, and

fre ,ely

interpolated

throughou .t the interve11ing cei-1turies, is to ·tose sight of tl1e

great historic realities and

perspe ·ctive

of th

1

e

propl1et.

In

short the whole problem of

how

much or how little ·Isaiah

wrote would b

1

come in1mens,el.Y simplifie1d if

crit ·ics

wo,uld only

divest themselves of a mass of unwarranted presuppositioi:ts

and arbitrary restrictions which fix har·d and fast what each

century can think and say.

Accordingly, the writer s attitude is that of those who,

while welcoming all ascertained results of investigation, de- .

cline to accept

any

mere conjectur .es or

theories

as final

con

clusions.

An.d

while l1e acknowledges his very gr1at debt t

1

0

critics of all latitudes,

·he nevertheless :bel.ieves tl1at the Book

of Isairah., pra

1

ctically

·as

we have it,

may

have b

1

e

1

en,

.a·nd p~ob~

ably was,,all writte

1

n

by Isaiah,

th,e son

1

0f Amoz, i·n the

la·tter

half

of

the

eighth

,century

B.,

C.

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One Isaiah

79

ARGUMENTS FOR ONE ISAIAH

It

is·

as unreasonable to expect to be able to prove the unity

of

Isaiah as to suppose tqat it has been disproven. Internal

evidence is indecisive in either case. There are arguments,

however, which corroborate a belie f that there was but

one

Isaiah. Here are some of those which might be mentioned:

1

Th e Cir

de of Ideas

is striking ly the same throughout.

For example, tak_ the name for God which is almost peculiar

to the

Book of Isaiah, the Ho ly One

of

Israel . This title

for Jehovah occurs in the Book of Isa iah a total of twenty ...

five

times and only six times elsewhere in the Old ·Testament

(one

of which is in a parallel passage). It interlocks all

the

\rarious portions with one another and stamps them with the

Personal ·itnprimatur of him who saw the vision of the majes

tic God seated upon His throne, high and lifted up, and heard

the angelic choirs singing: Holy, I-Ioly, Holy ·is Jehovah of

hosts: the whole earth is full of Thy glory (Chapter 6).

1'he

pre sence of this Divine name in all the different sections

of the book is of more value in identifying Isaiah as the author

of all the se prophecies than though his name had been in

scribed at the beginning of every chapter; for the reason that

his

theo logy is woven into the very fiber

and

texture of the

Whole

book.

The title occurs twelve tin1es in chapters 1-39, and thirteen

times in chapters

40-66;

and it is simply unscientific to say

that the ~arious alleged authors 0£ the disputed portions all

employed the satne title through imitation. (Isa. 1 :4; S :19,

24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11, 12, 15; 31:1; 37: 23.

Also, 41 :14, 16, 20; 43 :3, 14; 45 :11; 47 :4; 48 :17; 49 :7; 54 :5;

55 :5; 60 :9, 14. Compare 2 Kings 19 :22; Psa. 71 :22; 78 :41;

89 18;

Jer.

SO 29; 51

:5.)

Another t1nique idea which occurs with considerable repe

tition

in the Book of Isaiah is the thought of a highway .

Ci 11:16; 35:8; 40:3; 43:19; 49:11; 57:14; 62:10.


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80

The Fundamentals

Another is the idea of a remnant . Cf. 1 :9; 6 :13; 10 :20,

21, 22; 11 :11, 12, 16; 14:22, 30; 15:9; 16:14; 17:3, 6; 21 :17;

28:5; 37:31; 46:3; 65:8, 9.

Another is the position occupied by Zion in the prophet's

thoughts. Cf. 2 :3; 4 :5; 18 :7; 24 :23; 27 :13; 28 :16; 29 :8;

30:19; 31:9; 33:S, 20; 34:8; 46:13; 49:14; 51:3, 1.1; 52:1;

57

:13; 59 :20; 60 :14; 62

:1, 11;

65 :11, 25; 66 :8.

Still another is the expression, pangs of a woman

in

·travail. Cf. 13 :8; 21 :3; 26 :17, 18; 42 :14

;54

1; 66 :7.

All these, and many others which are less distinctive, stamp

psychologically the book with an individuality which it is

difficult to account for

if it be broken up into various sections

and distributed, as some do, over the centuries.

2. Literary Style

As negative evidence, literary style is not a very safe argu ..

ment, for as Profes sor McCurdy says, In the case of a writer

of Isaiah's endowments, style is not a sure criterion of author ..

ship ( History, Prophecy and the Monuments, II, p. 317

n.). Yet it is remarkable that the clause, for the mouth of

Jehovah hath spoken it , should be found three times in the

Book of Isaiah, and nowhere else in the Old Testament. Cf

1:20; 40:5;

58:14.

It is also singular that the Divine title, the Mighty One

of Israel, should occur three times in Isaiah and nowhere

else in the Old Testament. Cf. 1:24; 49:26; 60:16. •

· And it is noteworthy that the phrase, streams of water,''

should occur twice in Isaiah and nowhere else. Cf. 30 :25;

44:4.

And most peculiar is the tendency on the part of the author

to emphatic reduplication. Cf. 2:7, 8; 6:3; 8:9; 24:16, 19;

40 :1 ; 43 :11, 2s·;48 =1s ; s1 :12 ; s7 :19 ; 62 :1o.

Isaiah's style differs

widely

from that of every other

Old

Testament prophet and is as far removed as possible from that

of Ezekiel and the post-exilic prophets.

3.

Historical References


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One Isaiah

81

Take for example, first, the prophet's constant reference

to Judah and Jerusalem, 1 :7-9; 3 :8; 5 :13; 24 :19; 25 :2; 40 :2,

9; 62 :4. Also, to the temple and its ritual of worship and

sacrifice. In chapter

1 :·11-15,

when all was prosperous, the

prophet complained that the people are prof use and formal in

their ceremonies and sacrifices; in chapter 43 :23, 24, on the

contrary, when the country had been overrun by the Assyrians

and Sennacherib had beseiged the

city,

the prophet complains

that they had not brought to Jehovah the sheep of their burnt

offerings, nor honored Him with their sacrifices. In chapter

66 :1-3,

6 20

not only is the existence of the temple and the

observance of the te1nple dtual pre suppo sed, but those are

sentenced who place their tru st in the material temple, and

the outward ceremonial s of temple wor ship.

As for the exile , the prophet's attitude to it throughout

is that of both anticipation and realization. Thus in chapter

57

:1,

judgment is only ·threatened , not yet inflicted: The

righteous is taken away

f ro1n

the evil

to

come. That is to

say, the exile is described as still future. On the othe.r hand,

in chapter 3 :8, Jeru salem is ruined, and Judah is fall en'' ;

while in chapter

11 :11, 12,

the Lord will set His hand again

the second time to recover the remnant . from the

four corners of the earth . To interpret such statements

literally without regard to Isaiah's manife st attitude to the

exile, leads only to confu sion. No prop het realized so keenly

or described so vivJdly the destiny of the I-Iebrews.

4. The Predictive El ement.

This is the strongest proof of the unity of the Book of

Isaiah. Prediction is the very essence of prophecy. Isaiah

was pre-eminently a

prophet of the future.

With unparalleled

suddenness he repeatedly leaps from despair to hope, from

threat to promise, from the actual to the ideal. What Kent

says of Deutero-Isaiah may with equal justice be said of

Isaiah himself : While in touch with his own age, the great

unknown prophet lives in the atmosphere of the past and the


13/18

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•

•

•

•

82

.The

Fundamentals

•

future

1

(Cf.

1

Se11nons, Epistles and Apocalypses of Israel s

Prophets ,

p.

28)

1

• • '

. Isaiah spoke to his own age, but he also addr

1

essed himself

to the ages

to

come.

His verb

tenses are characteristicall ,y

futures an.d prophetic

perfects. Of him A.

B. Davidson s

words are particularly true : If any prophetic ~ook

be

ex ..

amined . • • it will appear that the ethical and religious

teaching is always secondary, and that

the:

essential thing in

the book or disc,ourse is

the

prop11et s

outlook

into

the

future

(Hastings

Dicti.onary

of the

Bible,

article, Prophecy and

P:rophets ) .

.Is

1

aiah

w.as

exceptionally

give·n to p

1

r e,dicting ,: thus,

1

( 1) Before the Syro-E p/1,1,aimiticw,ar (

7

3 4

B

C.,),

he

predi,c,te,d that . wi.thin s,i.xty-five years E,phraim sho.u.ld b,e

broken in piec.es (

7

:8) ;, and

t l1at

hef ore the

1

chil

1

d

Maher

~hal,al.-hash-baz should have

knowle,dge

~o cry,

1

My fath

1

e1·

o,r ''My mother , the rlic:hes of Damascus and t·t1e

spoil

of

S

1

,amari la s·hould b

11

e ca.:r,rie.

d awa .y

(8

:4;

1

cf.

7 :16). There

are,

numer ,ous other predicti

1

ons, among lriis earlier prophe .cies. (

1

Cf .,

1 :27, 28 ;I 2 :2-4,;, 6 : 13; 10

:20-23;

11

:6-16;

17

:14.)I •

(2

1

) Sh ,ortly ,

befor ,e· the

dowt,fall o,f Samaria

in 722 ,

B. C~

Isaiah

.Predicted

that

Tyr ·e

S

l1all

be

forgotten

seventy ye~rs, a11-d

that a,f ter the end

0£

seventy years her merchandise shall be

holiness of Jehovah . (Cf. Isa. 23 :15.) .

( 3)

Like tvise prior to t-he siege of Ashdod in 7

I

B . C.,

he proclaimed that

witl1in

three years Moab should be brought

into contempt .(I sa. 16 :14), and that within a year all the glory

•

of Kedar

shou]d fail

(Isa. 21 :16),

( 4)

And not

long

prior

to the siege of

Jerusalem

by

Sen ..

nacherib in 7or B~ C., he predicted

tl1at in

an

insitant,

suddenly,

a multitude of Jerusalem s foes shou ld be as dust (Isa. 29

:5);

that

yet

a

very

litt le while and Leb ,anon should

be

turned into

a fruitful field (Isa. 29 :17); that Assyria should

be

dismayed

and f.all

by

the

sword but

not of

men

(Isa. 30

:17,

31; 31

;'8) .

.Furthermore, that for days bey

1

ond

a

year, the

careles·s women

•

I

•

•


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•

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•

•

One Isaiah

83

•

•

•

•

of Jerusalem

s,heu?d

be

troubled

(Isa. 32 :10, 16-20);

and th ,at

• •

the righteous in

Zion

should

see Jerusalem

a

qu.,et habitation,

and .return and

come

with

singing (Isa.

3.3 :17-24; 35

1

:·4,

10 ,;

· but that

S

1

ennacherib on the contrary should hear tidings and

return w·ithout ·

shooting

an

arr

1

ow into the city (

Isa. 37 :7

2~29, 33-35). · ·

In like

manner

after

the siege

of

Jerusalem

by

Senna

ch~

rib, 701 B. C . the prophet continued to predict; and, in order

to ,

demo ,nstr .ate to

the suffering

remnant

abou 't him

th,e

deity

of Jehovah and the

£oily

of · idolatry,

pointed to the

predic~

tions which he had alre .ad,y made in the

1

ea.rlier yea rs, 0

1

f his

ministry,

and to the

fact that th

1

ey

had be

1

en

fulfi .lle,d. For

examp ·le, he says : · . .

In chapter 41 :21-23, 26

ff.: ''Who hath de

1

clared it from

the beginning that we may kno

1

w, and befo 1,etime

that

we·may

say,

He is

right? ' ' ·

In c:ha.pter 42 :9,.

23:

'' B

1

ehol.d. the form

1

er thi ·ngs are come

'to pass

and

new thi11gs

do I decl,are

bef o,re

they

spring

forth

I tell

you

of them.'' .

In chapter 4,3,:9, 1.2: '' o amo

1

ng them

1

can declare this

and show us £ormer thin gs ? [ . e., thing s

to

come in

the im

m.ed .ate future.]

I

have

declared, and

I

have saved and·

I

have showed.'' .

In chapter 44

:7,

8,

27 28: ''Wl10,

as I,

shall cal.I, and

shall declare it ? • • •

The things that are coming and

tl1at

shall com

1

e

to

·pass,

let th

1

em [

th

1

e idols]

declar ,e.

Have not I

declared unto thee of old

and

show ed it?

And ye

are My

witne sses. .. . • T hat

saith

of

Cyru s, H e

is My shepl1er1l,

and shall perfo ·rm all My pleasur·e,

ever1

saying of

j

er-usatlm, .

she

shall

be built; and of

the temple,

thy .

foundation .shall

be laid.,

In ·chapter 45 :

1-4,

11,

2

1

1 :· ''It

is

I Jehovah .

who call

thee

by tl1y name, .even th,e God of Is,rael. • • . I

have called

thee

by

thy na1ne : I have surnamed thee though t'hou hast not

known Me. • . . Ask of Me the , thin .gs

that

are to come.

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•


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•

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•

•

'

84

•

•

. . . I

have

raised him

[Cyrus]

u.p in righteousness, and

l1e shall

build My city·,

an

1

d he shall let My exiles go

f

re

1

e,·'

•

In chapter 46 :10, 11 :

''Declaring the

end from tlte

begin

ning,, and f.rom ancient times l thin,gs t.hat a,re: not

3'

1

t done ;

4 • • calling a ravenous bir

1

d [Cyrus] fr

1

om the east, the

man of M,y counsel~, • • • Yea, I have

s.poken,

I will al.so

•

bring

it

to pa:ss. ' . .. ·

In chapter

48

:3

S: ''I

have declared

the

former things

. from o,f

old., • • •

and I showed

tl1em,

suddenly I did

them, and they came to pas .s. . . . I

have

declared it to

thee

from

of

ol.d ;. before

it

came to

pass

I

sl1owe

d

it thee; .

le,st

·thou shouldest .

s·ay,

Mine idol hath done

t'hem.' '' ·

And again in chapter 48 :6-8,

14-16:

''I have

showed

tl1ee

new

·things

from

this t.jme·, ev,en

hidden tl1ings. . . •

be

f or1

tl1is day

thou h

1

ardest them not, . • . yea, from

of

old thine ear was no

1

t

op,ened, . . •

Who, amo ng

them

11.ath d

1

eclared

these

things .? . . ., I

even

I h,av,e spoken;

yea, I have called him; from the beginning I have not spoken ·

in secret.''

T

1

0 whi ,ch Jong

list

of

p,r,ed.ict,ions

th ,e

p,rophet

adds

by way

of lamentation:

''Oh

1

that thou hadst hearkened to

my commandments

1

[ including predictions ] then had

·thy

peace

been Jike a ri 'ver,

and

thy

righteous ·ness

as th

1

e

w.aves

of

tl1e

s~''

(48:18).

CYRUS

1

A S

1

UBJECT OF PRED.ICTION .

From all these nu1nerous explicit and ,oft-repeated pre

dictions one

thing

is

ob

1

vious, namely, that g~eat emphasis is

laid on p

1

rediction thr '0

1

ughout

the

Boo,k

o·f Isaiah. ''Cyr ,t1s''

must be considered as predicted from

any

point of

view. The

only

ques .tion

is,

Does

the proph

1

et

e,mphasize

the

fact

that he

is

1

himself

predicting the coming

of

Cyrus?

or., that f'orme ·r I

predictions

concerning Cyrus are now

in

his

time

co,ming

to

p

1

ass? · . .

Canon

Cheyne's remark upon thi s point

is

apropos. He

says:

''The edito,r,

who

doubtless held

the later

Jewish theory

·o.f prophecy, may have

inferred

from

a

nttmber of passages,

'

t

•

•


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•

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The

Fundamentals

•

•

ing? or, (2) that

former

predictions are

now befo1·e

his

eyes

coming to pass? The

truth

is,

the

prophe ,t see1ns

to

live

in

the atmo sph,ere, of both the past and 'the· future. This is ·true

of Isaiah,

wh,o

in

his

inaugural

vision ( cl1.

6) paints a scene

which Delitzsch describes as ''lil


18/18

•

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•

1

ne Isaiah

87

•

which

Jeho11ah

alone is capable of foretelling or bringing to

pass; in other word s, that prescience is the proof of Jehovah ,;

•

deity. · · ·

Isaiah lived in an age when prediction ·was needed; cf .•

Amos . 3

:9. Political

,ev,ents were

kalei

1

dosco

1

pic

and

th

1

ere was

every

incentive

to predict. But

Jehovah s

predictions alone

were trustwortl1y ...

That Isaiah s

prophecies

contain

wonderful

predictions is

attest ,ed both

·by

Jesus

be·n-Sirach

in

Ecclus.

4-8-20-25,

wl1jch

was written about 180 B. C., and by Josephus in his Antiqui-

ties XI,

I,

1,

2,

dating from about 100 A. D. ·

· y

should men object to

prediction

on so

large scale

?

~nless tl1ere

is definiteness about any given prediction, unless ,

it

tr .anscends

or,dinary

prognostication there is no es.pecial

value in it. The only possible objection is that prediction of

so minute a

cha1·acter

is

abhorrent

to

reason . But

the

answer to such an objectio11 is already at hand; it may be

•

· abhorrent to

reason,

but

i.t

is

c·ert .ainly

a handn1aid t

1

0

faith.

· Faith has to do with the future even as pr ,ediction has to do

· with the future; and

tl1e

Old Testament i.s pr

1

e-en1ioently

a

book whi

1

ch e·ncourage ·s faith.

The one outstanding diff,erentiat ,ing

ch.aracteristic

of

Israel s religion is predictive

prop,l1ecy. Only

the · Hebrews

ever

predicted

the coming

of

the

Messiah of

the

kingdom

of

God. Accordingly, to predict the coming

O·f

a Cyr1:1s s the

human

agent of Israel s salvat ion is but the

reverse

side

of

· the same prophet s p,icture

of

the Divine agent, the

ob,edient,

suffering

Servant

of Jehovah,

who

would redeem Israel

from

their s.in ..

Deny

to

Isaiah the son of Atnoz the predictions concern-

ing Cyrus, and the prophecy is robbed of its essential char-

acter and unique perspective ; emasculate these latter chapte1:s

•

of Isaiah

of

their predictive feature, and they ane reduced to

a

mere

vaticinium es e11t1ftu,

and their religious value is largely

lost.

•

•

•

•

•

The Fundamentals: Volume 7, Chapter 5: One Isaiah

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