The Literature of the Old TestamentMoore, George Foot
Religion
The Literature of the Old Testament
Moore, George Foot
Bible. Old Testament -- Introductions
Besides these, the collection contains oracles against Moab (Isa. 15
f.), Nubia (c. 18), Egypt (c. 19), another vision of the fall of
Babylon before the armies of Elam and Media (xxi. 1-10), but in a
different spirit from cc. 13-14, the Arabs (xxi. 11 f., 13-17), Tyre
(c. 23), and one with the mysterious (editorial) title "Burden of the
Valley of Vision" (xxii. 1-14). The last-named, in the form of a
vision, depicts a crisis in the history of Jerusalem, and condemns the
frivolous behaviour of its inhabitants on the eve of a siege or, as
some think, during the respite given by a temporary raising of a
siege. It was probably uttered by Isaiah at an early stage in
Hezekiah's revolt against Sennacherib (704 or 703 B.C.), before the
actual appearance of the Assyrian army. The oracle against Tyre (Isa.
xxiii. 1-14--what follows is a later supplement) seems more
appropriate to the thirteen years' siege by Nebuchadnezzar than to the
operations of Shalmanezer or of Sennacherib in Isaiah's days.
Thus Isa. 13-23, like cc. 1-12, contains prophecies of Isaiah from
both the earliest and the latest period of his activity, intermingled
with others having a totally different historical horizon and dating
from a much later time, and to both additions have been made by
editors or scribes. A very interesting example of the latter
phenomenon is Isa. xix. 18 ff. The passage is, in all probability,
from the time of the Greek kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, the name of
the city in the Greek Bible, "City of Righteousness," referring to
Leontopolis, where a Jewish temple was erected about 170 B.C., with
high priests of the legitimate line exiled from Jerusalem. "City of
Destruction" (_heres_) in the Hebrew text is a hostile perversion,
possibly by way of another reading "City of the Sun" (_heres_).
Each of the three large prophetic books has such a group of oracles
about gentile nations, Isa. 13-23; Jer. 46-51; Ezek. 25-32. They are
in part levelled at the immediate neighbours of Judah, in part against
the great powers, Babylon and Egypt. Many of them are in such general
terms--or, if they refer to specific events and situations, our
knowledge of the history is so incomplete--that it is peculiarly
difficult to fix their age. It was also a kind of prophecy which
peculiarly invited imitation. Under the foreign yoke the Jews wore for
so many centuries, it must often have been a relief of soul to repeat
what God was going to do to the heathen; the spirit of the author of
Jonah was not for everybody. Moreover, if there is any place in the
Old Testament where it would be easier than another for oracles of the
"false prophets" to slip in and be preserved, it is in these
collections; about the doom of the enemies of Israel they were as
orthodox and as emphatic as the best. It is not strange, therefore,
that there should be more than usual uncertainty about the origin of
these anathemas on the gentiles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account