The world’s leading authority on the prophet Isaiah brings his distinguished three-volume commentary on the book of Isaiah to a conclusion with this new translation and critical discussion of the final eleven chapters.
The concluding section of the book of Isaiah, sometimes referred to as Third or Trito Isaiah, had a profound impact on the Christian movement in its formative phase, including such central issues as the identity of the founder, the profile of the disciple, and the Gentile mission. In this thorough and informative commentary, Joseph Blenkinsopp shows that while these chapters maintain continuity with Second Isaiah, they must be considered in the light of a new set of circumstances.
The texts present a community beset by severe problems, attempting to cope with disappointed expectations and trying to maintain its faith in the reality, power, and benevolence of the God of traditional religion. Blenkinsopp discusses in detail the issues that divide the community, from concerns about the efficacy of religious practices (prayer, fasting, Sabbath observance, and sacrifice) to questions about who may claim the name of Israelite and under what conditions, to what kind of relations should be maintained with outsiders. In examining each of these topics, Blenkinsopp shows that they provide evidence of an emerging Judaism seeking its own identity and self-definition and testify to the existence of a prophetic discipleship inspired by the person and teaching of the charismatic servant whose fate is described in the previous section of Isaiah.
Reflecting the same standard of excellence as Blenkinsopp’s first two volumes on Isaiah, this is an important contribution to the prestigious Anchor Bible Commentary Series.
Joseph Blenkinsopp is currently the John A. O’Brien Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 1970. Among his many scholarly publications on the Hebrew Bible are the Anchor Bible volumes The Pentateuch and Isaiah 1–39.
THE ANCHOR YALE BIBLE COMMENTARY SERIES is a project of international and interfaith scope in which Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes. The project is not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine.
The Anchor Yale Bible is committed to producing commentaries in the tradition established half a century ago by the founders of the series, William Foxwell Albright and David Noel Freedman. It aims to present the best contemporary scholarship in a way that is accessible not only to scholars but also to the educated nonspecialist. Its approach is grounded in exact translation of the ancient languages and an appreciation of the historical and cultural context in which the biblical books were written supplemented by insights from modern methods, such as sociological and literary criticism.
