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Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29
Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29
Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29
OUTLINE:
The rulers of Ephraim--condemned
ISAIAH 28 for their drunkenness and arrogance--are
Oracle against Ephraim threatened with destruction (28:1-6). The
(28:1-6); Oracle against the “priest and prophet” are likewise described as
false priests and prophets staggering drunks who can’t see clearly
(28:7-13); the covenant with (28:7). This raises an important point in
Death (28:14-22); the temple ideology of Israel. While all agree on
parable of the harvest the importance of the temple, there seems to
(28:21-29) have been a serious debate among different
Israelite factions over the meaning of the
ISAIAH 29
Oracle against Ariel temple, and over the fitness of different
(Jerusalem) (29:1-8); Oracle factions of priests. Power struggles among
against the spiritually deaf priestly or prophetic factions were not
and blind (29:9-16); uncommon.1 Thus temple theology of the
promise for the future Hebrew Bible must be read in the context of
(29:17-24) factionalism between opposing groups of
priests and prophets contending for the ear of
the king and the hearts of the people. The
opposing ideas of these different factions,
both claiming to speak for God, would have
left the ordinary people confused.
Isaiah responds to the scoffers
(28:14)--the rulers, priests and prophets who
1 Most notably in the story of Micaiah (1 Kgs 22) and Hananiah and Jeremiah (Jer 28). Jeremiah
frequently condemns “both prophet and priest” apostates (Jer 8:10, 14:18, 23:11, etc.).
reject his message: “Because you have said: god of death, and is thus an allusion to the
‘We have cut a covenant (kāratnū berīt) with veneration of non-Israelite gods in Judah.
Death; even with Sheol [Hell] we have made But the most important temple motif
an agreement; when the overwhelming comes from Yahweh’s response to this
scourge passes through, it will not come to covenant with Death:
us’” (28:15). Historically this probably has “Behold, I will establish a stone in Zion
allusion to the tributary submission of Ahaz A tried, precious cornerstone for a foundation
Whoever trusts [it] will not be put to shame4
to Assyria (2 Kgs 16:8).2 The idea here is that I will make justice the line
Judah claims to have made a covenant with And righteousness the plum line” (28:16)
Death (Assyria) so that Assyria will not The metaphor here is to temple
destroy them when it marches through their building, and is a bit complicated. The
land. Yahweh mocks this false hope, for the cornerstone of the temple is laid in Zion,
covenant will be annulled and Judah will be meaning on the Temple Mount. Cornerstones
devastated by Death/Assyria (28:18). were huge blocks placed on the corners to
There are a number of interesting stabilize the entire building. Only the stones
temple motifs in this passage. First, the of the highest quality were used. The “line”
concept of “cutting a covenant” is common refers to stretching ropes to align the
Hebrew idiom, referring to “cutting,” or foundation stones to create a true horizontal,
sacrificing animals as part of covenant and the “plum line” refers to the use of a
making ritual.3 Here, instead of relying for weighted stone on strings that create a true
safety on the everlasting covenant made with vertical. In building his new temple, Yahweh
Yahweh (24:5), they cut a new covenant with will use righteousness and justice to assure
Death, hoping thereby to escape death that his temple is perfectly aligned. Thus a
(28:15). In should be noted that Death squarely aligned temple is a metaphor for a
(māwet) is, in fact, the name of the Canaanite righteous life, and builders’ tools an allegory
2 Or perhaps to Judah’s attempted alliance with Egypt against Assyria (30:1-5, 31:1-3).
3E. Nicholson, God and His People: Covenant and Theology in the Old Testament, (1989); John
Day, “Why Does God ‘Establish’ rather than ‘Cut’ Covenants in the Priestly Source,” A. Mays
and R. Salters (eds), Covenant as Context, (2003) 91-109.
4 Instead of “put to shame,” the Hebrew reads yāḥīš meaning “to hasten” which doesn’t make a
great deal of sense. I am emending on the basis of the Septuagint translation of kataischunthē,
“to be dishonored, made ashamed.”