Review in: Biblical Theology
Bulletin 2000 30: 37
Review door: John F. CraghanGevonden op: http://btb.sagepub.com/content/30/1/37.1.full.pdf+html
Walter Brueggemann,
ISAIAH 1-39. ISAIAH 40-66. Westminster Bible Commentary. Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox, 1998. Pp. x + 314; x + 263. Paper, $20.00; $18.00.
As contributions
to the Westminster Bible Commentary series, these two volumes, while offered to
the church at large, focus specifically on the laity. Emphasizing such an audience
does not, however, diminish the insights that the author provides for both
scholar and non-scholar alike. Employing the New Revised Standard Version as the
basic text, the commentary reveals both the wealth of the underlying biblical tradition
and the exegetical and theological acumen of Walter Brueggemann.
The author accepts
the critical view that the Book of Isaiah consists of three principal sections that
span the period from approximately 740 to 520 BCE. But he rightly insists that one
must deal with the final form of this complex text. The result is that the Isaiah
tradition as a totality is constantly held up before the reader’s eye. This is,
to be sure, a canonical approach that adroitly moves beyond the
historical-critical to the theological dimension.
The God of these
sixty-six chapters is aptly termed the &dquo;Disjunctive One.&dquo; The
movement throughout is one of displacement and restoration, but a movement that
involves all three principal components. For example, the judgment in 1:2-31 is
followed by the hope of 2:1-4. Similarly the judgment in 2:5-4:1 culminates in the
hope of 4:2-6. This program of reversal, break, and affirmation anticipates the
larger scope of the entire book with the structural break between chapter 39 and
chapter 40. By the time one has read 4:2-6, the editors of the book have carried
the reader into the postexilic discussions about purity, holiness, and the composition
of the community of survivors (see 56:3-8).
The interconnectedness
of the book is constantly elaborated. Thus the &dquo;former and latter things&dquo;
of 43:18-19 form a clear link with 9:1 and 65:16-17. In a similar way the call
of the prophet in 40:1-11 is a deliberate counterpoint to 6:1-13. Likewise the
offer of hope in 4:2-6 relates to the fuller poetic statement of 62:1-12, where
Yahweh is fully present to Zion that Zion may be secure and prosper.
The typical delight
in Brueggemann’s work is the way in which he springs the text, i.e., the way he
moves from exegesis to hermeneutics. In discussing 11:12-16, the author urges the
reader to focus on our own world with its huge company of exiles, homeless, and
displaced persons. In commenting on Shebna and Eliakim in 22:15-25, Brueggemann
challenges the believer with his discussion of both good and bad stewardship in
the church. In 24:1-23 the author presents the biblical view of the world as Yahweh’s
creation and contrasts it with the modern model of the world as a self-sustaining
life system without reference to the Creator. In 29:13-16 he raises the typical
prophetic concern of true versus false worship. He observes that the problem of
connecting worship to life is a recurring one for the people of Yahweh. In handling
the role of Babylon in biblical tradition as a whole, Brueggemann finds a powerful
equivalence of Babylon in the ideology of free‑market consumerism and its
necessary ally, unbridled militarism. By such springing of the text, the author
powerfully points out the great wealth that is the Book of Isaiah.
To sum up, these
two volumes are a welcome addition for both scholar and non-scholar alike. By treating
the book as a totality, by showing the link between salvation oracle and disputatio
speech, by revealing the interconnectedness of the different components, and by
showing the vitality of this rich biblical tradition to our modern world, Brueggemann
has once again put us in his debt.
John F. Craghan
St. Norbert College
De Pere, WI 54114
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