Rhetoric of exaltation and abasement in First Isaiah -- Yahweh's exaltation in Isaiah 2:6-22 -- Enemy boasts and prophetic response in Isaiah 10 -- The folly of the gods in Isaiah 19 -- Conclusions and comparison
Verlag:
Eisenbrauns, University Park, Pennsylvania
Isaiah 1-39 uses the unique term אלילים-usually translated as "idols"- more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Using this linguistic phenomenon as a point of departure, Matthew J. Lynch reexamines the rhetorical strategies of First Isaiah,...
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Isaiah 1-39 uses the unique term אלילים-usually translated as "idols"- more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Using this linguistic phenomenon as a point of departure, Matthew J. Lynch reexamines the rhetorical strategies of First Isaiah, revealing a stronger monotheizing rhetoric than previously recognized.Standard accounts of Israelite religion frequently insist that monotheism reached its apex during the exile, and especially in Deutero-Isaiah. By contrast, Lynch's study brings to light an equally potent mode of monotheizing in First Isaiah. Lynch identifies three related rhetorical tendencies that emphasize yhwh's supreme uniqueness: a rhetoric of avoidance, referring to other deities as idols (אלילים) to avoid conferring on them the status of gods (אלוהים); a rhetoric of exaltation, emphasizing yhwh's truly exalted status in opposition to all that which exalted itself; and a rhetoric of abasement, fully subjugating all other claimants to absolute power-whether human or divine-before the divine king.Succinctly and persuasively argued, Lynch's book will change how biblical scholars understand the nature and development of Israelite monotheism