“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart” (Isa 57:1a) – a Picture of the Judean Elite in Trito-Isaiah’s Invectives (Isa 56–57). The Leadership Crisis in the Province of Yehud in the Mid-Fifth Century BC
Arnold Zawadzki
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-7881
Abstract
The article shows that Isa 56–57 is a collection of five images (56:1–8; 56:9–12; 57:1–2; 57:3–13; 57:14–21) created in variatio style. The introduction presents a single sentence from Tacitus as an example of the variatio employed and the effort of intellectual reflection that the reader must undertake to understand it. Then an extended exegesis of Isa 56–57 – linking seemingly unconnected passages into a coherent whole – leads to a depiction of the situation of Yehud in the mid-fifth century BC, on the eve of Nehemiah’s reform. The prophecy about the eunuch in Isa 56:1–8 is a historical allusion to Nehemiah and an attempt to give him credence. Indeed, a number of arguments indicate that he may have been considered a eunuch and a foreigner by the Judeans (even if he was not de facto one – the available sources are not conclusive). Receiving a vocation, he is prepared to face a socio-religious crisis. It is mainly a crisis of leadership: those in leadership are degenerate, subject to moral insensitivity, spiritual stupefaction, drunkenness, prostitution and idolatrous practices (child sacrifice, sacred fornication, worship of Moloch), compared to mute dogs, unable to see the impending danger. The negative portrayal of the elite is balanced by positive emphases: the presence of the righteous whose death is not fruitless, the activity of the prophetic community and the announcement of the intervention of God who forgives and proclaims peace. A brief conclusion highlights the theological significance of the texts under study: inclusivity, the death of the righteous (filled with a theology of vicarious suffering), God’s ontic holiness as the basis of mercy, and prophetic inspiration as the activity of God the Creator are some of the theological themes present in Isa 56–57. The article is strictly exegetical and descriptive with elements of humanism and spirituality.
Keywords:
Isa 56–57, Trito-Isaiah, theological inclusivity, variatio style, Nehemiah-eunuch, Nehemiah’s vocation, sons of the witch, Yehud, shepherds of Yehud, righteousReferences
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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-7881
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