DAWN
Daily Arts Web Nucleus
Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture plus an explanation with links and a discussion forum 2013 June 11
The Defence of Saragossa (1850-1855)
Eugenio Lucas Velazquez (1817-1870)
Romanticism Style
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany
Image Source: Web Gallery of Art
Explanation: In Isaiah 1 the prophet opens with an indictment of Israel for her sins and a declaration that for those sins her land was desolate, her cities laid waste, and if the LORD had not left them a remnant they would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah (1-9). The LORD then rebukes them for their offerings because they were polluted by their sins and tells them to put away their evil and learn obedience instead (10-20). Finally, he tells them that he will send judgments which will cleanse them of their evil (21-31).
This first chapter (as well as chapters 2-6) have generated a great deal of discussion about the place of these chapters in the book and about the author and time-frame involved. Accordingly, the book of Isaiah has been divided into two or three (or more) major sections by various commentators. Liberal commentators, following the Documentary Hypothesis, commonly postulate a different author for each section. Conservative commentators, following the theory of the Divine inspiration of Scripture, postulate Isaiah as the author of each of the 66 chapters of the book. Liberal authors cite literary factors (style, literary genres, etc.) as reasons for their view. However, conservative scholars, examining these same factors, see unifying literary factors which support the idea of a single author. Significantly, a trend has developed within the liberal camp (from whence it spread to other quarters) in which the commentators analyze the various Biblical books according to their present form rather than according to the presuppositions of the Documentary Hypothesis. When this is done remarkable unity of structure emerges within the various Biblical books. This is true also for Isaiah. David A. Dorsey, using this new approach, in his book The Literary Structure of the Old Testament (p. 234), finds, in Isaiah's 66 chapters, a seven part chiastic structure - a literary form of parallelism in which a succession of ideas lead up to an emphatic central point then repeat in reverse order. (In Dorsey's analysis, this structure is a-b-c-d-c'-b'-a'). Such a structure does not come about by assembling random documents into a single collection. It shows that the final form of the document came from one hand. Moreover, on a personal note (in regard to Isaiah), quoting from my unpublished syllabus "An Overview of Scripture" (2011): "Both of the main sections below [sic, chapters 1-39 and 40-66] end with a focus on Jerusalem's deliverance, first in Isaiah's day, then in the last day. They are grouped in 'cycles' - recurring patterns of prophecy - i.e., judgment / blessing; judgment / blessing; etc., in the first 39 chapters, then blessing / judgment; blessing / judgment; etc., in chapters 40 - 66." This analysis, like Dorsey's, suggests a single hand. Other divisions (e.g., 1-39; 40-48; 55-66) do not exhibit this parallel focus on Jerusalem's deliverance. And, aside from the question of Isaiah's authorship (to which I hold), the Jerusalem focus suggests that the major divisions in the book should be 1-39 and 40-66.
Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
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