Isaiah 24-27 and the Origin of Apocalyptic (Harvard Semitic Monographs, No. 11.)

66 Pages·1976·3.55 MB·English

by  William R. Millar

HARVARD SEMITIC MUSEUM
HARVARD SEMITIC MONOGRAPH SERIES
ISAIAH 24-27
edited by AND THE
Frank Moore Cross, Jr. ORIGIN OF APOCALYPTIC
BY
WILLIAM R. MILLAR
Number 11
Isaiah 24-27 and the
Origin of Apocalyptic
Published by
by
SCHOLARS PRESS
WILLIAM R. MILLAR
for
The Harvard Semitic Museum
SCHOLARS PRESS
Missoula, Montana
Distributed by
SCHOLARS PRESS
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59801
ISAIAH 24-27
AND THE
ORIGIN OF APOCALYPTIC
BY For Donna,
Scott and Kim
WILLIAM R. MILLAR
Copyright© 1976
by
The President and Fellows of Harvard College
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Millar, William R
Isaiah 24-27 and the origin of apocalyptic.
(Harvard Semitic monographs ; 11)
Bibliography, p.
1. Bible. Ο. T. Isaiah XXIV-XXVII — Criticism,
interpretation, etc. 2. Apocalyptic literature.
I. Title. II. Series.
BS1515.2.M52 224ΜΌ77 76-3561
ISBN 0-89130-102-X
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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PREFACE
This study began as a seminar paper, was expanded into a
doctoral dissertation and appears now as a thorough revision of
the latter work. It is not the purpose of this study to pre-
sent a comprehensive discussion of apocalyptic origins. The
goal is simply to glean from Isaiah 24-27 material that is im-
portant to that discussion. In the process, it is hoped that
light is shed on our understanding of these important chapters
in Isaiah.
I am indebted to many who have given me support and en-
couragement throughout this project. A fellowship from the
National Endowment for the Humanities enabled me to study
Canaanite mythology. Thanks are due to Leander Ε. Keck who
read the manuscript at one stage and offered thorough and
helpful criticisms. The skills of Joann Burnich as a manu-
script typist are superb. My special thanks go to Frank M.
Cross whose discipline, insights and patience have introduced
me to the world of ancient Israel's religion.
Wilmot Center, New Hampshire
January 24, 1976
vii
I. UNSETTLED PROBLEMS IN ISAIAH 24-27
Page
IV. ISAIAH 24-27 AND THE ORIGIN OF APOCALYPTIC . . .. 103
The time is ripe for a fresh analysis of chapters 24-27 in
A. The Literary Context of Isaiah 24-27 103
the book of Isaiah. In spite of the fact that in this century
1. Prosodie Style 103
a. Isaiah 24:l-16a, 24:16b-25:9 and 26:1-8 . 103 there have been a number of detailed discussions of these chap-
b. Isaiah 26:11-27:6 104
ters, there are still many points of controversy.
c. Other Passages 104
2. Themes 104 Even the basic assumption that Isaiah 24-27 form a sepa-
a. War 105
rate unit in the book of Isaiah has not escaped challenge.
b. Victory 10 8
c. Feast ׳־ 112 When one raises the problems of date, text, form, genre, his-
3. Genre and Date 114
torical setting and proposals for the so-called "destroyed
B. The Historical Setting of Isaiah 24-27 115
1. Isaiah 24:l-16a, 24:16b-25:9 and 26:1-8 . . . 117 city," one is impressed by the scholarly labor that has been
2. Isaiah 26:11-27:6 119 expended to crack the mysteries of these chapters.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHIES 121 More important, however, the so-called "Isaianic Apoca-
lypse" has a contribution to make to the current debate on the
subject of apocalyptic origins. It is to this end that we feel
another study is justified.
The secondary literature interpreting Isaiah 24-27 has
centered again and again on three interrelated issues: A) the
problem of literary genre; B) the problems presented by the
text and its structure; and C) the difficulty in establishing
the historical setting. The latter includes the problems of
date, authorship and identification of the destroyed city.
A. The Problem of Literary Genre
At one extreme Isaiah 24-27 has been identified as a late
post-exilic apocalyptic work.־י־ At another it has been read as
pre-exilic prophetic judgment literature thoroughly at home in
2
the work of eighth-century Isaiah. In between it frequently
1. See, for instance, Bernhard Duhm, Das Buch Jesaja
übersetzt und erklart, HKAT, III, 1 (4th ed., Göttingen: Van-
denhoeck und Ruprecht, 1922), pp. 172-194. Hereinafter refer-
red to as Jesaja.
2. Edward Kissane, The Book of Isaiah (Dublin: Browne
and Nolin, LTD., 1941), pp. ν, 267, 303. Hereinafter referred
to as Isaiah. See also Yehezkel Kaufmann, The Religion of
Israel, trans, and abridged by Moshe Greenberg, (Chicago: Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, 1960), pp. 348, 384-394. Herein-
after referred to as Religion.
xii 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix
I. UNSETTLED PROBLEMS IN ISAIAH 24-27 1
A. The Problem of Literary Genre 1
B. The Problems of Text and Structure 9
C. Historical Setting and "Destroyed City" . . .. 15
D. Summary 21
II. THE TEXT AND PROSODY OF ISAIAH 24-27 23
A. Isaiah 24:l-16a 23
1. Isaiah 24:1-13 24
2. Isaiah 24:14-16a 31
B. Isaiah 24:16b-25:9 33
1. Isaiah 24:16b-18b 33
2. Isaiah 24:18c-23 34
3. Isaiah 25:l-4c 38
4. Isaiah 25:6-8 ., 40
5. Isaiah 25:9 42
C. Isaiah 25:10-26:8 44
1. Isaiah 25:10-12 44
2. Isaiah 26:1-8 45
D. Isaiah 26:11-27:6 49
1. Isaiah 26 :11-15 49
2. Isaiah 26 :16-20 52
3. Isaiah 26:21-27:1 54
4. Isaiah 27:2-6 55
E. Isaiah 27:12-13 58
F. Summary of Isaiah 24-27 59
1. Isaiah 51:9-11 61
2. Ugaritic Text 5.1.1-5 6 3
III. THE STRUCTURE OF ISAIAH 24-27 65
A. A Thematic Analysis of Isaiah 24-27 65
1. Isaiah 24:l-16a 65
2. Isaiah 24:16b-25:9 65
3. Isaiah 25:10-26:8 67
4. Isaiah 26:11-15 67
5. Isaiah 26:16-27:6 68
6. Isaiah 27:12-13 70
7. Summary 70
B. Thematic Patterns in the Baal-'Anat Epic . . .. 71
C. The Divine Warrior Hymn and the Processional
Way in the Royal Theology of Hebrew Tradition . 82
D. Transformations in Second Isaiah 95
1. War 95
2. Victory 97
3. Feast 101
E. Summary 101
xi
2 3
has been understood as prophetic eschatology, or more recent- nicht.missen kann und die den pentateuchischen Priesterkodex
4 ο
ly, early apocalyptic. ganz dogmatischer Weise benuzt." Duhm dated the apocalyptic
An important part of the methodology often used has been oracle to 129 B.C. when, he suggested, Jerusalem was besieged
to draw up a list of themes from late apocalyptic works such as by Antiochus Sidetes soon after John Hyrcanus acceded to the
the book of Daniel. These themes are then used to identify the throne (135 B.C.) .
genre of more debatable passages such as Isaiah 24-27. Rudolph Rudolph warned the reader to be cautious in unqualifiedly
Smend,־י for instance, drew up a list of apocalyptic themes labeling the chapters apocalyptic. He argued the chapters
which for him placed Isaiah 24-27, beyond a doubt, in the post- were through and through eschatological. The central theme
exilic period. There was the description of the destruction of which revealed the eschatological perspective was the judgment
the earth (24:18-20); the meal on Mount Zion (25:8); the notice of the world, linked with a sharp contrast between Yahweh's
of resurrection (26:19). There was the blowing of the great power and the world's power. But for Rudolph, the break with
trumpet (27:13) and the use of the three beasts as veiled his- plain history was not complete. After the fall of the world
tory (27:1). There was the concept of world judgment and the city, the heathen would turn to Zion as the new power. The
messianic era as a future event. eschatology was "nationalistisch-partikularistische," that is,
According to Smend, Isaiah 26:19 referred to a personal Judah would survive the world judgment and the faithful Jews
resurrection; therefore, the verse was to be dated later than would be assimilated into the new kingdom of God. Isaiah 26:21
the national resurrection he perceived in Ezekiel 37. Isaiah announced the inbreaking of this new period of salvation
27:1 was later than Isaiah 51:9 because the latter clearly re- These themes, plus the notice of resurrection (26:19 and 25:8),
ferred to Babylon, whereas 27:1, characteristic of apocalyptic, the mention of elders rather than kings, and the apparent
was ambiguous. It was these themes and motifs that led Smend knowledge of the Priestly source (24:5, 18, 23) persuaded
to date the chapters between 500-300 B.C.6 Rudolph that the chapters reflected a post-exilic setting. He
7
suggested that the fall of Babylon in 330-300 B.C. to Alexander
Using many of these same criteria, Duhm isolated what for
was the precipitating event.
him was an apocalyptic oracle (24; 25:6-8; 26:20-27:1, 12-13)
Lindblom also argued that the chapters were eschatological
with later intrusions which included a song (25:1-5); a satiri-
rather than apocalyptic. For him apocalyptic meant
cal song concerning Moab (25:9-11); a poem reflecting hope in
Transzendentismus, Mythologismus, kosmologische
the resurrection (26:1-19 and 25:12); and the song of the vine- Orientierung; weiter pessimistische Geschichtsbe-
trachtung, Dualismus, Periodeneinteilung, die
yard (27:2-5). "Die Orakel ist durchaus Apocalypse, zu deren
Lehre von zwei Äonen, Zahlenspieleri; schliesslich
Erklärung man die sybillinischen Bücher, Daniel, Henoch usw., Pseudoekstatismus, gekünstelte offenbarungsansprücke,
Pseudonymität und Geheimnistueri. ־'••'׳
3. See Joh. Lindblom, D ie Jesaja-Apokalypse, Jes. 24-27,
LUÂ, N.F. 1, 34, 3 (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, 1938), 120 pages. But, for Lindblom, it was necessary also to note how these
Hereinafter referred to as Apokalypse. themes were used. Isaiah 24-27 was not to be regarded as
4. Paul Hanson, The Dawn of Apooalyptia (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1975), pp. 313-14. Hereinafter referred to as
Dawn. 8. Ibid., p. 172.
5. Rudolph Smend, "Anmerkungen zu Jes. 24-27," ZAW, IV 9. Wilhelm Rudolph, Jesaja 24-27, BWANT, LV, 10 (Stutt-
(1884), pp. 161-224. Hereinafter referred to as "Anmerkungen." gart: W. Kohlhammer, 1933), 64 pages.
6. Ibid., pp. 199-200, 224. 10. Ibid., p. 63.
7. Duhm, Jesaja, pp. 172-94. 11. Lindblom, Apokalypse, p. 102.
4 5
apocalyptic literature because the eschatological portions were Iranian dualism as a primary source. The mediation of foreign
but expansions of historical events. Lindblom suggested it was ideas presupposed a certain open-mindedness within the Jewish
important to recognize that prophetic language of the future community itself. "So müssen wir innerhalb der jüdischen Ge-
may function simply to renew the present age and not at all im- meinde mit bestimmten Voraussetzungen rechnen, die uns die be-
ply a return to chaos and inauguration of a new age. One must, reitwillige Aufnahme und Aneignung fremder Vorstellungen er-
therefore, look beyond the language used to what was actually klären können."'''^ A structural change had taken place within
being talked about. "Eschatologische hat es mit dem sachlichen Israel. They had moved from being a people to become a commun-
12
ity—from being a nation to become a theocracy. This change
Inhalt, nicht mit der Form und dem Ursprung zu tun" Lindblom
was evident on the level of eschatology which was one of the
labeled the chapters the "Isaianic Cantata" and placed them
important links between prophecy and apocalyptic. The counter-
closer to prophecy than to apocalyptic. He suggested the his-
part to the historical change was the shift from an actualizing
torical occasion for the chapters to be the fall of Babylon in
to a dualistic eschatology.
485 B.C.13 Plöger divided Isaiah 24-27 into two sections. He dated
Plöger"'''' has contributed to the discussion by pressing the
chapters 2 4-26 roughly to the period of Antiochus the Great and
search for apocalyptic origins further. The question with
the unrest caused by his rule. There did not yet exist the
which he was concerned was an historical one. The national
sharp dualism between the present and coming age in the Apoca-
life of Israel was accompanied by many prophetic forms. In
lypse. But, the world judgment was a cosmic event. The notice
tracing the history of the prophetic movement, one notes a gap
of the resurrection of the dead would place this first section
of about three centuries after the fall of Jerusalem, where
nearer to Daniel. The historical situation derived from the
presumably the prophetic spirit was forced into anonymity. In
unrest in Syria-Palestine caused by conflicts between Seleucids
Daniel, however, one witnesses a new community life, Hellenism
and Ptolemies. Those responsible for these chapters were a
having spread through the ancient Near East in the interim.
conjectured group within the Jerusalem community who were mak-
What happened to the descendants of the prophets? From whence
ing sharper eschatological divisions than the general community
did the piety, witnessed in Daniel, come? The eschatology of 17
Daniel is apocalyptic. Is it possible to discover earlier at large. Chapter 27 was an older piece deriving from the
traces of apocalyptic eschatology in the anonymous or, better, hopes for unification, in the Davidic sense, still alive in the
the pseudonymous literature tacked onto the prophets? For it early Persian period. It is to be placed after the work of
is precisely here one witnesses the life of the prophetic Ezra and Nehemiah prior to the split with the Samaritans.
spirit in the years after the exile, before Daniel. Plöger Within Jerusalem there were growing two factions representing
discussed three such "eschatological texts," one of which was the emerging conflict between Jerusalem and Shechem. Chapter
Isaiah 24-27. The other two were Zechariah 12-14 and Joel. 27 was added to 24-26 and reflects the continuing hope, even
within eschatological dogma, that one day Israel would be re-
However much Iranian dualism may have amplified apocalyp-
united.
tic, in discussing the origin of apocalyptic, Plöger set aside
15. Ibid., p. 37.
12. Ibid., p. 103.
16. Ibid., p. 96. For which Plöger followed Vriezen.
13. Ibid., pp. 80-84. See Vriezen, "Prophecy and Eschatology," VT (Congress Volume,
1953), p. 227.
14. Otto Plöger, Theokvatie und Eschatologie (Wageningen:
Neukirchener Verlag, 1959). Hereinafter referred to as Theo- 17. Ibid., p. 96.
kvatie .
18. Ibid., pp. 96-97.
6 7
Paul Hanson, in a recent study of apocalyptic origins, veiled manner in which the victims of God's wrath
are mentioned. Indeed, even critics who speak of
has developed this latter thesis of a group making sharper es- it as an apocalypse find in it a reference to his-
chatological distinctions than the community at large, into a torical events of the post-exilic period.21
very convincing argument. Hanson has demonstrated that the Kissane's judgments were part of an extended argument to
oracles of so-called Third Isaiah and Second Zechariah reflect
attribute the entirety of Isaiah 1-39 to eighth-century Isaiah.
a tension between two groups within early post-exilic Israel.
"The mere mention of world-judgment is no proof that the sec-
These two groups constructed alternate visions of the post-ex-
tion deals with the end of time. Every intervention of God is
ilic reconstruction of Israel. A more visionary group, center- 22
a world-judgment." "His intervention has as consequences
ed in Palestine, held Second Isaiah as their spiritual leader.
the punishment of the wicked and the reward or deliverance of
Chapters 6 0-62 contain their vision of what the reconstruction
the just." This is a theme common in the Psalter. There were
of Israel would be. A more realistic, or pragmatic, group,
two phases to the plan of world judgment: "the first resulting
centered in Babylon, held Ezekiel as their spiritual leader.
in the ruin of Judah and the preservation of a remnant, the
Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel, in part, contain their vision. Han-
second resulting in the destruction of Assyria and the estab-
son connects the latter group with the Zadokite priesthood that
lishment of the kingdom of Yahweh in Zion." According to
went to Babylon during the exilic period.
Kissane, although Judah and Assyria are not specifically men-
Because the Zadokite priesthood held favor with the Per-
tioned, there is nothing in the chapters which could not refer
sian establishment, they had political power on their side and
to events in eighth-century Palestine.
worked to bring about the actual building of the second temple.
With respect to verses usually pointed to as containing
As the Isaianic group more and more found themselves excluded
apocalyptic ideas, "xxvi:19 does not refer to individual resur-
from participation in the reconstruction events, the tension
rection but to political revival, and xxv:8 means simply that
between the two groups mounted. The visionaries were increas- 23
violence and bloodshed will no longer be found in Zion."
ingly forced to resolve their frustrations in fantasy, that is,
As xxvii:l has an allusion to the conquest of the
in visions of a new age when matters would be set straight. It monsters of Primitive Chaos, and as the ruin of Judah
was in such a sociological situation, argues Hanson, that apoc- is also compared to a return to chaos, it is probable
that there is an allusion here to the imprisonment of
alyptic literature began to take shape. the monsters preparatory to their execution as nar-
He discussed Isaiah 24-27 in summary fashion by identify- rated in the Babylonian epic (cf. Enuma Elish Tab.
iv., lines 110-114).2i
ing it as among that literature which emerged out of these
early post-exilic struggles. Refining what he called a con- In a similar vein, Yehezkel Kaufmann argued against label-
textual-typological method, which we will discuss further be- ing Isaiah 24-27 as apocalyptic. "The distinctive feature of
20 apocalypse is its anxious inquiry into the secrets of the cos-
low, he identified Isaiah 24-27 as early apocalyptic. 2 5
mos." The apocalyptic visionary is transmitted to the cosmic
There are scholars, however, who are not convinced we are
dealing with an eschatological or apocalyptic work at all. The
21. Kissane, Isaiah, p. 267.
catholic scholar, Edward Kissane, saw Isaiah 24-27 as apoca-
lyptic "only in a very wide sense." 22. All quotations in this paragraph may be found in
The only characteristics of an apocalypse which it ibid., ρ. 267.
has are the description of a world-judgment, the
23. Ibid., p. 283.
24. Ibid., p. 283.
19. Hanson, Dawn, passim.
25. The quotations in this paragraph may be found in
20. Ibid., pp. 313-14. Kaufmann, Religion, p. 348.
î
ί
8 9
realm of divine palaces, paradise, hell, etc., or he is pro- the language serve to enhance the significance of God's action
jected through time unfolding the secrets of "the generations in an historical event or had the internal power of the themes
and ages to the end of time." "This perspective vision, as we themselves broken loose from their mooring in historical event
may call it, is the very heart of apocalyptic." For apocalyp- drawing the reader more and more into the realm of fantasy?
tic these visions were an end in themselves. For classical 3) Some recent scholars have shown that literary genre, like
prophecy, visions were connected to this-worldly events. The pottery forms and alphabetic scripts, evolve over the years.
vision was designed ultimately, "to command or reprove in the Hanson, for instance, has demonstrated that the apocalyptic
name of God." Even the bizarre visions of Ezekiel, the father literature of the sixth and fifth century was different from
of the apocalyptic tour of space, served to enhance his mission the apocalyptic literature of the second century. Therefore,
to the earthly community of Israel. to understand fully this genre and its development, one must
In Isaiah 24-27, Kaufmann argued, one does not encounter take a closer look at its prosody, literary form and particu-
at all the "perspective vision of historical ages." The judg- larly the transformations therein. This leads us to the next
ment imagery directed against the hosts of the heavens (24:21) major unresolved problem in the study of Isaiah 24-27.
refers simply to "eclipses, as part of the terrors of the day
of doom—a motif of early literature (e.g., Amos 4:13; 5:8; B. The Problems of Text and Structure
Hos. 4:3; Is. 13:10, 13), which the later apocalypse borrow-
Concurrent with the lack of consensus concerning the genre
ed."^ The monsters of 27:1 have a Canaanite background. "Now
of Isaiah 24-27 is a lack of consensus concerning matters of
that we know the Canaanite basis of such eschatological imagery
text and structure.
27
Smend was unimpressed by the poetry of these chapters.
there is no reason whatever to date it to late time." Isaiah
For him, they were not to be compared to the work of eighth-
25:8 and 26:19 are to be read against the ancient theme of the
death and revival of the sick, suffering and persecuted who century Isaiah. Even allowing for stylistic variations, 24-27
"have descended into the pit" (Pss. 88:4ff; 143:3; Lam. 3:6, presented an entirely different picture from eighth-century
54f). Ezekiel used such resurrection language to depict the Isaiah. Smend read the paronomasia, alliteration, rhyme, and
2 9
exile and restoration of the nation (Ezek. 37). "The revival chiasm as "difficult, learned and forced." The author was
of the dead and the shades of 26:19 is but a figure for the clearly a later imitator whom he found dull, artificial and
deliverance of those who are in dire distress, who have come lacking in poetic "Sahwung."^
31
down to dust."28
Lohmann began his study of these chapters with the lyric
Our survey, thus far, has revealed as important, the fol-
sections. He proposed to treat them as individual units, not-
lowing methodological principles when dealing with the identi-
ing if there was prophecy of some future event or a picture of
fication of apocalyptic as a literary genre. 1) A simple list-
an historical Vorgang. With close attention to textual data,
ing of apocalyptic themes, usually from later works, has not
he isolated nine lyrics: 26:4-6; 25:1-5; 24:7-12; 27:10, 11(8);
settled the question of genre identification. 2) Several cri-
25:9-12; 27:2b-5; 26:lb-3; 26:7-11; 26:12-19 (-17, 18). His
tics have demonstrated that in any particular passage one must
next task was to study the rest of the Apocalypse, wherein
ask the question of function. How was the imagery used? Did
29. Smend, "Anmerkungen," p. 193.
26. Ibid., p. 384.
30. Ibid., p. 194.
27. Ibid., p. 384.
31. Paul Lohmann, "Die selbständigen lyrischen Abschnitte
28. Ibid., p. 385.
in Jes. 24-27," Ζ AW XXXVII (1917/18), pp. 1-58.
1
10 11
there was just eschatological material, to see if it stood he had a new control for use in penetrating to the history of
alone without the lyrics or if the lyrics belonged to it. Then the text's transmission in tradition.''6
would come the final problem of the meaning and the question of Procksch"^ built his study on the framework suggested by
the origin of the entire Apocalypse. His death made it impos- Duhm and the metrical research, with some variations, done by
sible for him to finish his plan of study. Sievers. He argued with Duhm that the basic division of the
Kissane has noted, however, that even on the matter of material in Isaiah 24-27 was between apocalyptic oracle and
isolating the lyrics of the Apocalypse, there has been no con- non-eschatological song. The thesis of Procksch was that the
sensus. He illustrated his point by comparing the lyrics that chapters consisted of two basic groups: A) apocalyptic oracles,
32
"Siebenerapokalypse," characterized by seven-beat meter and B)
have been suggested for his unit spanning 24:1-26:6:
later non-eschatological hymns, "Liederkreis," characterized by
Lohmann Duhm Proaksoh
six-beat lines.
24:7-12 24:8-18a
25:1-5 25:1-4 25:1-5 However, the subjectivity involved in counting accents has
9-12 9-11
26:lb-3 26:1-19 26:1-6 proven not to settle the questions involved, as is illustrated
4-5a by the following chart which compares the meter count of chap-
In another direction, a very detailed textual study was ter 24:1-17 made by Procksch, Rudolph, Lindblom, Kissane, and
33 38
made by Liebmann which in many ways is still helpful, espe- March. The textual emendations proposed to preserve the sug-
cially in that he has gathered much of the textual data into gested meter have not been included. These general remarks,
one place. One weakness in his study, however, was the lack of however, do apply. Rudolph radically rearranged the text after
adequate control in his not applying rules of poetic meter. 26:13 to fit his system. Lindblom used the principle of ana-
34
crusis (upbeat) to level out the meter. Kissane separated the
Eduard Sievers sought to fill this gap by applying to Isaiah
text into two major divisions: 24:1-26:6 and 26:7-27:13. The
24-27 his method of counting accent beat.
former was composed of five groups of three 4-verse strophes ;
Sievers suggested there were three basic groups in Isaiah
the latter seven 6-verse strophes. Wallace March, who com-
24-27, identifiable by the number of accent beats to the line:
pleted his dissertation in 1966, used the method of counting
A) seven beats: 24:1-6, 18c-23; 25:6-12; 26:1a, 7-21; 27:1-13; accents and has come up with still another result.
39
B) 3+3: 24:4-12; 25:2-5; and C) six beats: 24:13-18b; 25:1;
Fohrer made extensive use of yet another devise to sep-
26:lb-6.^ To Sievers, it was obvious that such an analysis
arate the. units, namely the rubrics, such as "in that day," and
yielded new divisions in the text. He argued that such a met-
"for Yahweh has spoken." Our textual analysis, however, has
ric analysis had uncovered the original units which subsequent-
revealed that such an approach is unsound, since in some cases
ly had been altered. The benefit to the exegete was that now
36. Ibid., p. 151.
32. Kissane, Isaiah, p. 272. 37. Otto Procksch, Jesaja I übersetzt und erklärt, ΚΑΤ,
IX, 1 (Leipzig: Α. Deichertsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1930) , pp.
305-46.
33. Ernst Liebmann, "Der Text zu Jesaja 24-27," ZAW XXII
(1902), pp. 1-56, 285-304, XXIII (1903), pp. 209-86, XXIV
(1904), pp. 51-104, XXV (1905), pp. 145-71. 38. Wallace March, A Study of Two Prophetic Compositions
in Isaiah 24:1-27:1 (Unpublished Th.D. dissertation, Union
34. Eduard Sievers, "Alttestamentliche Miscellen I: Theological Seminary in the City of New York, 1966). Herein-
Jesajas 24-27," BGL LVI (1904), pp. 151-88. after referred to as Isaiah 24:1-27:1.
35. Ibid., pp. 152, 160-65. 39. Georg Fohrer, "Der Aufbau der Apokalypse des Jesaja-
buchs, Jes. 24-27," CSQ, XXV (1963), pp. 34-45. Hereinafter
referred to as "Aufbau."