Repository index

This collection of studies going back to a conference held in 2015 in Jerusalem aims to show that there is a clear continuity of the Isaianic tradition beyond the era of the eighth-century prophet. In comparison to other books of the Old Testament, Isaiah has been one of exceptional influence throughout the centuries. The ten essay included here underline this statement from various perspectives, dealing with the reception history of Isaiah in different periods. Below I present a short overview of its content with several remarks appended to each study.
https://www.bookreviews.org/BookDetail.asp?TitleId=12914

Writing a commentary with one eye for critical issues and with another for interested lay readers with no knowledge of biblical languages is always a demanding task, but it becomes an almost impossible undertaking in a case such as the book of Habakkuk, insofar as most problems of this controversial small composition are closely tied to (Hebrew) textuality. Although I did occasionally have doubts regarding the accessibility of the topic and the language of exposition for the general reader, one must ultimately recognize that Oskar Dangl did attain the purpose of any serious commentary with whatever audience in view, namely, to raise interest in a close reading and more text-focused study of the difficult prophetic compositions.
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10320

https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10581

Isa 8:16 is considered a key reference regarding the formation of the book of Isaiah and the role of prophetic disciples in this process. This article argues, however, that originally this verse had a more limited significance. The instruction to which v. 16 refers is to be identified with vv. 12-15 rather than an early ‘book’ of Isaiah. The expression ‘the instructed ones’ (of YHWH rather than the prophet) is applied to the prophet’s audience. This term reflects Isaiah’s characteristic view of prophesying as an act of instruction and prophecy as a form of teaching, and it does not presuppose the existence of any prophetic school. The view that sealing the instruction would allude to preserving prophetic teaching for the posterity is discounted here in favour of understanding the symbolic act as a metaphor from the legal sphere refering to authentication, with no inherent temporal significance.

In studies on the composition of prophetic literature, the larger textual layers reinterpreting earlier texts, the so-called Fortschreibungen, received much attention. It is well-known that beside these larger literary elaborations prophetic books also contain shorter explanatory interpolations, often called glosses, which intend to clarify a particular imagery of the prophecy (e.g., Isa 9:14). A systematic reading of these short annotations has been neglected, however, in studying the formation of prophetic books. The present article reconsiders the Isaiah-Memoir from this perspective. It identifies editorial interpolations in three distinct pericopes, Isa 8:2, 8:6-7a and 8:23b. It is argued here that the identification of such explanatory additions is the key to understanding notorious textual complexities. Moreover, it points out that these interpolations tend to expose recognisable patterns and common hermeneutical principles.