This volume contains twelve articles that shed new light on the Book of Isaiah, one of the most central books of the Old Testament canon. The essays collected in this volume cover a wide array of different topics, from historical and linguistic issues to a number of theological "hot-topics".
Among the topics covered in this volume are the following:
- Salvation in both its spiritual and political dimensions;
- God's loving self-limitation;
- The function of the spirit in God's redemptive work;
- The shaping of a new world of peace through God's intervention;
- The question of the identity of Deutero-Isaiah's 'Servant of the Lord'.
Questions of the Book of Isaiah's interpretation in various post-modern contexts, including its use in the context of pastoral care, are also dealt with. In addition, the reader is introduced to two of the big commentators of the Book of Isaiah in the past 150 years, Wilhelm Gesenius and Brevard Childs.
The studies collected in this volume represent a broad diversity not only in topics, but also in approaches and theological background of the contributors (both denominationally and culturally). Traditional and more recently developed methods in various branches of the social sciences inform the articles. Since the Book of Isaiah is the one part of the Old Testament that is referred to most often in the New Testament, studies in this book help to open up new ways in the understanding of the Bible as a unified whole. This book will be a highly useful resource both for professional students and teachers of the Hebrew Bible and interested laypeople.
