The Origins of Isaiah 24–27
Josiah's Festival Scroll for the Fall of Assyria

Situates a hotly contested section of Isaiah within its historical and cultural contexts, correcting misunderstandings of older scholarship.

Christopher B. Hays (Author)

9781108471848, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 June 2019

346 pages, 1 b/w illus. 5 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm, 0.64 kg

Isaiah 24-27 has been an enduring mystery and a hotly contested text for biblical scholars. Early scholarship linked its references to the dead rising to the New Testament. These theories have remained influential even as common opinion moderated over the course of the twentieth century. In this volume, Christopher B. Hays situates Isaiah 24-27 within its historical and cultural contexts. He methodically demonstrates that it is not apocalyptic; that its imagery of divine feasting and conquering death have ancient cognates; and that its Hebrew language does not reflect a late composition date. He also shows how the passage celebrates the receding of Assyrian power from Judah, and especially from the citadel at Ramat Rahel near Jerusalem, in the late seventh century. This was the time of King Josiah and his scribes, who saw a political opportunity and issued a peace overture to the former northern kingdom. Using comparative, archaeological, linguistic, and literary tools, Hays' volume changes the study of Isaiah, arguing for a different historical setting than that of traditional scholarship.

1. The rhetoric of chaos: apocalyptic and eschatological interpretations of Isaiah 24–27
2. The royal and divine victory banquet: feasting and the construction of reality
3. Revivification of the dead as national deliverance
4. The lofty city and the army of the height: the archaeology and history of Ramat Ra?el
5. Josiah and the remains of Israel
6. The language of Isaiah 24–27 in light of Hebrew diachrony
7. Stirring the echoes: an intertextual re-analysis of Isaiah 24–27
Conclusion: a scribe's story
Appendix A. Administrative seals and the history of Ramat Ra?el
Appendix B. Catalogue of LBH features in prophetic texts
Appendix C. The Moab fragments.

Subject Areas: Judaism: sacred texts [HRJS], Judaism [HRJ], Old Testaments [HRCF1], Bibles [HRCF], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]