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19 - Impressions of Isaiah in Classical Rabbinic Literature

from Part IV - Afterlives of the Book of Isaiah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2024

By
Joshua Ezra Burns
Edited by
Christopher B. Hays
Christopher B. Hays
Affiliation:
Fuller Theological Seminary, California
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Summary

In “Impressions of Isaiah in Classical Rabbinic Literature,” Joshua Ezra Burns surveys the reception of Isaiah in postbiblical Jewish culture. Focusing on the works and folkways of the rabbinic sages, the author illustrates how early Jewish interpreters understood the book of Isaiah as a testament to the life and vocation of its ancient namesake and as a source of reassurance for future generations of Jews. Innocent of contemporary science concerning his book’s composition, the sages portrayed Isaiah as a brash prophet of unmatched visionary ability who foretold the destruction of the first Jerusalem Temple and its restoration with uncanny accuracy. The fulfillment of his visions made Isaiah’s prophecies valuable resources for liturgies, homilies, and other rabbinic literary compositions expressing hope in another national revival led by their long-promised Messiah following the loss of the second Jerusalem Temple and subjection of the Jews to Christian imperialism.

Keywords

IsaiahJudaismrabbinicmidrashliturgyMessiahTisha b’Av
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Book of Isaiah , pp. 310 - 325
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Further Reading

Barth, Lewis M. “The ‘Three of Rebuke and Seven of Consolation’ Sermons in the Pesikta de Rav Kahana.” JJS 33 (1982): 503–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Opening the Sealed Book: Interpretations of the Book of Isaiah in Late Antiquity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.Google Scholar
Brettler, Marc, and Levine, Amy-Jill. “Isaiah’s Suffering Servant: Before and after Christianity.” Interpretation 73 (2019): 158–73.Google Scholar
Chazan, Robert. Daggers of Faith: Thirteenth-Century Christian Missionizing and Jewish Response. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishbane, Michael. “Midrash and Messianism: Some Theologies of Suffering and Salvation.” Pages 57–71 in Toward the Millennium: Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco. Edited by Schäfer, Peter and Cohen, Mark R.. Leiden: Brill, 1998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraade, Steven D. “Concepts of Scripture in Rabbinic Judaism: Oral Torah and Written Torah.” Pages 31–46 in Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction. Edited by Sommer, Benjamin D.. New York: New York University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Halpern-Amaru, Betsy. “The Killing of the Prophets: Unraveling a Midrash.” HUCA 54 (1983): 153–80.Google Scholar
Henze, Matthias. “King Manasseh of Judah in Early Judaism and Christianity.” Pages 183–228 in On Prophets, Warriors, and Kings: Former Prophets through the Eyes of Their Interpreters. Edited by Brooke, George J and Feldman, Ariel. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Himmelfarb, Martha. Jewish Messiahs in a Christian Empire: A History of the Book of Zerubbabel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Elliot. “Isaiah’s Suffering Servant and the Jews: From the Nineteenth Century to the Ninth.” Pages 419–36 in New Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Relations: In Honor of David Berger. Edited by Carlebach, Elisheva and Schacter, Jacob J. Leiden: Brill, 2012.Google Scholar
Kalmin, Richard. Migrating Tales: The Talmud’s Narratives and Their Historical Context. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laato, Antti. Who Is the Servant of the Lord? Jewish and Christian Interpretations on Isaiah 53 from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Turku: Åbo Akademi University; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2012.Google Scholar
Neusner, Jacob. Isaiah in Talmud and Midrash: A Source Book. 2 vol. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2007.Google Scholar
Porton, Gary G. “Isaiah and the Kings: The Rabbis on the Prophet Isaiah.” Pages 693–716 in vol. 2 of Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah: Studies of an Interpretive Tradition. Edited by Broyles, Craig C. and Evans, Craig A.. Leiden: Brill, 1997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, Elsie R. From Rebuke to Consolation: Exegesis and Theology in the Liturgical Anthology of the Ninth of Av Season. Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2004.Google Scholar
Ulmer, Rivka. “The Contours of the Messiah in Pesiqta Rabbati.” HTR 106 (2013): 115–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulmer, Rivka. “Isaiah in Pesiqta de Rav Kahana and Pesiqta Rabbati.” Pages 215–39 in Transmission and Interpretation of the Book of Isaiah in the Context of Intra- and Interreligious Debates. Edited by Wilk, Florian and Gemeinhardt, Peter. Leuven: Peeters, 2016.Google Scholar

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