Isaiah After Exile: The Author of Third Isaiah as Reader and Redactor of the Book(Oxford Theological Monographs)

The book of Isaiah is a composite work whose formation took place over a long period of time, incorporating the work of many different hands rather than the work of a single author. A crucial stage in this process came with the Jewish return from Babylonian exile, and the subsequent efforts at restoration. In this new context, how were the older Isaianic oracles to be seen? What did they say? Isaiah After Exile examines this question in depth from the point of view of the book's formation. Jacob Stromberg illuminates the textual hermeneutics embedded in the post-exilic shape of Isaiah, contributing to our understanding of the dynamics of scriptural formation in this influential period of Jewish history. The author of Third Isaiah is shown to have edited the book in line with his reading of it to project the old word into the new post-exilic situation. Stromberg unfolds this argument in three parts. The first defines Third Isaiah's final form, finding the work of its author especially in its 'frame' (56.1-8; 65-66). The second part analyzes this 'frame' for references to earlier Isaianic oracles, uncovering allusions to older material from throughout the book. A portrait emerges of the author of Third Isaiah as a reader of the book, providing an important key to unlock the door on his work as a redactor - the premise being that his hermeneutics as a reader would inevitably reflect his hermeneutics as a redactor. Working in the light of this portrait, the third part examines the author of Third Isaiah as a redactor of the book, uncovering several examples throughout Isaiah where probability seems to favor this hand at work.

Table of Contents:
Introduction I: The Author of Third Isaiah 1: The Formation of Third Isaiah 2: The Composition of Isaiah 56.1-8 and 65-66 II: The author of Third Isaiah as Reader of the Book 3: Allusion and Influence in Isaiah 56.1-8 4: Allusion and Influence in Isaiah 65-66 III: The author of Third Isaiah as Redactor of the Book 5: Redaction in Isaiah 1-39 6: Redaction in Isaiah 40-55 7: Final Conclusions

About the Author :
Jacob Stromberg has taught Hebrew and Old Testament at Oxford University and Duke Divinity School. He earned a M.A. in Hebrew and Semitics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a D. Phil from the University of Oxford. Currently he is working on an introduction to Isaiah.

Review :
...intelligently presented, clearly written and thoroughly researched. [This] monograph joins and builds on an impressive bookshelf of redactional studies of Isaiah 56-66. Because the argument is complex, [Stromberg's] cautious, disciplined, relentlessly logical style is exemplary. This reviewer found the argument compelling at every turn. [Stromberg] has laid a solid foundation from which the thought represented in TI can be constructed with more subtlety and depth, and the book's (now) overarching arguments and tropes can be brought into diachronic focus with more clarity. I am confident that Stromberg's work will figure prominently in discussions of the redaction and theology of Isaiah for years to come.