Isaiah 36-39: rethinking the issues of priority and historical reliability
Isaiah 36-39 is a coherent literary unity that both holds priority over II Kings 18-20 and reflects a historically reliable interpretation of the events surrounding Sennacherib's invasion. On a literary level, Isaiah 36-39 shows itself to be a vital piece of the overall literary structure of Proto-Isaiah in that it highlights the fulfilment of Isaiah's initial Immanuel prophecy in chapters 7-12. The historical occasion for the writing of Isaiah 36-39 is early on during the reign of Manasseh, when opinion in Judah would have been divided over how to interpret the historical events surrounding Sennacherib's invasion. Isaiah 36-39, therefore, sought to vindicate Hezekiah as a faithful and righteous king, Isaiah as a true prophet and YHWH as the one true God, in contrast to Manasseh's policy changes that clearly reflected his opinion that Hezekiah was a foolish king, Isaiah was a false prophet and YHWH was not powerful enough to protect Judah.
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2009
|
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222009000100009 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|