Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception by Andrew T. Abernethy

Abstract

Reviewed by: Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception by Andrew T. Abernethy Todd Hibbard andrew t. abernethy, Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception (Discovering Biblical Texts; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. x + 197. Paper $24. If the number of recent introductory volumes is any indication, interest in the Book of Isaiah shows no sign of waning. Good guides for this task who have a command of the critical and exegetical issues can alert readers to important matters along the way. Abernethy proves to be a reliable and helpful guide in this new volume in the Discovering Biblical Texts series. He offers a succinct overview of the book's interpretive history, content, and theological themes in ten brisk, and at times conversational, chapters. He writes intentionally for a Christian audience, and one that might have some aversion to historical-critical issues based on the caution he raises about that approach. In a brief introductory chapter, A. lays out his approach as one that rests on threefold attention to "historical insights, literary analysis, and reception history" (p. 4). Chapters 2 and 3 selectively examine the book's reception and interpretive histories. This is an area where an author could easily get bogged down in the enormous amount of literature, but A. proves skillful at highlighting important texts and persons who have interpreted Isaiah. In chap. 4, A. presents a metahistory based on a canonical reading of Isaiah, what he calls "the history Isaiah tells" (p. 38). In this chapter, he divides Isaiah into four phases, advancing a historical and theological reading of the book oriented to its canonical shape. The discussion begins with judgment in the Assyrian and Babylonian phases, continuing into the deliverance expected through Cyrus, the new community made possible through the suffering servant, and concludes with judgment and salvation on a cosmic scale. The next five chapters highlight key themes that A. identifies in Isaiah and explores their role in the book as well as their reception throughout Christian history. Each theme is also situated within the four phases of Isaiah's story laid out in chap. 4. In chap. 5, A. demonstrates the importance of holiness in Isaiah, focusing on the trifold declaration of God's holiness in Isaiah 6 ("Holy, holy, holy") (Isa 6:3) and Isaiah's use of the title "Holy One of Israel" for God (twenty-five times in Isaiah). He concludes with an informative discussion of how Isaiah 6 has been explored and appropriated by Christian theologians and liturgists. In chap. 6, A. turns to the theme of Zion. He notes that Zion occupies both physical and [End Page 480] symbolic space in the Hebrew Bible. Finally, he explores how Zion has been understood in the Christian interpretive tradition, both symbolically and historically. In chap. 7, A. examines the idea of the messianic king in Isaiah, broadening his approach to include texts that he thinks are related to the idea of a messianic king, rather than exploring the single text that uses the term māšîaḥ (45:1, referring to Cyrus). Consequently, A. focuses on a range of texts about future Davidic kings in view of the idea of the royal messiah. While his decision to examine a broad range of texts featuring expectations about future kings makes sense, his choice not to include a discussion of the book's use of the term māšîaḥ in reference to Cyrus is regrettable. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of how early Christian apologists, later premodern interpreters, and artists understood Isa 7:14. Abernethy tackles the thorny problem of the Suffering Servant in chap. 8. He offers an overview of the present state of scholarship on the identity of the Servant in the four poems of Deutero-Isaiah (42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12) before suggesting that concentrating on the Servant's identity might not be the best approach to these passages. He then turns to a close reading of the fourth servant poem. Here, A.'s skill as an exegete is on display; indeed, this discussion provides an outstanding entry into this difficult and ambiguous text for novice readers of Isaiah (or even experienced readers!). Yet, in...