Opening Sealed Book: Interpretations of Book of Isaiah in Late Antiquity, by Joseph Blenkinsopp. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. 315 pp. $25.00. In recent years, as debate has shifted question What did author mean? to How have readers understood what was written?, there has been renewed interest in history of interpretation of texts. In this volume, Professor Blenkinsopp concentrates on various ways in which Isaiah was interpreted in Late Antiquity, and since Isaiah was in fact used by various dissident groups to legitimize their movements, result is a study that makes a notable contribution to our understanding of development of sectarianism in late Second Temple Judaism. Blenkinsopp begins by discussing way in which oral material was brought together and points out that history of interpretation begins in itself. The earliest sayings were gathered together and combined with commentary and additions, exegete apparently claiming same authority to speak in name of God as original prophet. The metaphor of sealed book in 29:11-12 (an image picked up in Daniel) indicates a later generation's incomprehension of written message: what had been written could now be understood only by those who read it from an eschatologicalapocalyptic perspective (p. 26). After exploring different prophetic profiles of Isaiah - as a critic of establishment on one hand, and as a man of God on other - Blenkinsopp turns to role of sectarianism in final shaping of Isaiah. He argues that sectarianism first emerged in century following fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and that this is reflected not only in Ezra-Nehemiah, but in final chapters of Isaiah. In Isaiah 65-6, for example, we see arguments of a minority group who believed themselves to be trueServants of Yahveh, but who were shunned by their fellow Jews. Blenkinsopp then turns to ways in which Isaiah was read by two Jewish sects. The importance of for group at Qumran is demonstrated by number of Isaiah scrolls found there. In addition, there are allusions to and citations Isaiah in non-biblical texts, indicating its role in Qumran sectarians' self-understanding. The pesharim offer direct evidence of way in which text was interpreted, and though these are unfortunately fragmentary, they nevertheless indicate that members of Qumran community believed that they were able to decode message which God had delivered to prophet, and that it applied to themselves. This assumption lies behind citation of Isa. 40:3 in Community Rule, since they found here biblical warranty for their withdrawal to Judean wilderness. The important role played by Isaiah in shaping identity of early Christians is demonstrated by large number of allusions and citations to that in New Testament. Concentrating on Gospel of Matthew, Blenkinsopp argues that Jesus is presented as the Servant of Isaiah 53 (p. 130), and that though various Servant texts were of particular importance, of Isaiah as a whole came to serve as a grid or cognitive map by means of which they could articulate their sense of . . . direction in which their destiny was leading them (p. 136). Although first Christians, like group at Quintan, interpret scripture as a sealed book whose meaning is now clear to group but hidden to outsiders - who, as Isaiah said, look without seeing and listen without heating (p. 147) - and although their own teaching is esoteric, and so incomprehensible to those to whom the mystery of Kingdom has not been given, this mystery is nevertheless not to be confined to group, but is available for all who will receive it. …