Abstract
This tour de force through 2000 years of reception history of the book of Isaiah deserves my highest praise. It is fascinating reading from beginning to end, something that cannot often be said about a commentary. No chapter is like the other and each of the 66 chapters brings something new and exciting to the readers’ attention.
Sawyer entices us with a wide array of examples from traditional Jewish and Christian interpretations of Isaiah: how did the Church Fathers and the mediaeval Jewish commentators understand the passage under consideration, how and when has it been used (or not) in Jewish and Christian lectionaries and in the readings at Jewish festivals and in the Christian clerical year? Furthermore, what are its roles in midrash and traditional Jewish psalmody, as well as in Christian iconography, hymns, and sermons? In addition, Sawyer frequently highlights the references to the book of Isaiah in painting, with examples ranging from classical art to modern Israeli postal stamps. He also interacts quite frequently with poetry and literature, predominantly in the English language. The true highpoint is Sawyer’s in-depth knowledge of music that enables him to analyse the occurrences of verses from Isaiah in anything from classical oratorios to contemporary musicals.
Sawyer further investigates the use of Isaiah in the various textual traditions such as the Septuagint and the Vulgate etc., how the book has been used in the New Testament and the Qumran scrolls, as well as in other Second Temple period literature such as Ben Sira. When germane to the discussion, Sawyer also looks at modern historical-critical scholarship, in order to position the traditional interpretation against what the text may have meant in its original historical and literary context. Last but not least, Sawyer looks at modern Hebrew use of Isaiah, showing how key expressions are being used as names of journals (Lilith, Isa 34:14), as names of places (e.g., Mevasseret Zion, Isa 40:9), and as motifs for sculptures (e.g., Isa 2:4, swords into ploughshares).
The book opens with a pithy introduction that contains a brief overview of the notion of reception history (what people have done with the text), Wirkungsgeschichte (how the text has had an impact), and reception exegesis (how people’s use of the text can help us to appreciate the text in a new way / shed new light upon the text). Sawyer further outlines the key sources that have been used, to facilitate for readers to access the texts themselves. He also discusses the issue of selection and the rationale behind this selection. After 2000 years of reading the Bible, the issue is less about finding material and much more about deciding what material to include and what to leave unaddressed. Sawyer’s own criteria were to ‘focus on interpretations and uses of the text that are exegetically interesting or that have been historically important in some way’. It is my belief that he has managed very well in this undertaking. Finally, Sawyer addresses the issue of evaluation: can we judge these interpretations and, if so, what measuring stick should we use? First, Sawyer recognises that his judgement is personal and that he will take the liberty of calling some interpretations beautiful and others ugly. Second, he acknowledges that he often struggles with the anti-Jewish polemic expressed by so many Christian interpretations, yet they should be allowed to speak for themselves.
It is impossible to do justice to a 66-chapter-long commentary in a review. I have therefore selected a single chapter (Isa 16) to illustrate the style of the commentary. My choice is guided by the fact that this chapter is one of the less familiar ones in Isaiah and thus will demonstrate well the fact that people have read and used the entire book (see further below). The chapter belongs among the so-called ‘oracles against the nations’ (Isa 13–22) and contains, alongside chapter 15, oracles against Moab.
Sawyer begins with the difficult verse 1 that speaks about sending lambs as tribute. He opens the discussion with the interpretation by the mediaeval Jewish scholar Rashi who focuses on the practical aspects of the verse: what have sheep to do with Moab? To solve this issue, Rashi argues that Isa 16:1–2 is best understood in light of the material about the king of Moab being a sheep-breeder in 2 Kgs 3:4. Looking more closely at various Christian uses of the text, Sawyer notes that Jerome interpreted the verse christologically in his commentary, reading the word ‘lamb’ as a precursor of Christ: as the lambs were sent as tribute to the mount of Daughter Zion, so Mary brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. Turning to later traditions, Sawyer alerts the readers to the fact that the phrase ‘send forth your lamb’ has been likewise understood and used in traditional church music, sung during Advent. In a very different manner, Calvin read the text symbolically as referring to obstinate men who ‘fearlessly despise God’. Sawyer finally also notes that whereas the Vulgate stays close to the Hebrew Masoretic text, the Syriac version (the Peshitta) records a different reading, as does the Aramaic Targum Jonathan.
Moving on to verses 3–5, both Christian (Theodoret) and Jewish (Rashi) scholars connect the references to the throne of David in verse 5 with Hezekiah (the rationale being that Isaiah ben Amos is recorded as having been active during his reign). In the twentieth century, verse 4–5 have been used by liberation theologians due to their focus on justice, as well as their emphasis on compassion for the (Moabite) refugees who are allowed to stay with Israel and receive shelter there (v. 4). Sawyer further notes that Dante probably alludes to the Vulgate of verse 9 when he describes how he weeps when seeing the tortured souls in hell. Finally, speaking of verse 11 where the prophet states that his heart laments for Moab, Sawyer cites Luther’s acerbic claim that the prophet is ‘putting on an act’.
Several features of Sawyer’s commentary stand out. First, the ingenuity of the Church Fathers to find Jesus in Isaiah is truly astonishing. They were able to find Jesus and/or the Church in every chapter of the book. Second, and interconnected with the first matter, the anti-Jewish sentiments of so many of the Christian interpreters is equally noticeable. They treated every criticism against Israel as anti-Jewish whilst appropriating every blessing for the Church. Vice versa, it is sad to see how the Jewish lectionaries systematically omitted or even removed passages, such as Isa 49 and Isa 52:13–53:12, from their scheduled reading in response to the Christian ‘abduction’ of said passages, yet possibly also for fear that people would adopt the Christian reading of them. Third, and connected with the two afore-mentioned issues, it is fascinating to observe how distinct groups of readers have focused on separate passages. While there are definitely texts that have drawn the attention of most readers and interpreters, Christian and Jewish readers have often chosen to focus their efforts on different verses. Fourth, I am amazed at the fact that the entire book of Isaiah has been under scrutiny. There are hardly any blank spots and there is little sense of a ‘canon within a canon’. Many contemporary Christian readers of Isaiah tend to focus on a relatively narrow range of well-known passages (e.g. Isa 6; 7; 9; 40; 49; 53; 58). Sawyer’s commentary shows unmistakably that this limited scope was not shared by past Christian readers.
It seems nit-picky to criticise this truly outstanding volume. If I nevertheless were to do so, I have a few comments. First, it is difficult to argue that something is lacking from this most comprehensive volume, knowing that the author had to adhere to a tight word limit. Nonetheless, I would have liked to see, alongside painting and music, more examples of the use of Isaiah in world literature. Second, the scope of the examples from contemporary culture is often Anglo-Saxon, with pertinent exceptions from the modern state of Israel. I would have appreciated a more universal outlook with more examples from Africa and Asia, as well as from non-English contexts. Third, again a direct result of the word limit, the commentary reads a bit like a catalogue, often with none or only very short explanations as to the rationale behind a given interpretation. Given the scope of the volume, this is a necessary feature, yet I hope that Sawyer will offer, as separate articles maybe, in-depth discussions of a few of the many intriguing discoveries. Finally, the very concise references to primary sources can be unclear to non-specialist readers. Sawyers often states, for example, that Ibn Ezra held an opinion about a given verse, yet it is not made clear where exactly this reference is to be found. The assumption must be that it is written as part of the commentary to that exact verse in the Rabbinic Bible, yet based on experience, the mediaeval Jewish commentators sometimes commented on a verse in a different context.
Overall, this book is to be highly recommended!