Abstract
The arrival of a new volume in the Hermeneia commentary series is always a welcome event. But this volume by Roberts is especially noteworthy because it has been so long in coming and is a really substantive work. Roberts brings to bear his considerable linguistic, historical, and theological skills. Having taught at Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, University of Toronto, and Princeton Theological Seminary (now retired), he has established himself as a leader in not only studies of the prophetic literature (see Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the Old Testament Library series, 1991), but also the David narratives, the Zion traditions, and Assyriology (see Roberts, The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Collected Essays, 2002).
Following a classified bibliography (xviii–xxix), the reader finds a “General Introduction” (1–8), which covers Methodology, The Eighth-Century Isaiah of Jerusalem and the Book of Isaiah, Theological Influences on Isaiah of Jerusalem, Text, and Commentaries. So, one will not find the book-length form of introduction that one often finds in Hermeneia volumes—for example, in Holladay's two-volume Jeremiah or Zimmerli's two-volume Ezekiel. He mentions in his discussion of commentaries that he has been most influenced by Hans Wildberger's in the Biblischer Kommentar (translated in Continental Commentaries, 3 vols.), William L. Holladay's Isaiah: Scroll of a Prophetic Heritage, and Isaiah, the Eighth-Century Prophet by John H. Hayes and Stuart L. Irvine.
The volume concludes with a General Bibliography (pp. 491–502) followed by indexes of Passages (biblical and nonbiblical works), Subjects, and Modern Authors. The subject index is notably (and inexplicably) brief with only seven entries; for such a rich commentary, one would have hoped for far more entries. And the author index is erratic, missing numerous authors who are cited and discussed (e.g., A. Kirk Grayson, David D. Luckenbill, Nadav Na'aman, and Yigal Yadin), and some authors that are listed actually have far more citations than are listed in the index. The same is true of the biblical and ancient Near Eastern documents (e.g., Ludlul bel nemeqi). In the index of ancient sources, there are no citations listed of any of the extensive Assyrian royal archives or correspondence (note especially the twenty volumes now available in the State Archives of Assyria series, The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Assyrian Periods series, and Hayim Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III). But in fact Roberts does make use of some of this material, despite its not appearing in the index.
The commentary proper follows the Hermeneia format: fresh translation, textual notes, detailed commentary, and bibliography relating to the unit under discussion. Often these bibliographies include a handful of entries, but on e specially significant passages (e.g., Isaiah 6), they run to four pages. The Hebrew is given in both Hebrew characters and transliteration in most cases. Roberts includes one excursus: “The Death of Sargon II and Unburied Babylonian Kings” (207–08). The textual notes will be of special interest to those who handle Hebrew because the author can draw upon the rich resource of the Isaiah manuscripts from Qumran. The commentary is excellent in providing in-depth analysis that stays sharply focused on the text at hand.
I realize that Roberts' focus is primarily historical, but it does not seem out of place to expect to see at least a bit here in terms of archaeology (see, e.g., William G. Dever, “Archaeology and the Social World of Isaiah,” and The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel) or social analysis (e.g., D. N. Premnath, Eighth Century Prophets; and Marvin Chaney, “Whose Sour Grapes? The Addressees of Isaiah 5:1–7 in the Light of Political Economy”).
One of the notable things about Roberts' commentary is its readability. The style is clear and engaging (something one does not often find in commentaries), and it is sufficiently accessible for students and pastors as well as scholars. I highly recommend it for all libraries and readers. This is a volume really worth the price.