Abstract
Buy this book (!), read this book, absorb this book, and internalize this book if you wish to gain an understanding of the place of Isaiah within both the Christian and Jewish traditions. Mayfield, a professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky employs what he terms “A Bifocal Look at Isaiah.” He differentiates between a “Near Vision,” that is seeing Isaiah only through Christian eyes, and a “Far Vision,” to see and appreciate Isaiah in its original Jewish historical context. Addressing a Christian audience, he suggests that often Christians overfocus
on the use of Isaiah in our tradition and miss the repercussions of our actions. We may render Jews invisible or irrelevant or as incomplete Christians. Using bifocal lenses we can read Isaiah as faithful Christians within Christian worship contexts, while also reading responsibly in ways that encourage us to love our non-Christian neighbors [p. 3].
Mayfield points out that the book of Isaiah is regarded by many Christians as the Fifth Gospel. This is a regret table error, he asserts. The notion of
Isaiah-the-evangelist transforms the prophet we share with Judaism into a Christian whom Jews do not share. Isaiah cannot be read as another Gospel such as Matthew, Mark, or Luke. By using Isaiah's rhetoric without care for Judaism's proper appreciation of their Jewish Bible, we may participate in harm toward our sisters and brothers [p. 8].
The Introduction concludes with a helpful explanation, “How to Read this Book.” The work itself features three divisions: Isaiah Through Bifocals; Isaiah's “Messianic” Texts, and Isaiah's Visions of the Future. In the first section, Using our Near Vision during Advent, he addresses “the Problematic Prophecy-Fulfillment Paradigm” which primarily or only understands Isaiah as pointing to the time and figure of Jesus. He points out that we need to reframe what prophecy means. Then comes a section, Using Our Far Vision to Love Our Jewish Neighbors. This latter part features sections on The Messiah, Supersessionism, Anti-Judaism, and Post-Holocaust Christian Reading. The second major section, on Isaiah's “Messianic” Texts, addresses four texts found in the Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 7:10-16; Isaiah 9:2-7; Isaiah 11:1-10; and Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11. Each section begins with The Originating Context of that passage and concludes with Our Context Today, and also A Bifocal Look. The third major section, Isaiah's Visions of the Future, addresses Isaiah 2:1-5; Isaiah 25:1-10; Isaiah 40:1-11, and Isaiah 64:1-9. Again, Mayfield addresses The Originating Context of each passage, and concludes with Our Context Today, as well as A Bifocal Look.
Mayfield points out how Judaism and Christianity, certainly within a liturgical setting differ in their approach to the Prophets, and more specifically to Isaiah. Christians, and especially those who follow the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) at weekly church services, read short passages which oftentimes serve as a prism of prophecy-fulfillment. By contrast, in Jewish tradition, the weekly sections of reading from the prophets often contain many more verses, which provides their wider context thereby allowing a more complete understanding. Indeed, sections from Isaiah are featured more often than any other prophet in these weekly readings.
In chapter 3, Mayfield offers as an example the reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent in Year A of the Common Lectionary Reading. There Isaiah 7:10-16 is linked with Matthew 1:18-25 (p. 28). In v. 14 Isaiah says to King Ahaz, “Look! The young woman [Hebrew: alma] is pregnant and about to give birth to a son. She will name him With-us-is-God [Immanuel]” (p. 61, Common English Bible). Mayfield points out that (regrettably) the KJV and the NIV translate the Hebrew word alma as “virgin” while NRSV and CEB translate the word as “young woman.” In its historical context, she “is a young woman; virginity is not an issue” (p. 64), he explains. The lectionary begins this prophetic story midstride with verse 10. “In other words, the lectionary lifts selected theological concepts out of their historical and literary context in Isaiah 7 to present them in a larger, canonical role related to Matthew 1.” Consequently, in “some ways, Matthew's reading of Isaiah has been accepted as the only appropriate one” (p. 74). This is an unfortunate understanding, Mayfield points out, for “God's Immanuel presence does not pertain only to Christians” (p. 75).
This well-written, well-researched volume which addresses the “problematic prophecy-fulfillment paradigm” is enhanced by footnotes, a bibliography, and a Subject and Name Index. As mentioned, the Introduction concludes with a helpful explanation, “How to Read this Book.”