Opening the Sealed Book

by Blenkinsopp, Joseph

• ISBN13: 9780802840219
• ISBN10: 0802840213
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-30
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co

Summary

Of all the texts in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, perhaps no book has a more colorful history of interpretation than Isaiah.A comprehensive history of interpretation of Isaiah between the prophet Malachi and the emperor Constantine, Joseph Blenkinsopp's "Unsealing the Sealed Book" explores the methods and interpretive conclusions of diverse groups. Blenkinsopp points out that the book of Isaiah was a sustaining factor in many dissident movements in the period studied and traces three different prophetic traditions from Isaiah, the "Man of God," the critic of social structures, and the apocalyptic seer. He details the place of Isaiah in Jewish Sectarianism, Qumran, and among early Christians, and touches on a number of its themes, including exile, "the remnant of Israel," martyrdom, and "the servant of the Lord."Crossing the disciplines of hermeneutics, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and early Christianity, "Unsealing the Sealed Book" will appeal to Jewish and Christian scholars, as well as readers fascinated by the complex, influential prophetic visions of Isaiah.

Author Biography

Joseph Blenkinsopp is John A. O'Brien Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	viii
Introduction	xv
Isaiah: The Book	1	(27)
What Is a Book?	1	(3)
From Scraps to Scrolls	4	(4)
The Literate and Illiterate Are Invited to Read a Sealed Book	8	(3)
Is the Sealed Book the Book of Isaiah?	11	(3)
The Isaianic-Danielic Interpretative Trajectory	14	(4)
The Sealed Book in Daniel	18	(5)
Sealed and Secret Books after Daniel	23	(5)
Isaiah: Author, Prophet, Man of God	28	(28)
Isaiah as Author	28	(4)
Contrasting Profiles of Isaiah in the Book	32	(6)
The Prophetic Role Redefined	38	(5)
Isaiah in Chronicles and Jesus ben Sira	43	(3)
Isaiah in The Lives of the Prophets and Josephus	46	(3)
The Martyrdom of Isaiah	49	(3)
The Lure of Martyrdom: The Passion of Isaiah and the Passion of Jesus	52	(4)
Isaiah at the Beginnings of Jewish Sectarianism	56	(33)
Questions about Definition	56	(8)
Sectarian Phenomena in the Early Persian Period	64	(8)
The Gap between the Fifth and the Second Centuries B.C.E.	72	(5)
Bridging the Gap	77	(7)
The Final and Decisive Phase in the Formation of Sects	84	(5)
Reading Isaiah at Qumran	89	(40)
The Source Material: Scrolls and Scraps	89	(9)
The Qumran Pesher Commentaries	98	(5)
Text Interpretation and Dream Interpretation	103	(3)
The Isaiah Pesharim	106	(23)
Reading Isaiah in Early Christianity, with Special Reference to Matthew's Gospel	129	(40)
The Gospel according to Isaiah	129	(9)
The Jesus Sect and the Sect of John the Baptist	138	(9)
The Matthean Commentaries	147	(7)
Isaiah according to Matthew's Gospel	154	(15)
Isaianic Titles in Qumran and Early Christianity	169	(53)
Titles, Rubrics, and Self-descriptions in General	169	(5)
The Many	174	(4)
The Way	178	(7)
The Righteous	185	(8)
The Elect	193	(4)
The Servants of the Lord	197	(6)
The Saints	203	(6)
The Poor	209	(3)
The Penitents	212	(4)
The Mourners	216	(3)
The Devout	219	(3)
Exile in the Interpretation of Isaiah	222	(29)
The Prophetic Idea of the ``Remnant of Israel''	222	(8)
Exile and Return in Sectarian Writings from the Greco-Roman Period	230	(11)
Exile and Return in the Isaianic Interpretative Tradition	241	(10)
The Many Faces of the Servant of the Lord	251	(43)
The Beginnings in the Book of Isaiah	251	(8)
The Servant as Protomartyr and Eschatological Figure	259	(9)
The Servant of the Lord at Qumran	268	(14)
The Anonymous Teacher and Jesus of Nazareth as Servant Figures	282	(12)
Bibliography	294	(4)
Index of Subjects	298	(4)
Index of Biblical and Other Ancient Texts	302