Author: Administrador

Isaiah 50:4-9a is part of a larger poem that extends to 50:11.1 Its subject is a servant of God (50:10), who speaks of his life in God’s service with both pride and pugnacity. The poem begins with his boast of being attentive to the word of God (verse 4), and he proclaims that his calling … Continue reading “Isaiah 50:4-9a Commentary by Callie Plunket-Brewton”

Isaiah 40-66 uses female images for God more frequently than any other Old Testament body of literature. The image used is always maternal. For example, Isaiah 42:14 presents God as pregnant and giving birth; 66:12-13 portrays God as nursing and comforting the newborn. The metaphor of God as mother is also basic to understanding the … Continue reading “Isaiah 49:8-16a Commentary by Terence E. Fretheim”

Isaiah 49:8-16a, the Old Testament lectionary text for this Sunday, is part of a larger poetic unit comprised of all twenty-six verses of chapter 49. This poem contains two of the most powerful symbols of Isaiah 40-55: (1) the servant of Yahweh, the primary subject of a number of powerful poems, among them Isaiah 52:13-53:12, … Continue reading “Isaiah 49:8-16a Commentary by Callie Plunket-Brewton”

One week after the Baptism of Our Lord, the lectionary texts from the Old Testament sit us squarely in the promise and pain of servanthood. Whether we accompany the psalmist (Psalm 40:1-11) or gather to listen to the servant of Second Isaiah in this second of the so-called “servant songs” (49:1-7; cf. Isaiah 42:1-9 [one … Continue reading “Isaiah 49:1-7 Commentary by Christine Roy Yoder”

Isaiah 49:1-7 comprises the second of the so-called “Servant Songs” (Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12), a designation that I indicated in last Sunday’s commentary on Isaiah 42:1-9 to be problematic. Rather than be restricted to these select texts, the Servant theme appears throughout Isaiah 40-53. A significant transition takes place in Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) … Continue reading “Isaiah 49:1-7 Commentary by Bo Lim”

As always, it’s important here to state the big story at work in Isaiah in order to grasp the power of Isaiah’s proclamation in chapter 49. God’s people have been defeated, their temple destroyed. They are taken in chains to Babylon, alienated from their land and their God. This exile is a crisis of identity … Continue reading “Isaiah 49:1-7 Commentary by Amy Oden”

Messiah Cyrus and the sovereign will of God: The name Cyrus won’t ring a bell for many worshipers, unless perhaps it’s Miley Cyrus of “Hannah Montana” fame. Preachers are likely to strike a chord, however, if they announce that this Cyrus is the Lord’s Messiah (Hebrew for “anointed one” = “Christ” in Greek), which is … Continue reading “Isaiah 45:1-7 Commentary by James K. Mead”

“I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). Strong words! But are they good news or bad news? It’s clear, I think, that for Second Isaiah, this announcement is meant as good news — but it will take some work for us … Continue reading “Isaiah 45:1-7 Commentary by Fred Gaiser”

This passage stands in the center of the first half of Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55), which was composed in the middle of the sixth century B.C.E. to encourage Judeans scattered by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. to return and rebuild their city and temple. After a double introduction in Isaiah 40:1-11 and … Continue reading “Isaiah 45:1-7 Commentary by Patricia Tull”

Trauma theorists tell us that one of the essential steps for trauma victims reconstituting their shattered lives is to repair their narrative identity, i.e., constructing fragments of their former selves into a sense-making narrative. Isaiah 44:6-8 as part of the larger context of Isaiah 44 seeks to reestablish a new identity for the broken exiles … Continue reading “Isaiah 44:6-8 Commentary by Juliana Claassens”