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Isaiah 44:6-8 is a short, defensible unit, marked off from the unit that follows (verses 9-20) which shifts to prose in the NRSV (contrast NIV and TNK), but most commentators consider verses 6-8 to belong to a larger unit, whether that includes preceding verses, verses that follow (e.g., verses 21-22), or even both.  So, if … Continue reading “Isaiah 44:6-8 Commentary by Brent A. Strawn”

The prophet’s preaching is focused on God’s being. Who is this Yhwh in a world whose horizon is filled with so many possible objects of worship — so many other gods? There are two complementary bits of this little text: the prophet’s witness (verse 6a) and Yhwh’s self-revelation (verses 6b-8). The prophet introduces the divine … Continue reading “Isaiah 44:6-8 Commentary by Samuel Giere”

The Old Testament reading for this week is taken from that portion of Isaiah that is often called “Second Isaiah.” Although very few traces of the prophet’s identity can be found in Isaiah 40-55, the period of Second Isaiah’s ministry is located with some confidence in the late sixth century, the time when Judah was … Continue reading “Isaiah 43:16-21 Commentary by Callie Plunket-Brewton”

Yesterday’s gospel is today’s law. We need to hear it afresh, every day.1 Today’s reading is the first stanza of a long salvation oracle running from Isaiah 43:14 through 44:5 which, in turn, is part of Second Isaiah’s amazing proclamation of deliverance to the Babylonian exiles (Isaiah 40-55). Whereas God had previously used Nebuchadnezzar and … Continue reading “Isaiah 43:16-21 Commentary by Mark Throntveit”

“But now” — hear the jarring declaration of reversal (43:1). Whatever has gone before is now swept away. To proclaim the good news in this passage, the preacher must understand and convey the desolation that precedes it: God “gave up Jacob” (42:24). God poured out on God’s chosen people the heat of divine judgment, burning … Continue reading “Isaiah 43:1-7 Commentary by Anathea Portier-Young”

Like other prophetic writings, Isaiah 40-55 (which scholars call Second Isaiah) aims to change people’s minds.  Unlike most other biblical prophets, though, Second Isaiah is filled not with warnings over wrongdoing, but with encouragement to reevaluate Judah’s past and future. Composed for exiled people in the mid-sixth century BCE, just as the international tide is … Continue reading “Isaiah 43:1-7 Commentary by Patricia Tull”

The words of the prophet of Isa 40-55 to the people living in exile in Babylon are some of the most deeply comforting and profoundly transformative words of Scripture. To the community, described in 49:7 as “deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, a slave of the rulers,” the prophet claims unequivocally that, in spite of … Continue reading “Isaiah 43:1-7 Commentary by Callie Plunket-Brewton”

Louis Stulman and Hyun Chul Paul Kim describe prophetic literature as “meaning-making literature for communities under siege.” A prophet like Deutero-Isaiah who speaks to the exiles who are still recovering from the trauma of the Babylonian invasion indeed can be characterized as “a map of hope for disoriented and dislocated people at risk of losing … Continue reading “Isaiah 42:1-9 Commentary by Juliana Claassens”

“New things” are afoot. Israel’s penalty paid twofold, her exile at an end, the prophet known as Second Isaiah whispers tenderly “Comfort, O comfort” (40:1) and heralds the approach of “the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…the Holy One of Israel” (40:28; 41:20). The brushstrokes are vibrant and thick, God’s redemptive … Continue reading “Isaiah 42:1-9 Commentary by Christine Roy Yoder”

For too long has Isaiah 42:1-9 been read solely within the context of the so-called “Servant Songs” (Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). Certainly these are important intertexts, but by reading Isaiah in such a manner one’s understanding of the concept of the Servant in Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) will be reductionistic. Today’s reading ought to … Continue reading “Isaiah 42:1-9 Commentary by Bo Lim”