First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods
Matthew J. Lynch, "First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods "
English | ISBN: 1575068397 | 2021 | 144 pages | PDF | 3 MB
English | ISBN: 1575068397 | 2021 | 144 pages | PDF | 3 MB
Isaiah 1–39 uses the unique term אלילים―usually translated as “idols”― more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Using this linguistic phenomenon as a point of departure, Matthew J. Lynch reexamines the rhetorical strategies of First Isaiah, revealing a stronger monotheizing rhetoric than previously recognized.
Standard accounts of Israelite religion frequently insist that monotheism reached its apex during the exile, and especially in Deutero-Isaiah. By contrast, Lynch’s study brings to light an equally potent mode of monotheizing in First Isaiah. Lynch identifies three related rhetorical tendencies that emphasize yhwh’s supreme uniqueness: a rhetoric of avoidance, referring to other deities as idols (אלילים) to avoid conferring on them the status of gods (אלוהים); a rhetoric of exaltation, emphasizing yhwh’s truly exalted status in opposition to all that which exalted itself; and a rhetoric of abasement, fully subjugating all other claimants to absolute power―whether human or divine―before the divine king.
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