SYLLABUS: THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Hebrew Studies 514 & 652
Spring, 2002
Dr. Ronald L. Troxel
class list address:
deutero-isaiah@lists.students.wisc.edu1. Course description
Overview: An in–depth study of selections from Deutero-Isaiah ("DI"), which for our purposes designates Isa 40-66. We will examine poetic structure and devices, along with our study of philology, rhetoric and ideology.
Methodological Focus: The composition of the book of Isaiah. We will read and discuss H.G.M. Williamson’s The Book Called Isaiah. Other readings germane to this topic will also be assigned.
2. Readings in Isaiah
b. Additional translation for exams (regardless how much we cover in class)
Midterm: Chapters 40-53
Final: Chapters 54-66
3. Oral reading: I will assign verses in meaningful units to each member of the class (in rotation) for oral reading. Practice your passage in advance so that you can give a correct and meaningful oral rendition.
4. Exams: midterm (March 19) and final (May 12).
5. Each student registered for 652 will write critiques (ca. 5pp., double-spaced) of two articles in the folder of readings for this course. The first critique will be due February 26, the second April 9. Components of a critique:
a. A fair summary of contents, including major ideas and arguments. Provide a summary the author would be satisfied with, not a straw man to knock down.
b. A probing evaluation of the author's presuppositions, arguments and ideas. Try to show the weak points of the articles you agree with and the strong points of those you disagree with. Do not judge the article by the criterion of whether or not it accords with your personal beliefs. Do not become hortatory.
You may write your first critique on any of the following: Fisher, Jones, Paul, Rosenberg, Rowley, Stuhlmueller, Ward, and Wilshire. A separate set of articles will be proffered for the second critique.
6. Students registered for 514 will write, instead of #5, an analysis of two poetic units. The first is due February 26, the second April 9. Address all issues relevant to poetry: the poetic structure (monocola, bicola, tricola; stanzas, strophes); types of parallelism and how they function; poetic devices and how they create, carry out, or otherwise affect the imagery of the poem; how the poem develops its theme(s). Be sure also to treat philological issues: emendations and grammatical/syntactic problems.
The following texts would be felicitous choices: Isaiah 41:8-13; 43:16-21; 46:8-13; 49:22-26; 51:17-23. You may choose another text, subject to my approval. You may not use a text scheduled for class study.
514 students will also read Wilfred G.E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 160-359.
7. Readings in the versions: This semester we will read from both the LXX and the Peshitta.
8. Office hours: I will be available the hour following class and by appointment. Please feel free to approach me with any problem, concern or question you have. If these hours conflict with your schedule, contact me for an appointment. You can also reach me at my e-mail address: rltroxel@facstaff.wisc.edu
9. Select Bibliography
Commentaries:
K. Baltzer, Deutero-Isaiah (Fortress Press, 2001)
C. R. North, The Second Isaiah (Clarendon, 1964)
C. Westermann, Isaiah 40-66 OTL (Westminster, 1969)
J. L. McKenzie, Second Isaiah AB (Doubleday, 1967)
Textual Criticism and Versions: see last semester’s syllabus
Readings and articles for class [available in mail room]:
TEXTS
Brock, S. P. Vetus Testamentum Syriace: Isaiah (Leiden Peshitta) (Brill, 1993) Selected passages.
Goshen—Gottstein, M. H. ed., The Hebrew University Bible: The Book of Isaiah, volume 2 (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1981), 173-204.
Ziegler, J., ed., Isaias. Göttingen Septuagint, vol. 14 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1983), 266-291.
SECONDARY READINGS (others may be added later)
Haran, Menahem. "The Literary Structure and Chronological Framework of the Prophecies in Is. xl-xlvii," SVT 9 (1963), 127-155.
Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Isaiah, pp. 236-247.
Melugin, R. F. "Duetero-Isaiah and Form Criticism," VT 21 (1971), 326-337.
Orlinski, Harry M. "The So-Called 'Suffering Servant' in Isaiah 53." Cincinnati, 1964, 3-49.
Seitz, Christopher R. "The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah." JBL 109:2 (1990): 229-247.
_________. "Trito-Isaiah" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, s.v.
Sweeney, Marvin. Chapter 2 of Isaiah 1-4 and the Post-Exilic Understanding of the Isaianic Tradition (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1988).
_________. "Prophetic Exegesis in Isaiah 65-66." In Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah, vol. 1 (Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill, 1997).
Williamson, H.G.M. The Book Called Isaiah (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994).
ARTICLES FOR FIRST WRITTEN REVIEWS
Fisher, R.W., "The Herald of Good News in Second Isaiah," in Rhetorical Criticism (Fs. James Muilenberg, 1974), Jared J. Jackson and Martin Kessler, eds. (Pittsburgh: Pickwick, 1974), 117-132.
Jones, G. H. "Abraham and Cyrus: Type and Anti-Type?" VT 22 (1972), 304-319.
Paul, S. "Deutero-Isaiah and Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions," Journal of the American Oriental Society 88 (1968), 180-186.
Rosenberg, R. A. "Jesus, Isaac, and the 'Suffering Servant,'" JBL 84 (1965), 381-388.
Rowley, H. H. "The Suffering Servant and the Davidic Messiah," in idem, The Servant of the Lord. London, 1952. Pp. 61-88.
Stuhlmueller, C. "Deutero-Isaiah: Major Transitions in the Prophet's Theology and in Contemporary Scholarship," CBQ 42 (1980), 1-29.
Ward, J. M. "The Servant's Knowledge in Isaiah 40-55," in Israelite Wisdom (S. Terrien Festschrift), ed. J. B. Gammie et al., (Missoula, Montana: Scholars, 1978), 121-136.
Wilshire, E. "The Servant-City." JBL 94 (1975), 356-367.
A Tentative Schedule:
Week 1 – 40:1-11; Seitz, Christopher R. "The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah."
Week 2 – 40:12-24; Melugin, R. F. "Duetero-Isaiah and Form Criticism."
Week 3 – 40:25-31; 41:21-29
Week 4 – 42:1-9
Week 5 – 42:10-25
Week 6 – 43:1-10
Week 7 – 45:1-13
Week 8 – 45:14-25
Week 9 – Exam (3/19); Williamson, chapt. 3
Week 10 – Williamson, chapt 4; chapt 5
Week 11 – 49:1-12
Week 12 – 49:13-26; Williamson, chapt 6
Week 13 – 52:13-53:12; Ibn Ezra, Commentary on Isaiah, pp. 236-247; Orlinski, Harry M. "The So-Called 'Suffering Servant' in Isaiah 53."
Week 14 – 56:1-8; 61:1-11; Seitz, Christopher, "Trito-Isaiah" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary ; Sweeney, Marvin, chapter 2 of Isaiah 1-4 and the Post-Exilic Understanding of the Isaianic Tradition
Week 15 – 66:15-24; Sweeney, Marvin, "Prophetic Exegesis in Isaiah 65-66."