If you've ever wanted a good commentary on Isaiah, Christopher Seitz' commentary from the Interpretation series looks like a good candidate (at least for chapters 1-39).
His excursus on the identity of "Immanuel" is simply masterful. Seitz takes seriously the historical context of Isaiah's writing and draws on the book's contrast of Ahaz and Hexekiah to conclude that the Immanuel sign refers to Hezekiah, but not stopping there, he draws in the traditionally messianic passages in 9:2-7 and 11:1-10, showing how they are related to the Immanuel sign and argues that Hezekiah himself is presented as a representative of the possibilities and hopes inherent in Isaiah's idea of kingship, thus validating the Christian appropriation of these texts.
Execellent scholarship and edifying exposition.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
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Chris Seitz is a brilliant scholar, and Scotland is lucky to have him. He is also in the forefront of the movement to relate "exegesis" and "theology" -- returning the Bible to its proper place, viz., the Church.
And the editors of the "Interpretation" series seems to conclude something similar, because for their final volume, they chose a theologian, Robert Jenson, to write it -- even though he has not special expertise in Hebrew or Old Testament! It, too, is a pretty interesting volume.
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