Redemption According to Jeremiah and the Second Isaiah
Jeremiah and the Second Isaiah prophesied about a future Redemption. The prophecies of Jeremiah relate to a non-miraculous return and are in accord with how reality unfolded when the exiles returned to Zion from Babylon. Most of the prophecies of the Second Isaiah relate to super-natural happenings, almost none of which came about. Traditionally, they are regarded as describing the Messianic Age. This article suggests that It is debatable whether this is truly what he intended.
Even Jeremiah would have to admit that no one listened to his prophecies about the future destruction of Jerusalem and Judea.1 After it happened, however, people did listen to his prophecies of consolation regarding Redemption and these provided hope to the exiles in Babylon. These prophecies describe a joyful non-miraculous return to Zion that would take place in seventy years. Minus the continual joy and with a bit of mathematical approximation, this was more or less how the Redemption unfolded.
The prophesies of the Second Isaiah, on the other hand, are quite different from this and describe a miraculous-type Redemption which is now about to happen in that the Persian king Cyrus has just granted permission for the Jews to return to Zion. A miraculous messianic-type Redemption, of course, never occurred.
How can one resolve this contradiction?
The traditional Jewish interpretation is that the Second Isaiah is talking about messianic times. This chapter discusses reasons why interpretation this can be questioned.
More history about Judea
More history from where we left off in the last chapter. Manasseh took over the throne on the death of his father Hezekiah when he was 12 years old and he reigned for the next 55 years. The story is already familiar. He reversed the religious orientation of Judea from monotheism to paganism in a throwback to his grandfather Ahaz. This was part and parcel of demonstrating loyalty as a vassal of Assyria. As the Book of Kings relates:
“And he [Manasseh] did what was evil in the eyes of God; like the abominations of the nations that God had driven out from before the children of Israel. And he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars to the Baal, and he made an asherah as Ahab the king of Israel had made, and he prostrated himself to the entire host of the heaven, and he worshipped them. And he built altars in the House of God, concerning which God had said: ‘In Jerusalem I will establish My name.’ And he built altars for the entire host of Heaven in the two courts of the House of God. And he passed his son through fire; he practiced soothsaying and divination, and he consulted necromancers and those divine by the Jidoa bone; he did much that was evil in the eyes of God to provoke [Him].” (II Kings 21:1-6].2
It was at this time, according to the Book of Kings, that the prophets of God began prophesying the end of Judea, which is to say that a prophetic tradition was building up that the kingdom of Judea was heading towards disaster:3
“And God spoke through His servants the prophets, saying: ‘Since Manasseh has committed these abominations, he has done more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him did, and he caused Judah to sin with his idols. Therefore, said God, the God of Israel, ‘Behold I bring calamity on Jerusalem and Judea, concerning which the two ears of all those who hear will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, he wipes and turns it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of My heritage, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and they will become plunder and prey for all their enemies” (II Kings 21:10-14).
After the death of his father, Amon became king and like his father was wedded to a policy of cooperation with the Assyrians that included debasement of the religious rites in the Temple. He was assassinated after two years by a group of his own noblemen. They too were murdered and Amon’s 8-year old son Josiah (reigned 640-609 BCE) was installed on the throne.
Josiah was of a different mindset to his father and grandfather. Beginning in the 12th year of his reign, he began a policy of religious reform that included purging Jerusalem and Judea of idolatry. He may also have taken over territory in Samaria, then only loosely ruled by Assyria, and he destroyed all vestiges of idolatry there too. His policy was to attempt to persuade Jews still remaining in the country to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem:
“And in the eight year when he became king, when he [Josiah] was still a youth, he started to seek after the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he started to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the asherim, the graven images and the molten images. And they demolished before him the altars of the baalim and the sun images that were above them he cut down, and the asherim, the graven images, and the molten images he smashed and crushed, and he cast them upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. And the bones of the priests he burned on their altars, and he purged Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simon as far as Naphtali with their ruins of destruction around. And he demolished the altars and the asherim and the graven images he crushed into dust, and all the sun images he cut down in all the land of Israel, and he returned to Jerusalem” (II Chronicles 34: 3-7).
Six years later, in the eighteenth year of his reign, repairs were begun on the Temple and “a scroll of the Law (sefer haTorah) of YHVH by the hand of Moses” was discovered.4 It was read before Josiah and he rent his clothes (II Chronicle 34:14-33 and II Kings 22:8). The prophetess Hulda was consulted and had little to say of comfort. She prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed as the curses in the scroll indicated, although Josiah would merit to not see any of this destruction. Not discouraged, the king called all the people of Judea to the Temple for a public reading of the scroll and enacted a covenant with them to keep the commandments described in the scroll. With this, the people turned to God (II Chronicles 34:33 and II Kings 23:3).
Josiah died in battle while still a young man. In the 31st year of his reign, in 612 BCE, the Medes allied with the Babylonians, and the capital of the Assyrian Empire Nineveh fell to their combined forces. Three years later, Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, an ally of the Assyrians, marched up the coast of Israel to battle the Babylonians and prevent their hegemony. It is unclear why Josiah decided to get involved in this struggle, but he engaged the Egyptians at Megiddo and was killed by Egyptian archers.5Pharaoh Necho, meanwhile, continued on his way to engage the Babylonians.
Josiah’s son Jehoahaz now became king, but the Egyptians, who now controlled Judea, deposed him after only three months on the throne and replaced him with his half-brother Jehoiakim, who they felt would be more supportive of an Egyptian-Assyrian alliance against Babylon (II Kings 23:30-35). They also helped themselves to a heavy tribute. Neither the Book of Chronicles nor the Rabbinic literature is complementary about Jehoiakim (reigned 609-598 BCE) and he is regarded as a godless tyrant.6
The story continues its complicated course that will soon end with two Judean exiles. In 605 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar defeated the remainder of the Assyrian army and the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish. He then marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. This was good reason for Jehoiakim to change his allegiance to the Babylonians and he remained a vassal of Babylon for three years. However, sensing weakness of the Babylonians when they failed in an invasion of Egypt, he switched sides again to the Egyptians. Nebuchadnezzar once more besieged Jerusalem to restore order and Jehoiakim died before the siege ended. Jeremiah had prophesied that Jehoiakim would “be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:18-19) and this is what happened.7 His son Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah), who had just been appointed king, surrendered to the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin’s surrender had saved Nebuchadnezzar the job of attacking Jerusalem and its population was therefore treated relatively mildly. He sacked the riches of the Temple, deported Jehoiachin to Babylon as a royal guest, and in 597 BCE exiled some 10,000 of Jerusalem’s leading citizens to Babylon, leaving only the poorest in in Judea (2 Kings 24:12-16). Among those exiled was a young priest called Ezekiel.
That it was the prominent citizens of Jerusalem who were initially exiled and not the lower classes would have important consequences for the Jewish people,
in that it ensured that the Jews would remain a distinct faith-bound community in Babylon. The Jewish infrastructure they set up would also serve well the next Jewish exile when Jerusalem was destroyed 10 years later. The Jews settled near the city of Nippur, near the river Kebar, between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and not far from Babylon. They were given a reasonable amount of autonomy and fared well financially. The prophet Jeremiah calls this group the “good figs,” - namely a remnant of Israel that would survive the exile, while he prophesied everyone else in Jerusalem would be destroyed by sword, famine and pestilence (Jeremiah 24:9).
In the meantime, the Babylonians placed a puppet king, Zedekiah, an uncle of Jehoiachin, as ruler of Judea. Zedekiah (reigned 597 to 586 BCE) visited Babylon and made an oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. Nevertheless, many of influence in Zedekiah’s kingdom were advising rebellion, although Jeremiah counselled continuing subjugation to the Babylonians whom he regarded as agents of God. This did not stop Zedekiah from breaking his oath and he rebelled. Jeremiah realized that the Jewish kingdom was doomed. The final bitter siege of Jerusalem was in 586 BCE and lasted three months. The city and the Temple were burnt to the ground and its residents killed or deported to Babylon. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape, but were captured. Zedekiah’s sons were killed before his eyes and he was then blinded and imprisoned in Babylon.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem, Gedaliah was made governor of the remaining Jews still living around Jerusalem as a Babylonian province. However, he was assassinated soon after this and the Jews remaining fled the country (II Kings 25:25). This was the end of Jewish life in Judea.
There were thus three waves of exile to Babylon. The first exile was in 597 BCE at the time of King Jehoiachin and involved about 8,000 people. The second and largest exile was at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and probably involved about 75,000 people. There may have been a third, smaller emigration after the assassination of the governor Gedaliah in about 582 BCE, although most of these Jews emigrated to Egypt. This included the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah’s prophecies
Jeremiah was born in the village of Anatot, a village in the Judean Desert a few miles north-east of Jerusalem.8 His family were priests, although they were not active in the Temple service.
In the thirteenth year of king Josiah’s reign, in 626 BCE, when he was still young, he experienced a vision from God that would determine the direction of all his future prophecies, although at the time it would have been unclear to him which nations would descend on Judea from towards the north:
“And the word of God came to me saying: ‘What do you see Jeremiah?’ And I said, ‘I see a rod of an almond tree. And God said to me: You have seen well, for I hasten My word to accomplish it. And the word of God came to me a second time, saying: What do you see? And I said: ‘I see a bubbling pot whose foam is towards the north. And God said to me: From the north the misfortune will break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold I am summoning all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says God, and they will come and place each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls around and against all the cities of Judea. And I will utter My judgments against them [the inhabitants of Judea] concerning all their evil and they left Me and offered up burnt-offerings to other gods and they prostrated themselves to the work of their hands. And you shall gird our loins and arise and speak to them of that I command you; be not dismayed by them, lest I break you before them” (Jeremiah 1:11-17).9
Jewish tradition holds that Jeremiah wrote the Book of Jeremiah (as well as the Book of Kings and Lamentations) assisted by his scribe and disciple Baruch ben Neriya. The book is not always in chronological order and it can be difficult sometimes to put all of the chapters in their historical context.
In chapter 3 of his book, Jeremiah encourages those Jews who were exiled from the Northern Kingdom, or those remnants of the northern tribes still living in the Northern Kingdom, to repent and return to Zion. This may have been during the time of Josiah’s reforms.10 He also makesthese people asurprising offer regarding the Ark of the Covenant:
“Return, backsliding children, says God, for I possessed you, and I will take you [i.e. Jews from the Northern tribes], one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, and they will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall be, when you multiply and are fruitful in the land in those days, says God, they will no longer say ’The ark of the Lord’s covenant,’ neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they mention it, nor shall they remember it, nor shall it be done anymore. At that time, they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of God,’ and all nations shall gather to it in the name of God, to Jerusalem, and they shall no longer follow the idea of their evil heart. In those days, the house of Judah will go with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the north land to the land that I caused your forefathers to inherit” (Jeremiah 3:14-18).
Jeremiah is proposing to the Northern tribes that the Ark of the Covenant be removed from the Holy of Holies. The Ark was initially in Shilo in Samaria, but subsequently became the symbol of the glory of the house of David after being retrieved from the Philistines. It was hidden during the reign of Manasseh (II Chronicles 35:3), but brought into the Temple during the reign of Josiah. Josiah may have hidden it again.11 The Cherubim on the Ark were consideredto be the throneof God, and Jeremiah is now suggesting that all of Jerusalem be thought of in this way. Attempting to reunite all the tribes is a major project of Jeremiah and he will return again to this topic in his prophecies of consolation.
Outwardly, Judea may have returned to monotheism and Temple worship during the reforms of Josiah, but paganism and social injustice were still rife among the population. This may be why Jeremiah makes no mention of Josiah’s reforms or of providing him any encouragement, as did the First Isaiah at the time of Hezekiah’s religious reforms.12
“The word that came to Jeremiah from God saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the God and proclaim there this world and say: Hearken to the word of God, all Judah who come into these gates to prostrate yourselves before God. So said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Improve your ways and your deeds, I will allow you to dwell in this place. Do not rely on false words saying: The Temple of God, the Temple of God, the Temple of God are they. For if you improve your ways and your deeds, if you perform judgment between one man and his fellowman. [If] you do not oppress a stranger, an orphan, or a widow, and if you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not follow other gods for your detriment, I will allow you to dwell in this place …. The sons are gathering wood, the fathers are kindling fire, and the women are kneading dough to make star-shaped cakes for the queen of the heaven and to pour libations to other gods, in order to provoke Me …… Therefore, so says the Lord God: behold My wrath and My fury reaches this place, upon man and upon beast, upon the trees of the field and upon the produce of the soil, and shall burn and not be quenched” (Jeremiah 7:1-6,8,20).13
Jeremiah also stresses the importance of adhering to the laws of the Sabbath, in particular refraining from normal weekday business activities. The prophets saw their role as interpreters of the Torah law, but in general it was not their practice to initiate new decrees and this will have to wait until the time of Rabbinic Judaism beginning in the period of Ezra:
“And you shall say to them: Hearken to the word of God, O kings of Judah and all of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who come into these gates. So said God: Beware for your souls and carry no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring into the gates of Jerusalem. Neither shall you take a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor shall you perform any labor, and you shall hallow the Sabbath day as I commanded your forefathers. But they did not hearken ….” (Jeremiah 17:20-23).
Jeremiah’s prophecies of consolation
As the destruction approaches, Jeremiah changes from prophesying about destruction (which was obvious anyway) and begins prophesying about redemption. One of his well-known prophecies was that the Jewish people will return to Zion after seventy years and Babylon will receive its punishment:
“And all this land [Judea] now shall become waste [and] desolation, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. And it shall be at the completion of seventy years, I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, says God, their iniquity, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it for everlasting desolations” (Jeremiah 25:11-13).14
While Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, Jeremiah was in prison because of his defeatist attitude to Babylon. However, while imprisoned he received a directive from God to redeem a field in his home town of Anatot. This, of course, made little sense when Judea was about to become desolate. However, its purpose was to demonstrate publicly the inevitability of a future Redemption. It will be important, therefore, that there be witnesses to the sale and that the documents from the sale be preserved:
“The word that came to Jeremiah from God in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah; that is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. The army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the prison yard that was [in] the house of the king of Judah …. And Jeremiah said: The word of the Lord came to me saying: Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you saying: Buy for yourself my field that is in Anatot, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it. …. Then Hanamel, my uncle’s son, came to me in the prison yard, according to the word of God and said to me: ‘Please buy my field in Anatot, that is in the country of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and you have the right of redemption, buy it for yourself.’ And I knew that this was the word of God
. So I bought the field from Hanamel … and weighed him the money, seven shekels and ten pieces of silver. And I wrote a bill of sale and signed it and took witnesses and weighed the silver on a scale .…. And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying: ‘So said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Take these scrolls, this deed of purchase and the signed one and this open scroll and put them into an earthen vessel so that they remain many years. For so says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall be purchased again in this land’ …….. Behold I will gather them from all the lands where I have driven them with My anger and with My wrath and with great fury, and I will restore them to this place and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be My people and I will be their God ….. And I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land truly with all My heart and with all My soul. For so said YHVH: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good that I speak concerning them. And the field shall be bought in this land, which you say: ‘It is desolate without man or beast; it has been given unto the hand[s] of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money and inscribe deeds and sign [them] and appoint witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah and the cities of the mountain and in the cities of the southland, for I will restore their captivity, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 32:1-3, 8-10,13-15, 37-38, 41-44).
The Book of Jeremiah contains two chapters of consolation regarding a future Redemption. There is none of the universal utopianism as seen in the prophesies of Isaiah’s and the significance of this Redemption is confined to the Jewish people:
“The word that came to Jeremiah from God saying: So said the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Write for you the words that I have spoken to you on a scroll. For behold days are coming, says God, when I will restore the captivity of My people Israel and Judea, says God, and I will restore them to the land that I gave their forefathers and they shall possess it .….. And it shall be on that day, says God of Hosts, [that] I will break his yoke off your neck, and I will break your thongs, and strangers shall no longer enslave them. And they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will set up for them” (Jeremiah 30:1-9).
Measure for measure, those who inflicted harm on the Jewish people will themselves be destroyed. Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the relationship between God and the Jewish people restored:
“Therefore, all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your adversaries, yea all of them, shall go into captivity, and those who plunder you shall be plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey. For I will bring healing to you and of your wounds I will heal you, says God, for they called you an outcast, that is Zion whom no one seeks out. So said God: Behold I am returning the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and his dwellings I will pity, and the city shall be built on its mound and the palace on its proper site shall be established. And thanksgiving and the voice of those making merry shall proceed from them, and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished, and I will increase them, and they shall not be few in number. And their children shall be of old, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and will visit [evil] upon all their oppressors. And their prince shall be from them, and their ruler shall emerge from their midst, and I will bring him near, and he shall approach Me, for who is it who pledged his heart to approach Me? Says God. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God ……. At that time, says God, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 30:16-25).
Despite being subject to exile, God’s love for the Jewish people will not be diminished. Moreover, the Northern Tribes will also participate in this future Redemption:15
“From long ago, God appeared to me: With everlasting love have I loved you: Therefore have I drawn you to Me with loving kindness. Yet again will I rebuild you, then you shall be built, O virgin of Israel; yet again shall you be adorned with your drums, and you shall go out with the dances of those who make merry. Yet again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, indeed planters shall plant [them] and redeem [them]. For there is a day, the watchers shall call on the mountains of Ephraim: Rise! Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God …….. Behold I bring them from the north country and gather them from the uttermost ends of the earth, the blind and the lame amongst them, the women with child and she who travails with child all together; a great company shall they return there. With weeping will they come, and with supplications will I lead them, along brooks of water will I make them go, upon a straight road upon which they will not stumble, for I have become a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:2-8).
In what may be a deliberate contrast to the gloom of his previous prophesies, the joy at this future Redemption emanates from his words:
“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the round dance with music, and the young men and the old men together, and I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:12).
But will not this future Redemption be part of an ever-recurring cycle of sin, exile and Redemption? Not so, states Jeremiah, who envisages a permanent change in the relationship between God and His people. The chastisement that the Jewish people suffered will bring about an enduring return to God (Jeremiah 31:17), and he projects us into a future when a “new covenant” will be established and every Jew will know of God:
“Behold days are coming, says God, and I will form a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant. Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says God. For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after those days, says God. I will place My law in their midst and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My people. And no longer shall one teach his neighbor or [shall] one [teach] his brother saying ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me from their smallest to their greatest, says God, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember. So says God, Who gives the sun to illuminate by day …….” (Jeremiah 31:30-34).
The prophecies of the Second Isaiah
It was discussed in the previous chapter that there are likely two authors of the Book of Isaiah separated by at least 200 years. Isaiah the son of Amoz prophesized during the reigns of the four Judean kings Uziah, Jothem, Uzzia and Hezekiah between about 783 to 742 BCE, while the Second Isaiah (Deutero-Isaiah) prophesied at the beginning of the reign of the Persian king Cyrus in 539 CE following his defeating the Babylonians. The Second Isaiah’s prophecies are found from chapter 40 of the Book of Isaiah to its end, which is chapter 66.
There is no source indicating why his prophecies were attached to those of Isaiah the son of Amoz. They do have a common thread of a universalist approach to a utopian age in which the rest of humanity becomes a partner in the knowledge of God. It could be that the Second Isaiah was part of a school that studied the First Isaiah’s writings. At the very least, he was aware of his writings and even includes some of his words in his own prophecies (Isaiah 65:25).
In many ways, the Second Isaiah’s prophecies can be considered the apex of prophetic writing. His descriptions of utopia are inspiring and his thoughts are sequential. There is also an urgency in his words since Redemption is no longer a distant vision but about to happen.
Some historical notes. Following the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian empire began to weaken. In 559 BCE, Cyrus ascended to the throne of a vassal state of Media, Media then being the seat of the Persian empire. He subsequently took over Media and began empire building. He fought battles with Babylon, until that time the most powerful empire in the Near East, and in 539 BCE he captured the city of Babylon and with it its empire.
His approach to empire building was very different from that of the Assyrians and Babylonians who exiled and replaced the populations of their foes so as to maintain stability in conquered lands. By contrast, Cyrus ensured the loyalty of his subjects through religious tolerance.
During his first year on the throne, in 539 BCE, 47 years after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, he gave permission for the Jews to return to Zion and rebuild their Temple, and even provided some funding for the project. The book of Ezra relates:
“And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, at the completion of the word of God from the mouth of Jeremiah, God aroused the spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying: ‘So said Cyrus, the king of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of the heavens delivered to me, and He commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and he may ascend to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the House of the Lord God of Israel; He is the God Who is in Jerusalem’” (Ezra 1:1-3).
The Second Isaiah began prophesying around the time that Cyrus made his proclamation, with the aim of encouraging the Jews of Babylon to move to Zion. He speaks glowingly of Cyrus as the “anointed” of God. He also recognizes the agency of God in Cyrus’ election and the help He is providing Cyrus in strengthening his empire:
“So said God to His anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I held, to flatten nations before him and the loins of kings I will loosen, to open portals before him and gates shall not be closed. I will go before you, and I will straighten out crooked paths; I will break portals of copper and cut off bars of iron. And I will give you treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places in order that you know that I am God Who calls [you] by your name – the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 45:1-3).
The Second Isaiah also takes it upon himself to persuade his fellow exiles that the time of Redemption is at hand:
“Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare, declare this, publicize it to the end of the earth; say ‘God has redeemed His servant Jacob’” (Isaiah 48:20).
From now on, he states, sinfulness and punishment will no longer determine the Jewish future. The Jewish people have been forgiven. If one can say this (and the prophet does), God has chastisedthem even more than they warrant. Note especially the hyperbolic language he uses in describing the pathway of the returning exiles in what is likely his first prophecy:16
“Console, console My people,’ says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her, for she has become full [from] her host, for her iniquity has been appeased, she has taken from the hand of God double for all her sins. A voice calls, ‘In the desert, clear the way of God, straighten out in the wilderness, a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked terrain shall be made level and the closed mountains a plain. And the glory of God shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of God spoke” (Isaiah 40:1-5).
This is not the only passage in which this type of evocative but nevertheless exaggerated language is used. It is also seen in the following passage in which God promises never again to be angry with or to offer rebuke to the Jewish people. He even offers precious stones for their buildings:
“For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah, as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, so I have sworn neither to be wroth with you nor to rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills totter, but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace totter,’ says God Who has compassion on you. ‘O poor tempestuous one, who has not consoled, behold I will set your stone with carbuncle, and I will lay your foundations with sapphire. And I will make your windows of jasper and your gates of carbuncle stones, and all your borders of precious stones. And all your children shall be disciples of God and your children’s peace shall increase” (Isaiah 54:9-13).17
Both Isaiah’s describe the universal role of the Jewish people. The First Isaiah envisaged the Jewish nation as promoting the universal recognition of God via the Temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2,3). The Second Isaiah limits it to foreigners who recognize God and wish to be part of His covenant. In this respect, the following passage echoes Solomon’s prayer on his dedication of the First Temple (II Kings 8:41):
“And the foreigners who join with God to serve Him and to love the name of God, to be His servants, everyone who observes the Sabbath from profaning it and who holds fast to my covenant. I will bring them to My holy mount and I will cause them to rejoice in My house of prayer, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:6-7).
Also, in the Second Isaiah, the Jewish people are to become a “light” to mankind because of the justice and righteousness they practice:
“Behold My servant (i.e. the Jewish people), I will support him, My chosen one, whom My soul desires; I have placed My spirit upon him, he shall promulgate justice to the nations. He shall neither cry nor shall he raise [his voice]; and he shall not make his voice heard outside. A breaking read he shall not break; and a flickering flaxen wick he shall not quench; with truth shall he execute justice. Neither shall he waken nor shall he be broken, until he establishes justice in the land, and for his instruction, islands shall long. So said the Lord God, the Creator of the heavens and the One Who stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what springs forth from it, Who gave a soul to the people upon it and a spirit to those who walk thereon. I am God, I called with righteousness, and I will strengthen your hand; and I formed you, and I made you for a people’s covenant, for a light to nations” (Isaiah 42:1-6).
This theme of the light of Zion’s righteousness being recognized by humanity is again repeated in a later chapter:
“For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest until her righteousness comes out like brilliance, and her salvation burns like a torch. And nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called a new name, which the mouth of God shall pronounce. And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of God and a kingly diadem in the hand of your God. No longer shall “forsaken” be said of you, and “desolate” shall no longer be said of your land, for you shall be called ‘Hefziba (My desire is in her)’ and your land Beual (consummated) for God desires you, and your land shall be consummated” (Isaiah 62:1-4).
As in Jeremiah, there is an emphasis on the keeping of the Sabbath. In the absence of the sacrificial cult, there would have been more emphasis in Babylon on individual religious practice, and no individual practice has been more important for maintaining Jewish identity in exile than the keeping of the Sabbath. However, it is not only the restrictions of the Sabbath that need to be adhered to, but the Sabbath itself needs to be honored and enjoyed:
“If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath, from performing your affairs on My holy day, and you call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of God honored, and you honor it by not doing your wonted ways, by not pursuing your affairs and speaking words. Then shall you delight with God, and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will give you to eat the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of God has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13-15).18
Towards the end of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah speaks about the final stages of Redemption when riches will be brought to the country and peace will prevail throughout the land:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of God has shone upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a gross darkness the kingdoms, and God shall shine upon you, and His glory shall appear over you. And nations shall go by your light and kings by the brilliance of your shine. Lift up your eyes all around and see, they have all gathered, they have come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be raised on [their] side. Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart startled and become enlarged, for the abundance of the west shall be turned over to you, the wealth of the nations that will come to you ….. And they shall open your gates always, day and night they shall not be closed, to bring to you the wealth of the nations and their kings in procession ….… Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither robbery nor destruction within your borders, and you shall call salvation your walls and your gates praise. You shall no longer have the sun for light by day, and for brightness, the moon shall not give you light, but God shall be to you for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory ..… And your people, all of them righteous, shall inherit the land forever, a scion of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will glory” (Isaiah 60:1-5,11,18-19,21).
As a follower of the First Isaiah, the Second Isaiah cannot omit his teacher’s vision of universal peace, except that now this will be a consequence of the law and knowledge of God becoming engraved on the hearts of the Jewish people. In the last but one chapter of the book he says:
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the first ones shall not be remembered, neither shall they come into mind. But rejoice and exult forever [in] what I create, for behold I create Jerusalem rejoicing and its people an exultation; and I will exult with My people, and a sound of weeping or a sound of crying shall no longer be heard therein. There shall no longer be heard from there a youth or an old man who will not fill his days, for the youth who is one hundred years shall die, and the sinner who is one hundred years old shall be cursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit … A wolf and a lamb shall graze together; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw, and a serpent - dust shall be his food; they shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount; said God” (Isaiah 65:17-21,25).
How should the messages of Jeremiah and the Second Isaiah be understood?
Micha, Jeremiah and the Second Isaiah linked at least part of their prophecies to a redemption from exile and all were time related - Micha to an exile and Redemption that he predicted would take place during the time of the Assyrian empire but which in actuality did not take place, Jeremiah to a Redemption that would take place in the not-too-distant future, and the Second Isaiah to a Redemption that was then being organized. The Redemptions of Micha and the Second Isaiah wouldwith be messianic in nature.
It was the Bible that brought the concept of societal hope into the world. Societies in the ancient world thought cyclically as per the phases of nature. What had been in the past will be so in the future. The Torah introduced the notion that history is not circular but linear. God controls history and via Redemption moves Jewish history forward towards freedom and the creation of a society based on justice and righteousness. This is the basis of Jewish hope, and through knowledge of the Bible it became the model that propelled progress forward for the rest of humanity. Because if the future is more than a replay of the past, there is reason to create something better than existed in the past. Later in human civilization, God will be taken out of the equation and humanism and other -isms will move human history – although not always forward and to the better.
However, a legitimate question can be asked. How can the people be assured that this second Redemption will not be one more redemption within a cyclical pattern of exiles? This could be why Jeremiah introduces the notion of a ‘new covenant.”
But what exactly is “a new covenant?” Certainly, Jeremiah does not mean an abrogation of the old covenant and replacement by a new one as the Christian tradition understands this. More acceptable explanations include a new and permanent increase in Jewish commitment or a Covenant that will never again be broken. Since Israel will never again break the Covenant, God will no more think of retracting His blessings for Israel than the sun will cease to illuminate the day.
But how will this happen? Will it involve a change in the nature of man or a change in the reality in which the people finds themselves? The difference is important, for if Jeremiah is talking about a change in the nature of man then he is envisaging a supernatural messianic future. Indeed, this is how traditional Jewish commentators explain his words.
Nevertheless, it can be argued that Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new covenant did actually transpire in a non-miraculous non-messianic way. In his message of consolation in chapter 31 with respect to Redemption, Jeremiah talks about “I will place My law in their midst and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah31:32). Seven chapters before this, he talked in similar language about the first Babylonian exile that will take place at the time of King Jehoiachin:
“And God said to me: ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ And I said ‘Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad ones are very bad which cannot be eaten because they are so bad.’ And the word of God came to me, saying: So said the Lord God of Israel. Like these good figs, so will I recognize the exile of Judah, which I have sent forth from this place to the land of the Chaldeans for good. And I will place My eyes upon them for good, and I will return them to this land, and I will build them and not destroy. And I will plant them and not pluck them. And I will give them a heart to know me, for I am God, and I will be to them for a God, for they shall return to Me with all their heart” (Isaiah 24:3-7).
The “good figs” are the leaders and aristocracy and the bad ones are those left behind under Zedekiah. This is not a message about a distant messianic future but about the present. God will help these exiles achieve national repentance so that when they return to Zion they will have a new approach to the Covenant. Could it be that Jeremiah is talking about their losing their inclination for paganism, since idolatry was no longer practiced by Jews during the Babylonian exile? The Talmud explains:
“The verse states: And they cried out in a great voice to YHVH their God” (Nehemiah 9:4). What did they say [to God]? Rav said, and some say [it was] R’ Yochanan [who said] They cried out to God concerning the Evil Inclination for idolatry]. Woe! Woe! [It is] this [inclination] which destroyed the First Temple and burned the Sanctuary and killed all the righteous ones [who perished as a result of that destruction] and exiled the Jews from their land, and it still dances among us. Did you give it to us [for any reason] at all other than [for us [to receive a reward for [overcoming] it? We do not want it [this Evil Inclination towards idolatry] nor do we want the reward for [overcoming] it! A note fell down from them from heaven on which was written ‘Truth.” 19
In contrast to the prophecies of Jeremiah regarding Redemption, the prophecies of the Second Isaiah are of a very different nature. Firstly, he envisages no Jewish messianic figure as this role has been taken on by Cyrus. His prophecies also seem supernatural and contrary to people’s natural inclinations. It is no doubt for this reason that the Talmud, midrashim and most traditional Jewish commentators consider them to relate to a distant messianic age, which in turn will be a prelude to the World to Come.20
This does, of course, lead to the question - why is the Second Isaiah discussing a future messianic age when his immediate concern is recruiting people for immigration? This type of messianic prophecy would be irrelevant to the concerns of the people. Even worse, he could be implying in a not so subtle way that the “natural” Redemption they are planning will need to be replaced by a messianic one in order to succeed. What type of encouragement is this to a people who are already hesitant about whether they should immigrate to Judea?
This leads to a second explanation, which is that the Second Isaiah’s prophecies represent messianic potential. Isaiah anticipated that his words would be realized but the Jewish people were not sufficiently worthy. This explanation is favored by R’ Hayyim Angel in his publications and is discussed in his book “Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi” in relation to the lack of actualization of the prophecies of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi at the beginning of this Redemption.21 This explanation is also favored by the Biblical commentator the Malbim (1809-1879), which is why he is prepared to interpret the prophetic books in a more literal way than Jewish commentators bound to a traditional messianic interpretation.23 As mentioned in the last chapter, this is also the Talmud’s explanation of why Hezekiah did not become the Messiah, despite the prophecies of the First Isaiah that he would initiate messianic times.23
There is, however, a problem with this explanation. There is an opinion in the Talmudthat prophesies of punishment may be annulled if there is true repentance, but good decrees are always fulfilled.24 This is logical, since if God can annul a prophecy in either instance, then prophecy has no value in foretelling the future, which is after all the main purpose of prophecy (Deut 18:14-15). For the same reason, it would be difficult to distinguish between a true and false prophet (Deut 18:21-22).
Moreover, if the Second Isaiah’s prophecies are to be regarded as provisional there are penetrating questions one could ask - such as did not the Second Isaiah know the type of people he was talking to, and if so why is he misleading them and setting them up for failure? And if he did not know, what type of prophet is he anyway not to be aware of this?
Which brings us to a third possible answer. The people he was talking to in Babylon would have known full well the current situation in Judea. They were also familiar with the prophecies of Jeremiah about a natural return. Doubtless, they had sent spies to scout out the land. Jerusalem was now almost unlivable in because of the destruction from the Babylonian conquest. The houses and agricultural land in the countryside had been unused for two generations. Moreover, they had been living very comfortably in Babylon. Agriculture was different in their new country in that there were ready sources of water from rivers. They were also leading fulfilling and organized religious lives together with the “good figs”.
This leads to the explanation that these words of Isaiah were more in the way of God-inspired thoughts of encouragement regarding a utopian future rather than predictions of what would definitely come about. R’ Jonathan Sacks, for example, considers the visions of the prophets as being like the light at the end of a tunnel.26 (Although lights in the plural may be more accurate, since the visions of the prophets are not totally consistent). This light is something to strive towards - an inspiration to that generation and all future generations. The people would also have appreciated that the Second Isaiah’s words of encouragement were wrapped in beautiful but highly metaphorical packaging.
We can also not be certain how widely disseminated were the ideas of the Second Isaiah at the time he spoke them since there is no indication from the text that he had a leadership role. According to the Talmud, it was the Men of the Great Assembly who made the final decisions as to the canonization of the Bible.26 The Great Assembly was a group of 120 of the most influential religious leaders of the time who met towards the end of the Babylonian exile and beginning of the Second Temple period. They were an extremely influential body and many of their decisions, such as their formulizing of prayer, would strongly influence the direction of Judaism. This committee had before them many candidate manuscripts. A determining factor in their decision with respect to the prophets was what they considered to be the enduring value of any particular book.27 Less consideration may sometimes have been given to the track record of these individuals for accurate predictions, the clarity of their prophecies, and the extent to which their prophesies were listened to and accepted at the time they were made. The prophet Amos, for example, wrote down his prophecies when he returned home to Tekoa in Judea after being sent packing from the Northern Kingdom for upsetting the people with his predictions of destruction and exile. Which is all to say that some of the prophecies of the prophets may have had more impact after their manuscripts were canonized than before.
The prophecies of the Isaiah’s and Jeremiah have been of consolation and hope to the Jewish people during their thousands of years of exile. On the other hand, the returnees to Zion may not have regarded them as quite so inspiring. They may not have anticipated utopia, but they may still have been surprised to find that God seemed to be working against them. They may well have posed the question – is this truly a Redemption or have we all made a mistake? The prophets of the time, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, would have answered this question in the affirmative, but they may still have experienced some confusion as to their appropriate roles. A prophetic tradition had been building up of messianic expectations. But was it appropriate to discuss this in the difficult situation in which the returnees found themselves? New halachic questions were also being posed in relation to the new situation in which the people found themselves. Who was supposed to answer them?
This and more will be discussed in the next chapter.
References
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