Say to the Cities of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Hebrew Bible, Outreach and Messianic Judaism

Transcription

1 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan Messianic Judaism [1] is currenly undergoing a reappraisal of is modes and philosophy of oureach. In so secors of he moven, radiional paradigms of evangelisic oureach are eing reaffird. [2] In oher secors new paradigms aou he naure of Messianic Judaism and oureach are eing developed. [3] This climae of reevaluaion provides an opporuniy o revisi old ilical exs wih fresh eyes o see wha hey have o offer in erms of our hinking aou oureach. In approaching he Herew Bile o see wha lessons i has o offer aou oureach, we mus e aware of wo characerisics of modern sociey ha dosicae, resrain, and a oh our inerpreaion of he ex and our pracice of oureach. Firs, Wesern sociey is dominaed y a radical individualism ha privileges he individual in he pracice of inerpreaion and in religious experience. Oureach in he Wes, wheher in Jewish, Chrisian, or Muslim communiies, has hus seen a significan emphasis on personal, emoional experience raher han corporae expression of faih convicions. Second, he religious ssage presened o individual seekers is ofen presened in Wesern sociey as a scare commodiy ha can e acquired a religious reail oules (i.e., he church or he synagogue) during a once a week (or more infrequen) shopping rip (service). This suordinaion of religious experience o capialisic economic heory is why oureach effors ofen end o have he appearance of a slick markeing campaign complee wih a slogan and a produc launch dae. The individualizaion and commodificaion of oureach can impair our ailiy o read he Herew Bile and he lessons ha i has o each us aou oureach. Adversely, oureach in he Herew Bile is primarily communal in naure and focused on announcing he adven of God's salvific reign. [4] In our hinking aou oureach, we also commonly make he associaion wih he concep of evangelism. Evangelism is a word heavily freighed wih a variey of oh posiive and negaive anings in he Messianic Jewish moven and hroughou Wesern religion. This word and relaed erms derive from he Greek euangelizō. Euangelizō is a composie of wo words which an &quo;good&quo; and &quo;o proclaim.&quo; Euangelizō, hus, ans &quo;o announce, herald, or proclaim good news.&quo; The wriers of he New Covenan use euangelizō in he echnical sense of proclaiming he good news of Yeshua. [5] 1 / 14

2 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan In he various Greek ranslaions of he Herew Bile (known commonly as he Sepuagin), he ranslaors frequenly use euangelizō o render he Herew roo.ś.r. In is mos asic aning,.ś.r. can e defined as &quo;o ring a joyful ssage.&quo; This roo appears mainly in he Deueronomisic Hisory (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings), parallel passages in Chronicles and in he laer chapers of Isaiah (40-66) which address he socio-poliical siuaion of he exilic communiy following he conquering of he Baylonian Empire y he Achaenid ruler, Cyrus he Grea in 539/38 B.C.E. In he Deueronomisic Hisory, veral and nominal forms of.ś.r. appear largely in miliary conexs. In 1 Sam 31:9 (=1 Chr 10:9), he ver is used o descrie he Philisines announcen of Saul's deah. In 2 Sam 1:20, i appears in a negaive imperaive enjoining he lisener no o rejoice over Saul and Jonahan's deahs. In 2 Sam 18, he roo appears four is referencing repors of alefield successes (19, 20 (wice), 31). A similar usage appears in Adonijah's descripion of Jonahan, son of Aiaher in 1 Kgs 1:42. The roo also appears ouside he Deueronomisic Hisory in Jer 20:15 in reference o he announcen of he irh of a child. Generally, however, is main connoaion is he repor of vicory and riumph. Mos likely.ś.r. is firs used in human conexs and only laer used o express divine riumph. This shif is seen in pos-exilic exs where he range of aning for.ś.r. is exended from he announcen of children's irhs and miliary success o include divine riumph and salvaion. Psalm 96:1-2, which is quoed y he Chronicler in 1 Chr 16:23, illusraes his sule shif in aning: [6] Sing o YHWH [7] a new song, sing o YHWH all he earh. Sing o YHWH, less God's na, herald (aśśĕrû) God's riumph day afer day. This moif of heralding salvaion occurs repeaedly in Isa 40-66, in hose chapers relaed o Judah's socio-poliical siuaion following he rise of Cyrus he Grea. In Isa 60:6, he dus clouds kicked up y cals ringing gold and frankincense from Shea &quo;herald he 2 / 14

3 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan glories of YHWH.&quo; Mos prominenly in hese chapers, he acion of heralding God's salvaion is underaken y he figure of he or herald (Isa 40:9, 41:27, and 52:7). The or herald is a role filled repeaedly in he Deueronomisic Hisory y unnad figures. The erm is used as a ile for he one who ears he news of he loss of he ark o Eli (1 Sam 4:17), for he one who ears he news of Saul's deah (2 Sam 4:10), and for he wo ssengers in 2 Sam 18:26. The, as a herald of divine salvaion, does no firs appear in Isaiah u raher in he 7 h -cenury B.C.E. prophe Nahum. [8] Nahum's rief work celeraes he desrucion of he grea neo-assyrian ciy of Nineveh in 612 B.C.E. a he hand of he comined forces of he Medes, Baylonians and Susianians. For Nahum, he desrucion of Nineveh symolizes he end of he Assyrian hrea for Judah. As in he miliary conquess descried in he Deueronomisic Hisory, a is sen ou o ring he vicorious news o Judah (Nah 2:1). Behold upon he hills, he fee of he herald () announcing peace. Celerae, O Judah, your fesivals; fulfill your vows. For never again shall a wicked one invade you; i is compleely desroyed. Here he 's proclamaion of YHWH's riumph is no o individuals u o he communiy as a whole. The conen of he 's proclamaion is sh alom (peace). The consequence of his good news is he resumpion of he normal rhyhms of life. 3 / 14

4 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan Judah may again comnce he regular paerns of religious life marked y he celeraion of fesivals such as Passover and Sukko. Judah may again assu is responsiiliies and commins hrough he fulfilln of vows. These wo aspecs of life sugges ha unil he Assyrian hrea has passed, Judah will e in a period of naional mourning in which celeraions of joy are suspended and regular usiness ransacions are pu on hold. Wih he news ha hey will never again e defiled y he invasion of Assyrian forces, worship and usiness are resud. Normal life can again reurn o Judah. As in Nahum, Isaiah descries he as more han jus a simple ssenger. Raher, he is an agen of God who heralds he adven of God's salvaion. In he pars of Isaiah in which he appears, Judah has enered a new hisorical siuaion. &quo;a wicked one&quo; has again invaded Judah in 586/87 B.C.E. (Neuchadnezzar) and his i carries off he elie of Judah, including mos of he inhaians of Jerusalem, o exile in Baylon and is surrounding erriories. In 539/538 B.C.E., he socio-poliical forunes of Judah change as Cyrus he Grea erges on he world sage and conquers he Baylonian Empire. The Achaenid Imperial policy of Cyrus allowed for he reurn of exiled populaions. Thus Cyrus' alefield vicory is undersood y he exiled Judeans as he vicory of heir God. The herald arrives o hem in wo passages (Isa 41:27 and 52:7) o deliver he good news o Zion/Jerusalem and declare is significance. In a hird passage (Isa 40:9-11), which is a he eginning of his secion of Isaiah, Zion/Jerusalem iself serves as he herald of YHWH's riumph o he res of he communiy in Judah. Thus, Zion/Jerusalem receives he news and ring i o he wider communiy. The conen of he 's proclamaion and he manner in which he conen is delivered is insrucive for undersanding how oureach is presened in he Herew Bile and helpful for he Messianic Jewish communiy in our own pracice of oureach. In he passages in which he appears, he ssage of YHWH's riumph is oh received y he communiy as a whole and announced hrough is own emodied, communal proclamaion of salvaion in he mids of he wider communiy. Isaiah 41:27 and 52:7: Zion/Jerusalem receiving he ssage of he herald 4 / 14

5 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan The firs reference of a herald eing sen o Zion/Jerusalem occurs in he mids of an exended rial speech (Isa 41:21-29) and precedes he firs so-called servan song of he ook (Isa 42:1-9). [9] The main focus of his exended rial narraive is YHWH's capaciy oh o predic and fulfill wha will happen o he communiy of Judah. The foreign naions and heir gods are rely pawns in YHWH's inernaional drama, agens in exacing judgn upon Judah. The irony poined ou in Isa 41:21-29 is ha hese naions and heir gods have no realized hey are rely pawns and have aemped o exer dominance over Judah y disclosing is fuure. Ye, hey have only muered unheard uerances (41:26). The good news for Judah is ha YHWH is he only one who has he capaciy oh o predic and o fulfill he evens ha will unfold in Judah's life. The is he agen of his proclamaion. Isaiah 41:27 descries he acions of he in nooriously enigmaic and erse Herew: Wha was firs disclosed o Zion, ehold hey are, And wha is more, I will send a herald () o Jerusalem. Here he conen of he 's proclamaion is he fulfilln of YHWH's promises regarding Zion/Jerusalem. Presumaly YHWH previously sen a herald o Zion/Jerusalem o declare he evens efore hey happened (i.e., &quo;wha was firs disclosed o Zion&quo;). In he second visi, Zion/Jerusalem receives he news of he fulfilln. This visi is no only a disclosure of YHWH's salvific work u also a confirmaion of YHWH's masery over he divine and geo-poliical forces ha oppose YHWH's rule. The second reference o YHWH sending a herald o Zion/Jerusalem occurs a he sar of a hymnic exulaion of YHWH's kingship (Isa 52:7-10) and wo secions prior o he sar of he fourh so-called servan song (Isa 52:13-53:12): 5 / 14

6 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan 7 How eauiful upon he hills are he fooseps of he herald () announcing peace he herald () of good news proclaiming salvaion Saying o Zion, &quo;your God reigns.&quo; 8 The sound of your wachn, hey raise he alarm. Togeher hey shou for joy. For every eye will ehold when YHWH reurns o Zion. 9 Burs ou, raise a shou as a unified communiy, O ruins of Jerusalem! For YHWH has comfored his people, redeed Jerusalem. 10 YHWH has ared his holy arm efore all he naions. And wha is more, all he ends of he earh will see he salvaion of our God. Wha is firs ovious aou his passage is he evocaion of he language from Nah 2:1. Here Isaiah reworks and expands he language of Nahum. The ialicized porions of my ranslaion of Isa 52:7 aove indicae parallel language in Nah 2:1. Like Nahum's herald, Isaiah's herald no only proclaims peace u also announces salvaion. The presence of he herald and he conen of his ssage signal he vicory of YHWH and reaffirm YHWH's divine kingship. A he sigh of he, he wachn of he ruins of Jerusalem raise he alarm. This alarm rouses Jerusalem (here as a aphor for her people) and leads he whole communiy o join ogeher in giving a resounding shou of joy. Noe he repeiion of he erm yachdāv in Isa 52:8-9 hus indicaing he communal, pulic conex of he proclamaion and is recepion. Here Isaiah uilds upon he use of he in he Deueronomisic Hisory as one who runs ahead of he army o announce news of he ale (e.g., 2 Sam 18:26). The appearance of he signals ha YHWH has won he day. YHWH is like a general marching ho vicorious from war. 6 / 14

7 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan In Isa 52:8-9 here is a sharp conras eween he &quo;ruins of Jerusalem&quo; and reurn of YHWH o Zion. YHWH's impending reurn provides comfor and signals of redempion o he forsaken ciy of Jerusalem. The announcen of comfor o Jerusalem evokes he ssage of comfor o Jerusalem, which opens his porion of Isaiah (Isa 40:1). Carol Newsom has clearly demonsraed how he language of Isaiah 40-55, paricularly in his opening secion, serves as a dialogical &quo;reversal&quo; of he language of Lanaions (e.g., Lam 1:2). [10] In oher words, Isaiah's ssage of he adven of God's salvaion for he exilic communiy answers he mourning of Lanaions. Jerusalem's salvaion is worked y YHWH's &quo;holy arm.&quo; The phrase zěrôa qodshô (&quo;his holy arm;&quo; Isa 52:10) appears elsewhere in he Herew Bile only in Ps 98:1 in which YHWH is acclaid for he vicory won wih &quo;his holy arm.&quo; Similar phrases also appear hroughou he Herew Bile in conexs in which God's salvaion on ehalf of he people of Israel is declared. These phrases include zěrôa něţûyā/hazzěrôa hanněţûyā (&quo;ousreched arm&quo;; Exod 6:6; Deu 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 9:29; 11:2; 26:8), i g dōl zěrô ă k ā (&quo;in he greaness of your arm&quo;; Exod 15:16), zěrō ô (&quo;his arm&quo;; Isa 40:10, 11; 48:14; 59:16) and zěrôa yhwh (&quo;he arm of YHWH&quo;; Isa 51:9; 53:1). The disclosure of YHWH's arm signals he disclosure of God's jus power. In Isaiah his disclosure is no rely o he exilic communiy or heir imdiae oppressors u finally and ulimaely o &quo;he ends of he earh.&quo; In Isaiah he adven of salvaion for Judah is inimaely inerwined wih he reasserion of God's dominion over all of creaion. Thus, he disclosure of YHWH's power akes place on a cosmological sage, o &quo;he ends of he earh.&quo; In Isa 41:7 and 52:7, we see he 's ssage o he exilic communiy of oppressed Jerusalem. The appearance of he signals YHWH's riumphan reurn o Zion, oh as a physical place and in he mids of her people. YHWH's riumph is oal. I is a comprehensive reasserion of divine masery over creaion and he forces ha oppress he Judahie communiy. The 7 / 14

8 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan pulicly makes he proclamaion o he communiy as a whole, in is mids. We now urn from a discussion of he 's proclamaion o he exilic communiy o a rean of he passage in which he exilic communiy is called o serve as a herald o he forlorn ciies of Judah. Isaiah 40:9-11: Zion/Jerusalem as he herald 9 Ascend a high mounain, O herald (e) Zion. Raise your voice aloud, O herald (e) Jerusalem. Raise i. Do no fear. Say o he ciies of Judah, &quo;behold your God.&quo; 10 Behold he Lord GOD cos mighily. God's arm is riumphan. God's reward accompanies him. God's work is efore him. 11 Like a shepherd God pasures he flock. God gahers he sheep wih God's own arm. God carries hem in God's own osom. Genly, God leads hem o a place of res. This passage cos as he fourh in a series of rief vignees in Isa 40 which descrie differen aspecs of God's imminen salvaion of Judah: [11] 1-2 Announcen of comfor and an end o he punishn for Israel's sin. 3-5 Announcen of he reurn of God's presence. 6-8 Announcen of he surey of God's word Announcen of God's reurn wih he exiles o Judah. 8 / 14

9 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan Here, Isaiah follows he form esalished in Nahum. The herald of God's eschaological salvaion is saioned on a high mounain. As in Nahum, he herald's locaion fulfills he pragmaic funcion of providing a posiion from which o announce God's salvaion o he larges group of people possile. On a symolic level he presence of he herald on he high place can e seen y all. As in 2 Sam 4 and 18, he very presence of he e (noe he feminine form in gender agreen wih Zion and Jerusalem) symolizes he adven of salvaion efore he firs words of he herald are even uered. Whereas in Nahum he herald is a generic sock figure, in Isa 40:9 he herald akes on a paricular ideniy. I is referred o alernaely as e zîyôn and e yěrûšālāyīm. Who is his e? Is i so anonymous figure, as in Nahum, co o proclaim he adven of God's deliverance o he communiy in exile? Is i he reurning exilic communiy? Is i he prophe himself? The New Jewish Pulicaion Sociey version (NJPS), ased upon he Old Jewish Pulicaion Sociey version (OJPS), renders he phrases &quo;o herald of joy o Zion&quo; and &quo;o herald of joy o Jerusalem&quo; suggesing he firs opion. [12] The New Revised Sandard Version renders he phrases &quo;o Zion, herald of good iding&quo; and &quo;o Jerusalem, herald of good idings&quo; suggesing agreen wih he second opion. [13] While John L. McKenzie, S.J. suggess ha he speaker in verses 9-11 is he prophe himself. [14] A srong argun can e made ha he herald in Isa 40:9 is Zion/Jerusalem herself. The sronges piece of evidence for his asserion is ha e is feminine suggesing ha i is in agreen wih he feminine Zion and Jerusalem. As we saw previously in he use of his erm in he Deueronomisic Hisory, heralds are characerisically masculine ( ). Given hese poins, he use of he erm e 9 / 14

10 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan in his verse suggess ha i is a ile or role of Zion/Jerusalem raher han an anonymous figure ringing news of he adven of salvaion o Zion/Jerusalem. The herald is he role ha Zion and Jerusalem fulfills as he reurning exilic communiy. They are o reurn o Judah, reesalish Jerusalem on he hill of Zion, and hrough he reesalishn of his sacred ciy, announce he riumph of YHWH. Their emodied proclamaion says o he ciies of Judah, &quo;behold your God!&quo; This acclamaion of God is wo-fold. Firs, God is riumphan. The prophe emphasizes his wih he wo parallel lines in Isa 40:10. As in Isa 52:10, God &quo;cos mighily&quo; wih arm raised like a &quo;riumphan&quo; general reurning vicorious from he alefield. In he second par of his verse, God is descried as processing wih he reward of he riumph efore God. Second, God is a shepherd. The moif of God as a shepherd appears elsewhere in propheic exs (e.g., Isa 63:11; Jer 17:16, 31:9, 43:12; 49:19, 50:44; Ezek 34:5, 8, 12, 23, 37:24). In Isa 40:11 his image reinforces God's power o provide for he flock and God's ender care for he people. The one remaining aspec of his passage ha is relevan o our discussion of oureach in he Herew Bile is he communal dinsion of he proclamaion. The e model of oureach presened in his passage is communiarian in ha i is focused on proclaiming a ssage o he wider communiy as a communiy. The conen of he ssage is YHWH's riumph, which lieraes he capive Judean elie and ulimaely ans vicory and comfor for all of Judah. Addiionally, ha ssage is emodied hrough he e. Their presence on he high hills of Judah is a sign of YHWH's riumph. Finally, heir emodin of heir proclamaion akes shape in heir paricipaion in he reuilding of he communiy. They are no rely o proclaim he ssage o he ciies of Judah and hen reurn o Baylon. Raher, hey are o sele in Judah and help reshape he communiy as a living communiy of YHWH's riumph. Their reselen of Zion/Jerusalem proclaims he reurn of heir riumphan, divine king. Concluding Reflecions As we have seen, he funcions in Isa 41:27 and 52:7 as a herald declaring o he exiled communiy of Zion/Jerusalem ha heir God YHWH is vicorious over he forces ha hold hem capive. The proclamaion concerns he adven of salvaion wihin he life of he communiy. Salvaion is no an individualisic experience u raher he realizaion of he promise of shalom and vicory for he whole communiy. In Isa 40:9, he communiy who has received he announcen of comfor (Isa 40:1) is called o 10 / 14

11 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan eco a herald ( e) of YHWH's salvaion o he res of he Judean communiy (&quo;he ciies and owns of Judah&quo;). Again heir proclamaion is of he adven of God's salvaion for he communiy as a whole. Their reurn o paricipae in he reuilding of Jerusalem and Judah emodies he adven of God's salvaion and symolizes God's reurn. In one sense oureach is no an appropriae erm wih which o descrie he acions of he / e in Isaiah. Oureach, as i is conceived of oday, is largely a programmaic aciviy of congregaions and organizaions. Wha would our oureach e if i was reconfigured on he model of he / e presened in Isaiah? In rief, i would egin wih a reconcepualizaion of our ssage, he social locaion in which our ssage is proclaid and he implicaions of our ssage. Firs, our ssage would primarily focus on he adven of God's salvaion hroughou he hisory of he Jewish people and paricularly in he life, deah, resurrecion, and ascension of Israel's Messiah Yeshua. The adven of his salvaion ans he riumph of God over he dark forces of sin and deah, which hold Israel and he world capive. In he Herew Bile and he New Covenan, forensic jusificaion, or expiaion of individual sins, is only one par of his larger announcen. The overarching he is he riumph of God. Second, our ssage would e proclaid wihin he rhyhms and life of our communiy. Such proclamaion respecs ha our God is already presen and acive in he mids of he wider Jewish communiy (Isa 52:8). Third, his communiy-focused ssage is principally proclaid hrough our communal emodin of he ssage wihin he wider communiy. We emody his ssage as a communiy ha lives in response o he reign of God hrough a resounding doxology for God's fideliy o Israel, oedience o he commandns ( mizvo ) and he loving expression of concern for neighor, which is a he hear of God's covenan wih Israel (Lev 19:18; Ma 22:37-40). Like he reurning exiles, our reurn, our presence and our paricipaion in he uilding and he shaping of he Jewish communiy signal he riumph of our God. The implicaion of our emodied announcen is he ransformaion of he wider 11 / 14

12 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan communiy as we seek o culivae a communiy ha honors he presence of God and celeraes God's lieraing riumph over he powers of sin and deah in he person of Yeshua. Oureach such as his ruly says o &quo;he ciies of Judah, ehold your God.&quo; Noes: 1. Here I an Messianic Judaism in he roades sociological sense as referring o all Jews who follow Yeshua regardless of heir relaionship o he Messianic Jewish congregaional moven. 2. E.g., Jews for Jesus' operaion &quo;behold Your God.&quo; According o Jews for Jesus' We sie, &quo;there are currenly 65 ciies ouside of Israel wih a Jewish populaion of more han 25,000. These are our &quo;behold Your God&quo; (BYG) ciies. Our goal is o reach hese communiies wih he gospel. We'll use sree evangelism, secular dia campaigns, phone calling, personal visis and Bile sudies o draw people's aenion.&quo; Online: hp:// [accessed 16 July 2006]. 3. E.g., Mark S. Kinzer, Posmissionary Messianic Judaism (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005). 4. An imporan work on he Bile and oureach is Waler Brueggemann's Bilical Perspecives of Evangelism: Living in a Three-Soried Universe (Nashville: Aingdon Press, 1993). 5. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of he New Tesan ased on Semanic Domains. 2d ed. (New York: Unied Bile Socieies, 1989), volu 1, E.g., Luke 1:19; Rom 1:15. The use and developn of his erm y he wriers of he New Covenan is eyond oh he scope and lengh limiaions of his aricle. 6. While 1 Chr 16:23ff is a definiively pos-exilic ex, he daing of Ps 96 is complicaed. There are several long noed veral and phrasal similariies eween he psalm and hose chapers of Isaiah daed o he exilic period (40-66; see especially Isa 42:10). However, Dahood poins o &quo;several archaic phrases in vss. 4, 6, 7, 9, 10&quo; which in his opinion sugges &quo;ha oh psalmis and prophe were heir o a common lierary radiion long exisen in Canaan.&quo; See Michell Dahood, Psalms (AB 17; New York: Douleday, 1968), I is a poin of Jewish law no o wrie &quo;yhwh,&quo; he eragrammaon or proper na of he God of Israel, wih is vowels. I have herefore removed he vowels. 8. Noe ha plural feminine form as's'ero also appears in Ps 68:12, perhaps in a conex where his hos of female heralds are announcing YHWH's riumph. The aning of his ex is oscure and has een excluded from our discussion for hodological reasons. 12 / 14

13 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan 9. The erm &quo;servan song&quo; is prolemaic in descriing his collecion of exs (Isa 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-10; 52:13-53:12) mos paricularly ecause &quo;he poems are no properly songs&quo; as Claus Wesermann has poined ou ( Isaiah (OTL; Philadelphia: Wesminser, 1969), 92). 10. Carol A. Newsom, &quo;response o Norman K Gowald, Social Class and Ideology in Isaiah 40-55,'&quo; Seia 59 (1992): Noe ha in his division I am following he Masoreic division of he ex. Each one of hese rief secions closes wih a suma marker indicaing closed paragraphs. In my esimaion hese markers accord wih he flow of ideas in his par of he chaper. 12. David Sern's Complee Jewish Bile (Jerusalem: Jewish New Tesan Pulicaions, 1998) follows he OJPS radiion ecause of Sern's use of he OJPS as a ase ex in his ediion of he Herew Bile. Ineresingly he Hexaplaric Codex Vaicanus (B) Greek manuscrip of Isaiah reads oh Zion and Jerusalem as geniives indicaing ha he as's'ere is proclaiming he news o Zion/Jerusalem raher han he once aandoned ciy assuming he role of he as's'ere. 13. Claus Wesermann [Isaiah 40-66, 43-46], Jas Mulienurg [&quo;isaiah 40-66&quo; in IB 5:431], Jas Was [Isaiah (W BC 25; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 82], and Jan L. Koole [ Isaiah, Par 3, Vol. 1: Isaiah (Hisorical Comnary on he Old Tesan; Kampen, The Neherlands: Pharos Pulishing House, 1997),70-74] idenify he as's'ere as Jerusalem and Zion. 14. John L. McKenzie, S.J., Second Isaiah (AB 20; Garden Ciy, NY: Douleday, 1968), 17. Jonahan Kaplan, M.Div., M.A., A.M., is ook review edior of Kesher and co-founder of 13 / 14

14 Say o he Ciies of Judah, "Behold your God" - The Herew Bile, Oureach and Messianic Judaism Wrien y Jonahan Kaplan Yachad Nework, an organizaion ha works in youh and young adul leadership developn. He is an ordained rai of he Union of Messianic Jewish Congregaions, scholar-in-residence a Ruach Israel Messianic Synagogue, Needham, Mass., and a rusee of Messianic Jewish Theological Insiue (MJTI). 14 / 14