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[German Version] I. Name and Textual Attestation – II. Position in the Canon – III. Arrangement – IV. Composition History of the Book – V. Content and Origin of Isa 1–39 – VI. The Prophet Isaiah I. Name and Textual Attestation The superscription of Isaiah, which alludes to the Jerusalem prophet (Prophets and Prophecy: II) Isaiah, reads חֲזוֹן יְשַׁעְיָהוּ בֶן־אָמוֹץ/ḥazôn yešaʿyāhû ben-ʾāmôṣ, “vision of Isaiah son of Amoz” (1:1; 2 Chr 32:32 [+ הַנָּבִיא/ hannābîʾ]; cf. Obad 1; Nah 1:1), who dates from the time of the Judean kings (Kingship in Israel) Uzziah, Jot…

[German Version] is an artificial name that was introduced into scholarly research in 1892 by B. Duhm in order to designate the textual corpus Isa 56–66 and the anonymous prophetic figure to whom it has traditionally been ascribed. Duhm recognized that 56–66 constituted yet another self-contained textual unit within the second part of the book of Isaiah (40–66; Deutero-Isaiah), which must itself be strictly separated from 1–39. In doing so, Duhm gave birth to the Trito-Isaiah hypothesis. There is …

[German Version] or Emmanuel, Heb. עִמָּנוּאֵל / ʿimmānûʾel (“God is with us” or “May God be with us”), is the name of a (royal?) child promised in Isa 7:14 (8:8; cf. 8:10). Isa 7:14 originally had no messianic overtones (Messiah/Messianism: II; but cf. the secondary interpretation in 7:15), since neither the child nor his mother plays any role: the point of the text is instead the symbolic name Immanuel, which offers the prospect of deliverance for King Ahaz, who is under attack from Damascus and Sama…

[German Version] In ancient Israel (II), literacy was limited to a small fraction of the population. When Israel became a state, the emergent need for written documentation in the economic, religious, and political spheres was generally met by professional scribes (Heb. סוֹפֵר/ sôpēr, Gk γραμματεύς/ grammateús). From the monarchy on, scribes are mentioned frequently in the Bible (e.g. 2 Sam 8:17; 1 Kgs 4:3; Jer 32, 36, 43, 45 [“Baruch the scribe”]; Ezra 7:6, 12–26 [“Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven”]; Neh 13:12f.; Sir 28f.;…

[German Version] (Dec 26, 1935, Munich – Mar 30, 2001, Zürich). After studying theology in Neuendettelsau, Wuppertal, and Heidelberg (doctorate in 1965 under G. Bornkamm, influenced by G. v. Rad), he taught from 1968 to 1976 as professor of Old Testament in Hamburg, from 1976 to 1978 in Mainz, and from 1978 to 2001 in Zürich. His dissertation explored the long arc of transmission of the Deuteronomistic understanding of history (Deuteronomistic History) from the OT into early Christianity, signalin…

[German Version] I. Old Testament The concept of stubbornness in the Old Testament has several Hebrew equivalents, most of which denote “hardening,” usually of the heart as the center of human volition (esp. כבד לב/ kbd lb, “make the heart heavy”; חזק לב/ ḥzq lb, “harden the heart”; קשׁה ערף/לב/ qšh ʿrp/ lb, “stiffen the neck/heart”). The most important OT foci for stubbornness are Exod 4–14, Pharaoh’s stubbornness or “hardness of heart” during the plague series, and Isa 6:9, Isaiah’s commission to speak so as not to be understood (cf. Ezek 3:7ff.). The conflict narrative in Exod 4–14,…