Isaiah 13-23

Chapters 13-23 of Isaiah contain a variety of oracles against a variety of neighboring nations and cities, including Babylon, Assyria, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Edom, Arabia, and Tyre.  Many of these oracles are difficult to date, as they could be referring to multiple events which took place during the life of Isaiah or later during the time of the Babylonian exile.  Interestingly, I've found the Harper Collins Study Bible (a scholarly go-to) is more likely to date these oracles to the orginal prophet than the New Jerusalem Bible (commissioned by the Catholic church).  The NJB is much more likely to see much of this section of Isaiah as originating during the exilic period.

I'll give my own (admittedly amateur) take on this dating discrepancy at the end of the post!

How Lucifer Became the Devil

Chapters 13 & 14 primarily concern Babylon, which would experience a resurgence in power in the late 8th and early 7th centuries BCE.  Chapter 13 appears to be an oracle against the Babylonians proper, while Chapter 14 mocks the death not of an independent Babylonian King, but the Assyrian King (likely Sargon II or Sennacherib) who acted as the "King of Babylon" after Assyria responded to the uppity Babylonians by defeating and subjugating Babylonia (utterly destroying the city of Babylon in the process.)

As Isaiah mocks the fallen king in chapter 14, he makes many references to the cosmological and theological worldview of the ancient near east.  The dead king's descent into Sheol (the grave, perhaps the Ancient Israelite conception of the "afterlife", if they had one) is explicitly depicted, as the maggots of the earth are now his bed, and the worms his blanket (14:9-11).  Isaiah derides the dead king for striving for immortal heights:

You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.  - Isaiah 14:13-15

Here we have a ton of imagery and references familiar to the polytheistic religions of the ANE.  The "mount of assembly" is where the divine council of the gods would meet in most polytheistic religions (think Mount Olympus), where the "Most High" would preside (think Zeus/Jupiter).  "God" in this passage is translated not from Yahweh (rendered as "the Lord" with small capitals), but from El, the high god of the canaanite/ugaritic whose role, name, and titles Yahweh would later subsume in Ancient Israelite religious tradition.  Also note that the mountain referenced here is not "Zion", traditionally associated with Yahweh, but Zaphon, which is associated with Ba'al (another storm god whose aspects would also be incorporated into Yahweh).  To me personally, this is the kind of really fascinating stuff that makes me want to keep up this project.  Finding evidence of Israel's polytheistic and monolatrist past and observing how their beliefs evolved into the monotheism we have today is super exciting to me (because I'm a nerrrrrrrrd).

But for most people reading this, what you may find more fascinating is the verse that immediately precedes this:

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!  - Isaiah 14:12

Have you ever tried to find "Lucifer" in the bible and failed to do so?  Well, this is why.  "Dawn" here likely refers to Shahar, the Canaanite god of dawn, and "Day Star" refers to the planet Venus.  Isaiah is using the cosmological understanding of his culture as metaphor to illustrate the hubris of the fallen king, who thought himself like a celestial being.  So where does Lucifer fit into all of this?  Well, the Latin Vulgate translated "day star" into the Latin "lucifer" meaning "light-bringer", referring to the morning star, Venus.  "Lucifer" never was associated with the devil until much later in Christian tradition, when these passages were reinterpreted to refer not to the dead king of Babylon, but the source of all evil in the universe.

Venus and Mt. Fuji at Dawn

The story of "the devil" as western civilization has come to know him is a long, complicated tale, best told by Dr. Philip A. Harland in his wonderful podcast, Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.  His 8th and final series of the podcast is a thorough dissection of the origins and evolution of "the accuser".  I highly recommend you check it out.

Highlights and Thoughts

Most of this section of Isaiah is simply more oracles of doom for just about every nation in the Near East, but I'll highlight and give my thoughts on a few interesting things I came across in reading.  First, Yahweh is still a very brutal dude in chapter 13:

All those who are found will be stabbed, all those captured will fall by the sword, their babies dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses plundered, their wives raped.  - Isaiah 13:15-16 

I don't remember passages like that often being the topic in Sunday School growing up.  And for good reason.  Yahweh is a pretty vengeful god, as in chapter 14 he punishes sons for the sins of their father:

Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their father.  Let them never rise to possess the earth or cover the face of the world with cities.  I will rise up against them, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says Yahweh.  - Isaiah 14:21-22

Besides Yahweh's planned atrocities, some other interesting things to note:

• Isaiah doesn't always revel in prophesies of doom, being clearly distressed at the fate which has befallen Moab, a neighbor and possible ally of Judah (16:11)
• What a appears to be a passage completely out of place, describing an invasion more befitting of the story of the Syro-Ephraimite war in earlier chapters (17:12-14)
• An episode of palace politics, where Isaiah condemns an advisor to the king.  I'm guessing they didn't get along well (22:15-25)
• A prophecy of Egypt & Assyria converting to Yahwism (19:18-25)
• A really weird verse that translators seem to have almost zero agreement on (23:13).  I'm going to have to look into what exactly it is about the Hebrew that results in different translations varying wildly in meaning.  Depending on the translation, it could refer to Assyria founding the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia) and destroying Tyre. It could refer to Assyria destroying Babylon.  It could be a prophetic correction, saying it wasn't the Assyrians at all who would destroy Tyre, but instead the Chaldeans.  The NJB says "the whole verse seems to be corrupt; translation uncertain."  What a mess.
• And on the fun side: Isaiah walking around butt-naked for 3 years (Chapter 20)

"Isaiah Walking Naked Through Jerusalem" - by Don Lawrence, 1964 CE

Prophetic Verse Summarized and Interpreted by Prose Insertions

Okay, so finally here at the end is my take on the authorship of this section of Isaiah.  Now, just because this is generally listed as part of "First Isaiah" by scholars doesn't necessarily mean everything goes back to the prophet in Chapters 1-39.  There are sections which are clearly not by Isaiah (such as 36-39, which are basically copied out of the book of Kings), and plenty of redactional glosses to be found throughout the first 39 chapters.  I think the structure of this section itself is a hint to its authorial history.  As you read through 13-23 you'll read long sections of oracles in verse which are punctuated by prose sections.  These prose sections include 14:22-23, 16:12-13, 17:7-9, 18:7, 18:16-17, 21:16-17, and 23:15-18.

Frequently these prose sections either summarize or interpret the verses which came before them.  I believe the verse sections are likely from Isaiah during his lifetime, while most of the prose in these chapters is from the pen of a later commenter.  I think it's very likely that over the long history of these works being handed down over the generations the comments eventually became incorporated into the text themselves.  These comments sometimes even try to correct or reinterpret the oracles to fit a later time period, such as the Babylonian exile.  One of the most obvious examples of this later reinterpretation is at the end of the oracle concerning Moab:

This was the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in the past.  But now Yahweh says, In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude; and those who survive will be very few and feeble.  - Isaiah 16:13-14

So that's my take on it.  I believe these sections can be difficult to date because the words of Isaiah are interwoven with the work of a later commenter or redactor who was reinterpreting the words of the prophet centuries later.

What do you think?  Is this a reasonable hypothesis?  Do you have a different explanation in mind?  Let me know in the comments!

Psalm 4

This is a pretty straightforward Psalm.  The author seeks Yahweh in times of need, and is faithful that Yahweh will see him through.  The author contrasts his faith with the unfaithfulness of others and the contented confidence he feels to the the desperate worries of the unfaithful.

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We'll continue with Isaiah and the fifth Psalm next time.  Thanks for reading!