One Isaiah
247
For it is not the prediction concerning Cyrus to which the chronicler points as "the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah," but "the three-score-and-ten years" spoken of in verse 21 of the same context which Jeremiah did predict. Cf. 2 Chron. 36 :21. On the other hand, the order of the prophets among the Jews of antiquity was ( 1 ) Jeremiah, (2) Ezekiel, (3) Isaiah, and (4) The Twelve; accordingly, any portion of any of these prophecies might be cited as belonging to Jere miah, because his book stood first. In any case, to seek for external evidence i n behalf of the dissection of the book is indicative ! THE LITERARY HISTORY OF THE BOOK When or how the Book of Isaiah was edited and brought into its present form is unknown. Jesus ben-Sirach, the author of Ecclesiasticus, writing c. 180 B. C., cites Isaiah as one of the notable worthies of Hebrew antiquity, in whose days, "the sun went backward and he added life to the king'' (Ecclus. 48 :20-25 ; cf. Isa. 38 :4-8) ; and he adds, who "saw by an excellent spirit that which should come to pass at the last, and comforted them that mourned in Zion." Evidently, therefore, at the beginning of the second century B. C., at the latest, the Book of Isaiah had reached its present form, and the last twenty-seven chapters were already ascribed to the son of Amoz. Furthermore, there is absolutely no proof that chapters 1-39, or any other considerable section of Isaiah's prophecies ever existed by themselves as an independent collection; nor is there any ground for thinking that the promissory and Mes sianic portions have been systematically interpolated by editors long subsequent to Isaiah's own time. It is quite arbitrary to suppose that the earli,er prophets only threatened. CERTAIN FALSE PRESUPPOSITIONS Certain false presuppositions govern critics in their disin-
l }
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker