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One Isaiah
ARGUMENTS FOR ONE ISAIAH I t is as unreasonable to expect to be able to prove the unity of Isaiah as to suppose that it has been disproven. Internal evidence is indecisive in either case. There are arguments, however, which corroborate a belief that there was but one Isaiah. Here are some of those which might be mentioned: 1. The Circle of Ideas is strikingly the same throughout. For example, take the name for God which is almost peculiar to the Book of Isaiah, “the Holy One of Israel”. This title for Jehovah occurs in the Book of Isaiah a total of twenty- five times and only six times elsewhere in the Old Testament (one of which is in a parallel passage). It interlocks all the various portions with one another and stamps them with the personal imprimatur of him who saw the vision of the majes- tic God seated upon His throne, high and lifted up, and heard the angelic choirs singing: “Holy, Holy, Holy is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of Thy glory” (Chapter 6). The presence of this Divine name in all the different sections of the book is of more value in identifying Isaiah as the author of all these prophecies than though his name had been in- scribed at the beginning of every chapter, for the reason that his theology is woven into the very fiber and texture of the whole book. The title occurs twelve times in chapters 1-39, and thirteen times in chapters 40-66; and it is simply unscientific to say that the various alleged authors of the disputed portions all employed the same title through imitation. (Isa. 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12 :6 ; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11, 12, 15; 31:1; 37: 23. Also, 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14. Compare 2 Kings 19:22; Psa. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Jer. 50:29; 51:5.) Another unique idea which occurs with considerable repe- tition in the Book of Isaiah is the thought of a “highway”. Cf. 11:16; 35:8; 40:3; 43:19; 49:11; 57:14; 62:10.
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