Introduction
The voices in Isaiah 40:1-11 have vexed scholars for centuries and the passage continues to contribute to significant scholarly output. However, scholars continue to underestimate the significance of the grammatical-syntactical impact on determining the context and meaning of the pericope. Without a proper understanding of the presence of the divine council, an essential element of exegesis contributing to a pivotal transition in the book of Isaiah remains a mystery. The following analysis shows that the divine council is once again in session in Isaiah 40:1-11. The investigation commences with an exploration of the participants in verses 1-5 and their association with Isaiah 6. Next, an examination of the voices in verses 6-8 feature individual participants in the divine council supported by a text-critical decision located in verse 6. Third, a brief discussion identifies the “herald of good news” located in verses 9-11, followed by a synopsis of God’s message communicated in the first 11 verses.
The Divine Council: Isaiah 40:1-5
Scholars have long recognized the grammatical nuances of Isaiah 40:1-5. In verse 1, a speaker commands someone to comfort “my people” (עַמִּ֑י), the people of Jerusalem, which suggests the speaker is Yahweh. However, the identity of the recipient(s) of the command is unknown. Frank Cross observes an “unusual series of active imperatives, plural.”[1] The plural imperatives referred to by Cross include two instances of נַחֲמ֥וּ and one instance of דַּבְּר֞וּ and קִרְא֣וּ. Furthermore, verse 1 and 3 supply additional plurals, אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם and לֵאלֹהֵֽינוּ, which both occur with plural pronominal suffixes. The recipients of the commands have perplexed translators and scholars alike. The LXX provides the vocative plural masculine ἱερεῖς (O priests), while the Targums suggest the subjects are prophets.[2] Geoffrey Grogan appears to agree with the Targums, while Gary Smith suggests it is “not profitable to speculate.”[3] Regardless, Michael Heiser contends the plural suffixes and imperatives provide evidence that the commands are “issued to an unseen audience, and require actions that cannot be fulfilled by earthly addressees.”[4] Heiser presents additional evidence of divine council activity by noting the speaker changes in verse 3, suggesting an individual member of the assembly cries out in response to Yahweh and issues plural imperatives, consistent with verses 1 and 2, to a divine audience.[5] Further evidence for Heiser’s assertion exists in the relationship of Isaiah 40:1-11 and Isaiah 6. Isaiah of Jerusalem sees Yahweh with heavenly beings (שְׂרָפִ֨ים) standing with Him and praising the “Lord of hosts,” which suggests the presence of a divine council (Isa. 6:1-3 [ESV]). Additionally, Yahweh asks a question in Isaiah 6 to a plural audience, similar to the plurality in Isaiah 40:1-5, that also provides evidence of a divine council, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isa. 6:8; emphasis added). Cross notes that the parallel between Isaiah 6:1-8 and Isaiah 40:1-11 “is remarkable.”[6] The content of Isaiah 6 and its overlap with Isaiah 40 clearly supports the possibility of a divine council scene later in Isaiah. Accordingly, based on the plural imperatives and suffixes, the alternating speakers, and the conceptual relationship to Isaiah 6, the evidence supports a divine council assembling in Isaiah 40:1-5.
The Crying Voice: Isaiah 40:6-8
Although it appears evident that a divine council convenes in Isaiah 40:1-5, the identification of the voices in verses 6-8 remains unsolved. The commanding voice that begins verse 6a is certainly reminiscent of verse 3, suggesting a member of the divine council. However, in contrast to verses 1-5, the voice issues a command using a singular imperative (קְרָ֔א). The interpretive decision consists of identifying the questioner who responds to the command. The answer may rest in an important text-critical variant involving the Dead Sea Scrolls in verse 6. According to the BHS, the Masoretic Text renders the response, “and a voice said” or “and he said” (וְאָמַ֖ר), but the Qumran text (1QIsaa) renders the response in the first person, “and I said” (ואומרה). In other words, the Qumran text suggests the prophetic writer is responding to the command. Christopher Seitz explains that the first person reading has led scholars to identify the questioner as possibly Second Isaiah in a call narrative or Isaiah of Jerusalem; but then he ultimately uses the MT to conclude the voice is a member of the divine council.[7] However, echoes of Isaiah 6 may again shed light on the answer. Roy Melugin suggests Isaiah 6 is a call narrative where a prophet is “transported by vision into the realm of the heavenly council.”[8] However, Seitz recognizes a call narrative is not necessary in Isaiah 40 if the “backdrop of Isaiah 6 has been presupposed.”[9] In sum, based on the evidence from Qumran and the alignment with Isaiah 6, it appears the questioner in Isaiah 40:6 is a prophet transported into the presence of the divine council, not for a unique call, but as a progression of God’s council activity from Isaiah 6. The conclusion also seems to align with the verses that follow.
The Herald: Isaiah 40:9-11
The identification of the herald in verses 9-11 is the final controversy of the pericope. Certain scholars, such as John Watts and Gary Smith conclude the herald is Zion.[10] However, if the herald is Zion, then the divine council context rendered apparent in verses 1-8 diminishes. Hebrew grammar may assist in solving the problem. The word for herald used in Isaiah 40:9 (מְבַשֶּׂ֣רֶת) is a feminine singular participle, which appears to disqualify the prophet. However, Friedrich Gesenius notes that, at times, grammatically feminine forms refer to masculine nouns (e.g. קֹהֶ֣לֶת in Ecc. 1:1).[11] Furthermore, a lemma search in Isaiah for בשׂר returns four results, and two verses specifically pertain to a messenger sent to Zion, Isaiah 41:27 and 52:7. All instances of the word in 41:27 (מְבַשֵּׂ֥ר) and 52:7 (מְבַשֵּׂ֗ר and מַשְׁמִ֧יעַ) occur in the masculine singular form, which supports the possibility of a prophet or divine council member. Alternatively, Bruce Waltke suggests the feminine singular form may refer to collective noun (e.g. אֹרְחַ֣ת in Gen. 37:25).[12] Accordingly, the feminine singular form of מְבַשֶּׂ֣רֶת in 40:9 may refer to the divine council as a collective. Based on the evidence, Heiser suggests both alternatives, a prophet or divine council, are valid options for the herald, and even the possibility of a member of the divine council remains.[13] However, a prophet interacting within the divine council appears most reasonable in light of verses 6-8 and a renewed message of hope for Zion discussed below.
The Message of Isiah 40:1-11
In contrast to the somber judgement of Isaiah 6, Isaiah 40 provides an optimistic tone of comfort and deliverance. Watts recognizes that the Isaiah 40:1-11 is a new day for Israel marking the end of the exile with a turning point “prompted by the imminent coming of Yahweh to Zion.”[14] However, Watt’s broad message must not overlook the integration of the obvious divine council context that hearkens back to the Tower of Babel (See Gen. 10-11 and Deut. 32:8). Heiser explains that although two tribes of Judah were brought out of exile, the other ten tribes were “scattered among the disinherited nations.”[15] However, Isaiah 40:1-11 looks forward to the coming Messiah that “will result in redemption for all the tribes.”[16] In other words, Yahweh is progressing toward a time when John the Baptist will embody the voice calling in Isaiah 40:3, which paves the way for a Messiah to deliver all humanity.
Conclusion
The evidence appears to prove the divine council is once again in session in Isaiah 40:1-11. First, the plural imperatives and suffixes, the alternating speakers, and the conceptual relationship to Isaiah 6 support divine council activity in verses 1-5. Second, the Qumran variant and additional connections with Isaiah 6 suggest the questioner in verse 6 is a prophet transported into the presence of the divine council. Third, it appears, without certainty, a prophet interacts within the divine council as the herald in verses 9-11. Finally, the thrust of God’s message reflects back to divine council activity in Genesis 10-11 and, simultaneously, forward to pave the way for a Messiah to redeem all nations.
Bibliography
- Cross, Frank M. “The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12, no. 4 (October 1953): 274–77.
- Gesenius, Friedrich Wilhelm. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Edited by E. Kautzsch and Arthur Ernest Cowley. 2d English ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1910.
- Grogan, Geoffrey W. Isaiah. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Proverbs-Isaiah, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 6. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.
- Heiser, Michael S. “The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature.” PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010.
- ———. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2015.
- Melugin, Roy F. The Formation of Isaiah 40-55. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1976.
- Seitz, Christopher R. “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah.” Journal of Biblical Literature 109, no. 2 (1990): 229–47.
- Smith, Gary. Isaiah 40-66. The New American Commentary, vol. 15b. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2009.
- Tan, Randall, and David A. deSilva, Logos Bible Software. In The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint. Logos Bible Software, 2009.
- Waltke, Bruce K., and M. O’Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990.
- Watts, John D. W. Isaiah 34-66. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 25. Rev. ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005.
[1] Frank M. Cross, “The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12, no. 4 (October 1953): 275.
[2] Randall Tan and David A. deSilva, Logos Bible Software, The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint (Logos Bible Software, 2009), Isa. 40:2.
[3] Geoffrey W. Grogan, Isaiah, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Proverbs-Isaiah, eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, rev. ed., vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 720. See also, Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, The New American Commentary, vol. 15b (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2009), 93.
[4] Michael S. Heiser, “The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature” (PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010), 104.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Cross, “The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah,” 276.
[7] Christopher R. Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah,” Journal of Biblical Literature 109, no. 2 (1990): 235–38, 245.
[8] Roy F. Melugin, The Formation of Isaiah 40-55 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1976), 83.
[9] Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah,” 241.
[10] John D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, Word Biblical Commentary, rev. ed., vol. 25 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 612. See also, Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, The New American Commentary, vol. 15b (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2009), 99.
[11] Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and Arthur Ernest Cowley, 2d English ed. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1910), 393.
[12] Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 102.
[13] Heiser, The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature, 108–9.
[14] Watts, Isaiah 34-66, 612.
[15] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2015), 272.
[16] Ibid.