Saturday, September 24, 2016

The Unity of Isaiah: The Evidence from Jeremiah

Writing in defense of the unity of the book of Isaiah, one commentator cogently noted the following:

There are reflections upon Isaiah 40-66 in later prophecies, a fact that conclusively demonstrates that these chapters cannot come from the time of the exile . . . Let the reader make the following comparisons:

Jeremiah
13:18-26
With
Isaiah
47:1-3

48:18

47:1

31:12

58:11

31:13

61:3

31:22

43:19

31:34

54:13

31:36

54:10

5:25

59:2

13:16

59:9-11

50:8 and 51:45

48:20

17:1

64:8

18:6

65:6

2:25

57:10

In particular, it should be noted that Jeremiah uses earlier prophecies possibly more than any other of the writing prophets. To avoid the force of the argument critics are compelled to deny these sections to Jeremiah. (Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, volume 3: Chapters 40-66 [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972], 547-48)