[8:19] The expander of the text in vv. 19f. did not
interpret v. 16 in the metaphorical sense [but] thought in terms of an actual
written תורה (instruction, torah), though he did not use this term to refer to
the Pentateuch but to the legacy of the prophetic movement. He had in mind that
someone who was barely surviving in the era of disintegration and instability
in which he lived would be sustained by holding on to this inheritance. And, in
fact, he saw himself at odds with a movement of his day which sought help from
the spirits of the dead. (Hans Wildberger, Isaiah 1-12 [trans. Thomas H.
Trapp; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991], 371)