Gleason Archer and the Authorship of Isaiah: "Second Isaiah" Being Quoted by Pre-Exilic Prophets

  

Zephaniah, Nahum and Jeremiah contain verses which are so similar to Isaiah II as to point to a possible borrowing by one from the other. Thus in Zephaniah 2:15 we read: “This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me” (ASV). This bears a strong resemblance to Isaiah 47:8: “Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me” (ASV). Nahum 1:15 reads: “Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!” (ASV). Compare this with Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace” (ASV). Jeremiah 31:35 reads: “Thus saith Jehovah . . . who stirreth up on the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name” (ASV). This is very close to Isaiah 51:15: “For I am Jehovah thy God, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waters thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name” (ASV).

 

IN comparing such resemblances as these, it might be argued that Isaiah II was borrowing from the seventh century prophets rather than the other way around, but in the case of Jeremiah 30:10ff (which bears relationship to Isaiah 43:1-6), such an explanation is hardly possible. In the Jeremiah passage, the term “My Servant” (‘abdī) occurs as a Messianic title. Nowhere else does it appear in the writings of Jeremiah, and yet it is a frequent term in Isaiah II. There can be no other reasonable conclusion to draw but that Jeremiah did the borrowing and that the Isaiah passage must have been written at an earlier time than his own. (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction [Chicago: Moody Press, 1964], 338)

Related to the above, note the following from Edward Young:

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)