Evidence that Isa 40:1-11 is a
reflection of the Divine Court Protocol motif may be discerned in the
modulation of voices and audiences throughout the text. The first speaker is
“your God”—or, better, a proxy speaking on behalf of “your God”—who calls a
masculine plural audience to comfort, speak, and proclaim to a group called “my
people” and Jerusalem (40:1-2). The act of proclaiming (ק-ר-א, q-r-‘) is
one associated with the messenger tradition of the Old Testament, which is
commonly associated with human figures called prophets but which could also be
associated with the heavenly figures that we often refer to as angels. Thus in
verses 1-2 YHWH or his proxy calls out to a masculine plural group that could be
a group of prophets but that is most likely the divine council, in which one
finds both heavenly and human messenger figures. The כִּי (kî) that
follows the verb וְקִרְאוּ (wěqir’û) does not introduce the content of
the speech to be proclaimed, but rather the reason for the proclamation,
namely, the completion of the exilic discipline.
Verse 3 introduces another speaker,
described as a “voice” (קוֹל, qôl). Since this voice is described as
“proclaiming” (HEB, qôrē’), a participle that echoes the imperative וְקִרְאוּ
(wěqir’û) addressed to the masculine plural audience of verses 12, one
may assume that the text is now providing the content that a voice should
proclaim to the people/Jerusalem, calling them to “prepare” (פ-ן-ה, p-n-h,
Piel masc. pl.) and “make straight” (י-שׁ-ר, y-š-r, Piel. Masc. pl.) the
way/highway for YHWH their God. However, a “voice” (קוֹל, qôl), also
linked to a participle of a speaking verb (א-ם-ר, ‘-m-r), will emerge in
verse 6 and address the prophetic figure directly, and so function as part of
the series of verbal exchanges that began in verse 1. In light of this, the
voice in verse 3 may be better understood as a participant in the divine
council who most likely is not YHWH, but rather one who speaks with YHWH’s
authority—since this voice speaks of YHWH in the third person, refers to “our
God,” and ends its speech with “the mouth of YHWH has spoken” (v. 5). The
masculine plural audience, indicated by the imperatives “prepare” (פ-נ-ה, p-n-h,
Piel masc. pl.) and “make straight” (י-שׁ-ר, y-š-r, Piel masc. pl.) may
be “my people” from verses 1-2, in light of the appearance of a “voice” in
verse 6 who addresses (speaking verb participle) a prophetic figure with a
command (imperative). However, it is more likely that this audience is the
divine council addressed in verses 1-2. A call to transform the cosmos in
preparation for the arrival of YHWH is something appropriate for discussion
within the divine council, where heavenly beings would have the necessary
resources. (Mark J. Boda, “Authors and Readers (Real or Implicit) and the
Unity/Disunity of Isaiah,” in Bind Up the Testimony: Explorations in the
Genesis of the Book of Isaiah, ed. Daniel I. Block and Richard L. Schultz
[Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2015], 263-64)
