Historical Backdrop of Yeshayahu 40/2
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Historical Backdrop of Yeshayahu 40
Exegetical Approaches
Era of Yeshayahu
Yeshayhau was comforting his contemporaries regarding current events.
Babylonian Exile
Yeshayahu's prophecy revolves around the return of the nation who had been exiled to Babylonia.
Why speak about the return from Babylonia now? This position must explain why Yeshayahu would be prophesying about an event that would have been meaningless to his generation. These sources offer several approaches:
- Reaction to prophecy of exile –The chapter1 immediately before this prophecy closed with the prediction that Chizkiyahu's descendants were to be exiled to Babylonia. As such, Yeshayahu continued with a prophecy of consolation aimed at those in exile which would serve to comfort both them and his own generation who were otherwise left with an open-ended prediction of doom.2
- Relayed only later – According to Shadal, though Yeshayahu received this prophecy, he did not share it with his own generation, but rather wrote it down to be relayed in the future, when relevant.3
- Received and relayed only later – Ibn Ezra cryptically implies that this prophecy (and those of the rest of the book) were actually not recorded by Yeshayahu at all, but by another, later prophet who lived in the time of the exile. As such, the Book of Yeshayahu includes both the prophecies of Yeshayahu himself and those of an anonymous prophet. Ibn Ezra compares this to Sefer Shemuel, which was also composed by multiple prophets: Shemuel, Gad and Natan.4
Relationship to other prophecies of consolation
"כִּי מָלְאָה צְבָאָהּ כִּי נִרְצָה עֲוֺנָהּ" – Ibn Ezra and Shadal explains that "צבא" refers to a set amount of time or work. The prophet tells the nation that the seventy years of Babylonian exile which were foretold by Yirmeyahu5 have come to their end. The people have paid their due in punishment (נִרְצָה עֲוֺנָהּ) and now it is time to return.
"פַּנּוּ דֶּרֶךְ י"י" – The prophet declares that the nations should clear a way for Hashem to lead those in exile back home.6 The descriptions of valleys rising and mountains falling are a metaphoric means of indicating that nothing will stand in the way of Hashem's ingathering of the exiles. They are not meant to be taken literally as a supernatural leveling of the road.
"כׇּל הַבָּשָׂר חָצִיר... וּדְבַר־אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יָק֥וּם לְעוֹלָֽם" – The prophet contrasts humans, who eventually wither like grass, with Hashem whose word stands forever. Though the people feel as if it their stint in Babylonia is never-ending, the prophet reminds them that Hashem (unlike humans) will fulfill His promise, and after 70 years, Bavel will fall and the nation will return from exile.
Descriptions of Hashem's abilities
