Historical Backdrop of Yeshayahu 40/2

Historical Backdrop of Yeshayahu 40

Exegetical Approaches

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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.

Sources:R. Yosef KaraYeshayahu 40About R. Yosef Kara, Ibn EzraYeshayahu 40:1, 3, 11, 25, 27, 31About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, ShadalYeshayahu 40:1-3, 10-12, 16, 18, 27About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto

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 closes with Yeshayahu's prediction that Chizkiyahu's descendants were to be exiled to Babylonia. R"Y Kara maintains that upon hearing the news, Chizkiyahu should have prayed for mercy.  When he did not, Hashem decided to comfort the nation instead. As such, the prophecy is meant to console not only the generation in exile, but also Yeshayahu's 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 Shadal explains that the descriptions of valleys rising and mountains falling are not a depiction of supernatural events,⁷ but merely a metaphoric means of indicating that nothing will stand in the way of Hashem's ingathering of the exiles.⁸

"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.

This description of Hashem as a shepherd gathering his flock, carrying the young close to his bosom, is an apt metaphor for Hashem's loving return of the exiles.

Descriptions of Hashem's abilities – Verse 12-17 depict Hashem as creator, above human knowledge, for whom other nations are naught and all the trees and animals would not suffice to properly glorify Him through sacrifices. Through these images, the prophet subtly demonstrates to the people that, given Hashem's abilities, redemption of the people and the destruction of Bavel is not beyond Him

Contrast to idols

Present Exile

Yeshayahu's prophecy speaks of the future redemption.  He tells the people not to despair for Hashem will ultimately redeem the nation and return those in exile to Tzion.

Sources:RadakYeshayahu 40About R. David Kimchi, RidYeshayahu 40About R. Yeshayah of Trani, Abarbanel, MalbimYeshayahu Beur HaInyan 40About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

Why speak about Messianic times now?

¹ See Yeshayahu 39.

² Cf. Ibn Ezra who also notes that the two chapters are juxtaposed since one predicts the exile and the other the return.  However, he does not agree with the possibility that the prophecy was meant to comfort Yeshayahu's own generation as well. See his alternative explanation below.

³ Shadal, however, does not explain why Hashem would prefer that Yeshayahu store the message, when Hashem could have simply relayed it to a later prophet. Since much of the prophecy focuses on reassuring the people that Hashem keeps His word, perhaps knowing that the prophecy was predicted over a century and a half before its fulfillment served to increase the people's faith in Hashem.

⁴ undefined

⁵ See Yirmeyahu 25:11-12.

⁶ Ibn Ezra explains that the path is called "דֶּרֶךְ י"י" because it leads back to the Mountain of Hashem.

⁷ Since there is no evidence that the return from Babylonia was accompanied by miraculous events, this position cannot read the verse  literally. [It is possible, however, that, regardless, these sources might have read the verse metaphorically.]

⁸ R"Y Kara, following Targum Yonatan, also reads the line as a metaphor, but for the rising up of the lowly (Israel), and the fall of the mighty (the other nations).