The Rhetorical Design of Isaiah 40-48/55

Pieter van der Lugt, Ph.D. (1980), Theological University of Kampen, the Netherlands. His publications deal with the rhetorical structure of classical Hebrew poetry and include Rhetorical Criticism and the Poetry of the Book of Job (OTS 32, Brill, 1995) and Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry I, II, and III (OTS 53/57/63, Brill, 2006/2010/2014).

Preface

Abbreviations



I Looking Back and Forward

 1 Delimitation of Poems in Isaiah 40–55: Various Methods, Coinciding Objectives

 2 Methodology



II Prologue: Isaiah 40,1–11

 1 Isaiah 40,1–8

 2 Isaiah 40,9–11



III The First Cycle: Isaiah 40,12–41,29

 1 Isaiah 40,12–26

 2 Isaiah 40,27–31

 3 Isaiah 41,1–7

 4 Isaiah 41,8–16

 5 Isaiah 41,17–20

 6 Isaiah 41,21–29



IV The Second Cycle: Isaiah 42,1–44,5

 1 Isaiah 42,1–12

 2 Isaiah 42,13–17

 3 Isaiah 42,18–25

 4 Isaiah 43,1–8

 5 Isaiah 43,9–15

 6 Isaiah 43,16–21

 7 Isaiah 43,22–28

 8 Isaiah 44,1–5



V The Third Cycle: Isaiah 44,6–45,25

 1 Isaiah 44,6–8

 2 Isaiah 44,9–20

 3 Isaiah 44,21–23

 4 Isaiah 44,24–45,8

 5 Isaiah 45,9–13

 6 Isaiah 45,14–25



VI The Fourth Cycle: Isaiah 46–48

 1 Isaiah 46,3–13

 2 Isaiah 47

 3 Isaiah 48,1–19

 4 Isaiah 46,1–2 and 48,20–21



VII Systematic Observations or an Introduction to the Design of Biblical Hebrew Poetry

 1 Canto Design of Isaiah 40–55 in Terms of Poetic Lines

 2 Word Repetitions at Strategic Positions

 3 Tricola and the Structure of Poems

 4 Transition Markers

 5 Numerical Perfection and Meaning

 6 Abrupt Switches at the End of a Poem



VIII The Rhetorical Design of Isaiah 40–55 in Terms of Cycles of Poems

 1 Previous Research

 2 Prologue: Isaiah 40,1–11

 3 Cycle I (40,12–41,29): Unmasking the Gods

 4 Cycle II (42,1–44,5): There is a Way Home

 5 Cycle III (44,6–45,25): Cyrus is the Agent

 6 Cycle IV (Isaiah 46–48): Babylon’s Ruin

 7 Cycle V (49,1–50,3): The Return to Zion

 8 Cycle VI (50,4–52,12): Summons to Awake

 9 Cycle VII: Trust in God (52,13–55,13)

 10 Overall Design Isaiah 40–55

 11 Special Bibliography



Appendix I: Poetic Design of Cycles V–VII and Isaiah 35: A Provisional Survey

Appendix II: Shared Significant Vocabulary: An Outline

Glossary

General bibliography