Reading Isaiah (review)

Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 113 Reviews around the fact that Ugaritic 1 does not in this word correspond etymologically to Akkadian S. Indeed, the Ugaritic verb Srr, which is cognate to Akkadian Sarratu 'queen,' occurs as the "B" word to mlk 'to reign' (see, e.g., M. Held, Leshonenu 18 [1953]: 148). Greenfield's suggestion reminds us, too, that a comprehensive comparative study of all sibilant and (inter)dental correspondences in early Semitic languages is still a desideratum . It would be most appropriate if a volume in honor of Francis Anderson stimulated ever more probing research into the many perplexing areas of biblical Hebrew and cognate languages. Edward L. Greenstein Jewish Theological Seminary ofAmerica New York. NY 10027 READING ISAIAH. By Edgar W. Conrad. Overtures in Biblical Theology. pp. xiv + 185. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991. Paper. The past decade and a half has seen great changes in the field of Isaiah studies as scholars have begun to question the aims and methods of earlier forms of historical-critical scholarship which emphasized the recovery of the "authentic" words of the eighth-century prophet, Isaiah ben Amoz. Whereas past scholarship considered Isaiah 1-39 and Isaiah 40-55/56-66 as separate books and interpreted them accordingly, recent works have emphasized the need to consider the final form of the book of Isaiah as a whole and the implications of this reality for the shaping of the presentation of Isaiah ben Amoz in the context of the book that bears his name. Conrad's volume must be understood in the context of both the current debate over the interpretation of the book of Isaiah and the paradigm shift that is taking place in the general field of biblical studies with the emergence of new literary methodologies that emphasize the need to consider a text in and of itself. He challenges the perspective and methods of past scholars who have focused their efforts on two goals: "to discover the intentions of the authors of biblical books, and to read the texts against their historical backgrounds" (p. 4). Such an emphasis on the referents of the text has resulted in the reshaping of the book of Isaiah into a collection of collections that bears little resemblance to the present form of the book and creates a gulf between the book and readers who are not trained in Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 114 Reviews historical-critical exegesis. Instead, Conrad proposes a means for reading the book that emphasizes the reception of the text on the part of its readers; that is, he focuses on the implied reader of the book to locate its meaning in the process of reading. Because redactors reshape literature to conform to their own literary and theological agendas, Conrad maintains that it is impossible to trace the redactional history of the book or to reconstruct the historical figure of Isaiah ben Amoz. The results are mixed; Conrad presents the reader with a number of original and stimulating observations on the book of Isaiah, but the limits of his approach often force him to lose sight of the hermeneutical dynamics that shape the text and its meaning. In some cases, his rigid understanding of redactional unity and his ahistorical perspective cause him to overlook features of the present text that point to its literary pre-history and its historical setting. Conrad notes, for example, the relatively insignificant role that the persona of Isaiah ben Amoz plays within the book. He is mentioned rarely, but figures prominently in the "royal narratives" of Isaiah 7 and 36-39. Building upon the work of Ackroyd and others, Conrad argues that there is a deliberate contrast between the Judean kings that figure so prominently in these narratives, Ahaz and Hezekiah, and the way in which they respond to the threat of foreign invasion and Isaiah's promise of security. According to Conrad, the contrast of the Hezekiah narrative to that of Ahaz and its placement in relation to chaps. 40ff. points to an analogy between Assyria and Babylon in the book: just as Assyria was overthrown by YHWH in the past, so Babylon will be overthrown by YHWH in the future (cf. Isa 13-14; 47). Likewise...