Reading “House of Jacob” in Isaiah 48:1–11 in Light of Benjamin

Quine, Cat

Abstract

Isaiah 48:1-11 has been described as a difficult passage due to a perceived discord between its harsh tone and the message of comfort espoused elsewhere in Isaiah 40-55. This paper analyses this passage with regard to four groups of arguments, namely, proposals of a Judahite origin for the text, the archaeological evidence for settlement continuity in the Benjaminite region in the Neo-Babylonian period, the development and use of the patriarchal traditions in the sixth century, and studies of hidden polemic. By drawing these together, this paper proposes that the house of Jacob in Isaiah 48:1-2, could be understood as addressing a sixth century Judahite community in the Benjaminite region, perhaps in the vicinity of Bethel.

Citation

Quine, C. (2018). Reading “House of Jacob” in Isaiah 48:1–11 in Light of Benjamin. Journal of Biblical Literature, 137(2), 339-357. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1372.2018.292881

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 14, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Biblical Literature
• Print ISSN: 0021-9231
• Electronic ISSN: 1934-3876
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 137
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 339-357
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1372.2018.292881
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/869906
• Publisher URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15699/jbl.1372.2018.292881