Isaiah: Four
Keys of Interpretation
(A summary prepared by
Steven Montgomery
of Avraham Gileadi's book, The Book of Isaiah: A
New Translation with interpretive keys from the Book of Mormon)
Four Keys of
Interpretation:
-
Spirit of Prophecy (see 2 Nephi 25:4)
-
Letter of Prophecy (see 2 Nephi 25:5)
-
Searching (see 3 Nephi 23:1)
-
Types (see 3 Nephi 23:2)
Regarding the "letter of Prophecy," the Jews rely on interpretive devices
such as types and shadows, allegorical language, literary patterns,
underlying structures, parallelism, double meaning, key words, code names,
and many other mechanical tools. Below are some governing structures:
Governing structures:
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Near Eastern
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Egyptian: Sinuhe Story: Trouble at Home, Exile Abroad, Happy
Homecoming
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The Monomyth or Hero Journey: Separation, Initiation, Return
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Ugaritic
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Myth of Baal and Anath:The themes of Apostasy, Judgement, Restoration,
Salvation as found in Isaiah parallel the Babylonian themes of
Threat, War, Victory and Feast.
-
-
One Ugaritic cycle encompasses the whole book of Isaiah:
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Apostasy---------- Isaiah 10-34
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Judgment--------- Isaiah 10-34
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Restoration-------- Isaiah 30-59
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Salvation------------Isaiah 60-66
-
Local Ugaritic themes exist throughout Isaiah. Several examples:
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Apostasy
|
Judgment
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Restoration
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Salvation
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Isaiah 1:20-23
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Isaiah 1:24
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Isaiah 1: 25-26
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Isaiah 1:27
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Isaiah 1:28-29
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Isaiah 1:30-31
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Isaiah 2:2-3
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Isaiah 2:4-5
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Isaiah 57:11
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Isaiah 57:12-13
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Isaiah 57:13-14
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Isaiah 57:15
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Isaiah 57:16-17
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Isaiah 57:17
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Isaiah 57:18
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Isaiah 57:19
|
-
Zion Ideology
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General: Encompassing the whole book of Isaiah
-
-
Destruction or Judgement of the wicked----------Isaiah 1-36
-
Deliverance or establishment of the righteous-----Isaiah 40-66
-
At the appearance or ascension to the throne of a righteous Davidic
King-----Isaiah 37-39
-
Local: Every time Isaiah mentions ZION these ideas come together. The
Davidic King mostly appears under a pseudonym: Ensign, Staff, Hand, Arm,
Righteousness, etc. (Note: Under the Davidic Covenant God pledges to
protect the King's people as long as the King remains loyal. Under the
Sinaitic Covenant every person has to be loyal to merit protection. The
Davidic Covenant follows the pattern of ancient near eastern covenant of
grant between a suzerain and vassal king--the suzerain protects the
people of the vassal king as long as the vassal king remains loyal, for
example, King Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:33-36 and Isaiah 38: 2-6)
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Covenantal Malediction and Benediction
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Covenantal Malediction-----Isaiah 1-39
-
Covenantal Benediction-----Isaiah 40-66
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Bifid Chiastic Structure (original to Isaiah)
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Ruin and Renascence (Isaiah 1-5; 34-35)
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Recalcitrance and Compliance (Isaiah 6-8; 36-41)
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Punishment and Deliverance (Isaiah 9-12; 41-46)
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Humiliation and Exaltation (Isaiah 13-23; 47
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Suffering and Salvation (Isaiah 24-27; 48-54)
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Disloyalty and Loyalty (Isaiah 28-31; 55-59)
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Disinheritance and Inheritance (Isaiah 32-33; 60-66)
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Forms of Speech (small literary patterns)
Lawsuit (Isaiah 1:10-20)
|
Messenger Speech [Thus says the Lord] (Isaiah 7:3-9; 30:8-17)
|
|
Woe Oracle (Isaiah 5:8-24)
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Prophetic Lament [How?] (Isaiah 1:21)
|
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Priestly Sermons (Isaiah 8:11-17; 51:1-8)
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Parable (Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:2-6)
|
|
Song of Salvation (Isaiah 12:1-6; 26:1-6)
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Proclamation of Judgement?
|
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Ethical Sermon?
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The Parable?
|
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Commission Formula* (Isaiah 6:9)
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Proclamation Formula* (Isaiah 28:23; 49:1)
|
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Oath Formula* (Isaiah 14:24; 62:8; 45:23)
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Revelation Formula* (Isaiah 7:3; 8:3; 21:16)
|
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Prophetic Call Narrative (Isaiah 6:1-13)
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Prophetic Symbolic Actions (Isaiah 20:1-6)
|
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Prophetic Lawsuit (Isaiah 1:2-3, 18-20)
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Prophetic Vision (Isaiah 6)
|
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Judgment Oracle* (Isaiah 3:12; 29:13-14)
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Recognition Formula* (Isaiah 45:3; 49:23)
|
-
Parallelism (the smallest structure)
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Synonymous Parallelism
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Antithetical Parallelism [contrasts one word or idea with another]
(Isaiah 45:7)
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Metaphors
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Key Words: Individual metaphorical terms such as Sea, River, Razor,
Light, Hand, Ensign, Staff, Anger, Litter
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Transcendent Drama: Struggle between the Archtyrant and the Davidic
King
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Hebrew Language--Several Examples:
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Seraph: Fiery or Holy Ones
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Consummation: Fulness
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Mist: Denotes the presence of the Lord
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Undone: Struck dumb (As in the Egyptian opening of the mouth ceremony)
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Searching (3 Nephi 22:1)
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Reading between the lines: Isaiah is not to be fully understood simply
by reading the words. We must search them out and make connections,
study things out in our minds, and otherwise read between the lines.
?Not found in Gileadi's book,
The Book
of Isaiah: A New Translation with interpretive keys from the Book of Mormon,
but he mentions these forms of speech in an article published
in the book, Isaiah and the Prophets: Inspired
Voices From The Old Testament, by Monte S. Nyman.
*Donald W. Parry, in a review partly laudatory and partly critical of
Gileadi's book, mentioned these forms of speech as examples where Gileadi
fell short of making a complete list of prophetic speech forms.
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