Title: Reading the Book of Isaiah : destruction and lament in the holy cities /
Authors: Heskett, Randall.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan,
Year: 2011
Subjects: Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Laments in the Bible.; RELIGION / Christian Theology / History.; LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical.; RELIGION / Biblical Studies / Old Testament.; RELIGION / Theology.
Abstract: "Many scholars have approached both the origins of ancient city laments in some of the oldest Sumerian texts and how this "genre" found its way into the Tanakh/Old Testament. Randall Heskett goes a step further. He uses both historical criticism and a form-critical approach to analyze and assess Lamentation and Restoration of Destroyed Cities as oral traditions of ancient Israelite prophetic genres. He also shows how a later exilic/post-exilic redactional framework may have semantically transformed older prophetic genres about destruction and restoration to be reflexes of the events around 587 BCE"--Provided by publisher.
Contents: Introduction -- A study of city laments : their form and function -- The city, destruction, and native Israelite genres -- Cities and nations and city of God -- The divine council -- Babylon the great -- Cyrus : Messiah, restorer, and temple builder -- City-lament motifs in Isaiah 49-55 -- Concluding remarks, a lament for today, and theological reflection.