Isaiah 57


Isaiah 57 is the fifty-seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapter 57 is the second chapter of the final section of the Book of Isaiah, often referred to as Trito-Isaiah.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, Aleppo Codex, Codex Leningradensis.
Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls :
  • 1QIsaa: with all verses
  • 1QIsa: extant verses 1–4, 17–21
  • 4QIsad : extant verses 9–21
  • 4QIsah : extant verses 5–8
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Isaiah 57 is a part of the Consolations . : open parashah; : closed parashah.

Israel's futile idolatry (57:1–13)

Verses 1–2 contain awkward shifts between singular and plural, contrasting a group whom the prophetic tradition approves and others who are strongly condemned. Those being detested get more detailed attention with their parentage attacked, their behavior deemed childish and their evil practices spelt out at length, including sexual offences as well as child-sacrifice, which were regarded idolatrous. Verses 11–13 continue the condemnation, ending with a 'mockery of idols' resembling that in chapters 44 and 45, but also assert the 'impregnable position of those who take refuge in YHWH'.

Verses 1–2

  • "The righteous" : or "the just man" ; "Good people" ; "The godly".
  • "Evil" or "the face of evil"
These verses complain the death of the righteous that went 'unnoticed and unlamented'.

Verse 13

  • "Holy mountain": this term recalls Isaiah 56:7 with the aspirations for the Temple, and of Isaiah 11:9 with the picture of paradise restored.
The concluding promise, typical in Isaiah's polemic, is addressed to those who trust in the Lord who would 'gain title to land and control of the Jerusalem Temple'.

Healing for the contrite (57:14–21)

The double imperative in verse 14 recalls the series of such usages in chapters 49–55 to indicate the consoling contents of this section ending with an assurance of God's continuing presence with the contrite and humble, a strong contrast with the earlier passage.
Verses 19–20 provide a clear distinction between those accepted by God and 'the wicked', and the refrain, also found in Isaiah 48:22, fits naturally into its context.

Verse 14

  • "Prepare the way": applied somewhat differently than the image of the highway of salvation in Isaiah 40:3, as in this verse it seems to be figurative for 'the removal of spiritual obstacles to the redemption of Israel'.

Verse 15

God's presence with the 'downtrodden and marginalized' is associated with God's transcendence in Isaiah's vision.

Verse 17

  • "Frowardly" : literally, "turning away", "turning back" or "backsliding".

Verse 19

Peace is offered to them that are 'nigh', and to them that are 'afar off', applied by Paul as "not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile" in ; .

Jewish

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Christian

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