Torah portion is Shofetim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9); Haftorah is Isaiah 51:12–52:12
By Irv Jacobs, M.D.
LA JOLLA, California — These extracted Grade B (to me) mixed ‘poetic’ and prose passages, from the Book of Isaiah, are attributed to Isaiah II. Though strong on dramatic images, they are scarce in metaphor and other literary devices. They are also heavily ambiguous in messaging.
They comprise the fourth haftorah of consolation, again with no connection to the Torah parasha. The main thrust is intended to arouse the third generation of Babylon exiles ( c. 538 BCE) into a confident state of mind for return to Judea. [1]
We have dealt with this phenomenon in the earlier consolation haftorot. Since scholars conclude that there are multiple authors to all of Isaiah, one might speculate that there is a competition among them regarding each’s literary contributions.
In any case, the passages in play here are represented as the voice of God, to arouse the exiles; to urge them to enter a sense of national transformation; and finally to return from exile. [2]
Here are excepts, from the translation/interpretations of Robert Alter, emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. [3]
I, I am he Who comforts you.
What troubles you that you should fear man who dies
and the son of man who is no more than grass,
and you forget the Lord your Maker,
Who stretches out the heavens and founds the earth,
and you are in constant fear…
of the oppressor’s wrath, as he aims to destroy? [4]…
He who crouches shall quickly be freed…[5]
As for Me, the LORD your God,
Who treads the sea and its waves roar…
and saying to Zion, “You are My people.” [6]
Awake, awake,
rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of His wrath,
the chalice of poison…
Your children have fainted, are lying…
like an antelope in a net,
filled with the wrath of the LORD… [7]
You shall no longer drink from it,
and I put it in the hand of your oppressors
who said…”Bow, that we may walk over you.”
and you made your back like the ground,
like a street for passersby. [8]
Awake, awake,
don your strength, O Zion…
O Jerusalem, holy city.
For no longer shall they enter you,
the uncircumcised…
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Here the writers turn to prose, a short paragraph summary of legendary history, mainly references to past Egypt and Assyria persecutions.
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Now the haftorah’s mandatory upbeat ending:
Hark! Your watchmen raise their voice,
together they sing gladly.
For with their very eyes they shall see
when the LORD comes back to Zion…
The LORD has bared his holy arm [9]
to the eyes of all the nations…
Come out from the midst, [10]
bearers of the LORD’s vessels.
For not in haste shall you come out,
nor in flight shall you go, {11]
for the LORD goes before you,
and your rearguard is Israel’s God.
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The rabbis who chose this piece years after the ‘events,’ were clearly trying to present the return from Babylon as made possible by God, with the aid of the prophet Isaiah. In truth, likely most did not leave. They went on to fashion a successful religious community which lasted some 2565 years. Among other writings, they produced the Babylonian Talmud.
A wave of Jews left Iraq and Iran in the 1950’s, migrating largely to Israel. There followed an even larger forced emigration with the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
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NOTES
[1] Etz Hayim,The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, p. 1107
[2] Ibid, p. 1107
[3] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 796-800
[4] This is hyperbole, Alter, unable to identify the ‘oppressor’, surmises this means a generalized reference to Babylon.
[5] Alter: The Hebrew is unclear, but the general sense is that of liberation. The reality in Babylon, at the time, is that the addressed (now third) generation is hardly feeling oppressed, and is satisfied to stay. Many did.
[6] The prophet is belatedly claiming God’s function, to a people who feel no need.
[7] Hyperbolic simile, to a people assimilated and likely not feeling ‘captured.’
[8] finally a poetic simile, a dramatic image, though hyperbole.
[9] finally a metaphor
[10] metaphor for the condition of exile
[11] unlike the legendary departure from Egypt
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.