This idea of the power of the word to rule was very familiar in the ancient world. In the discussion of the problem raised by the juxtaposition of "the former things" and "the new things".
THE NEW ELEMENTS IN PROPHECY IN THE BABYLONIAN AND EARLY PERSIAN
The tremendous new factor which he introduced—and it goes far beyond all previous prophecy—was the universal review of his prediction; and Deutero-Isaiah adapted the tradition of the prophet to come, a tradition which he certainly inherited, to fit this new dimension. In contrast to Deuteronomy, what he emphasizes is the importance of the prophetic mediator to the world.45 If the interpretation of Yahweh's servant as "a prophet like Moses" is correct, this would also close the uneasy gap that is felt between the servant songs and the rest of Deutero-Isaiah's message.
PERIOD
Of course, some of these references must bear in mind the Deuteronomic seal they gave to the prophet's words. Jeremiah moved the ground and took the side of the doomed men with sympathy. Whatever the answer, it also expresses a very changed conception of the prophetic office.
LVIL. rff.), and with the failure of the ruling class to do its duty (Is. The great difficulty of expulsion had given way to the lesser of restoration and reconstruction. 2 There is no agreed answer to the question of authorship. from the last eleven chapters of Isaiah.
It must be preceded by a terrible shaking of heaven and earth; the nations must wage war among themselves, and. When he first began to preach, the rebuilding of the temple was already underway. Trito-Esajas was still ahnost completely in the dark-thought of the moving lamentation in Is.
The crew did all they could to meet the danger: but Jonah was lying inside the ship sleeping. At the end of the first part, there is a sacrifice that the sailors offer to Yahweh. In the next unit (Is. XLM.. 3) the prophet adopts the traditional motto+announces the coming of the nations.
The shortest mention of the pilgrimage of the nations is in Haggai (Hag. II. 6ff.). The theme of the eschatological pilgrimage of nations to Zion is also found several times in apocryphal literature, such as Tob. In the earlier exegesis of the prophets, two basic ideas in particular were constantly highlighted.
DANIEL AND APOCALYPTIC
No special hermeneutic method is necessary to see the whole diversified movement of the Old Testament saving events, made up of
This continuous flow of mutual understanding is clearly defined, both by the historical significance of the saving event of the New Testament, and by the unceasing movement of promise and fulfillment in the Old Testament. In this connection, some further observations should be made regarding the statements of the Old Testament on the mystery of God and on faith. a) The sign of the saving event of the New Testament is a profound greeting from God. Ancient Israel also had to carry the mystery of God's withdrawal and often spoke of the experiences and trials this involved.
The man whom the royal psalms envisage as designated by God as king of the whole world (Pss. Yahweh's mystery is given new and even more mysterious features in the preaching of the prophets. To this extent the existence of the old Israel in which everything centered on faith is repeated in the Christian Church.
Of course, this contrast between faith in the Old Testament and faith in the New does not do full justice to the new territory broken into by the preaching of the prophets, the break with the past and the radical reference of faith to the eschatology. Israel's proleptic experiences in her history find their fulfillment in the relationship between the saving events of the Old and New Testaments. Even where the Old Testament event closely foreshadows the redemptive event of Christ's coming—as with Jeremiah, for example—it is but a shadow of reality.43 The redemptive blessings of the New Testament are very precious indeed. other than that which Yahweh used to give Israel her impetus.
A large number of the texts transmitted in the Old Testament itself show a remarkable diversity of hermeneutical threads. For the field within which all these texts are interpreted extends from the time when the events they contain were first recorded to their final interpretation in the light of the salvific event of Christ's coming. On the other hand, however, Christianity has always gone almost overboard in its eagerness to connect Old Testament material with the life of Christ and adapt it to the needs of the new faith.
This example has been followed to this day in the use of the Old Testament in Christian worship. Because here language taken from the worship of ancient Israel is used inventively in the invocation of God and of Jesus Christ, and in commemoration of the New Testament salvation event. In light of the way in which the Old Testament and New Testament salvation events interpret each other, the process is completely consistent.