The Beauty of Holiness: Re-Reading Isaiah in the Light of the Psalms

by Joseph Blenkinsopp

Joseph Blenkinsopp presents an intertextual reading of Isaiah and the Psalms furthering his previous well-known work on the text of Isaiah. Blenkinsopp argues that, read together, these two biblical books can be shown to form a single religious vision, a way of experiencing and articulating a commitment to the fundamentals of the faith of Israel, with its own distinctive character. Blenkinsopp shows how the emphasis in Isaiah and the Psalms is on affect and emotion, the expression of joy and sorrow articulated in music, singing, and dancing; in praise, thanksgiving and lament. This represents a key difference from other parts of the Hebrew Bible where the focus is more on the Law and on the covenant at Sinai – in Isaiah and the Psalms these terms rarely occur, the focus is instead on Zion and on the Temple. Blenkinsopp shows how the temple singers, with their close connections with the circles which transmitted and eventually committed to writing the Book of Isaiah, demonstrate that the divine word is not incompatible with other forms of religious experience and expression, affective and even mystical, articulated and embodied in the performance of music, song, ritual prayer, and dance. The beauty of the Psalms is echoed strongly in Isaiah, and the Isaian vision of a Creator God, Lord of nature and history beyond the bounds of Israel, is joyfully proclaimed by the psalmists.

188 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2018

Reviews

[Micah Sharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a frustrating and disappointing book! I love the idea of a study of two biblical books together. But everything from the author’s presuppositions to conclusions are diametrically opposed to my own views. Not only do I think they’re wrong, I also find them much more boring than good biblical theology. The book is basically all source criticism and studies in sitz im leben. Boring!