Isaiah’s Warning: Piety without Justice Leads to the Fall of Jerusalem

Sennacherib, emperor of Assyria in the late-eighth and early-seventh centuries B.C.E., invaded Judah in 701, during the reign of Hezekiah. His forces destroyed every major city other than Jerusalem, which he besieged but failed to capture. In Sennacherib’s Annals, an Assyrian text preserved on three clay prisms, the emperor chronicles these exploits in the first person, famously bragging that he captured Hezekiah “like a bird in a cage.” Despite the disagreements between the biblical and Assyrian sources on the details (no doubt owing to their different agendas), both suggest the general outlines of an event that scholars affirm really did happen.^[1]

Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem was one of the most significant political and military events in the lifetime of the prophet Isaiah. It is depicted explicitly in Isaiah 36.^[2] It is also alluded to in the opening chapter of the book, which consists of three main sections.

1. Judah Rebels and Is Destroyed (vv. 2–9)

The chapter begins with YHWH’s complaint about Israel’s rebelliousness:

^{ישעיה א:ב} שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמַיִם וְהַאֲזִינִי אֶרֶץ כִּי יְ־הוָה דִּבֵּר בָּנִים גִּדַּלְתִּי וְרוֹמַמְתִּי וְהֵם פָּשְׁעוּ בִי. ^א:ג יָדַע שׁוֹר קֹנֵהוּ וַחֲמוֹר אֵבוּס בְּעָלָיו יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַע עַמִּי לֹא הִתְבּוֹנָן. ^א:ד הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא עַם כֶּבֶד עָו‍ֹן זֶרַע מְרֵעִים בָּנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים עָזְבוּ אֶת יְ־הוָה נִאֲצוּ אֶת קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל נָזֹרוּ אָחוֹר.

^{Isa 1:2} Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for YHWH has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up—and they have rebelled against me! ^1:3 An ox knows its owner, a donkey its master’s crib: Israel does not know, my people takes no thought.” ^1:4 Ah, sinful nation! People laden with iniquity! Brood of evildoers! Depraved children! They have forsaken YHWH, spurned the Holy One of Israel, turned their backs.”^[3]

YHWH then asks rhetorically why the Judahites continue to receive so much punishment for their behavior, using the metaphor of Judah as a sick body:

^{ישעיה א:ה} עַל מֶה תֻכּוּ עוֹד תּוֹסִיפוּ סָרָה כָּל רֹאשׁ לָחֳלִי וְכָל לֵבָב דַּוָּי. ^א:ו מִכַּף רֶגֶל וְעַד רֹאשׁ אֵין בּוֹ מְתֹם פֶּצַע וְחַבּוּרָה וּמַכָּה טְרִיָּה לֹא זֹרוּ וְלֹא חֻבָּשׁוּ וְלֹא רֻכְּכָה בַּשָּׁמֶן.

^{Isa 1:5} Why do you seek further beatings, that you continue to offend? Every head is ailing, and every heart is sick. ^1:6 From head to foot no spot is sound: All bruises, and welts, and festering sores—not pressed out, not bound up, not softened with oil.

At this point, Isaiah switches from metaphor to reality, describing how Judah and Jerusalem are in dire straits because of an invader:

^{ישעיה א:ז} אַרְצְכֶם שְׁמָמָה עָרֵיכֶם שְׂרֻפוֹת אֵשׁ אַדְמַתְכֶם לְנֶגְדְּכֶם זָרִים אֹכְלִים אֹתָהּ וּשְׁמָמָה כְּמַהְפֵּכַת זָרִים. ^א:ח וְנוֹתְרָה בַת צִיּוֹן כְּסֻכָּה בְכָרֶם כִּמְלוּנָה בְמִקְשָׁה כְּעִיר נְצוּרָה.

^{Isa 1:7} Your land is a waste, your cities burnt down; before your eyes, the yield of your so is consumed by strangers—a wasteland as overthrown by strangers! ^1:8 Fair Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city beleaguered.

Scholars widely agree that this alludes to Sennacherib. The description of Jerusalem as isolated amid the broader devastation of the land, still standing but severely diminished, lines up strikingly well with the situation in Judah following Sennacherib’s campaign. In a now-classic article from forty years ago, Peter Machinist noted that the opening phrase (v. 7) appears to be a Hebrew calque of a formula used by many Assyrian emperors in their descriptions of conquest: “The city I devastated, destroyed, burned with fire, consumed it.”^[4]

These verses in Isaiah, then, are a poetic, theologized retelling of Sennacherib’s siege. The prophet claims that YHWH was behind it all. Judah’s own deity dispatched the Assyrians in order to punish the people for their rebelliousness (cf. Isa 10:5). They just barely survived—but only by YHWH’s grace:

^{ישעיה א:ט} לוּלֵי יְ־הוָה צְבָאוֹת הוֹתִיר לָנוּ שָׂרִיד כִּמְעָט כִּסְדֹם הָיִינוּ לַעֲמֹרָה דָּמִינוּ׃

^{Isa 1:9} Had not YHWH of Hosts left us some survivors, we should be like Sodom, another Gomorrah.

The implication for a listener in Isaiah’s time would have been that Judah is not out of the woods yet. Assyria is still an unprecedented regional power. If the people do not improve their conduct, nothing is stopping YHWH from dispatching the Assyrian invaders again—this time, perhaps, to finish the job.

2. Judah’s Worship Is Worthless Since They Oppress the Weak (vv. 10–17)

The second section of the chapter transitions seamlessly from the first, using the same imagery of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet whereas the previous reference suggested that Judah had narrowly escaped the legendary cities’ destruction, Isaiah now bitingly addresses the audience as embodiments of the cities themselves:

^{ישעיה א:י} שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר יְ־הוָה קְצִינֵי סְדֹם הַאֲזִינוּ תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ עַם עֲמֹרָה.

^{Isa 1:10} Hear the word of YHWH, you chieftains of Sodom; give ear to our God’s instruction, you folk of Gomorrah!

At this point, we might expect YHWH to list the sins that would justify this comparison. Surprisingly, however, he mentions the Judahites’ pious observance of ritual:

^{ישעיה א:יא} לָמָּה לִּי רֹב זִבְחֵיכֶם יֹאמַר יְ־הוָה שָׂבַעְתִּי עֹלוֹת אֵילִים וְחֵלֶב מְרִיאִים וְדַם פָּרִים וּכְבָשִׂים וְעַתּוּדִים לֹא חָפָצְתִּי. ^א:יב כִּי תָבֹאוּ לֵרָאוֹת פָּנָי מִי־בִקֵּשׁ זֹאת מִיֶּדְכֶם רְמֹס חֲצֵרָי. ^א:יג לֹא תוֹסִיפוּ הָבִיא מִנְחַת שָׁוְא קְטֹרֶת תּוֹעֵבָה הִיא לִי...

^{Isa 1:11} “What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says YHWH. “I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, and suet of fatlings, and blood of bulls; and I have no delight in lambs and he-goats. ^1:12 That you come to appear before me—who asked that of you, trampling my courts ^1:13 no more. Bringing oblations is futile; incense is offensive to me…”

The Jerusalem cult is thriving—but YHWH rejects the extravagant offerings. The same is true of the Judahite festivals:

^{ישעיה א:יג} ...חֹדֶשׁ וְשַׁבָּת קְרֹא מִקְרָא לֹא אוּכַל אָוֶן וַעֲצָרָה. ^א:יד חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם שָׂנְאָה נַפְשִׁי הָיוּ עָלַי לָטֹרַח נִלְאֵיתִי נְשֹׂא.

^{Isa 1:13} …new moon and sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide. ^1:14 Your new moons and fixed seasons fill me with loathing; they are become a burden to me; I cannot endure them.

YHWH even ignores the people’s prayers:

^{ישעיה א:טו} וּבְפָרִשְׂכֶם כַּפֵּיכֶם אַעְלִים עֵינַי מִכֶּם גַּם כִּי תַרְבּוּ תְפִלָּה אֵינֶנִּי שֹׁמֵעַ...

^{Isa 1:15} And when you lift up your hands,^[5] I will turn my eyes away from you. Though you pray at length, I will not listen…

In these ways, Isaiah depicts the Judahites as profoundly pious in a certain sense—offering sacrifices, celebrating festivals, and praying—but all in vain. It is only at this point that YHWH explains why he rejects this kind of “piety”:

^{ישעיה א:טו} ...יְדֵיכֶם דָּמִים מָלֵאוּ. ^א:טז רַחֲצוּ הִזַּכּוּ הָסִירוּ רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיכֶם מִנֶּגֶד עֵינָי חִדְלוּ הָרֵעַ. ^א:יז לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה.

^{Isa 1:15} … Your hands are stained with blood—^1:16 Wash yourselves clean. Put your evil doings away from my sight; cease to do evil; ^1:17 learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow.

Now, finally, we have the whole picture. Judah is offering their lavish worship to YHWH while failing to care for the most vulnerable members of society.^[6] This theme connects with the earlier mention of Sodom and Gomorrah because these cities were associated with mistreatment of the vulnerable; see, e.g., Ezekiel’s claim about Sodom’s wealth versus lack of care for the vulnerable:

^{יחזקאל טז:מט} הִנֵּה זֶה הָיָה עֲו‍ֹן סְדֹם אֲחוֹתֵךְ גָּאוֹן שִׂבְעַת לֶחֶם וְשַׁלְוַת הַשְׁקֵט הָיָה לָהּ וְלִבְנוֹתֶיהָ וְיַד עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן לֹא הֶחֱזִיקָה.

^{Ezek 16:49} Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy.

Indeed, these things might well be at direct cross-purposes: the material resources being used for sacrifice—livestock, grain, oil, etc.—could instead be given as food for the impoverished.

The Judahites’ worship, ostensibly dedicated to YHWH, does not reflect YHWH’s own concerns: for YHWH, care for human beings ought to take precedence over sacrifices and ritual.^[7] As Moshe Greenberg put it, “The worship tendered by villains was worse than worthless; it was hateful to YHWH.”^[8] This idea has direct parallels in the other prophets who purportedly lived in the eighth century (Hos 6:6; Amos 5:21–24; Mic 6:6–8).^[9]

Abundant Sacrificial Worship During a Siege?

The abundance of offerings that YHWH rejects in this second section of the chapter might seem to be in tension with the siege and destruction alluded to in the first section. In the later narrative depiction of Sennacherib’s siege, for instance, the Assyrian emissary (the Rabshakeh) sarcastically describes the inevitable starvation of Jerusalem’s inhabitants in his warning to the people:

^{ישעיה לו:יב} וַיֹּאמֶר רַב שָׁקֵה הַאֶל אֲדֹנֶיךָ וְאֵלֶיךָ שְׁלָחַנִי אֲדֹנִי לְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה הֲלֹא עַל הָאֲנָשִׁים הַיֹּשְׁבִים עַל הַחוֹמָה לֶאֱכֹל אֶת (חראיהם) [צוֹאָתָם] וְלִשְׁתּוֹת אֶת (שיניהם) [מֵימֵי רַגְלֵיהֶם] עִמָּכֶם.^[10]

^{Isa 36:12} “Was it to your master and to you that my master sent me to speak those words? It was precisely to the men who are sitting on the wall—who will have to eat their dung and drink their urine with you.” (cf. 2 Kgs 18:27)

This matches the broader picture of siege warfare in the ancient Near East.^[11] If Assyria has cut off Jerusalem from material resources, where are the Judahites getting all of the animals and other items necessary to perform the lavish temple worship that so offends YHWH?

a. A Single Oracle Reflecting a Desperate Response to Siege?

One solution, which attempts to read the oracles as an original, coherent sequence despite the seeming tension, is that the worship is apotropaic: it is a ritual designed to solicit YHWH’s intervention to ward off evil. With Assyria at the gates, Judah takes everything it has left and mobilizes it toward a massive display that will hopefully be elaborate enough to win over YHWH in this dire hour.^[12] Indeed, Isaiah later describes rapid feasting on what remained during a siege—as was common in the ancient Near East—in a passage that perhaps refers to the same event:

^{ישעיה כב:יב}‏ וַיִּקְרָא אֲדֹנָי יְ־הוִה צְבָאוֹת בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לִבְכִי וּלְמִסְפֵּד וּלְקָרְחָה וְלַחֲגֹר שָׂק. ^יב:יג‏ וְהִנֵּה שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה הָרֹג בָּקָר וְשָׁחֹט צֹאן אָכֹל בָּשָׂר וְשָׁתוֹת יָיִן אָכוֹל וְשָׁתוֹ כִּי מָחָר נָמוּת.

^{Isa 22:12} My Lord YHWH of Hosts summoned on that day to weeping and lamenting, to tonsuring and girding with sackcloth. ^22:13 Instead, there was rejoicing and merriment, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

On this reading, the threat of scarcity amid siege explains both why Judah is offering elaborate worship and why YHWH finds it so offensive. In such dire straits, Judah should be expending its limited resources on helping the needy; that is what might convince YHWH that they merit saving. Instead, they try to curry YHWH’s favor by giving the resources directly to him. He angrily responds that he is not so vain as to be swayed by this.

This reading has the benefit of allowing for a single meaning and maintaining logical flow from the first to the second parts of the chapter. However, a difficulty is that the verses expressing YHWH’s complaint about the sacrifices say nothing about a siege. The same is true about the verses about abusing the widow and orphan, which do not address the fact that during a siege, the wealthy themselves would also (eventually) be starving.

b. Originally Unrelated Oracles, Combined by an Editor?

A stronger explanation is that the two sections of the chapter were originally unrelated oracles. They both originated in the eighth century, in the time of Isaiah himself. However, while the former oracle was written in the wake of Sennacherib’s siege, the latter stemmed from an earlier time when the nation was still prosperous.

At some point, a redactor gathered several short oracles attributed to Isaiah, including these two, and shaped them into a thematic introduction to a larger Isaiah collection.^[13] The references to Sodom and Gomorrah were used as catchwords to facilitate this combination. As a preface to the critique of vain worship, the description of the siege took on new theological significance beyond the original historical event: it was now a metaphor for the spiritual state of a wealthy society that is outwardly pious but fails in its ethical obligations to its vulnerable elements.^[14]

3. Judah Can Still Be Restored—If The People Change Their Behavior (vv. 18–31)

The third and final section of the chapter explains that despite Judah’s terrible injustice, they are not yet beyond the point of no return. If they choose to follow YHWH, there is still hope that they will survive:

^{ישעיה א:יח} לְכוּ נָא וְנִוָּכְחָה יֹאמַר יְ־הוָה אִם יִהְיוּ חֲטָאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים כַּשֶּׁלֶג יַלְבִּינוּ אִם יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע כַּצֶּמֶר יִהְיוּ. ^א:יט אִם תֹּאבוּ וּשְׁמַעְתֶּם טוּב הָאָרֶץ תֹּאכֵלוּ.

^{Isa 1:18} “Come, let us settle this”—says YHWH. “Be your sins like crimson, they can turn snow-white; be they red as dyed wool, they can become like fleece.” ^1:19 If, then, you agree and give heed, you will eat the good things of the earth.

However, if they decline to change their ways, they will face the destruction that was previewed in Sennacherib’s siege:

^{ישעיה א:כ} וְאִם תְּמָאֲנוּ וּמְרִיתֶם חֶרֶב תְּאֻכְּלוּ כִּי פִּי יְ־הוָה דִּבֵּר.

^{Isa 1:20} But if you refuse and disobey, you will be eaten [by] the sword, for YHWH has spoken.

Isaiah (it now seems to be the prophet himself speaking again) then laments the state of Jerusalem, echoing the description of corruption and injustice discussed in the second section of the chapter:

^{ישעיה א:כא} אֵיכָה הָיְתָה לְזוֹנָה קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה מְלֵאֲתִי מִשְׁפָּט צֶדֶק יָלִין בָּהּ וְעַתָּה מְרַצְּחִים. ^א:כב כַּסְפֵּךְ הָיָה לְסִיגִים סָבְאֵךְ מָהוּל בַּמָּיִם. ^א:כג שָׂרַיִךְ סוֹרְרִים וְחַבְרֵי גַּנָּבִים כֻּלּוֹ אֹהֵב שֹׁחַד וְרֹדֵף שַׁלְמֹנִים יָתוֹם לֹא יִשְׁפֹּטוּ וְרִיב אַלְמָנָה לֹא יָבוֹא אֲלֵיהֶם.

^{Isa 1:21} Alas, she has become a harlot, the faithful city that was filled with justice, where righteousness dwelt—but now murderers. ^1:22 Your silver has turned to dross; your wine is cut with water. ^1:23 Your rulers are rogues and cronies of thieves, every one avid for presents and greedy for gifts. They do not judge the case of the orphan, and the widow’s cause never reaches them.

The prophet then reveals YHWH’s plan. The deity himself will take steps to restore Judah to the morally upright society that it had once been:

^{ישעיה א:כד} לָכֵן נְאֻם הָאָדוֹן יְ־הוָה צְבָאוֹת אֲבִיר יִשְׂרָאֵל הוֹי אֶנָּחֵם מִצָּרַי וְאִנָּקְמָה מֵאוֹיְבָי. ^א:כה וְאָשִׁיבָה יָדִי עָלַיִךְ וְאֶצְרֹף כַּבֹּר סִיגָיִךְ וְאָסִירָה כָּל בְּדִילָיִךְ. ^א:כו וְאָשִׁיבָה שֹׁפְטַיִךְ כְּבָרִאשֹׁנָה וְיֹעֲצַיִךְ כְּבַתְּחִלָּה אַחֲרֵי כֵן יִקָּרֵא לָךְ עִיר הַצֶּדֶק קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה. ^א:כז צִיּוֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה.

^{Isa 1:24} Assuredly, this is the declaration of the Sovereign, YHWH of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get satisfaction from my foes; I will wreak vengeance on my enemies! ^1:25 I will turn my hand against you, and smelt out your dross has with lye, and remove all your slag: ^1:26 I will restore your magistrates as of old, and your counselors as of yore. After that you shall be called City of Righteousness, Faithful City.” ^1:27 Zion shall be saved in the judgment; her repentant ones, in the retribution.

It is not entirely clear how this relates to the changed behavior that YHWH demanded a few verses earlier. Does his intervention follow this change? Does it enable this change in the first place? Regardless, what is clear is that YHWH will not allow this unjust society to continue—but he will also ensure that it is not destroyed. One way or another, he will see to its reinstatement.

The Final Verses of the Chapter (vv. 28–31): Another Redactional Seam

The final verses of Isaiah 1 return to the theme of punishment. However, suddenly the threat is not against Judah as a whole. Rather, it now targets individual sinners within Judah:

^{ישעיה א:כח} וְשֶׁבֶר פֹּשְׁעִים וְחַטָּאִים יַחְדָּו וְעֹזְבֵי יְ־הוָה יִכְלוּ. ^א:כט‏ כִּי יֵבֹשׁוּ מֵאֵילִים אֲשֶׁר חֲמַדְתֶּם וְתַחְפְּרוּ מֵהַגַּנּוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּחַרְתֶּם. ^א:ל‏ כִּי תִהְיוּ כְּאֵלָה נֹבֶלֶת עָלֶהָ וּכְגַנָּה אֲשֶׁר־מַיִם אֵין לָהּ. ‎^א:לא‏ וְהָיָה הֶחָסֹן לִנְעֹרֶת וּפֹעֲלוֹ לְנִיצוֹץ וּבָעֲרוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּו וְאֵין מְכַבֶּה.

^{Isa 1:28} But rebels and sinners shall all be crushed, and those who forsake YHWH shall perish. ^1:29 Truly, you shall be shamed because of the terebinths you desired, and you shall be confounded because of the gardens you coveted. ^1:30 For you shall be like a terebinth wilted of leaf, and like a garden that has no water, ^1:31 Stored wealth shall become as tow, and he who amassed it a spark; and the two shall burn together, with none to quench.

This more specific focus on wicked individuals is out of place in Isaiah 1 and the chapters that immediately follow it, which are typically concerned with the people as a whole. However, it fits well with the closing chapters of the book of Isaiah, where intra-community divisions between the righteous and wicked are a major theme. The very last line of the book is a good example:

^{ישעיה סו:כד} וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ בְּפִגְרֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַפֹּשְׁעִים בִּי כִּי תוֹלַעְתָּם לֹא תָמוּת וְאִשָּׁם לֹא תִכְבֶּה וְהָיוּ דֵרָאוֹן לְכָל בָּשָׂר....

^{Isa 66:24} They [i.e., the righteous] shall go out and gaze on the corpses of the men who rebelled against me: Their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched; they shall be a horror to all flesh….

In this light, the closing verses of Isaiah 1 appear to be another seam that is best explained by positing that the chapter emerged through a redactor’s combination of originally discrete oracles. By appending this oracle to Isaiah 1, the redactor brought the depiction of judgment against Judah in the previous oracles into alignment with how the concluding chapters of the book approach this issue.

The Three “Isaiahs” and the Editing of the Book

Isaiah son of Amoz supposedly lived in Jerusalem in the late eighth century B.C.E., as indicated by the kings listed in the opening verse. Much of the first half of the book (chs. 1–39) may plausibly be traced to this era.^[15] Indeed, it generally matches the profile that emerges from the three other purportedly eighth-century prophets: Hosea, Micah, and Amos. As we have seen, it also addresses international politics in ways that align with the geopolitical situation at that time. Scholars call this material “First Isaiah.”

By contrast, the second half of the book (chs. 40–66) was produced at least a couple centuries later. Most scholars, following the influential paradigm of Bernhard Duhm (1847–1928, Germany), divide this material into two subsections. The former, consisting of chs. 40–55, is generally held to have been written in the Babylonian exile shortly after Persia’s conquest of Babylon (539 B.C.E.). It excitedly portrays this momentous event as YHWH’s working through history to redeem his exiled people. Scholars call this unit “Second Isaiah” or Deutero-Isaiah.

The third section, consisting of chs. 56–66, is generally believed to have been written decades after Second Isaiah—perhaps in the mid-fifth century B.C.E., around the time of the restoration activities depicted in Ezra-Nehemiah. This unit reflects a perspective back in the land (now the Persian province of Yehud) as returnees struggled with difficult material conditions and, as we have noted, sectarian infighting. Scholars call it “Third Isaiah” or Trito-Isaiah.^[16]

The appearance of Trito-Isaianic ideas at the beginning of the book, in the conspicuous final verses of Isaiah 1, suggests that the editing of this chapter took place in the Second Temple period, in connection with the scribes who wrote Third Isaiah. These scribes took individual eighth-century oracles, archived in an “Isaiah file,” so to speak, and combined them with newer writings in order to create an introduction that anticipated the language and themes of the emerging book of Isaiah.

This would have been at least two-and-a-half centuries after Sennacherib’s siege. Far removed from that event, these scribes transformed the description of it in Isa 1:2–9 for new theological purposes. In this way, Isaiah 1 provides insight into how the book of Isaiah—like all the biblical prophetic books—is the product of continual exegesis and reworking by ancient scribes. As D. Andrew Teeter has helpfully put it, these books “record the evolutionary development of a history of meaning.”^[17]

The Haftarah for Shabbat Ḥazon: Reinterpreting Isaiah’s Message Again—for Tisha B’Av

The Jewish liturgy selects excerpts from the prophets as haftarot (prophetic readings) for various Shabbatot.^[18] In so doing, the liturgy often makes novel connections between the prophetic excerpt and the parashah that the excerpt is paired with or the season in which the excerpt is read. By recontextualizing these older texts in order to find new meaning in them, the haftarot continue the interpretive processes that produced these texts in the first place.

The Shabbat before Tisha B’Av—the day commemorating the destruction of the two Jerusalem temples, as well as numerous other Jewish tragedies—is called Shabbat Hazon after the initial word of Isaiah 1, which serves as the haftarah in many of the rabbinic liturgical rites:

^{ישעיה א:א} חֲזוֹן יְשַׁעְיָהוּ בֶן־אָמוֹץ אֲשֶׁר חָזָה עַל־יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּהוּ יוֹתָם אָחָז יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה׃

^{Isa 1:1} The prophecy (ḥazon) of Isaiah son of Amoz, who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

This prophecy is a natural choice for the haftarah before Tisha B’Av because its account of national transgression and destruction aligns with the themes of the day.^[19] Indeed, the prophet’s exclamation “Alas (eikhah), she has become a harlot, the faithful city” (Isa 1:21) uncannily recalls the name of the central liturgical text of Tisha B’Av: Lamentations (Eikhah).^[20]

Like the scribes who edited Isaiah 1, the liturgy recontextualizes and transforms the description of the Assyrian siege in the opening section of the chapter. In the context of the haftarah, this now commemorates the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem a century and a half after Sennacherib’s siege—followed yet again by the Roman destruction of Jerusalem half a millennium after that. As Shabbat Hazon blends historical eras, it emphasizes the prophet’s core theological message: YHWH’s demand for justice is fundamental, transcending any particular circumstances.