Isaiah 56:9–59:21 and the Pursuit of שלום

Abstract

Isaiah 56:9–59:21 is a carefully constructed unit with a coherent rhetorical agenda. By reinvigorating traditional prophetic literary materials, it aims to reform some traditional practices, revitalize social structures, and point toward a conception of שלום as the product of Yhwh’s action. The unit serves the larger construction of Isaiah 56–66 as a whole. It may be read as an attempt to reimagine the world without Persian rule while not identifying that rule as a sort of given against which it must define itself. That complex approach to persuasion and audience agency shows a level of creativity not always associated with this text.