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4 - The Book of Isaiah in the Persian Period

from Part I - The Book of Isaiah Through History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2024

By
Lucas L. Schulte
Edited by
Christopher B. Hays
Christopher B. Hays
Affiliation:
Fuller Theological Seminary, California
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Summary

Lucas L. Schulte analyzes “The Book of Isaiah in the Persian Period.” This was a crucial time in the book’s overall development. He shows how Persian emperors were able to enlist scribal elites in various subject nations and win their support. The well-known Cyrus Cylinder from Babylon may be the most prominent example, but Isa 40–66 also reflects its own interpretation of this international Persian Royal Propaganda Model. This chapter also shows how the later parts of the book of Isaiah interacted with religious and sociopolitical issues in the postexilic Persian province, comparing and contrasting it with the viewpoints of Ezra and Nehemiah in particular.

Keywords

Isa 40-66PersianpropagandapowerprovinceEzraNehemiahscribes
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Book of Isaiah , pp. 49 - 67
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Further Reading

Alstola, Tero. Judeans in Babylonia: A Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries, Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 109. Leiden: Brill, 2020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blenkinsopp, Joseph, ‘The Servant and the Servants in Isaiah and the Formation of the Book’. Pages 155–175 in Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah, Volume 1. Edited by Broyles, Craig C. and Evans, Craig A.. Leiden: Brill, 1997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2002.Google Scholar
Fried, Lisbeth S. The Priest and the Great King: Temple-Palace Relations in the Persian Empire. Biblical and Judaic Studies from the University of California, San Diego 10. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004.Google Scholar
Fried, Lisbeth S. “Cyrus the Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1.” HTR 95 (2002): 373–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grabbe, Lester L. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period Vol. 1: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah. Library of Second Temple Studies 47. London: T&T Clark International, 2004.Google Scholar
Kuhrt, Amélie. The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. London: Routledge, 2007.Google Scholar
Lipschits, Oded. The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah under Babylonian Rule. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005.Google Scholar
Lipschits, Oded, and Oeming, Manfred. Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipschits, Oded, Knoppers, Gary N., and Albertz, Rainer. Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipschits, Oded, Knoppers, Gary N., and Oeming, Manfred, eds. Judah and the Judeans in the Achaemenid Period: Negotiating Identity in an International Context. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipschits, Oded, Gadot, Yuval, Arubas, Benjamin, Oeming, Manfred, Bocher, Efrat, Gross, Boaz, Davidovich, Uri, Taxel, Itamar, Morin, Ran, Porat, Roi, Namdar, Dvori, Farhi, Yoav, Kedem, Nirit, and Ras, Keren. What Are the Stones Whispering? Ramat Raḥel: 3000 Years of Forgotten History. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2017.Google Scholar
Potts, D. T. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Jenny. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction. London: I.B. Tauris, 2011.Google Scholar
Schulte, Lucas L. “Good Public Relations: What Persian Propaganda Tells Us About the ‘Nehemiah Memoir’” The Ancient Near East Today IV 11 (November 2016). www.asor.org/anetoday/2016/11/what-persian-propaganda-tells-us/Google Scholar
Schulte, Lucas L. My Shepherd, Though You Do Not Know Me: The Persian Royal Propaganda Model in the Nehemiah Memoir. CBET 78. Leuven: Peeters, 2016.Google Scholar
Silverman, Jason M, and Waerzeggers, Caroline. Political Memory in and After the Persian Empire. SBLANEM 13. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2015.Google Scholar
Sweeney, Marvin A. Isaiah 40–66, FOTL 19. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.Google Scholar
Wiesehöfer, Josef. Ancient Persia: from 550 bc to 650 ad. Translated by Azizeh Azodi. London: I. B. Tauris, 2001.Google Scholar
Williamson, H. G. M. Studies in Persian Period History and Historiography, FAT 38. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.Google Scholar

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