Reviewing commentaries is a tricky business – particularly for me as a generalist, and an in-publisher editor of commentaries! I tend to offer my review based on the format and content of the volume, and it’s utility or otherwise to preachers and pastors. Occasionally I’ll digress into particularly theological or stylistic quirks.
Isaiah is one of those books of the Bible that lots of Christans think we know, but I find that every time I encounter it, I see something new. McCovnille’s contribution on Isaiah is a part of the ‘Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Prophetic Books’ (The first of it’s sub-section of the Old Testament, I believe, regardless, I’ll refer to it as a BECOT volume in comparison to Baker’s New Testament BECNT, which I am a big fan of). The book is physically a nicely produced hardback of just shy of 800 pages total – after 18 pages of front matter, McConville offers up a relatively short (18 page) introduction, just over 700 pages of commentary proper, and then Bibliiography, Subject, Author and Scripture and Other Ancient Writings indices round out the book. The complexity of different elements in reading and understanding Isaiah is well explained by McConville in his relatively short (17 pages) introduction: “The historical moment is always subject to the larger picture, and the lens moves easily between these poles” (p. 4), and that “the book as a historical phenomenon cannot therefore be separated from its existence as theological testimony” (p. 12). I was slightly amused by his observation that “The language of the commentary aims to be inclusive… Yahweh’s preferred pronoun, if one may put it so, is ‘he/him’, and this is used throughout” (p. 17).
The commentary follows a fairly uniform format . Each chapter of the commentary offers an overview of the section of biblical text, followed b his translation and interpretation. This tends to be in small chunks of just a few verses – which sometimes was to the detriment of reading, in my view, and occasionally interpretation. I do prefer, personally, a larger section of text. These parts are then followed by ‘Theological Reflection’, which contains in my view some of the strongest sections of this commentary.
This is a commentary that takes seriously the text we have, and what it actually says. McConville is unflinching in his comments, and this makes it a useful companion for preachers, with the technical work in place to support students and engage more academic readers. He is sensitive to intertextual features – following one of the various discussions of links between Deuteronomy and Isaiah he echoes Amos, and the Psalms, in saying “right action in the sphere of human relations makes the point powerfully that religious ceremony without the active pursuit of justice is dead. In the present context, ‘justice’ pertains to the sphere of social relations, but it is not confined to this (see further on vv. 21-26).” (p. 34). This little quotation demonstrates both the holistic reading of the text, and the clarity about meaning that the author here brings – rather than just leaving us with ‘justice’, he explains something of it’s meaning contextually. As he goes on to note, “Justice and righteousness are characteristics of God; in his purging of the city (vv. 21-26), he has acted to establish them” (p. 42). This is a reassuringly theological commentary – in the proper sense. Elsewhere, commenting on 5:25-30 we again read of God’s characteristics in relation to the text and the events therein: “The basis of Yahweh’s claim on Israel lies also in Yahweh’s character as holy and the expression of this in Yahweh’s desire for justice and righteousness (5:16)” (p. 98)
McConville’s biblical/canonical awareness extends beyond his Old Testament specialism into the New Testament reception and interpretation of Isaiah – as is most definitely appropriate! for example, commenting on 7:14, he notes “This verse is impossible, ultimately, to disentangle from its later interpretation, especially in Matt. 1:23 (See ‘Theological Reflection’ below), but it is important to read it initially in its OT context” (p. 123). The text, McConville’s interpretation and translation, lead up to a beautiful closing phrase for this section of Theological Reflection: “HIstory may remain inscrutable, but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, its end and meaning are revealed” (p. 129). Amen! The interplay of history, theology and interpretation continues through the commentary – on 11:11-16 he comments “the mighty acts of Yahweh in history are repeated in ever-new situations” (p. 187). Later, we are reminded of a primeval example: “In the image of entering a safe space and shutting the doors behind them, there is a play on NOah’s ark as a place of refuge during Yahweh’s judgement of the wicked on the earth (Cf. Gen. 7:16b) and perhaps also to the sheltering of Israel during the first Passover (Exod. 12:23).” (p. 306). The Bible is a vital tool for interpreting the Bible. And God’s attributes and actions must be a focus of both. Again, as an example, “Divine judgement in the Bible is never separate from divine grace. In the flood narrative, a condemnation of human sin as total and deserving only annihilation is followed, bizarrely, but the unheralded and unexplained: ‘But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh’… The analogy with Noah is helpful when we are confronted with the terrible images of total destruction that we find here.” (p. 392, commenting on 34:16-17).
One of the convictions that evangelicals like McConville and myself hold about the Bible is that it still speak today – and the prophetic books occasionally make for particularly challenging reading. For example, reflecting on the death of empires and the endurance of God’s rule and reign, we read “Two millennia and more after the historical bit part played by the Persian king, God’s ways in world events are largely inscrutable. The leadership of the powerful is a mix of ideology, pragmatism, ruthlessness, and benevolence. It is dangerous to set hopes on Cyruses” (p. 473). As I read this, in my devotional time, I noted in parentheses ‘TRUMP’ – but this could and should apply to any political leader. We should beware political idolatry – as Chris Wright well-expounds in his helpful Here Are Your Gods – and McConville further observes that “The savage polemic against idolatry in Isaiah is the obverse of the need to know who God truly is” (p. 528). Sometimes, though, the challenge from a text to contemporary concerns comes at the technical, textual level. Commenting on 58:6-9a, McConville notes “The last phrase in the verse, ‘smash every yoke’, changes to a second-person plural imperfect, effectively a command, ensuring that this is no abstract ethical principle but an inescapable obligation of those who are addressed” (p. 648). This commentary is a masterclass in blending application with calm and careful textual work. And ultimately, we are regularly reminded that “Yahweh’s purpose proceeds in his own time and way” (p. 716).
Whilst this is overall a very strong commentary, I did feel that at times I wanted more from McConville. In some senses, it is a slightly uneven commentary – and I wonder if that is down to the decision to by and large focus on relatively small sections of text. The 66 chapters of Isaiah are examined in 64 chapters of the book, but each of those chapters has several sub-sections. The effect is not quite as pronounced and granular as the ZECOT volume on Judges I reviewed recently, but I’m not convinced by it as a ‘mode’ of commentary writing. I’ve left till this point in my review any hint regarding McConvilles conviction or opinion around the formation and authorship of Isaiah – whilst he broadly goes with the current academic consensus, he is respectful of those who maintain the traditional view (“I have in mind, e.g., the excellent commetnaries of Oswalt, Motyer, and Webb“, p. 8 fn. 15) and thinks that the reality is a tension between “a certain unity” and the way in which “it exhibits significant differences as it develops” (p. 9). As I hope my review has intimated, I have found it profitable even though I lean strongly towards the traditional view – McConville’s respect for the text and the God it reveals is warm, and infectious. Overall, then, this is a solid modern evangelical commentary on Isaiah, that adds a significant level of detailed work to classics like Motyer’s standalone, or Robert Fyall’s helpful contribution to the ESVEC series.
4/5
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