Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yon_saf AT bezeqint.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Athas" <gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 5:29 PM
Subject: Re: God is with US


> Jonathan,
>
> I concur with your thoughts. Perhaps I didn't express what I meant by "A
deity is with us"
> clearly enough. Is Isaiah stressing that there is a deity on his or
Judah's side, in
> distinction to simply saying that there was an army and a secure water
system on their
> side? That is, Isaiah points out a qualitative difference -- he has a
deity (Yahweh) on
> his side, but the enemy have only men on their side.

I don't think that for a prophet, material or military advantages were of
the essence; it was Divine Providence that mattered. Otherwise, water,
weapons and manpower meant nothing. Isaiah was a man of God, not a
political-military analyst. The fact that hem, or Jeremiah, or whoever,
spoke on political-military matters means that he felt that it was God who
controlled the affairs of men. Do I really have to cite passages to prove
that? Your last sentence - that he - actually Judah - has a deity on its
side, is what matters.
>
> Also, how does this bear on our understanding of "Us" -- is it Judah, or
is it just Isaiah
> and his band? Note Isaiah refers to trying the patience of "my God" as he
seemingly
> distances himself from the "House of David".

Us is all Judah, even the unruly House of David. Unless, of course, the
prophet refers to the "saving remnant" here. But his projected fall of
Ephraim and Aram woulod seem to indicate that the former is the case.
Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Chairman
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
44905 Israel