Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au>]

Jonathan,

I would disagree that ancient prophets were uninterested in politics and the 
military. I
think they were very much interested in it because the divine sphere was not 
separated
from the human sphere in the ancient mindset. What happened in the human 
sphere
politically and militarily was seen as direct manoeuvring in the divine 
sphere. In fact, I
don't think the ancients even distingished between spheres -- this is a 
modern phenomenon.
Thus, when Isaiah confronts Ahaz as he checks his water system, he is trying 
to affect
Ahaz's political and military strategy by giving him a message and sign from 
Yahweh. The
message is "Trust Yahweh, not your army or Assyria's". The "divine" and 
"profane" spheres
are merged into one thing here, producing one issue, not two.

You mentioned that you saw the "Us" in `Immanu-El as referring to Judah as a 
whole. Does
that mean you do not see the word order of the name as important? I notice 
the emphasis in
the name is on the "Us", hence it precedes the word El (deity). What do you 
make of
Isaiah's statement in the previous verse (v13) about "my God"? Does this not 
imply a
distancing between Isaiah and the House of David? If the "Us" includes the 
House of David,
why is the allegiance of Yahweh with the House described like the acts of an 
enemy? Does
it not seem that Isaiah is saying Yahweh is with him and *not* with the House 
of David? Do
you have any further thoughts on these?



Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)
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