Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Christian M. M. Brady" <cbrady AT tulane.edu>]

On 1/30/01 1:07 PM, "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu> wrote:

> I think the job description of the biblical messiah
> (as opposed to the Christian) was based on the job description
> of Cyrus the Messiah (Isaiah 45:1):
> he would rebuild YHWH's temple and the city of Jerusalem,
> he would return the exiles to their land,
> and apportion their desolate heritage.
> The disappointment in Cyrus led to the emphasis on the Davidic line.
> I suggest passages such as Isaiah 11, which emphasize the Davidic
> line are later, and post-exilic.

This argument is circular. The only reason for assuming Isa. 11 to be
post-exilic is because you have already assumed that the "biblical messiah"
would be modeled upon Cyrus as described in Isa. 45.1.

> Prior to 2nd-Isaiah and Cyrus you have such exilic poems as Psalm
> 89 which show the extreme disappointment in the promises to David.
> In these biblical texts I don't see an eschatological Messiah.
> I think you have to wait for Enoch, which I place later, and which
> is influenced by Zoroastrianism.

That may simply be because different and competing views about the nature
messiah coexisted and found their way into the canon. Certainly various
views existed in the centuries surrounding the turn of the era, why not inn
the Bible too? 

(BTW, in general yes, I agree, an eschatological view of the messiah does
come later. I guess I am reading your message as offering contrasts between
Isa. 11 and Ps. 89.)

Cb
cbrady @ tulane.edu
-- 
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I
cannot change, the courage to change the
things I cannot accept, and the wisdom to hide
the bodies of those people I had to kill today
because they pissed me off.
                     -St. Francis on a Bad Day