Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Liz, if you want to explain Isaiah 11 as being exilic, then you also have to
account for such passages as Isaiah 9:1-6, esp. vv. 5-6; Jeremiah 23:5-8,
the last part of his prophecies on the kings of Judah (and which is arguably
talking about the newly anointed King Zedekiah); and Ezekiel 34, esp. vv. 23
ff. Do you want to claim that they are all post-exilic too? (Ezekiel is of
course exilic) And what do you do with with Haggai 2:20-23, from the reign
of Darius I? I think all these prophets are talking about a Davidic scion
about to reign or be born in their own time or close to it.
To me, this appears to be a continuous chain of prophetic hope for an ideal
Davidic king, starting with David and stretching down to the restoration of
the Second Temple, when it is bitterly and finally disappointed. That, in my
opinion, is when the clasical Jewish (and later Christian) idea of Messiah
begins its real development..
Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Chairman
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
44905 Israel

----- Original Message -----
From: "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 9:07 PM
Subject: RE: The Messianic Idea (Was:Re: virgin: _BETHULAH_ and/or
_(ALMAH_ )


> 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.
> 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.
>
> Liz
>
>