Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Tucker, Dennis" <Dennis_Tucker AT baylor.edu>]

Besides being inflamatory, such a statement fails to take seriously the
poetic devices employed in Second Isaiah, and particularly the use of
merismus (a technique whereby the whole is expressed through the use of
two extremities) in 45:7.  The text reads:
"I form light and darkness,
I make weal and create woe/evil,
I the Lord do all these things."
The chapter begins by speaking of Cyrus as the "Lord's Anointed."  Only
a God who can exhibit sovereign power could call a foreign king to
deliver his people.  The two examples of a merismus in 45:7 are meant to
strengthen the case that God does in fact possess such power, and thus,
can in fact deliver his people in such unexpected fashion.

To read only one portion of a merismus as a descriptive quality is to
miss the larger function of the poetic device.


W. Dennis Tucker, Jr.
Assistant Professor of Christian Scriptures
George W. Truett Theological Seminary
Baylor University
One Bear Place #97126
Waco, TX 76798
254-710-7346

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Evgeny Ivanov
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 11:54 AM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Is.45:7 God created evil

  
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