Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Bryant Williams wrote:

"Conservative scholarship treats Isaiah being produced by one person, the 
prophet Isaiah. Most modern scholarship treats Isaiah as being written by 
two, maybe three persons. It is based on the discredited JEDP theory of 
Graf-Welhausen. SEE archives for previous discussions."


I have a few corrections/comments to make about this.

Firstly, I know many conservative scholars who believe Isaiah is the product 
of at least two or three people. To use the term 'conservative' to 
characterise a position on this is, I believe, not helpful or accurate. 
Perhaps 'traditionalist' is a better term for those who argue for singular 
authorship of Isaiah.

Secondly, the argument for two or three authors for Isaiah actually has 
little to do with the Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis ('JEDP'). The 
'JEDP' hypothesis really relates only to the Pentateuch.

Thirdly, the JEDP theory is a source-critical theory, that argues for 
particular documents as the sources lying behind the current Pentateuch. The 
argument for two or three authors of Isaiah is not really a source theory, 
but rather a redaction-critical theory.

Fourthly, some of the conservatives who argue for two or three authors also 
add a theological argument (when God speaks, it is immediately relevant and 
demands an immediate response from the prophet's audience). I don't want to 
argue the pros or cons of this argument, but I do need to state that this 
position is held by certain proponents of the two/three authors theory.


GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au