Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29 1 Oct 6, 2010

Tem ple T h em es in Is aiah

Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29

William J. Hamblin

OUTLINE:
The rulers of Ephraim--condemned
ISAIAH 28 for their drunkenness and arrogance--are
Oracle against Ephraim threatened with destruction (28:1-6). The
(28:1-6); Oracle against the “priest and prophet” are likewise described as
false priests and prophets staggering drunks who can’t see clearly
(28:7-13); the covenant with (28:7). This raises an important point in
Death (28:14-22); the temple ideology of Israel. While all agree on
parable of the harvest the importance of the temple, there seems to
(28:21-29) have been a serious debate among different
Israelite factions over the meaning of the
ISAIAH 29
Oracle against Ariel temple, and over the fitness of different
(Jerusalem) (29:1-8); Oracle factions of priests. Power struggles among
against the spiritually deaf priestly or prophetic factions were not
and blind (29:9-16); uncommon.1 Thus temple theology of the
promise for the future Hebrew Bible must be read in the context of
(29:17-24) factionalism between opposing groups of
priests and prophets contending for the ear of
the king and the hearts of the people. The
opposing ideas of these different factions,
both claiming to speak for God, would have
left the ordinary people confused.
Isaiah responds to the scoffers
(28:14)--the rulers, priests and prophets who

1 Most notably in the story of Micaiah (1 Kgs 22) and Hananiah and Jeremiah (Jer 28). Jeremiah
frequently condemns “both prophet and priest” apostates (Jer 8:10, 14:18, 23:11, etc.).

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Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29 2 Oct 6, 2010

reject his message: “Because you have said:
‘We have cut a covenant (kāratnū berīt) with
Death; even with Sheol [Hell] we have made
an agreement; when the overwhelming
scourge passes through, it will not come to
us’” (28:15). Historically this probably has
allusion to the tributary submission of Ahaz
to Assyria (2 Kgs 16:8).2 The idea here is that
Judah claims to have made a covenant with
Death (Assyria) so that Assyria will not
destroy them when it marches through their
land. Yahweh mocks this false hope, for the
covenant will be annulled and Judah will be
devastated by Death/Assyria (28:18).
There are a number of interesting
temple motifs in this passage. First, the
concept of “cutting a covenant” is common
Hebrew idiom, referring to “cutting,” or
sacrificing animals as part of covenant
making ritual.3 Here, instead of relying for
safety on the everlasting covenant made with
Yahweh (24:5), they cut a new covenant with
Death, hoping thereby to escape death
(28:15). In should be noted that Death
(māwet) is, in fact, the name of the Canaanite
god of death, and is thus an allusion to the
veneration of non-Israelite gods in Judah.
But the most important temple motif
comes from Yahweh’s response to this
covenant with Death:
“Behold, I will establish a stone in Zion
A tried, precious cornerstone for a foundation
Whoever trusts [it] will not be put to shame4
I will make justice the line
And righteousness the plum line” (28:16)
The metaphor here is to temple
building, and is a bit complicated. The
cornerstone of the temple is laid in Zion,
meaning on the Temple Mount. Cornerstones
were huge blocks placed on the corners to
stabilize the entire building. Only the stones
of the highest quality were used. The “line”
refers to stretching ropes to align the
foundation stones to create a true horizontal,
and the “plum line” refers to the use of a
weighted stone on strings that create a true
vertical. In building his new temple, Yahweh
will use righteousness and justice to assure
that his temple is perfectly aligned. Thus a
squarely aligned temple is a metaphor for a
righteous life, and builders’ tools an allegory

2 Or perhaps to Judah’s attempted alliance with Egypt against Assyria (30:1-5, 31:1-3).
3E. Nicholson, God and His People: Covenant and Theology in the Old Testament, (1989); John
Day, “Why Does God ‘Establish’ rather than ‘Cut’ Covenants in the Priestly Source,” A. Mays
and R. Salters (eds), Covenant as Context, (2003) 91-109.
4 Instead of “put to shame,” the Hebrew reads yāḥīš meaning “to hasten” which doesn’t make a
great deal of sense. I am emending on the basis of the Septuagint translation of kataischunthē,
“to be dishonored, made ashamed.”

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Temple Themes in Isaiah 28-29 3 Oct 6, 2010

for righteousness. When the

covenant with Death is
annulled, Yahweh will arise
from this new temple on
Mount Zion as he did in the
past at the battle of Mount
Perazim.5
The new foundation
stone in Zion harks back to
Yahweh as sanctuary in
8:14: There Yahweh “will The cornerstones or foundation stones of the outer walls of
become a sanctuary Herod’s temple plaza in Jerusalem from the early first century
AD. These are the types of stones alluded to in Isaiah 28:16.
(miqdāš) and a stone of
Photo WJH
offense and a rock of
stumbling to both houses of Israel.” Thus, the (29:4). But ultimately the threat of those that
temple can be a stumbling stone to the “fight against [the temple on] Mount
wicked, but a cornerstone for salvation to the Zion” (29:8) will prove as ephemeral as a
righteous. The building is the same; it is the dream (29:7-8) for Yahweh will appear there
relationship of Israel to that building and to in a storm theophany (29:6). In the end
Yahweh that changes. Yahweh’s victory will cause Israel to again
Chapter 29 is essentially an oracle “sanctify (yeqdīšū) my name (šem); they will
predicting a siege of Jerusalem, here called sanctify (hiqdīšū) the Holy One (qedōš) of
“Ariel,” meaning “hearth altar” (HALOT, Jacob” (29:23). This sanctification of the
Ezek 43:15), with the altar of the temple Name is a primary function of the temple, the
metaphorically extended to the city as a place where Yahweh has put his name.6 In
whole. Thus the meaning of 29:1 is: woe to this the Israelites will be worshipping with
altar of the temple, where year by year the Isaiah and the Seraphim, proclaiming, “holy,
annual festivals are performed. The city will holy, holy is Yahweh” (6:3).
be besieged (29:3), and its inhabitants will be
reduced to ghosts speaking from the dust

5 Isaiah 28:21, alluding to 2 Sam 5:17-21.

6Ex 20:24, Dt 12:5, 12:11, 12:21, 14:23, 16:2, 16:6, 16:11, 26:2; 1 Kg 5:5, 8:20, 8:29, 8:43; 2
Chr 6:20, 6:26, Neh 1:9, Jer 7:14.

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