The Messiah/Speaker and His Mission: A Linguistic Analysis of Isaiah 61:1-11
Keywords:
Mission, Messiah, Speaker, YHWH, SalvationAbstract
While the mission motif of Isa 61:1-11 seems to be passed over in silence, this study investigates the passage using linguistic analysis and discovers the theological significance of the motif of mission. The study indicated how YHWH relates to His mission, through the Speaker—identified as the Messiah, and His redemptive purpose for all humanity. Mission is centered on YHWH’s empowerment of the Speaker to deliver comforting messages and give hope to the discouraged, accelerate the freedom of prisoners, and console the grieving since their anguish and sadness is about to be converted into cheer. The focus is on Israel, though the nations will witness and glory in Israel’s salvation and righteousness. In effect, there will be a sprouting forth of YHWH’s righteousness and praises from the peoples of all the nations—an expression that has the worldwide salvific mission of the speaker in view.
References
Barredo, Miguel Álvarez. “Disposición Literaria De Is 56-66.” Verdad Y Vida 73.266 (2015): 39-64.
Bediako, Daniel K. “A Note on Rûaḥ ‘Spirit/Wind’ in Genesis 1:2.” Valley View University Journal of Theology 4 (2017): 77-83.
Begg, Christopher. “Samuel’s Anointing of David in Josephus and Pseudo-Philo.” Revista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa 32 (1996): 491-529.
Bergen, Robert B., ed. Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994.
Birch, Bruce C. “The Development of the Tradition on the Anointing of Saul in 1 Sam 9:1-10:16.” Journal of Biblical Literature 90 (1971): 55-68.
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. “The ‘Servants of the Lord’ in Third Isaiah: Profile of a Pietistic Group in the Persian Epoch.” In “The Place is too Small for us”: The Israelite Prophets in Recent Scholarship, edited by R. P. Gordon, 392-412. Winona Lake, ID: Eisenbrauns, 1995.
Cannon, W. W. “Isaiah 61:1-3: An Ebed Yahweh Poem.” ZAW 47 (1929): 284-289.
Chilton, Bruce D. The Glory of Israel: The Theology and Provenience of the Isaiah Targum. Edited by David J. A. Clines, Philip R. Davies, and David M. Gunn, 52-56. Sheffield, UK: Department of Biblical Studies, The University of Sheffield, 1982.
Clines, David J. A., ed. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. 9 vols. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic, 1995.
Cotterell, Peter, and Max Turner. Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. London, UK: SPCK, 1989.
Dawson, David A. Text-Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic, 1994.
de Vries, P. “Structural Analysis of Isaiah 61 With a Special Focus on Verses 1-3.” Old Testament Essays 26.2 (2013): 298-314.
Even-Shoshan, Abraham. A New Concordance of the Old Testament. Jerusalem, Israel: Kiryat-Sepher, 1983.
Fleming, Daniel. “The Biblical Tradition of Anointing Priests.” Journal of Biblical Literature 117 (1998): 401-414.
Gesenius, Wilhelm. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, edited and enlarged by Emil Kautzsch. Translated by Arthur Ernest Cowley. Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1910.
Goldingay, John. Isaiah 56-66: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary. International Critical Commentary. London, UK: T. & T. Clark, 2014.
Gowan, Donald E. “Isaiah 61: 1–3, 10–11.” Interpretation 35.4 (1981): 404-409.
Gregory, Bradley C. “The Postexilic Exile in Third Isaiah: Isaiah 61:1-3 in Light of Second Temple Hermeneutics.” Journal of Biblical Literature 126.3 (2007): 475-496.
Groom, Susan A. Linguistic Analysis of Biblical Hebrew. Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 2003.
Holladay, William L. A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: Based Upon the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972.
Hung, Hedy. “The Kingship Motif in Isaiah 61: 1-3.” Torah and Tradition, Papers Read at the Sixteenth Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap, Edinburgh 2017. pp. 135-149.
Kitz, Anne Marie. “An Oath, Its Curse and Anointing Ritual.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 124.2 (2004): 315-321.
Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Vols. 1-5 combined. Translated and edited under the supervision of M. E. J. Richardson. Revised by Walter Baumgartner and Johann Jakob Stamm. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1994-2000.
Koole, Jan L. Isaiah, Part 3, Volume III, Isaiah 56-66. Historical Commentary on the Old Testament. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 1998.
Kruger, H. A. J. “Isaiah 61:1-3(4-9) 10-11: Transferor of Privileges, An “Identikit” of the Servant of the Lord?” HTS 58.4 (2002): 1555-1576.
Landy, Francis. “Strategies of Concentration and Diffusion in Isaiah 61.” Biblical Interpretation 7.1 (1999): 58-86.
Larsen-Freeman, Diane, and Lynne Cameron. Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Lessing, R. Reed. Isaiah 56-66. Concordia Commentary. St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 2014.
Marfo, Elisha K. “Fulfillment and Application of Isaianic Prophecies.” Valley View University Journal of Theology 5 (2018): 1-15.
Marfo, Elisha K. “Missionaries from the Nations: A Linguistic Analysis of Isaiah 66:18-21.” Ghana Journal of Theology and Religion 9.2 (2019): 5-23.
Marfo, Elisha K. “Reading Isaiah 2:1-5 in the Light of YHWH’S Mission: A Linguistic Analysis.” ANUJAT 8.1 (2020): 21-42.
Marfo, Elisha K. “The Servant’s Failed Mission: A Linguistic Analysis of Isaiah 42:18-25.” Sahmyook Theological Review 31 (2020): 94-125.
Marfo, Elisha K. “Who Said, No Mission in the Old Testament: A Theological Framework of Mission in the Isaianic Literature.” EJRTS 6.4 (2020): 223–235.
Miller, Cynthia L. “Methodological Issues in Reconstructing a Language System From Epigraphic Fragments.” In The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methods and Assumptions, edited by James K. Hoffmeier and Alan Millard, 281-305. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.
Miller, Cynthia L. The Representation of Speech in Biblical Hebrew Narrative: A Linguistic Analysis. Harvard Semitic Monographs 55. Atlanta, GA: Scholars, 1996.
Morgenstern, Julian. “Isaiah 61.” Hebrew Union College Annual 40/41 (1969-1970):109-121.
Morgenstern, Julian. “The Suffering Servant — a New Solution.” VT 11 (1961): 292-320, 406-431.
Naudé Jacobus A. and Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé. “The Evolution of Biblical Hebrew Linguistics in South Africa: The Last 60 Years.” Old Testament Essays 31.1 (2018): 12-41.
O’Connor, Michael P. “Discourse Linguistics and the Study of Biblical Hebrew.” In Congress Volume, Basel 2001, edited by André Lemaire, 17-42. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002.
Obiorah, Mary J. and Favour C. Uroko. “‘The Spirit of the Lord God Is Upon Me’ (Is 61:1): The Use of Isaiah 61:1-2 in Luke 4:18-19.” Hervormde Teologiese Studies 74.1 (2018): 1-6.
Paul, Shalom M. Isaiah 40-66. Eerdmans Critical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012.
Payne, J. Barton “יהוה.” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Edited by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Chicago, IL: Moody, 1980. 1:212.
Peifer, Claude J. “Anointing in the Old Testament.” Worship 35.9 (1961): 577-786.
Pieper, August. Isaiah II: An Exposition of Isaiah 40-66. Translation by Erwin E. Kowalke. Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern, 1979.
Pinto, Henrique. “Isaiah 61:1-2a in Liberation Theology.” African Christian Studies 5.2 (1989): 11-42.
Rezetko, Robert, and Ian Young. Historical Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew: Steps Towards an Integrated Approach. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2014.
Robins, Robert H. A Short History of Linguistics. 4th ed. London, UK: Longman, 1997.
Rudman, Dominic. “The Commissioning Stories of Saul and David as Theological Allegory.” Vetus Testamentum 50.4 (2000): 519-530.
Silva, Moisés, ed. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014.
Stromberg, Jacob. “An Inner-Isaianic Reading of Isaiah 61: 1-3.” Interpreting Isaiah. Issues and Approaches (2009): 261-272.
Young, Edward J. The Book of Isaiah. 3 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965-1972.
Young, Ian, Robert Rezetko, and Martin Ehrensvärd. The Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts. London, UK: Equinox, 2008.
