Isaiah and the Resurrection

A Poetic Theodicy

Chapter 26:7-21

 

 

 

                               מתיך יחיו                                May your dead live

                     יקומון נבלתי                                                       May my vessel rise up  

         עפר שכני ורננו הקיצו                                                             May those who dwelling the dust

     טלך אורת  טל כי                                                                                     rejoice and sing.

   ;תפיל רפאים וארץ                                                                            for the dew at light is your dew.

               עםי לך                                                                                         Go, my people,             

      בחדריך בא                                                                                                               come into your room

 בעדך דלתיך  וסגר                                                                                                                 close your door behind you.

 רגע-כמעט                                                                                                                                          for short time rest

      זעם-יעבור-עד                                                                                                                       until the wrath has passed.

 

                In his Anchor Bible commentary on Isaiah, Joseph Blenkinsopp claims that the earliest reference to resurrection in the Hebrew scriptures comes in the 26^th chapter of the Book of Isaiah.  This is a remarkable claim since it is commonly assumed that the earliest references to resurrection are to be found in the late Biblical material, Daniel 12.2, if not later yet in the apocryphal books such as the 2 Maccabees. My deeply felt conviction that this is true, however, rests not on authority, but on my own close read the Hebrew text of Isaiah.  Let me take you to the 26^th chapter of Isaiah and see if in the end, you might agree.

                The text takes us to Jerusalem where a prophetic school is laboring to reckon with their world, what we would call the Levant, in or around the year of 705 B. C. E. By then, they are in the second phase this reckoning.  The first phase began with a crisis triggered by the ascension of a new king, Ahaz, which was troubled by the ascendancy of the Assyrian Empire and the pressure from the kingdom of Aram, Damacus, and the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  They were insistent that the Southern Kingdom join them in their resistance to the Assyrians.  The prophetic school’s counsel delivered by a youthful Isaiah was to not fear and not to join Aram and the Northern Kingdom. By 705 it had proven to be valid council.  They had refined and recorded their position in a text, what we know as chapter 3-12 of the Book of Isaiah, completed somewhere in and around the year 730.

                Jerusalem, due in part to its isolation in the rugged hill country of the south and due in another part to their judicious behavior, had escaped a direct attack. From that vantage point they watched the world around them violently oppressed.  Fortified cities were crushed by the Assyrian army, Tyre, Gath, Megiddo, Damascus, Dibon, Ashdod, and lastly Samaria, their neighbor forty miles to the north in 722 B. C. E. Death and deportation surrounded them. Moreover, this reign of terror had continued for thirty years with no end in sight. With that, the prophetic school was forced to reappraise their theological analysis of what was happening and to recast their message in terms of perseverance. Recall that its early prophesies implied fulfillment would come “by the time this child knew or said this or that.”  that is, “not long.”  Now they needed to be amended to “however long.”

Part of the school’s strategy was to amend their existing text, 3-12. The added text would be a recognition of new developments, and it would reposition their theology with an orientation that embraced the posture of waiting.  By the time they turned to the composition of this poem, they had already composed a substantial thread of new material beginning with what we call chapter 13 and which advanced through a series of study on the suffering of the peoples around them, from Moab to Tyre.  Their working draft now constituted a text that we would recognize as more or less chapers,15-23.

            This new composition was to be a poem which would address the problem that we know of as theodicy, justifying the ways of God. As such it would be a restatement of the Prophetic School’s fundamental theology which they had pioneered at the beginning the Assyrian crisis some thirty year before.  When this poem was finished It would take its place as the 26^th chapter of the Isaiah text as we know it. 

                The poet, perhaps Isaiah himself, now a mature elder of the school, began the poem with a statement which asserts the justice of God’s ways.  “Truly the ways of God are just.” To this initial supposition, he adds a second: waiting for God “is the soul’s desire.”  This is what we would call a transcendental, a precondition of mind/consciousness which points the mind to waiting for God.  With this the argument for theodicy is set. 

                The poem will end as it began, with a re-statement of theodicy.  “God goes forth from his place, מקום, to visit punishment on the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth and the earth would reveal the blood within it and it would no longer cover the slain.” Even as we wait for it, it is underway!

                Between these two statements of God’s justice, the poet places an intensely personal confession.  The universal desire of soul’s, is immediately modified by the poet with an assertion: “My soul’s waits for you in the night, O God, … My spirit seeks for you.”

                With that a conversation with God begins in which the poet reviews the condition that he and his companion find themselves.  Yes, he concedes we are aware that “Fire will consume your adversaries.”  And we know that their dead will not live, and their shades/corpses/רפאים will not rise. We understand that by means of all this suffering, the peoples of the earth, Isarel included, will in the end learn their lesson.

                But You, God, need to understand that the life of the poet and his companions is like that of a pregnant woman approaching childbirth.  We writhe, cry out, and are in pangs.  Thus far, however, we are like those who deliver wind and nothing of substance or human.  The metaphor of childbirth has already established a place in the Isaiah text, where it stands for suffering that has an end and a purpose, but here childbirth is underlined as prolonged and seemly futile labor.    

                At the end of his confession the poet cries out: “May your dead live.” Clearly this is a reference to the above assertion: “Their dead will not live.”  But note the twist from “their” to “your,” third person to second person.  These dead belong to God, for they are God’s people, Isreal. Then another twist, their shades/corpses/רפאים will not rise is changed to my body, corpse, vessel/נבלתי. In the first instance the plea shifts from the third-person plural to the first- person singular, my body. In the second, the poet does not repeat the רפאים, nor uses the crasser term for a corpse, פגר, but chooses instead נבלת.  The word he chooses means a vessel, an earthen vessel, think of Paul’s reference in II Corinthians. Or more commonly a fool, a weak thing, a wicked person or even a harp, musical instrument. The poet is not, of course, dead and his reference to himself seems purposely diminutive, something like when the English poet Gerand Manley Hopkins in a poem about resurrection refers to himself as “poor jack stuff.”  The poet has also done something with the word rise/קום by way of an augmented form, קומון. This suggests that he wants his audience to understand the word is meant not metaphorically but actually.  He continues: “Let them awake and sing.” Referring to the dead, he now adds a comforting metaphor.  It shall be like that which dwells in the dust is moistened by the dew that comes with the light of day.

                The voice in the poem now changes.  God responds and speaks to the poet, the poet’s audience and to all his dead: “Go, my people enter your room, lock the door behind you, hide for a little moment until the wrath passes.”

                With this note of compassion, we return to the magisterial voice of the poet in which he restates the proposition that God’s actions are just and God is even at this moment acting to bring that about. God is on the move. “God goes forth from his high place, מקום to visit punishment on the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth and the earth will reveal the blood within it and earth will no longer cover the slain.” The extension of the theme now includes a reference to the slain.  Their blood will testify against the iniquity of their slayers, and the rising of their bodies will confront them in a way that justice will be done.

                It is not irrelevant to the question of theodicy that a concept of resurrection has emerged in this poem. That it has produced the first/early thought of resurrection should not surprise us as resurrection is essential to theodicy. Without a resurrection, theodicy remains an abstract idea which is easily accused of white-washing the reality of evil.  Apart from theodicy, resurrection becomes a part the candy of afterlife speculation, open to the charge that is a distraction from everyday life. To the poet, on the contrary, it is what allows everyday life to be meaningful and dedicated to justice.

                And theodicy, itself, is not irrelevant to the Isaiah school’s conviction that Yahweh is the one transcendent universal being.  The school’s thoughts were driven to the question of theodicy as soon as they made the move from a local God with limited agency to a transcendent God with universal agency. This raises the issue of death in new way. It is no longer satisfactory to be buried with one’s ancestors and to continue to have an existence in the local community which has defined you. Local communities in an imperial age have a way of ceasing to exist and large blocks of people are deported away from the burial place of their ancestors. The universal transcendent God creates a crisis! 

                With this incredible poem at the heart of the Isaiah text, we do not have an answer to the crisis, so much as we have the notification that we are on the way to one.

 

 

Notes:

 

The fifth stanza, 19-21 is marked with exceptional poetic skill, beautiful imagery, and profound sentiment.  It strikes me as a proper way to begin my own remembrance of the dead.  מתיך יחיו 

 

14- the dead מתים shall not live, the dead  יםפא ר will rise. .. a sentiment that is dramatically reversed in 19.  The intervening text compares the waiting for deliverance as the pangs of pregnancy which is failing to deliver.

 

19-21 are interesting, but cryptic verses which form the conclusion of Ch. 26.  Its interpretation turns on how רפאים which is read in the Rabbinic tradition as רפה which translates as “slackers.”  But while it shares the sense of being weak, it has its own meaning as a euphemism for the dead.  Isa 14:9

,  שְׁא֗וֹל מִתַּ֛חַת רָגְזָ֥ה לְךָ֖ לִקְרַ֣את בּוֹאֶ֑ךָ עוֹרֵ֨ר לְךָ֤ רְפָאִים֙ כׇּל־עַתּ֣וּדֵי אָ֔רֶץ הֵקִים֙ מִכִּסְאוֹתָ֔ם כֹּ֖ל מַלְכֵ֥י גוֹיִֽם׃

Sheol below was astir
To greet your coming—
Rousing for you the shades
Of all earth’s chieftains,
Raising from their thrones
All the kings of nations.

Is 14:19 corpse carcass פגר

 

Pr. 2:18 יקוצו-בל רפאיםת the dead shall rise up.  26:14 ינוח רפאים בקהל 21:16.

The Talmud contains discussions about resurrection, reflecting its significance in Jewish thought. Here are a few examples:

1.      Pesachim 68a: This passage discusses God's promise to resurrect the dead, emphasizing divine power and the belief in life after death.

2.      Ketubot 111b: This section explores the idea that only the pious will merit resurrection, though it also considers a broader definition of righteousness.

3.      Sanhedrin 90a-92a: These pages delve into the concept of resurrection, including debates among sages about its nature and scriptural basis.

These discussions highlight the centrality of resurrection in Jewish eschatology and its theological implications.

Sanhedrin 90a-92b

(צֶדֶ״ק גַּ״ם גֶּשֶׁ״ם קָ״ם סִימָן) שָׁאֲלוּ צַדּוּקִים אֶת רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: מִנַּיִין שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְחַיֶּיה מֵתִים? אָמַר לָהֶם: מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וּמִן הַנְּבִיאִים, וּמִן הַכְּתוּבִים. וְלֹא קִיבְּלוּ מִמֶּנּוּ.

The Gemara records a mnemonic for those cited in the upcoming discussion: Tzadi, dalet, kuf; gimmel, mem; gimmel, shin, mem; kuf, mem. Heretics asked Rabban Gamliel: From where is it derived that the Holy One, Blessed be He, revives the dead? Rabban Gamliel said to them that this matter can be proven from the Torah, from the Prophets, and from Writings, but they did not accept the proofs from him.

מִן הַתּוֹרָה, דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֶל מֹשֶׁה הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְקָם״. אָמְרוּ לוֹ: וְדִילְמָא ״וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה״?

The proof from the Torah is as it is written: “And the Lord said to Moses, behold, you shall lie with your fathers and arise” (Deuteronomy 31:16). The heretics said to him: But perhaps the verse should be divided in a different manner, and it should be read: “Behold, you shall lie with your fathers, and this people will arise and stray after the foreign gods of the land.”

מִן הַנְּבִיאִים, דִּכְתִיב: ״יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ נְבֵלָתִי יְקוּמוּן הָקִיצוּ וְרַנְּנוּ שֹׁכְנֵי עָפָר כִּי טַל אוֹרֹת טַלֶּךָ וָאָרֶץ רְפָאִים תַּפִּיל״. וְדִילְמָא מֵתִים שֶׁהֶחְיָה יְחֶזְקֵאל?

The proof from the Prophets is as it is written: “Your dead shall live, my corpse shall arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust, for your dew is as the dew of vegetation, and the land shall cast out the dead” (Isaiah 26:19). The heretics said to him: But perhaps the prophecy was fulfilled with the dead that Ezekiel revived. No proof may be cited from that verse with regard to any future resurrection

 

Ketubot 111b

 

אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: עַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת אֵינָן חַיִּים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מֵתִים בַּל יִחְיוּ וְגוֹ׳״, תַּנְיָא נָמֵי הָכִי: ״מֵתִים בַּל יִחְיוּ״, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל — תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״רְפָאִים בַּל יָקוּמוּ״, בִּמְרַפֶּה עַצְמוֹ מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר.

§ Rabbi Elazar said: The common, uneducated people will not come alive in the future, as it is stated: “The dead live not” (Isaiah 26:14). In other words, those who were already considered dead in their lifetimes will not come back to life afterward either. This idea is also taught in a baraita: “The dead live not”; one might have thought that this is referring to everyone, i.e., none of the dead will live again. Therefore, the verse states: “The shades [refa’im] rise not” (Isaiah 26:14). This teaches that the verse is speaking of one who weakens [merapeh] himself from matters of Torah.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: לָא נִיחָא לְמָרַיְיהוּ דְּאָמְרַתְּ לְהוּ הָכִי, הָהוּא בִּמְרַפֶּה עַצְמוֹ לַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הוּא דִּכְתִיב. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִקְרָא אַחֵר אֲנִי דּוֹרֵשׁ, דִּכְתִיב: ״כִּי טַל אוֹרוֹת טַלֶּיךָ וָאָרֶץ רְפָאִים תַּפִּיל״, כׇּל הַמִּשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּאוֹר תּוֹרָה — אוֹר תּוֹרָה מְחַיֵּיהוּ, וְכֹל שֶׁאֵין מִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּאוֹר תּוֹרָה — אֵין אוֹר תּוֹרָה מְחַיֵּיהוּ.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to Rabbi Elazar: Their master, i.e. God, is not pleased that you say this of ordinary Jews. Rather, that verse is written about one who weakens himself and succumbs to idol worship. Those who commit this great sin do not merit to be resurrected in the future. Rabbi Elazar said to him: I teach it from a different verse, as it is written: “For Your dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life the shades” (Isaiah 26:19). Rabbi Elazar explains: Anyone who uses the light of Torah, which is called the dew of light, the light of Torah will revive him; and anyone who does not use the light of Torah, the light of Torah will not revive him.

כֵּיוָן דְּחַזְיֵיהּ דְּקָמִצְטַעַר, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: רַבִּי, מָצָאתִי לָהֶן תַּקָּנָה מִן הַתּוֹרָה: ״וְאַתֶּם הַדְּבֵקִים בַּה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם חַיִּים כּוּלְּכֶם הַיּוֹם״, וְכִי אֶפְשָׁר לִדַּבּוֹקֵי בַּשְּׁכִינָה? וְהָכְתִיב: ״כִּי ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֵשׁ אוֹכְלָה״?

Since Rabbi Elazar saw that Rabbi Yoḥanan was grieved over the distress of common, uneducated people, he said to him: My teacher, I have found for them a remedy from the Torah so that they will merit life in the World-to-Come, as it states: “But You who cleave to the Lord your God, are alive every one of you this day” (Deuteronomy 4:4). But is it possible to cleave to the Divine Presence? Isn’t it written: For the Lord your God is a devouring fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24)?

אֶ