Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/913

This page needs to be proofread.
*
807
*

ISAIAH. 807 ISAUEIA. consideration of the danger threatening both Judah and Israel from Assyria. The bulk of the discourses are from Isaiah, but there iiave been added introductions and epilogues at various points, and editorial insertions with reference to the Messianic future of Israel, the insertions themselves being at times extracts from pro- phetical discourses of a late post-exilic date. Chap. i. appears to stand by itself, and con- tains a general (and very late) introduction to the completed collection. Chaps, ii.-iv. have been pieced together from various discourses and given a Jlessianic interpretation. Chap. v. is again an independent production. Chaps, vi.-x. are narratives, with fragments of dis- courses introduced by ay of illustration ; while chaps, xi. and xii. embody three appendices to the collection, containing (a) a description of the Messiah as the perfect luler; (b) a reference to the restoration of the exiles of Israel and Judah to their country ; and (c) a lyric in praise of Yahweh. The second division (chaps, xiii.- xxiii.) is a collection of ten oracles mostly on the nations around Israel and Judah. These oracles, in which are often interspersed snatches of poems, fragments of oracles, and other inser- tions, date from different periods, and it cannot be safely maintained that more than five of these (chaps, xiv., xv., xrii., xxii., x.xiii.) are based upon predictions of Isaiah. The third division (chaps, xxiv.-xxxv. ) is far more complicated than the preceding two. It may be further sub- divided into: (a) Chaps, xxiv.-.xxvii., a spe- cies of apocalj'ptic prophecy on the coming judg- ment of the whole world, from which Israel alone will be rescued; the composition of these chap- ters is by some critics brought down as late as the end of the second century B.C., but it is likely that the conditions involved arc those prevailing at the close of the fourth century B.C. (b) Chaps, xxviii.-xxxiii., a .series based upon oc- currences in the times of Isaiah, but in which only the framework of xxviii.-x.xxi. can be con- sidered Isaianic. Chap, xxxii. is a picture of the Messianic age. while chap, xxxiii. contains a denunciation of an invader of .Judah in which a section (verses 9-14) may emanate from Isaiah. (c) Chaps, .xxxiv.-xxxv. annoimce Is- rael's triumph over Edom and exultation over the return of the exiles, (d) The fourth division (chaps, xxxvi.-xxxix. ) is an historical epilogue, with a poetic insertion, again consisting of two distinct narratives, and furnishes the historical commentary' to the discourses of Isaiah and to some events alluded to therein. The second book is simpler in its composition. (a) Chaps, xl.-xlviii. set forth the hope of the Babylonian exiles. The period of probation is drawing to an end. Babylon has fallen, and the hopes of the faithful .Jews who have learned the hard lesson of the past are centred in Cyrus. (b) Chaps, xlix.-lv.. while still dealing with conditions during the Exile, appear to be the work of a different author from chaps, xl.- xlviii. The tone is not so hopeful. Difficulties have arisen in the work of reorganization of the community, and the chief aim of the avithor is to encourage the zealous workers and to induce Babylonian Jews to join their brethren in .Judea. Both sections were written in Babylonia. In- serted in this second section are four songs of the servant of Yahweh. i.e. Israel as represented by its best exponents, which have been attached to the discourses by a later editor, (c) Chaps. Ivi.-Ixvi. are more complex in character than the two previous divisions, and represent pro- ductions belonging mainly to the age of Nehe- miah, though some sections (e.g. the prayer, Ixiii. 7-lxiv.) point to a still later period of Persian supremacy in Palestine. It is occupied with the dillicullies encountered by Xehemiah and Ezra, and presents the point of view of the unconii)romising adherent to Yahweh's law. The combination of these sections into a single col- lection was probably made at the close of the fourth century n.c, somewhat earlier, therefore, than the date that may be assigned for the other collection. The reference in Ecelesiasticu3(xlviii. 22-25, c. 180 B.C.) to the Book of Isaiah in the form in which we have it furnishes a positive limit for the final combination and redaction of the two collections into a single work. Bibliography. The literature on the Book of Isaiah is very extensive. A good bibliography may be found in the commentary by Skinner in the C'ambridiK Bible for Schools and Colleycs (Cambridge. 1896-98). Other excellent commen- taries are those by Cheyne, Duhm, Dillmann, Delitzsch, Kittel. >Iarti, and G. A. Smith. Con- sult, also, the Old Testament introductions of Kuenen. Driver, Bleek-Wellhausen. and Kautzsch, and, for a particularly full discussion of the critical problems, Chejne, Introduction to the Book of Isaiah (London, 1895). ISANOMALOTJS (is'a-nom'a-lus) LINES (from Gk. fo-os, i.50S, equal -f- Eng. anomalous. from Lat. aiionialus, Gk. avii/JoXos, anonuilos, un- even, from i.v, an-, priv. + ouas, homalos, even, from o/iis, homos, same, Skt. soma, Goth., OHG. soma, Eng. same). Lines connecting places whose temperatures, pressures, etc.. have equal depart- ures from the average values appropriate to the respective zones of latitude. This term was first introduced by Dove. ISAR, e'zar. A tributary of the Danube. It rises in Tyrol, a few miles north of Inns- bruck, and. breaking through the Alps, enters Bavaria, where it flows at first north past the city of Munich, and then northeast, joining the Danube near Deggendorf (Map: Germany, D 5). Its total length is about 182 miles. Owing to its numerous falh and scarcity of water at cer- tain points, the Isar is of little importance as a commercial waterway and is used mostly for the floating of timber. IS'ARD, or IZ'ARD (Fr.. from Catalan isart, chamois, perhaps of Iberian origin) . The chamois of the Pyrenees — a smaller form, with shorter horns and a more foxy-red color than the typical 'gemse' of (he Alps. See Chamois. ISAROG, e'sa-rAg'. One of the principal peaks of the island of Luzon. Philippines, sit- uated in the southeastern part of the island in the Province of South Camarines. and occupying the isthmus between the Bay of San Miguel and that of Lagonoy. It is an isolated extinct vol- cano. Its height is 6450 feet : its base is 36 miles in circumference, and numerous stream3 have their sources on its slopes. ISATJRIA, i-sa'ri-a (Lat.. from Gk. 'Imvpla). The ancient name for a region in Asia Minor on the north side of Mount Taurus between Cappadoeia. Lycaonia, Cilicia. and Pisidia. The Isaurians were a half barbarous people, living