The destroyed city as grazing space: Interpretive possibilities in Isaiah 5.17,17.2,27.10,and 32.14

Abstract

In four instances, the book of Isaiah depicts a destroyed city as a grazing space for domestic livestock (5.17, 17.2, 27.10, and 32.14). Scholars typically insist that such language, when it is understood in its proper historical context, conveys a straightforward, negative image of destruction. By contrast, this essay proposes that the grazing-space topos entextualizes a concrete phenomenon in which ancient city spaces underwent revegetation in the aftermath of their demolition, attracting domestic flocks and herds. Historical city destruction therefore contributed to a larger agroecological story through which survivors might have begun to imagine the renewal of their livelihoods. Correspondingly, the grazing-space topos served Isaiah’s author-redactors as a theological ‘pivot point’ by which to express their hope for restoration. Thus, a historically responsible interpretation of the topos as it appears in the book of Isaiah today should respect its capacity for both negative and positive interpretive possibilities.