The anticipatory structure of Isaiah 1-12

Abstract

Literary and structural studies on the book of Isaiah have identified chapters 36-39 as a narrative core to the book in which deliberate connections are made from Hezekiah back to Ahaz in the other large narrative earlier in the book. This article builds upon this body of work by arguing that the narrative of chapters 6-8 is centrally positioned within chapters 1-12, the first section of the book, just as chapters 36-39 are centrally positioned within the book as a whole. In this way chapters 1-12, as the first major section of the book, thematically and structurally anticipate the work as a whole. This device contributes to the way the book presents motifs that are then taken up and nuanced later in the book, as well as structurally highlighting the ruler of chapters 9 and 11 and the servant of chapters 40-55.