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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The motif of “new things” striking for its recurrence in Isa 40–48. Three times the is
prophetic messenger proclaims a word of Yahweh concerning new things: “Behold, the former
things have come to pass, and new things I now declare” (Isa 42:9a, ESV);
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“Remember not the
former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing now it springs ;
forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isa 43:18–19a); “From this time forth I make you hear new
things, hidden things which you have not known” (Isa 48:6). The theme of newness in these
chapters has long been celebrated for its message of hope to Israel, a people in exile who have
borne the burden of their iniquity and long for a word of salvation from Yahweh.
Equally compelling, however, is the enduring and profound after-life of these texts
evidenced most notably by their reuse in the New Testament. Surely the apostle Paul heard the
echoes of Isaiah when he wrote to the church in Corinth and exclaimed, "If anyone is in Christ—
new creation! The old has passed away; behold the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17).
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Likewise, the
words of the ancient prophet resound in the words of John who, obeying the words of One seated
on the throne, wrote: "Behold, I am making all things new" (Rev 21:5). Indeed, I think it fair to
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All English translations of the Bible will be from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise
noted.
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(Trans. my own) Cf. Gal 6:15. There are also allusions to Isaiah's mention of a "new song" (Isa 42:10) in
Rev 5:9 and 14:3.
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say that from echo to allusion, hope to challenge, history to theology, prose to poetry, the
expressions of newness emerging from Israel’s ancient texts have not ceased to generate their
impact and effect.
Biblical scholars have long noted the terminology of "new things" (hDvdSj∂/twøv∂dSj),
particularly in its collocations with the terms, 'former,' ' ter,' and 'coming' things in Isa 40–48.lat
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Some, such as Gerhard von Rad, have employed the terminology to articulate larger themes from
Hebrew Scripture like that of a “new Exodus.”
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Others have capitalized on the language of
newness in order to accent its rich, theological dimensions in Isaiah and elsewhere. Walter
Brueggemann, for example, asserts: “The oracles of promise are originary utterances without
antecedent, certainly not rooted in or derived from the data or circumstances at hand, but rooted
in Yahweh’s circumstance defying capacity to work newness.”
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Despite this interest, there has
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A number of oft-cited studies explore this cluster of terms and will be discussed below, including: C. R.
North, “The ‘Former Things’ and the ‘New Things’ in Deutero-Isaiah,” Studies in Old Testament Prophecy
