Isaiah Assignment #2

Again, sorry for the late post! Hopefully I'll get this up earlier from now on. Here are some questions for study of Isaiah 1-5:

1. Isaiah is mostly poetry, and we ought to pay attention to that! The main characteristic of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, where a line parallels the previous line either in a similar way (synonymous parallelism) or an opposite way (antithetical parallelism). Find examples of both in these first 5 chapters.
Also, see if you can discover some other poetic devices (like, for example, similes or metaphors).

2. Imagine chapter 1 as a courtroom scene. Using the text, identify what happens in this courtroom—for example, the members of the court (prosecutor, judge, jury, defendant, witnesses), the summons, the arraignment, the charges leveled, the sentence, the plea bargain, etc.

3. List out the repeated words and phrases in 2:6-22. Then, make some observations in connection to this repetition (e.g. the poetic structure of this repetition; terms or ideas connected to the repeated words/phrases; relationship of repetitions to one another; etc.).

4. Isa 4:2-6 is a beautiful messianic picture. Describe the three main aspects of this picture: 1) the person of the Messiah, 2) the remnant, 3) the work of the Messiah.

5. What do you think is the main point of the vineyard metaphor in 5:1-7?

Okay, I know, this is quite a bit, especially at this late date. But do what you can and want! See you tomorrow.