Scholars have traditionally isolated three distinct sections of what is known as the Book of Isaiah, and in Isaiah 40-55, distinguished biblical scholar Joseph Blenkinsopp provides a new translation and critical commentary on the section usually referred to as Second or Deutero Isaiah. The second volume in a three-volume commentary, it easily maintains the high standards of academic excellence established by Isaiah1-39.

Second Isaiah was written in the sixth century b.c.e., in the years just before the fall of the mighty Babylonian Empire, by an anonymous prophet whom history has erroneously identified with the real Isaiah (born ca. 765 b.c.e.). Scholars know Second Isaiah was written by someone other than Isaiah because the contexts of these prophecies are so very different. When Second Isaiah was written, the prophet believed that Israel's time of suffering was drawing to a close. There was, he insisted, a new age upon them, a time of hope, peace, and renewed national prosperity. The main thrust of the prophet's argument was intended to rally the spirits of a people devastated by war and conquest. One of the most famous examples of this optimistic tone is the well-known and beloved Song of the Suffering Servant, which is found in Chapters 52-53, and about which Blenkinsopp has some challenging new ideas.

The final chapters of Second Isaiah, however, are in an entirely different key as it becomes clear that the new world the prophet foresaw earlier was not going to come to pass. This despair finds its most poignant expression in the final section of the Book of Isaiah, which Blenkinsopp will address in his forthcoming third volume.

This book, a volume in the Old Testament Library series, explores chapters 40-66 of the book of Isaiah.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

The book of Job has been hailed as a literary masterpiece. Yet it poses one of the most difficult literary problems in the Old Testament: how to understand the order of speeches and speakers from chapters 26 through 37.

In this second volume of his commentary on Job, Professor David J. A. Clines addresses the problem directly with a sweeping proposal. He argues that chapter 26 continues Bildad s speech from the previous chapter. Job s ninth speech is shorter than usually recognized, only 27:1 6, 11 12. Clines finds Zophar s missing third speech in 27:7 10, 13 17; 24:18 24; and 27:18 23, thus completing the last cycle of speeches by the three friends.

Finally, Professor Clines solves the mystery of the wisdom poem in chapter 28 by crediting it to Elihu and showing that it should follow Elihu s other four speeches (chaps. 32 37) as their climax. This new reconstruction allows Job s final speeches (29:1 31:40) to end the cycle and lead into God s response (chaps. 38 41).

Through it all, Professor Clines guides readers through the intricacies of Job s language as well as the sweep of the book s theology. He concisely summarizes the views of other commentators, but also notes the choices that readers can and must make in order to evaluate Job s honesty and judge the character of one of the most vivid personalities in biblical literature."