The Holy One of Israel: Studies in the Book of Isaiah

by John N. Oswalt

Growing out of the work that the author did in preparing two major commentaries on Isaiah, these essays range from comprehensive to specific, and from popular to scholarly. They first appeared in biblical dictionaries, scholarly journals, and popular periodicals. Gathered here for the first time, they display in various ways how the author sees the various parts of Isaiah functioning together to give a coherent message to the church. The opening chapters lay out Oswalt's understanding of the overall message of the book of Isaiah. Subsequent chapters consider such themes as holiness and righteousness as they function in that larger structure. The concluding chapters look at selected sections of Isaiah in more detail, noting how those specific messages contribute to the overall whole.

Genres: Old Testament

174 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2014

Reviews

[Philip Taylor]

An excellent book of essays from a legendary Isaiah scholar. I felt humbled as I read it. The author appears to have been deeply formed by Isaiah.

[Gwilym Davies]

I really like John Oswalt on Isaiah, I love collections of essays on Bible books, and I think the opening chapter of this volume is one of the most helpful things I can imagine reading on the message of the book. I've learnt so much from Oswalt, and I'd gladly put this into the hands of others. So why just 3 stars? Well, as a book, it's just a bit repetitious. Once you've read the first two essays, you've got the gist of everything the rest of the book is going to say. Chapter after chapter repeats the same basic outline of the book. It's a brilliant outline. It's an ok book.

[Tom]

Thought the first two chapters were really good. It got less interesting after that and eventually I ran out of steam and didn't finish it. Possibly some of the later chapters are more oriented to people with more theological training