488 Csaba Balogh the dispersed Judaeans (Isa 43,6; 49,12; 60,4.9) (48). However, if yqwjr v. 13 is related to vv. 14-16, it becomes clear that the author is concerned with Jews, not foreigners (49). Moreover, as we shall see below, vv. 14-16 also presuppose that the people addressed do not live in Zion yet, so that μybwrq would unlikely refer to Jerusalemites over against those in the diaspora (50). Instead of a geographical connotation it is more probable that the merism of v. 13 signifies distance from God, the speaker: μyqwjr refers to those who are far from him and μybwrq those who are close to him, who trust him. A parallel example is Isa 57,19, which addresses both qwjr and bwrq, proclaiming them peace and salvation. The larger context of 57,19 suggests that qwjr and bwrq refer to the totality of the people of YHWH, with different degrees of knowledge and experience of him. qwjr symbolises the sinful and iniquitous people (57,17), for whom YHWH is the God, who dwells in a distant, high and holy place (57,15; cf. Isa 6,1; 33,5.15), those whom he must heal (57,18; cf. Isa 6,10; 33,24), and bwrq may allude to the contrite and those lowly in spirit (57,15), to whom YHWH says he is near (cf. also Jer 12,2; 23,23) (51). The scene in vv. 14-24 is imaginary and highly metaphorical. The question who may live in Zion (v. 14), the adverbs μv (v. 21) and za (v. 23), the portrayal of the king and the “country far away” (v. 17), and the description of the city (vv. 20-21.23), all imply some distance in time and space from the real scene of events. According to the context of vv. 14-15, μyafj and μypnj refer to exilic contemporaries of the author, so that these are in fact synonyms for μyqwjr. These people have not yet succeeded to overcome and distance themselves from the negative spiritual heritage of their forefathers (52). If they would like to stay alive in Zion, they have to live according to (48) Cf. Dan 9,7; CLEMENTS, Isaiah, 268; KUSTÁR, Krankheit, 213. (49) Contra BERGES, Jesaja, 245. (50) V. 14 does not presuppose that the sinners already live in Zion, but it rather emphasises that they cannot stay alive in Zion. (51) For Isa 57 as an allusion to Isa 33, cf. further the themes of dwelling on high (ˆwkva…μwrm; 57,15 | 33,5.16), the eternity of YHWH (d[ ˆkv; cf. ˚yt[ tnwma in 33,6) and the healing of Zion punished for her sins (57,18-19 | 33,24). Seemingly the people distanced from God (qwjr) are distinguished from the μy[vr in 57,20- 21. In recent analysis, however, vv. 20-21 are regarded as additions (BERGES, Jesaja, 472-473; KUSTÁR, Krankheit, 205; cf. KOENEN, Heil, 82). For qwjr and bwrq see also Isa 46,12 and 55,6-7. (52) For afj, see Isa 1,4.18.28; 29,21; 31,7; 42,24; 43,27; 64,4. For πnj, see Isa 9,16; 10,6; 24,5; 32,6.