A.L.H.M. van Wieringen, «The "I"-Figure's Relations in the Poem in Isa 38,10-20», Vol. 96 (2015) 481-497
This article offers a close reading of the Writing of Hezekiah (Isa 38,10-20) and describes the development of both the relation between the "I"-figure and the Lord and that between the "I"-figure and the community. An "ellipsis" between vv. 14 and 15 plays a prominent role. Furthermore, the article demonstrates that the developments in the "I"-figure's relations in the poem fit well within the poem's context (chapters 36–39). The ellipsis in the poem is connected to the open ending of chapter 38, to the happy conclusion of chapters 36–37, and to the open ending of chapter 39.
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487 THE “I”-FIGURE’S RELATIONS IN THE POEM IN ISA 38,10-20 487
Verse 12 contains step II regarding the relation between the “I”-
figure and his community. This step is made by using the word rwd
which means “a collective of people living during a certain time
span” 14. The focal point in step II is not simply the life of the “I”-fig-
ure but also his life in relation to the living community, over whom
he is King 15. In my view, the notion of kingship is present in the
shepherd’s tent 16 of the “I”-figure. The shepherd is an image of the
righteous leader, a metaphor used in the Hebrew Bible for both God
and the king 17.
After the turning point in the poem, present as an ellipsis be-
tween vv. 14 and 15 (as described above), the relation between the
“I”-figure and the community is dealt with again in v. 16, but in a
different way, forming step III. From a semantic perspective, a sig-
nificant change occurs: whereas in v. 12 the “I”-figure describes
himself as no longer connected with his community because cut off
from his rwd, in v. 16 the “I”-figure describes himself as being part
of his community. The Lord rescued him in view of all those living
in the community (v. 16a: wyxy ~hyl[ “in view of them who live”)
and in view of each member of the community (v. 16b: !hb-lklw,
“and for each in them”) 18. However, this change implies even more.
Whereas in v. 12 the relation between the “I”-figure and the com-
14
Cf., e.g., G.J. BOTTERWECK, “rwd dôr”, TWAT 2 (1977) 184-185.
15
Cf. also S.J.L. CROFT, The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms
(JSOTSS 44; Sheffield 1987) 56, who explains that the king is both an individual
as well as the one who represents the community.
16
For the interpretation of the first person singular suffix in the phrase
y[r lhak see A.L.H.M. VAN WIERINGEN, “Notes on Isaiah 38–39”, BN 102
(2000) 28-32, here 29-30; cf. P. JOÜON – T. MURAOKA, A Grammar of Biblical
Hebrew (SubBib 14; Roma 1991) 520 [§ 140b]; J.D.W. WATTS, Isaiah 34–66
(WBC 25; Waco, TX 1987) 56.
17
See also J.A. SOGGIN, “h[r, r‘h weiden”, THAT 2 (1979) 793; R. HUN-
ZIKER-RODEWALD, Hirt und Herde. Ein Beitrag zum alttestamentlichen Got-
tesverständnis (BWANT 155; Stuttgart 2001) 43-72, although without
mentioning Isa 38,12c. Regarding David, the metaphor of the shepherd is
used in the narrative about his fight with Goliath (1 Sam 17,34) and in the
well-known Nathan-prophecy (2 Sam 7,7). Within the Book of Isaiah, the
metaphor of the shepherd, used for God, is also present in 40,11 and the
metaphor of the tent, as being the domicile of the people in the description of
the post-exilic Zion, is found in 54,2 (cf. also 40,22).
18
For the interpretation of v. 16a-b, see H.S. NYBERG, “Hiskias Danklied
Jes. 38,9-20”, ASTI 9 (1973) 85-97, here 94; VAN WIERINGEN, Isaiah 38–39, 29.
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