161. the grammar of res. in isaiah 26, 19a-c

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JBL122/1 (2003) 145-55

CRITICAL NOTES

THE GRAMMAR OF RESURRECTION

IN ISAIAH 26:19a-c

For more than a century, Isa 24-27 has been recognized as a distinct unit withinthe larger context of Isa 1-39. The features that distinguish these four chapters from

their surroundings are readily noted: the absence of a plausible connection with the

Neo-Assyrian period; distinctive vocabulary and syntax; themes and imagery generally

associated with later periods in the history of Israel. Identifying the unifying characteris

tics of these chapters is more difficult. Similar to oracles against the nations, but with an

eschatological perspective, these passages are nonetheless distinct from developed

examples of biblical and Jewish apocalyptic. Commentators describe the internal struc

ture of Isa 24-27 with little consistency or agreement and date these chapters with con

siderable variation.1

Isaiah 26:19 is a critical passage in the so-called Isaiah Apocalypse, because it

describes a future reanimation of the dead. Over millennia, commentators have sought

to discern the message of Isa 26:19, but consensus about its grammatical structure and

its precise meaning has never formed.2

Close attention to the morphological and syntactic features of Isa 26:19 leads to

resolution ofits longstanding problematic character. I contend that there is a relatively

simple and grammatically satisfying interpretation of the verse that accounts for the

morphology of its words, the syntax of its sentences, and the structure of its poetic lines.Once the meaning of Isa 26:19 is clear, the logical sequence of its argument emerges.

1 Otto Eissfeldt says, "From the exile onwards down to . . . the end of the second centuryB.C., every century has been proposed as the period ofits composition" (The OldTestament: An

Introduction [trans. Peter R. Ackroyd; New York: Harper & Row, 1965], 325). William R. Millarassesses earlier studies and argues for a historical setting in "the last half of the sixth centuryB.C.E." (Isaiah 24-27andthe Origin ofBiblical Apocalyptic [HSM 11; Missoula, MT: ScholaPress, 1976], 120). Joseph Blenkinsopp notes that "the epigraphy[i.e., paleography] of the Qumran

Isaiah material rules out assigning these chapters to the late second centuryor, a fortiori, the earlyfirst century B.C.E." (Isaiah 1-39: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [ANew York: Doubleday 2000] 348) Blenkinsopp favors "a time quite close to the composition of


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146 Journal ofBiblical Literature

Isaiah 26 is verse. The lineation of v. 19a-c is set out below.3

vrr 19a

' Tpna 19b1S> 'DB TITTI 2 19c

The MT ofIsa 26:19b has a difficult reading in the word T t a ] in v. 19b.4 The mostancient Greektranslation does not help to explain the Hebrew, because the reading ofthe LXX, , appears to be a Christian interpolation from John 5:28.5

The divergent syntaxofthe Greek in this verse further obscures the Hebrew Vorlage.The Vulgate interfecti meipartlyfollows the consonantal MT, but interprets the noun asa collective and the suffix as first person singular.6 The Syriac version and the Targums

read as ifthe suffix were third person plural.7

Most recent translations accept the MT as the lectio difficiliorbut translate accord-ing to eitherthe Vulgate or the Syriac and Targum. The influence ofthe Vulgate is evident in, e.g., the AV: "Thydead [men] shall live, [togetherwith] mydead body shall theyarise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust." The translation "mydead body" interpretsthe suffix ofTt a l as first person singular.

Conjectural emendation ofthe suffix to third person plural, following the Syriacand Targums, is reflected in the RSV: "Thydead shall live, theirbodies shall rise. O

dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" and in the NIV: "But your dead will live;theirbodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy."8

The morphologyof Tfa ] is difficult to assess.9 The suffix "* - is widelyunderstood

3I am using "line" in the sense argued byM. O'Connor, Hebrew Verse Structure (Winon

Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980; rev. ed., 1997). W. L. Holladayprefers colon to O'Connor's "line"("Hebrew Verse Structure Revisited (I): Which Words 'Count?"/BL118 [1999]: 21-23).

4Also lQIsaa xxi 1. The enhanced digitized image ofcol. xxi in D. W. Parry and E. Qimron,

The GreatIsaiah Scroll(lQIsaa

): A New Edition (STDJ 32; Leiden: Brill, 1999), 42, shows threading clearly.5

D. Barthlmy et al., Critique textuelle de l'Ancien Testament: 2, Isae, Jremie, Lamtions (OBO 50/2; Fribourg: ditions universitaires; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1981),187. "[T]extual corruption seems to be the fate of passages deemed to be religiously controversial"(Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 1-39, 370).

6 Barthlmy, Critique textuelle, 187.7 Peshitta nibltm. On the Targums, see A. van der Kooij, Die Alten Textzeugen desjesaj

buches (OBO 35; Freiburg: Universittsverlag; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1981), 179,302; Barthlmy, Critique textuelle, 186-87; H. Sysling, TehiyyatHa-Metim: The Resurrectiothe Deadin the Palestinian Targums ofthe Pentateuch and Parallel Traditions in Classical R

Literature (TSAJ 57; Tbingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1996), 72-73. On conjectural emendations, see


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Ctical Notes 147

as a first person pronominal suffix.10 Another analysis was proposed by Japheth ben cAliha-Levi, a tenth-century Karaite scholar from Jerusalem: the suffix is a connecting vowel(hreq compaginis) without semantic value.11 The paragogic vowel is most often foundaffixed to the first substantive of a construct chain, but this is not the syntactic environment in Isa 26:19a.12 Hence a paragogic interpretation of the suffix faces syntactic difficulties.

According to the MT vocalization, the substantiverf?I13is feminine singular and inthe absolute state. There is a lack of gender and number concord with the verb )lQTp\These features indicate that Tita] is not the subject of the verb pD1p\ To explain theverse line, we must abandon the common interpretation of the suffix as a personal pronoun and the less common interpretation of the suffix as a paragogic element. I suggest

that the * - suffix is not a personal pronoun or paragogic, but a gentilic.13Syntactically, Tbll is an accusative of state; as a substantive, it is indefinite and

refers to the subject of the clause.14 An adverbial adjunct, Tta3 specifies the state inwhich the dead are resurrected: "(as) a corpse they [sc. 'your dead'] shall rise." A similaruse of the gentilic to indicate an accusative of state can be found at Gen 25:25: "The firstcame out red"(Heb. IDTK).

With the substantive described as an adverbial accusative, the syntax of Isa26:19a-b becomes evident. The constituent structure of v. 19a is V(erb)-S(ubject); the

constituent structure of v. 19b is A(dverbial)-V(erb). The S(ubject) constituent of v. 19a(Heb. "["TO) is deleted or "gapped" in v. 19b. Typologically, Isa 26:19b is a single independent clause line of two constituents of the type A-V.15

The gentilic analysis of the suffix of Tfa] leads to a translation of Isa 26:19a-c inthe following manner:

10 See the previous paragraphs. Examples of the difficulties raised by this interpretation forrhetorical analysis are F. J. Helfmeyer, "'Deine Toten-meine Leichen': Heilszusage und Annahme

in Jes 26:19," in Bausteine biblischer Theologie- FestschriftB.J.

Botterweck(ed. H.-J. Fabry;50; Cologne: Peter Hanstein, 1977), 254; and A. L. H. M. van Wieringen, "T and We' before 'YourFace: A Communication Analysis of Isaiah 26:7-21," in Studies in Isaiah 24-27, ed. Bosman andvan Grol, 246. Polaski assumes a first-person suffix without discussion (Authorizing an End, 240).

11 Details of his life are unknown, but Japheth ben cAli was active ca. 950-980 CE. (A Commentary on the Book of Daniel by Jephet ibn Ali the Karaite [ed. and trans. J. L. Margoliouth;Oxford: Clarendon, 1889], v-vi;/E 7:72-73; Encjud9:1, 286). His Judeo-Arabic commentaries onTanakh are well preserved. The same explanation of the suffix was advanced, apparently independently, by E. F. C. Rosenmller, Scholia in Vetus Testamentum, pt. 3, Iesaiae vaticinia (LeipzI. A. Barth, 1793) [not seen]; see Barthlmy, Critique textuelle, 187. The paragogic explanation o

the suffix is not mentioned in TDOT9:156. On the paragogic suffix in general, see B. Waltke andM. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990


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148 Journal ofBiblical Literature

19a TTT Your dead shall live.

19b IIQIp1 Tltaa (As) a corpse they shall rise.16

19c "IDI? ,DtD 1]31 "ETpH Awake and shout forjoy, you who dwell in

the dust!17

The passage envisions a political revival ofthe battered Judahite realm metaphori-cally, byanalogy to the popular idea ofpersonal eschatology referred to in the laterHebrew phrase thiyyat h-mtm, "revival ofthe dead."18 The moribund nation, likethe deceased at the end ofdays, will be reconstituted (v. 19a), at first insensate and lifeless (v. 19b), but then revivified, active and joyful (v. 19c).

Note the conceptual similarity ofEzek 37:1-14. In the process ofresurrection asexplained to Ezekiel in a vision (37:1-3), the bodies ofthe dead are first reconstituted(w. 4-5);19 then spirit (Hebrew ) is infused in them, and theyUve again (v. 6). AfterEzekiel's first prophetic utterance (v. 7), the drybones reassemble and becomeenfleshed; the newlyreconstituted corpses are not yet alive, however, because "spirit[] is not in them" (v. 8). Asecond divine commissioning (v. 9) and a second propheticutterance (v. 10) are necessary to revive and revitalize the corpses. Oral tradition (h.Sanh. 92b) completes the parallel: the dead revived byEzekiel's intervention chanted asong of praise to God as soon as theycame to life.20

The third Une ofthe passage, v. 19c, expresses the dawning awareness ofthe reviv

ified dead (representing the nation) through a conjoined pair ofimperatives: "Wpn.The earliest witness to the text, lQIsaa xxi 1, reads 12Tp'' 1]] at this point. The imperatives have been assimilated to prefixing forms, imitating the usage ofthe previous twolines: VIT in v. 19a and pulp1 in v. 19b. The MT, supported by Vg, once again gives themore difficult reading. 21

The verb ]T\ is appropriate to represent the joy ofthe future life. Used 52 times inthe MT, ] appears 25 times in Psalms, 13 times in Isaiah, 3 times each in Proverbs andJeremiah, twice in Job, and once each in sixotherbooks.22 Precisely one-fourth ofitsuses are in the Isaian corpus. Thus ]D is a characteristic lexical choice forthis semanticdomain in the book ofIsaiah.

16 On the word pair DIp/ATTl, see M. L. Barr, "New Light on the Interpretation of Hosea VI2,"VT28 (1978): 129-35.

17 Or "dirt"; see D. Hillers, "Dust: Some Aspects ofOld Testament Imagery," in Love andDeath in the Ancient NearEast: Essays in HonorofMarvin H. Pope (ed. J. H. Martin and RGood; Guilford, CT: Four Quarters, 1987), 107.

18 On the meaning and development of the phrase, see Sysling, TehiyyatHa-Metim, 1-2.19 By means of the dew of heaven (L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vol. 4, From Josh

to Esther[Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 5713/1954], 333).20


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Critical Notes 149

Isaiah 12 6a strongly parallels 26 19c in syntax as well as vocabulary

Loc Part Imp Imp

Isa 12 6a ]T2* rOT ^

Is a 26 19c ' D 1) 12

In both cases, ]3 is conjoined as th e second of two impera tivessi ngul ar m Isa 12 6 a

followed by a vocative whose co ns tit uents are a parti cipl e an d a locative noun 2 3 The

onlyotheruse of]3 in the Isaiah Apocalypse, in Isa 24 14, has no direct bearing on the

passage we are consi derin g

Interpreted as I have argued above, Isa 26 19b is a statement concerning the con-

dition in which the newly reconstituted dead begin their tra nsi tion to life again Th e

dead an se as corpses, awaken, and shout for joy Ezekie l 37 1-14 impl ies similar staging

of the ranimation process, and postbibhcal descriptions of resurrection elaborate indi

vidual steps in the sequence 2 4 The Isaian image is an adumbration of a mental representation already well formed but sparsely articulated in early Judaism 2 5

Philip C Schmi tz

phihp schmitz@emich edu

Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

23 The syntactic matching further supports the textual argument favonng the MT over theQumran text of Isa 26 19c

24 G W E Nickelsburg, Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in IntertestamentalJudaism (HTS 26, Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, London Oxford University Press,1972), 17-23, idem, "Resurrection," in Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed L H Schiffmanand J C VanderKam, Oxford Oxford University Press, 2000), 1 764-67, idem, "Judgment, Life-after-Death, and Resurrection in the Apocrypha and the non-Apocalyptic Pseudepigrapha," in

Judaism m Late Antiquity Part 4, Death, Life-after-Death, Resurrection and the World-to-Come m

the Judaisms of Antiquity (ed A J Avery-Peck and J Neusner, HO 1/49, Leiden Brill, 2000), 145I have been unable to obtain E Puech, La croyance des Essniens en la vie future Immortalit, resurrection, vie ternelle? Histoire d'une croyance dans le Judasme ancien (2 vols , Pans Gabalda,1993), but its argument is summarized in idem, "Immortality and Life after Death," in The DeadSea Scrolls Fifty Years after Their Discovery Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20-25,

1997(ed L H Schiffman, , and J C VanderKam, Jerusalem Israel Exploration Society incooperation with The Shrine ofthe Book, Israel Museum, 2000), 512-20 On the Palestinian Targums, see Sysling, Tehiyyat Ha-Metim, 180-84, and V M Flesher, "The Resurrection of theDead and the Sources ofthe Palestinian Targums to the Pentateuch," m Judaism in Late AntiquityPart4, ed Avery-Peck and Neusner, 311-31

2 5 Boyerdemonstrates the foundational role ofmental representations m religious discourse (The Naturalness ofReligious Ideas A Cognitive Theory ofReligion [Berkeley University


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161. the grammar of res. in isaiah 26, 19a-c

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