Isaiah's Vision and the Family of God

katheryn pfisterer darr's book is the first in the series of the literary currents in biblical interpretation. this series seek to explore the current interest in interpreting biblical books from a literary perspective.katheryn's book more than succeeds the series' expectation. the old historical-critical interest in the authorship of the book of isaiah are put aside in favour of a literary reading of the book. the question asked is rather 'how do we understand the message of the book of isaiah as we have it today?' using a thematic approach of the feminine imagery of women, childbirth and children, she connects the various parts of the book to help us see the recipocral relationships between them. for example, the theme of the city of jerusalem/zion which is feminine is explored in relationship with other cities like babylon (also portrayed in the feminine). the image of childbirth is used to show the intimate connections between the earlier chapters of 1-39 with the latter chapters of 40-66. hezekiah's cry 'children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth' is seen as an interpretive key to understand the total vision of the book of isaiah - what is seen as of no hope in the days of hezekiah is fulfilled in mother zion whose children 'born in the time of bereavement' will return to her in multitudes. the new synchronic approach of reading the book of isaiah may seem to sidestep the vexing questions of authorship but is an intellectually stimulating way of reading 'isaiah's vision' as it is presented in the final shape of the book. when read in this larger panorama, the message unfolds clearly of god's marvellous purposes for his people in spite of their continued stubbornness.