AN EXEGETICAL INTERROGATION OF THE MULTIPLE AUTHORSHIP (DIVERSITY) THEORY OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

Abstract

The tradition partitioning the Book of Isaiah into three segments namely, Proto-Isaiah, credited to Isaiah of Jerusalem, spanning chapters 1 to 39; Deutero-Isaiah, spanning chapters 40 to 55; and Trito- Isaiah, spanning chapters 56 to 66; has now endured, to the point that it has seemingly assumed the status of an indisputable fact. This theory presupposes that the identities of the authors of these other segments of Isaiah have seen lost and for that reason, the works have been lumped together in the Isaiah collection. However, a closer look reveals that the grounds for this multiple authorship or diversity theory also exist in other prophetic books of the Old Testament, notably, Jeremiah and Amos, and yet no diversity theory has been advanced for these books. The assumption that the identities of the authors of the supposed later sections of Isaiah have been lost seems rather implausible, and in fact, some thread of unity is reasonably visible between the later and the earlier segments of Isaiah. This paper critically examines the multiple authorship (or diversity) theory in Isaiah, using hermeneutical and exegetical methods, and raises fresh grounds for appreciating the unity of the Book of Isaiah.