Isaiah 45:1-7
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- Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
- Chapter XI, Chapter XII of the Epistle of Barnabas. (ca. 130)
- I.V.4, I.XXIX.4, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
- Chapter VII, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
- III.12, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- V.4, V.10, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- Chapter XXXII, Against Hermogenes, Tertullian (c. 205)
- I.2, I.16, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 207)
- II.14, II.24, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 208)
- IV.1, IV.25, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 210)
- Chapter XXI, Against the Valentinians, Tertullian (c. 210)
- Chapter XXIV, On the Flesh of Christ, Tertullian (c. 211)
- V.6, V.14, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 212)
- Concerning Flight in Persecution (paragraph 3) Tertullian (c. 212)
- Chapter XI, Chapter XVIII, Chapter XX, Chapter XXVIII, Against Praxeas, Tertullian (c. 213)
- Chapter II, On Modesty, Tertullian (c. 217)
- II.IV.1, First Principles (De Principiis), Origen. (c.225)
- VI.XXVIII, The Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena), Hippolytus of Rome. (c. 225)
- VI.LV, VI.LVI, Against Celsus, Origen. (c.246)
- Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
- From the Geneva Notes.
- From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
- From Wesley's Notes.
- "The
Solar Eclipse; Isaiah 45:7," Charles H. Spurgeon, 1858.
- "I shall note this morning, in addressing you, that since the Lord creates darkness as well as light; first of all, eclipses of every kind are part of God's way of governing the world; in the second place, we shall notice that since God creates the darkness as well as the light, we may conclude beyond a doubt that he has a design in the eclipse—in the darkness as well as the light; and then, thirdly, we shall notice that as all things that God has created, whether they be light or whether they be dark, have a sermon for us, no doubt there are some sermons to be found in this."
- From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- Contemporary Commentary, Studies and Exegesis:
- Commentary,
Isaiah 45:1-7, Patricia TullPreaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
- "All these themes converge explicitly in Isaiah 45:1-7, as the writer imagines Cyrus as God's anointed (a term formerly reserved for Israelite rulers and priests), a victor subduing nations with God's guiding. God calls Cyrus by name, even though this king does not know who God is. Thus an event dawning on Babylon's and Israel's political horizon, an event begging for interpretation, is credited to God who, as the prophet claims, is in charge of all things in creation and history, who forms light and creates darkness, who makes both weal and woe."
- Commentary,
Isaiah 45:1-7, Fred Gaiser, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
- "Cyrus is a remarkably active divine agent in our text. He is called to be the means of God's deliverance. But Second Isaiah (and God) refuses to allow him to be merely a pawn. Cyrus, too--though he did not know God (45:4)--was meant to come to know that he was called by God (45:3)."
- Commentary,
Isaiah 45:1-7, James K. Mead, Preaching This Week,
WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
- "...as the prophet emphasizes Cyrus's usefulness in spite of his lack of knowledge of Yahweh, the exiles must recognize that they have none of the Persian monarch's excuses. Their knowledge of God must usher forth into a trust in God for the new thing he is doing."
- Isaiah 45:1-7, Studies on Old Testament texts from Series A, Ralph W. Klein, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
-
"The Strange
Ways of God," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com:
A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.
- "How has God surprised you? How has he changed your expectations?"
- Cyrus the Great at Wikipedia.
- Commentary,
Isaiah 45:1-7, Patricia TullPreaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.
- Recommended articles
from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are
linked below.
ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of
selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
- Albertz, Rainer,
"Darius in Place of Cyrus: The First Edition of Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah
40.1-52.12) in 521 BCE," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament,
2003.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - DeRoche, Michael, "Isaiah 45:7 and
the Creation of Chaos," Vetus Testamentum, 1992.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Fretheim, Terence E., "'I Was Only a Little Angry,' Divine Violence in the Prophets,"
Interpretation, 2004. (See also entire issue:
Violence in the Bible,
Interpretation, 2004.)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Fried, Lisbeth S., "Cyrus the
Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1," Harvard
Theological Review, 2002.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Keiser, Thomas A.,
"The Song of Moses as a Basis for Isaiah's Prophecy," Vetus
Testamentum, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Nuyen, A.T., "The 'Ethical Antropic Principle' and
the Religious Ethics of Levinas," Journal of Religious Ethics,
2001.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Scharlemann, Martin H., "A Beckoning Shadow,"
Concordia Journal, 1977. (Homily)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Southwood, Charles H., "The Problematic HADURIM
of Isaiah 45:2," Vetus Testamentum, 1975.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Albertz, Rainer,
"Darius in Place of Cyrus: The First Edition of Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah
40.1-52.12) in 521 BCE," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament,
2003.
- Sermons:
- Reviews:
- Review: Jim W. Adams, The Performative Nature and Function of Isaiah 40-55. T&T Clark, 2006. Review by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Review of Biblical Literature, 2008.
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