„Sprawiedliwy ginie, a nikt się tym nie przejmuje” (Iz 57,1a) – obraz judejskiej elity w inwektywach Trito-Izajasza (Iz 56–57). Kryzys przywództwa w prowincji Jehud w połowie V wieku przed Chr.

Abstract

The article shows that Isa 56–57 is acollection of five images (56:1–8; 56:9–12; 57:1–2; 57:3–13; 57:14–21) created in variatio style. The introduction presents asingle sentence from Tacitus as an example of the variatio employed and the effort of intellectual reflection that the reader must undertake to understand it. Then an extended exegesis of Isa 56–57 – linking seemingly unconnected passages into acoherent whole – leads to a depiction of the situation of Yehud in the mid-fifth century BC, on the eve of Nehemiah’s reform. The prophecy about the eunuch in Isa 56:1–8 is a historical allusion to Nehemiah and an attempt to give him credence. Indeed, a number of arguments indicate that he may have been considered aeunuch and aforeigner by the Judeans (even if he was not de facto one – the available sources are not conclusive). Receiving a vocation, he is prepared to face asocio-religious crisis. It is mainly acrisis of leadership: those in leadership are degenerate, subject to moral insensitivity, spiritual stupefaction, drunkenness, prostitution and idolatrous practices (child sacrifice, sacred fornication, worship of Moloch), compared to mute dogs, unable to see the impending danger. The negative portrayal of the elite is balanced by positive emphases: the presence of the righteous whose death is not fruitless, the activity of the prophetic community and the announcement of the intervention of God who forgives and proclaims peace. A brief conclusion highlights the theological significance of the texts under study: inclusivity, the death of the righteous (filled with atheology of vicarious suffering), God’s ontic holiness as the basis of mercy, and prophetic inspiration as the activity of God the Creator are some of the theological themes present in Isa 56–57. The article is strictly exegetical and descriptive with elements of humanism and spirituality.