Violence, Otherness and Identity in Isaiah 63:1-6: The Trampling One Coming from Edom (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

Synopsis

Violence Disturbs. And Violent Depictions, When Encountered In The Biblical Texts, Are All The More Disconcerting. Isaiah 63:1-6 Is An Illustrative Instance. The Prophetic Text Presents The Arriving One In Gory Details ('trampling Down People'; 'pouring Out Their Lifeblood' V.6). Further, The Introductory Note That The Arriving One Is “coming From Edom” (cf. V.1) May Suggest Israel's Unrelenting Animosity Towards Edom. These Two Themes: The Gory Depiction And Coming From Edom Are Addressed In This Book. Irudayaraj Uses A Social Identity Reading To Show How Edom Is Consistently Pictured As Israel's Proximate And Yet 'other'-ed Entity. Approaching Edom As Such Thus Helps Situate The Animosity Within A Larger Prophetic Vision Of Identity Construction In The Postexilic Third Isaian Context. By Adopting An Iconographic Reading Of Isaiah 63:1-6, Irudayaraj Shows How The Prophetic Portrayal Of The 'arriving One' In Descriptions Where It Is Clear That The 'arriving One' Is A Marginalised Identity Correlates With The Experiences Of The Stooped Exiles (cf 51:14). He Also Demonstrates That The Text Leaves Behind Emphatic Affirmations ('mighty' And 'splendidly Robed' Cf. V.1; “alone” Cf. V.3), By Which The Relegated Voice Of The Divine Reasserts Itself. It Is In This Divine Reassertion That The Hope Of The Isaian Community's Reclamation Of Its Own Identity Rests.