What are some good commentaries on Isaiah?

ChristianHedonist · #1 (**permalink**) 01-26-2009, 07:54 PM

I have to write an exegesis paper on Isaiah 54:1-10, specifically focusing on the covenant of peace mentioned in verse 10. What commentaries on Isaiah would you all recommend? Is there any other reading material you would recommend relating to Isaiah 54 and/or the use of "covenant of peace" in the Bible? Thanks for your help!

Grace and peace,

Dan

Guido's Brother · #2 (**permalink**) 01-26-2009, 08:48 PM

E.J. Young is a classic.

**DMcFadden** · #3 (**permalink**) 01-26-2009, 09:07 PM

Ditto

***fredtgreco*** · #4 (**permalink**) 01-26-2009, 09:35 PM

Motyer is good, as he is on anything.

Amazon

Backwoods Presbyterian · #5 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 07:07 AM

Motyer is top notch. Highly recommend his commentary.

jambo · #6 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 11:16 AM

EJ Young and A Motyer are excellent. HC Leupold is also quite good.

Nebrexan · #7 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 12:00 PM

Our Sunday School teacher, a reformed seminary graduate, has been taking the class through Isaiah for the past several years, and highly recommends Derek Kidner's commentary.

Long Island Puritan · #8 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 12:14 PM

If you can find a copy J. A. Alexander (from the good days at Princeton Seminary) has a 2 volume, 1150+ page verse by verse commentary on Isaiah.

**DMcFadden** · #9 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 12:44 PM

Since I'm home with a sick teenager today, here are a few of my suggestions . . .

When I did my exegesis papers back in the day, I usually just asked Isaiah what he meant.

For bibliography, Young would be the best source. He is reliably conservative and an excellent exegete.

Motyer's book (Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah : An Introduction & Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993.) came out more recently but I use it whenever studying Isaiah. On this passage, he helpfully observes that "The link here between covenant and peace implies a peace resting on sacrifice—the death of the Servant."

My old seminary prof, J.D.W. Watts, takes an odd view of the composition of Isaiah but has some exegetical material on the Hebrew (Watts, John D. W. Vol. 25, Word Biblical Commentary : Isaiah 34-66. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002.)

Knight, George Angus Fulton (Servant Theology : A Commentary on the Book of Isaiah 40-55. Rev. and updated new ed. International theological commentary. Edinburgh; Grand Rapids: Handsel Press; W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1984.) wears me out with his Deutero-Isaiah (DI) stuff. But he makes some decent comments on the idea of the covenant in Isaiah.

The Preaching the Word commentary (Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr and R. Kent Hughes. Isaiah : God Saves Sinners. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2005) is too brief on this text but is worthy of quoting for a couple of the lines: "The gospel is not “He loves me, he loves me not,” depending on our own loveliness. The grace of God is a “covenant of peace” (Isaiah 54:10), a permanent arrangement bringing us a wholeness we don’t deserve. Therefore, we can enjoy God’s grace without fearing that he’ll retract it (54:4). We didn’t cause his grace to begin with, so we can’t reverse it now."

Edmund Clowney interprets the covenantal language in terms of its OT and NT reference in WTJ 31:1 (Nov 68).

Bruce Compton places the notion of a new covenant in the frame of reference of dispensational-covenant hermeneutics in DBSJ 8 (Fall 03).

Check out pgs. 322ff. of the A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. Zuck, Roy B. A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991;

Chapter 16 on the Covenant of Grace in a Brakel's book is quite good (a Brakel, Wilhelmus. The Christian's Reasonable Service, Volumes 1 and 2 : In Which Divine Truths Concerning the Covenant of Grace Are Expounded, Defended Against Opposing Parties, and Their Practice Advocated as Well as The Administration of This Covenant in the Old and New Testaments. electronic ed. of the first publication in the English language, based on the 3rd edition of the original Dutch work. Morgan PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1996, c1992).

Don't skip the dictionaries. Glenn E. Schaefer has a sucinct statement under "peace" in Elwell, Walter A. and Walter A. Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, c1996).

ChristianHedonist · #10 (**permalink**) 01-27-2009, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcFadden

Since I'm home with a sick teenager today, here are a few of my suggestions . . .

When I did my exegesis papers back in the day, I usually just asked Isaiah what he meant.

For bibliography, Young would be the best source. He is reliably conservative and an excellent exegete.

Motyer's book (Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah : An Introduction & Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993.) came out more recently but I use it whenever studying Isaiah. On this passage, he helpfully observes that "The link here between covenant and peace implies a peace resting on sacrifice—the death of the Servant."

My old seminary prof, J.D.W. Watts, takes an odd view of the composition of Isaiah but has some exegetical material on the Hebrew (Watts, John D. W. Vol. 25, Word Biblical Commentary : Isaiah 34-66. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002.)

Knight, George Angus Fulton (Servant Theology : A Commentary on the Book of Isaiah 40-55. Rev. and updated new ed. International theological commentary. Edinburgh; Grand Rapids: Handsel Press; W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1984.) wears me out with his Deutero-Isaiah (DI) stuff. But he makes some decent comments on the idea of the covenant in Isaiah.

The Preaching the Word commentary (Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr and R. Kent Hughes. Isaiah : God Saves Sinners. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2005) is too brief on this text but is worthy of quoting for a couple of the lines: "The gospel is not “He loves me, he loves me not,” depending on our own loveliness. The grace of God is a “covenant of peace” (Isaiah 54:10), a permanent arrangement bringing us a wholeness we don’t deserve. Therefore, we can enjoy God’s grace without fearing that he’ll retract it (54:4). We didn’t cause his grace to begin with, so we can’t reverse it now."

Edmund Clowney interprets the covenantal language in terms of its OT and NT reference in WTJ 31:1 (Nov 68).

Bruce Compton places the notion of a new covenant in the frame of reference of dispensational-covenant hermeneutics in DBSJ 8 (Fall 03).

Check out pgs. 322ff. of the A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. Zuck, Roy B. A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991;

Chapter 16 on the Covenant of Grace in a Brakel's book is quite good (a Brakel, Wilhelmus. The Christian's Reasonable Service, Volumes 1 and 2 : In Which Divine Truths Concerning the Covenant of Grace Are Expounded, Defended Against Opposing Parties, and Their Practice Advocated as Well as The Administration of This Covenant in the Old and New Testaments. electronic ed. of the first publication in the English language, based on the 3rd edition of the original Dutch work. Morgan PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1996, c1992).

Don't skip the dictionaries. Glenn E. Schaefer has a sucinct statement under "peace" in Elwell, Walter A. and Walter A. Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, c1996).

Thanks, this is most helpful!