Williamson, `Pre-Exilic Isaiah'
21
Even if, however, in this strictly ad hominem argument we concede this point,
two severe problems remain for Becker. First, among the very passages which he
himself has just agreed relate to this theme, 41:20 is agreed by all to belong to the
primary layer, and the same is true of some other verses which he chooses not to
mention, such as 42:16 and 43:10 (and possibly 40:21). In addition, however, his
procedure of lumping the conclusions of all these redaction critics together is
questionable, for each arrives at his conclusions by a presumably self-consistent
method, so that it is mistaken to pick and choose from their results to suit some
alternative purpose. 43:8 is a good example of this issue. Kratz (who appears to
have exerted the greatest influence on Becker) declares the verse secondary for the
simple reason that he regards it as dependent upon 42:18.
61
Van Oorschot, on the
other hand, makes a strong case for seeing 43:8 as integral to the rhetoric in 43:8-13,
and so by no means to be deleted.
62
Rather, using precisely the form of argument
which Becker himself regularly employs elsewhere in his monograph, he maintains
that 42:18 obviously voraussetzt the occurrence in 43:8.
63
On either or both counts,
therefore, I conclude that Becker has failed to circumvent the problem for his
position posed by the apparent allusions to 6:9-10 in Deutero-Isaiah.
It is not possible in the present context to pursue other examples of this sort.
While I agree that to those who take a contrary view on a priori grounds it will
always be possible to advance some objection to one or another aspect of this
method, I believe that for most scholars the network of correspondences which can
be built up between the various parts of the book of Isaiah along these lines points
firmly towards the conclusion that some are anchored in the pre-Deutero-Isaianic,
and thus almost certainly the pre-exilic, period.
My fourth principal line of argument cannot, perhaps, quite be labelled a
method, but it seeks to reflect rather on the consequences of the most familiar of all
61
Kratz, Kyros, 65 and 140.
62
Van Oorschot, Von Babel zum Zion, 33-38.
63
Van Oorschot, Von Babel zum Zion, 210.