The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 [Hardcover]

Having just completed my study of the book of Isaiah, I have to say that I am a little shell-shocked. The depth and breadth of Isaiah's vision is breathtaking, and he is a master in communicating that vision. Much of this is evident even to a layperson like myself, but I cannot overstate the value of a commentary such as this to assist in grasping the extended themes of judgment of the faithless, redemption of the faithful, a promised Messiah, the incomparable faithfulness and glory of the living God, etc.. or how their historical significance has application to my life today.

I worked through two commentaries in my study - Edward Young's three volume set (the original NICOT offering) and Oswalt's two volume set. Without going too far into comparing them, I will say that I found Oswalt's volume to be considerably more accessible to the layperson while still impressively scholarly in tackling the textual controversies which are rife in Isaiah scholarship.

Oswalt's commentary lies in the evangelical tradition of Biblical scholarship, which means that he accepts the scriptural and traditional testimony of Isaianic authorship for the complete book, and also that his interpretation falls within the historical Christian paradigm.

He is generous in drawing from liberal and conservative studies together for interpretation of the text while at the same time very penetrating in his analysis and criticism of the a priori arguments raised by liberals in rejection of Isaiah's authorship of the whole book.

But I found most valuable the heightened vision of God and his glorious Messiah, along with the challenge to myself to seek to live a godly life before him which Oswalt has imparted to me through this commentary. I heartily recommend this commentary to all who want to understand the book of Isaiah, the Bible, and above all, their relationship God.

As a pastor who has just completed preaching through the 2nd half of the book of Isaiah (chaps. 40-66 ) I would emphatically endorse this commentary to anyone studying through Isaiah. The commentary is very practical and gives insights into the text that are profound in my opinion. Very readable and refreshing-here is an OT scholar that actually believes in the unity of Isaiah!

This commentary is by far more useable than either Young's 3 vol. set or Motyer's commentaries, both the TOTC and the IVP volume although these can be used as supplements to Oswalt.

This review focuses on Volume 2 on Isaiah for the NICOT series. I'm a preacher and full time pastor who uses commentaries in my sermon preparation. I've found that this commentary is very helpful on a number of points. It provides a wealth of relevant resources that I've typically not found in other commentaries (I'll illustrate that in a moment). He deals with the Hebrew exegetical ideas and source issues without spending a lot of time (no bogging down in minutia as some have a tendency to do). His footnotes do contain the minutia on textual issues that some require or desire. Yet in the main text of his commentary he deals with crucial textual issues if they affect the exegetical outcome. That's helpful, especially his pithy summaries of the various views. Summaries are well done in this commentary.

The second volume has over 700 pages of information on Isaiah 40-66.

Since it may be the greatest passage in Isaiah, let me zoom in on how he handles the fourth Servant song. (Isaiah 52:13 to 53:3). For this section he gives 37 pages of information. He breaks the passage down into the following outline:

a. Astonishment and Rejection (52:13-53:3)
b. Punished for others (53:4-6)
c. Unjustly punished (53:7-9)
d. Many made righteous (53:10-12)

He provides his own unique translation for each one.

In section a. Astonishment and Rejection 52:13-53:3 Oswalt prefers the translation in 52:15 of the Hebrew 'Yazzeh' [sprinkle] to be interpreted as 'startle' because of the parallelism meaning. He also interacts with a variety of other opinions, including a footnote on 52:14 that introduces some technical points about protasis and apodasis as support for his position. They really do make the most sense of all the options (imo).

I was convinced by his points. For application ideas, see Oswalt's NIVAC on Isaiah. In that volume, which I also own, he draws out practical application to Philippians 2:5-11 as he discusses the idea of sacrificing for others. Then he draws out contemporary significance to this passage in his NIVAC by focusing on Accepting the offering by an appropriate response to what Jesus has done for us. He has many preachable points in this section.

Overall, Oswalt has written a worthy commentary that I believe is an excellent addition to every pastor's library. I also have found Alec Motyer's commentary on Isaiah to be very helpful, especially for a quick evaluation of literary style and outline ideas.

Oswalt's NIVAC commentary won the Gold Medallion Award. I think this commentary I am reviewing here, the NICOT, is worthy of an award. It's that good.

Back to the passage I was using to illustrate Oswalt's NICOT Vol 2 with.
At the end of his commentary on Isaiah 52:13-53:12, he has an Excursus.
Actually it is a select bibliography on the passage. However, the bibliography is organized into categories:

The Identity of the Servant
New Testament and Early Christian Interpretation
Jewish Interpretation
Exegetical and Theological Studies

Although several of the bibliographical entries are obviously in German, and useless to most of us, most of them are in English.