16.

16. More recently, however, a number of studies have rejected this historical concern out of hand. These represent what we have already referred to as a ‘literary’ rather than a ‘historical’ standpoint. In this approach what we have is a piece of literature, which should be read and appreciated like other pieces of literature, without constantly breaking off to speculate about the historical circumstances from which its elements emerge, either in their original form or in the process of editing. The title of Conrad’s book (1991) is significant: Reading Isaiah. ‘Isaiah’ here clearly refers to the book; now only minimal attention is paid to the ‘historical Isaiah’, the eighth-century figure of whom we can in any case know very little. Indeed there is a real sense in which Isaiah becomes a fictional figure. We need not doubt that such a person did indeed exist, but it would be misleading to suppose that the book gives us access to his actual words and thoughts. But the other word in his title is also highly significant: it is the reading, and the reader who engages in that exercise, that take centre stage. For an approach of this kind it is a book to read, to savour as a piece of literature, to reflect upon its message. But this scarcely says enough. ‘To reflect upon its message’ may imply that there is an objective ‘message’ there, equally accessible to all. Much traditional interpretation of Scripture has indeed claimed just that, that it refers to something beyond itself. The emphasis on the reader, to which reference has been made, is inevitably much more subjective. For a start, it will ask: Who is the reader? Is it a man or a woman? There is much feminine imagery in Isaiah, some of it dismissive (3:16–4:1) but some of it much more positive. Sawyer (1989) offers an interesting and illuminating comparison between the ‘servant of the Lord’ and the ‘daughter of Zion’ imagery in the second half of the book. Or again: From what social and economic background does the reader come? The book speaks harshly against those who ‘join house to house … until there is no more room’ (5:8). One’s attitude to that might differ according to whether one were involved in the property market, or were anxious to alleviate a housing shortage. Or again: What is the reader’s attitude towards religious practice? Many readers of the Bible might be thought to be favourably disposed towards it; how then will they react to the fierce criticism of religious practice in 1:11–15?