Isaiah 65-66 - Indepthbible.org

31(...continued)There are some 233 occurrences of the verb bt;K', kathabh, “to write,” in the HebrewBible. Ancient Israel is no stranger to the written word! See the article on this root by H. Haag inTheological Dictionary of the Old Testament VII, pp. 371-382.Haag states that “Scholars today generally agree that writing was widespread in Canaan atan early date...It is becoming increasingly clear that the alphabet originated in the Palestinian region,‘where the cuneiform and hieroglyphic spheres of influence met’ (Rolig). The earliest alphabeticcuneiform tablet found at Ugarit dates from about 1360 B.C.; the script itself is earlier. Theearliest known evidence for Israel’s adoption of the Phoenician-Canaanite alphabet of twenty-twoconsonants is a twelfth-century ostracon from Izget Sartah, near Aphek (‘the period of the judges’(J. Naveh)...The alphabet fragments from Lachish ‘make it reasonable to assume that there wasformal school instruction’ as early as the ninth or eighth century. The earliest extended Hebrewtext outside the Bible, however, is still the Siloam inscription.” (Pp. 374-75) That inscription wasfound chiseled into the rock wall of Hezekiah’s tunnel, describing the experience of digging thattunnel.See the article “Oldest Hebrew Writing” on the Internet, which claims that a Hebrew writingthfrom the 9 century B.C. has been discovered, written in proto-Hebrew, from the time of Davidand Solomon.32What does this mean? What is it that has been written? Where has it been written? Wethink that YHWH means the written messages that He has given to Israel through Moses and theSpokespersons, beginning with Elijah and continuing down through the many people called byYHWH and commissioned to speak His word, and to record that word for ensuing generations. Atthe heart of that message is the proclamation of judgment to come if Israel refuses to take YHWHseriously, and follow His on-going, continuing word. It is a clear, powerful message, that hasbeen handed down from generation to generation, and that is integral to Israel’s history.Where is it written that YHWH will not keep silence, ‘hf,x/a, al{Ü? We think the answer isclear–it is written in the following passages of Isaiah:42:14-15, “For a long time I [YHWH] have kept silent, I have been quiet and held Myself back.But now, like a woman in child-birth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste themountains...”;57:11-12, “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to Me, and haveneither remembered Me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have longbeen silent that you do not fear Me? I will expose your righteousness and your works...”;62:1, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet...”And where is it written that YHWH “will repay” (yTim.L;êvi, used twice in this verse, once aspast tense, once as future tense)? See the following passages:42(continued...)