The concept of election and second Isaiah: recent literature

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2001 by Joel S. Kaminsky

By now one will have noticed that in certain ways my reading of the notion of election in both Second Isaiah and the Joseph narrative affirms Rowley's insight that election is for service. However, I disagree with his particular Christian understanding of the nature of such service. In the Hebrew Bible, the service is not primarily about a mission to bring about the conversion of the nations into the elect, but rather it is about the specially elect being a mediator of God's blessing both to the more general elect group, as well as to the non-elect nations of the world, who remain non-elect even while benefiting from this divine plan. Although such a theology might be labeled as hierarchical and possibly imperialistic by today's standards, one can argue that the Christian notion of mission is even more imperialistic inasmuch as it claims that there is only one path to salvation. But more importantly, measuring Israelite theology against the standards of modern democracy is not only ridiculously anachronistic inasmuch as all forms of governance in antiquity were hierarchical, but it leads one to miss the fact that the biblical text's use of hierarchical images is primarily an attempt to express God's transcendence over all humans. While some biblical texts like Psalm 2 express this through the idea of the nations submitting to God's anointed, other like Second Isaiah conceive of it by the nations submitting to the people of Israel as a whole. These images are based on the belief that Israel has already submitted to God by accepting the covenant at Sinai.

Still, one might ask, what possible value can Second Isaiah and other biblical texts that speak of the notion of Israel's election in stubbornly particularistic terms even when they address more universalistic concerns have for those living in the modern world? Here I think it best to answer such a question first from a Jewish theological perspective, then examine the possible implications of such a theology in reference to Christianity and finally turn to the issue of the usefulness of such ideas for the larger contemporary culture. While some may not be aware of it, it is precisely the loving language of Second Isaiah that can be put to use in those contexts where the elect have lost their way and need to be reminded that they are God's elect. Thus in Judaism several lections from Second and Third Isaiah are traditionally read in synagogue on the sabbaths following the 9th of Av, the day that marks the destruction of both holy temples, until Rosh Hashanah, New Years Day, when the world and the community are liturgically renewed once again. And of course, not a few Jews have felt that texts from the latter part of Isaiah have deepened meaning in the wake of the Shoah, when the Jewish community draws strength from such texts as it attempts to reconstitute itself after perhaps the greatest disaster it has ever experienced. Certainly, these texts have played a role in the founding of the modern state of Israel, and more importantly, their universal horizon serves as a reminder that the revivification of the Jewish people has a higher purpose than merely continued Jewish survival.