“Men love everything but righteousness and fear everything but God.”
– Vance Havner
Introduction
Through its many twists and turns, changes in genre, and shifts in focus, the book of Isaiah places one idea at its forefront: the salvation of God would bring humanity the ability to manifest His righteousness. By itself, humanity would only ever devolve into injustice and corruption. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah detail this in full, convicting humanity of everything from “not defending the rights of the fatherless” to “grinding the faces of the poor.”[1] In response, God brought forth righteousness and justice Himself in the form of judgment on both the nations and His chosen people, Israel.
However, God did not end with the punishment that revealed His righteousness apart from mankind. Instead, God chose to usher in salvation by His own power through a human servant, found in Isaiah 40-55, who would act completely under the sovereign divine will. With salvation established, God promised that He would bring about a time in which mankind would be in submission to Him and fully exhibit His righteousness and justice on the Earth. Isaiah 56-66 details the union of these three concepts – justice, righteousness, and salvation – and how God would manifest them in humanity. Throughout Isaiah, God demonstrated man’s inability to effect righteousness in himself and then set out to perfect His own righteousness in mankind through justice followed by salvation.
The Problem: Righteousness and Justice in Isaiah 1-39
Defining Righteousness in Terms of Justice
The initial problem with defining the group of words that refer to righteousness is that the surrounding text heavily influences their lexical range. In Isaiah 1-39, the most common words associated with righteousness are justice and judgment. This pairing draws upon the forensic and legal aspects of the word righteousness, and throughout the first part of Isaiah, it conjures up images of a divine court room in which the nations are judged.[2] For example, in Isaiah 28:17, an oracle is delivered in which God declares that He “will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level.”[3] This verse treats the word righteousness as a measure of “the strength of [one’s] case in defense of [one’s] unusual conduct.”[4]
The term righteousness in a legal context can be further subdivided into meaning either “the attribute of being in the right” or “the attribute of being righteous.”[5] In the first case, the emphasis is on whether one has any moral ground to hold to the position, decision, or action that he or she has taken. In the second case, righteousness takes on a legal declaration apart from the actual merit or worthiness of the person. In Isaiah 5:23, God records an oracle of woe to “those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are fearless at mixing beer, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.”[6] In this instance, righteousness has nothing to do with guilt or innocence; rather, it is simply the acquittal of a person regardless of their guilt.[7] Though the term righteousness will take on different meanings in later portions of Isaiah, in the first 39 chapters, righteousness is primarily confined to the legal realm.
Humanity Is Incapable of Maintaining Righteousness and Justice
Lack of Righteousness and Justice in Leadership
To understand how the Israelites lacked justice, it is necessary to understand the realm in which righteousness and justice were enacted. For example, in Isaiah 1, Judah and Jerusalem were given an oracle of their impending doom and destruction; however, sprinkled throughout the chapter are hints of restoration. Specifically, the Lord stated that He would “restore your judges … and your advisers to their former state.”[8] If the leadership in particular needed restoration, they must have been singled out for destruction earlier. Additionally, as covered in the next section, examination of the unrighteousness that Jerusalem was guilty of makes it clear that the central judgment concerned how Israel was being governed.[9] In fact, the intended audience of the book is the leaders of Jerusalem. For example, in Isaiah 33:18, the oracle references its hearers as looking for “the accountant … the tribute collector … [and] the one who spied out our defenses.”[10] These are people who the leaders of the nation would specifically be troubled by, rather than the common agricultural worker.
Additionally, when Isaiah describes how righteousness will come, it is nearly always through a new righteous and just human ruler.[11] For example, Isaiah 9:6-7 prophesies that “a child will be born to us, and the government will be on His shoulders … with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.”[12] Another example comes from Isaiah 11:1-5 which predicts that “a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse … He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.”[13] Isaiah 16:5 and 28:6 continue this line of thought that righteousness starts with the leadership and governance of the land. Thus, the central problem of Jerusalem and the surrounding nations was that the leadership were walking in unrighteousness by their actions and decisions. In fact, the righteous king was continually contrasted against failed human kings throughout the first twelve chapters of Isaiah.[14] Thus, the contextual setting of Isaiah, the list of Jerusalem’s crimes, and the comparison of bad kings to YHWH are used to demonstrate the lack of righteousness among Israelite leadership.
Social Aspects of Righteousness and Justice
The concept of righteousness in Isaiah is further developed in detail along the lines of explicating social injustice in Jerusalem, Israel, and the nations. Through its pairing with justice, righteousness is narrowed from general morality to an evaluation of “social and economic relationships within the covenant community.”[15] For example, In Isaiah 1:16-17, the people of Judah and Jerusalem are instructed to “stop doing evil” by “correct[ing] the oppressor … defend[ing] the rights of the fatherless … [and] plead[ing] the widow’s cause.”[16] Later on these ideas are nuanced as the rulers of Jerusalem are called “rebels” and “friends of thieves” who “love graft and chase after bribes … do not defend the rights of the fatherless” and refuse to hear the “widow’s case.”[17] These are not the moral concerns of the average person, these are the concerns of the “marginal groups in society.”[18] The Judahites’ crimes were not blatantly overt like murdering someone in cold blood. Instead, the leaders of Jerusalem had found ways to legalize the mistreatment or at least ignore the plight of those less fortunate than them. But to God, these sins put Jerusalem in the same class as an “adulteress” or “murderers.”[19] The society had become unhealthy and the people were guilty of no longer loving their neighbors. God would not let this lack of righteousness and justice go unpunished: if the poor “are lacking, it is dangerous for everyone.”[20]
The Inability of Humanity to Manifest Righteousness within Itself
Throughout Isaiah, God tells His people to “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight;” however, there seems to be an inability of the people of the earth and even God’s own chosen people to manifest righteousness within themselves.[21] Isaiah’s prophecy declared, in its own version of futility, that “justice and righteousness by no means can be produced by men; rather, they are the natural fruit of God’s care.”[22] This prophetic doom was solidified in Isaiah 6:11-12, where God Himself ensured that “judgment is set against this people.”[23] In Isaiah 6:11-12, Isaiah asked how long it would be until the people repent and righteousness is restored. God replied, “Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate, and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land.”[24] This was not simply a metaphor, but a reality. There was no hope for these people coming to righteousness on their own terms.
God Sovereignly Brings Forth Righteousness and Justice
Righteousness and Justice are Actions of the King
The only being in existence who is capable of being righteous and just of His own accord is God.[25] Isaiah 33:5 declares that “The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.” In this verse, God was set in as king (“He dwells on high”) and the job of bringing forth justice and righteousness was set as one of the king’s primary activities.[26] The sovereignty of God in bringing righteousness is reinforced by the many analogues in ancient history wherein the king’s role was to bring forth justice. In fact, YHWH’s actions in Isaiah directly paralleled “the ancient Mesopotamian royal practice whereby a king would proclaim … [liberty] upon accession to the throne or during sweeping social reforms.”[27] Additionally, announcements like the one found in Isaiah 33:5 were ancient examples of how a king unilaterally procured and distributed “justice and righteousness” to his subjects. In the context of ancient Jewish tradition, human kingship was bestowed upon a human being as a divine gift and thus any justice and righteousness that the people received was “indicative of YHWH’s kingly justice rather than the justice of any human king.”[28]
Israel’s only hope was that “In the aftermath of the various phases of judgment there will be a holy seed, a purified remnant.”[29] What the people were incapable of bringing to pass, God would surely accomplish. For example, Isaiah portrayed God as “the Holy God [who] reigns as the king and has decreed purifying judgment” as the fundamental method of instituting righteousness in the land.[30] God was also seen as the primary force governing and dispensing righteousness to the nations. For example, in Isaiah, the prophet stated that “On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven above and kings of the earth below.”[31] The Hebrew for “host of heaven” “signifies the greatest conceivable powers that are set against God,” and gives force behind the concept that it is not these powers that will bring righteousness, but God alone.[32] That the kings of earth “will be punished” is a direct statement of God’s divine sovereignty over them and their unrighteousness. He literally is the judge over the world.[33]
Positive and Negative Aspects of Righteousness and Justice
To understand righteousness and justice, it is vital to understand how these terms act as a relational connection between God and humanity. God’s righteousness is how His holiness is made known.[34] Without holiness one cannot hope to maintain righteousness, thus humanity in its fallen state tends toward corruption, greed, and strife – all indicators of unrighteousness. However, even though humanity is incapable of manifesting righteousness, God desires and requires that humanity “is to embody those moral qualities which characterize YHWH himself.”[35] With humanity unable to act according to YHWH’s character, YHWH Himself must intervene through “granting (or bequeathing) righteousness upon His people.”[36] Unfortunately, this is where righteousness differs in action while maintaining a stable definition. Though some try to see the Old Testament God as vindictive and judgmental and the New Testament God as merciful, “the righteousness of God stands in no contrast to his mercy, but rather includes it.”[37] Thus, the two primary forms of righteousness that God enacts are really two sides of the same coin and both are designed to bring His righteousness on the earth.
In Isaiah 1-39, God’s righteousness came to humanity as judgment. But it was not judgment for judgment’s sake, rather it was judgment so that righteousness could shine through. God’s judgment brought an end to “partiality, cruelty, and oppression” in the same breath as it lays entire cities to waste.[38] The woe oracles of Isaiah went into great detail about what this combination of righteousness and justice looked like.[39] Isaiah 1 showed how Judah and Jerusalem’s land will be “desolate,” “cities burned with fire,” and how “foreigners devour your fields.”[40] His righteousness would also allow interpersonal relationships to falter and be ruined as in Isaiah 2:4-6 which stated that God would “make youths their leaders, and the unstable will govern them … [and] youth will act arrogantly toward the elder and the worthless toward the honorable.”[41] Then in Isaiah 5, the judgments became heavier as God declared that He would make Israel “a wasteland” bereft of rain and harvest, a place where “many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants,” and where the “people will go into exile … parched with thirst.”[42] And immediately after declaring these woes, God stated that through this righteousness “the holy God is distinguished.”[43]
God’s justice was not enacted out of spite. Rather, it was how God would bring about righteousness among His people. His justice was primarily accomplished through two actions: the destruction of the oppressors of a society and the preservation of a holy remnant of the society. Both aspects of righteousness fit in line with God’s “royal role of ensuring the preservation of social justice.”[44] Isaiah 2 painted the fusion of these two principles elegantly. Similarly, Isaiah 10:17 is a prime example of how God’s righteousness, while beautiful to some, will be terrifying to others as “Israel’s Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame.”[45] As an example of this judgment, God promised to “completely destroy the glory of [Assyria’s] forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person.”[46] However, only a few verses down, the prophet prophesized that “the remnant of Israel … will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord.”[47] This repentance is key to instigate the change from being recipients of judgment to receiving the positive benefits of righteousness. In a complete reversal, God promises that a new king will emerge with “the Spirit of the Lord rest[ing] on Him,” and he will be known for his righteousness and faithfulness; peace and prosperity will dominate in the land so much that “an infant will play beside the cobra’s pit.”[48] Ultimately, righteousness will be brought to humanity. For the wicked, this looks like punishment to free the oppressed. For those who are the purified remnant, it looks like living in perfect harmony with God and creation.
The Solution: Righteousness and Salvation in Isaiah 40-55
Defining Righteousness in Terms of Salvation
Righteousness takes on a completely different meaning in Isaiah 40-55. It is rarely paired with justice in these chapters; rather, it is now primarily seen in concert with the term for salvation. In the middle section of Isaiah, salvation takes on a specific form: God, as King, will “set all things right not just for Israel but for the entire world.”[49] In line with this motif, God declares in Isaiah 51 that “My righteousness is near, My salvation appears, and my arms will bring justice to the nations … My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never be shattered.”[50] By combining righteousness and salvation, the words take on a new meaning that reaches to the nations, “is not merely political,” and includes a necessary “real moral righteousness” among the people of the earth.[51]
Isaiah scholar J. A. Motyer emphasizes this further, saying that “the saving work satisfies every standard of the Lord’s righteous nature, meets every legal claim and discharges every debt before the eternal law.”[52] Additionally, the full satisfaction of righteousness will lead to “salvation, an end of divine wrath, [and] an entrance by faith upon divine comfort, strength and joy.”[53] The emphasis on the divine judgment against humanity for their sins is nearly completely removed through this pairing. Rather, in terms of salvation, righteousness will set the world right and restore peace.
The Use of Two Words for “Righteousness”
Isaiah 40-55 uses two separate words for righteousness that have slightly different shades of meaning. The word צדקה is more common and found in both plural and singular forms.[54] The shorter word צדק is only ever found in the singular and “expresses precedence over צדקה” because “it designates utmost salvation presented by God to Israel.”[55] Isaiah uses the shorter word when he wants to demonstrate God’s righteousness taking place among “all nations” or even in “cosmic dimensions.”[56] The usage of these words in tandem occurs in Isaiah 45:8 which reads, “Heavens, sprinkle from above, and let the skies shower righteousness. Let the earth open up so that salvation will sprout and righteousness will spring up with it. I, Yahweh have created it.”[57] In this verse, the first mention of righteousness is the shorter term and serves as a universal command and promise that righteousness will come forth from heaven or God Himself. The second mention of righteousness utilizes the longer form and is found in conjunction with salvation. This usage emphasizes the fact that this time righteousness would come to humanity not in the form of judgment but in the form of deliverance.
God’s Sovereignty in Bringing Forth and Maintaining Righteousness and Salvation
In the second section of Isaiah, the prophet took great pains to make sure that the reader understood that righteousness and salvation come from God alone and nothing else. Going back to Isaiah 45:8, the fact that righteousness comes from heaven is a direct statement reinforcing God’s sovereignty over the earth and how His righteousness is manifest there. Additionally, the verse paints righteousness as coming through nature, specifically rain. In ancient times, nature was one of the things humanity realized it had virtually no control over. People would create gods such as Ba’al in an attempt to manipulate the weather, specifically rainfall (which was directly attached to harvest, sustenance, and life).[58] The statement that heaven will shower righteousness from above and that the earth will “open up” allowing righteousness and salvation to “spring up” was a culturally rooted way of saying that God would work in those of the earth to bring about His righteousness in them.
Rather than waiting for mankind to manifest righteousness, God spoke of “bringing My justice near” and putting “salvation in Zion.”[59] This is another subtle mark that the meaning of righteousness has shifted in the second part of Isaiah. In these chapters, God was not saying that mankind is wholly incapable of doing anything good, just, or right. Instead, He was making it known that the salvation and righteousness to come would be of a completely different order than what mankind could manifest. It would be a universal salvation and righteousness that would encompass all nations and the cosmos. Isaiah 56:1 elaborates on this view by affirming that people should “preserve justice and do what is right,” because God’s “salvation is coming soon” and His “righteousness will be revealed.”[60] Humanity has a part to play in justice, but only within the sovereignty of God’s righteousness and salvation.
Another aspect of God’s sovereignty in bringing righteousness and salvation is that God was portrayed as a King of kings throughout Isaiah and that ensuring righteousness and salvation was the duty of the king. Isaiah 45:1 is an explicit example of God’s sovereignty over kings and nations. In this verse, God called the king Cyrus “His anointed” and then used him to “subdue nations” and “disarm kings.”[61] All of these actions are tied directly to righteousness, salvation, and justice through the culminating verse of the section, Isaiah 45:8. Isaiah 40 also depicts God as a king operating in a more direct role. Isaiah 40:10 asserts that “the Lord God comes with strength, and His power establishes His rule.”[62] The nations are described as being “like a drop in a bucket” compared to God who has been “enthroned above the circle of the earth” from “the beginning” of its “foundations.”[63] This kingly declaration emphasized the message of Isaiah 41, where God proclaimed that He would bring righteousness and salvation to the earth, using language like “I will turn the desert into a pool of water” and “I will plant cedars in the desert.”[64] In other words, restoration, rejuvenation, salvation, and righteousness were coming to the people of God as He used His early judgment to purify a remnant from among them.
Servant’s Role in Bringing Forth Righteousness and Salvation
The major focus of Isaiah 40-55 was on YHWH as King bringing forth a human king who would enact His righteousness and salvation on behalf of all people. Isaiah 40 opened with a summary of the content of the righteousness and salvation that is to come to God’s people: “the time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned.”[65] The justice and judgment side of righteousness found in the first 39 chapters had ended and now the time for the remnant’s restoration was at hand. The totality of the judgment was seen in the description of the land as a “wilderness” and “desert.”[66] The stage for YHWH’s salvation and righteousness was “Zion’s desolation,” an utterly hopeless and destitute situation from which Israel had no chance of escape.[67]
Out of that wilderness burst forth the promise of Isaiah 52:1-4. Instead of YHWH Himself bringing about righteousness, justice, and salvation, YHWH anointed a “servant” who would have YHWH’s “Spirit on Him” and who would “bring justice to the nations.”[68] This initial servant was called Cyrus in Isaiah 45 and seemed to act within the realm of righteousness and justice. But in verse 17, God pulled the curtain back on eternity, stating that “Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated for all eternity.”[69] This declaration seemed to outstrip Cyrus’ lifetime, making him a marker pointing toward some future servant that would be able to institute an “everlasting salvation.”[70] This theme was picked up again in Isaiah 51 where God said “My salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never be shattered.”[71]
In Isaiah 52:13, God began to describe the servant through whom He would bring about His eternal righteousness and salvation. First, it is important to note that the servant “will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.”[72] This triplicate mention of rising, lifting, and exalting indicated a level of esteem that was far beyond what humanity typically earns. Verses that capture its essence are often about YHWH and state that God is “exalted above the heavens,” “exalted above all the nations,” and “the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.”[73] That this servant minimally had a special connection with YHWH is hard to deny. Reinforcing this connection were the qualities and characteristics of the servant.[74] The servant would “act wisely” and “enjoy success.”[75] This servant was declared righteous by God and capable of justifying many.[76] Wisdom, success, justification, and righteousness were qualities that YHWH said He would bring to pass throughout the entire book of Isaiah and now they were being focused onto the servant.
Further tying the servant to YHWH’s everlasting salvation were verses 11 and 12 which declared that though the servant would die, YHWH “will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as a spoil … He will see His seed, He will prolong His days.”[77] These rewards, alluded to in Romans 6:8, are “for those, who after having passed through death, are among those over whom ‘death no longer has mastery.’”[78] The servant seemed to be a king who could obtain righteousness and salvation for all people and then reign eternally. Thus, through God, this servant “will set everything right, not just for Israel but for the entire world.”[79]
The Union: Righteousness, Justice, and Salvation in Isaiah 56-66
Combining Righteousness, Justice, and Salvation in Isaiah 56
Isaiah 56:1 sets the tone for the final section of the Book of Isaiah: “Preserve justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed.” The final part of Isaiah encompassed righteousness, justice, and salvation into the full plan of God. In this verse, and the rest of this chapter, the “notions of God’s ‘salvation’ and ‘righteousness’ are kingly notions.”[80] They are promises of God and will be fulfilled by God. At this juncture, all possible meanings of righteousness are now merged together. The lack of righteousness in mankind necessitated God “implementing ‘righteousness’ … by coming as a dreadful and redeeming warrior to ‘save’ and set things right through judgment.”[81] There was no salvation apart from righteousness and there was no righteousness apart from judgment. God’s will and action were singular even though they had multiple concrete realizations.
God Is Able to Bring about His Righteousness and Justice through Humanity by Way of His Salvation
The core of the chapter focused on the fact that humanity failed and would continue to fail to manifest righteousness on their own.[82] Isaiah claimed that “no one makes claims justly,” “no one pleads honestly,” “their feet run after evil and they rush to shed innocent blood,” “their thoughts are sinful thoughts,” and “there is no justice in their ways.”[83] Isaiah’s portrait of humanity is that of a dying animal who can no more prolong its life than it could recite Shakespeare. But out of this horror, “His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness supported Him,” which included repaying “fury to His enemies” and redemption for those “who turn from transgression.”[84] From His salvation both judgment in terms of literal punishment and salvation in terms of redemption poured forth.
The key to this redemption lay in the ability of God to fulfill all righteousness as part of His promise located in Isaiah 59:21. In this verse, God made a new “covenant” with Israel and the world in which both His Spirit and His Words would never “depart from your mouth, … or the mouth of your children’s children, from now on and forever.”[85] Both the knowledge of what is righteousness (God’s word) and the power to execute that righteousness (God’s Spirit) would become permanent fixtures in the lives of all who followed Him: this is the ultimate means by which the Lord would save.[86]
Isaiah 65 juxtaposed these two ultimate destinies in back and forth poetic verse. For those who will be judged, they “will be hungry … thirsty ..put to shame … cry out from an anguished heart … leave [their names] behind,” and be killed by God.[87] To those who answer the call of God, they “will eat … will drink … will rejoice … will shout for joy from a glad heart … [and] will be given another name … for the former troubles will be forgotten.”[88] This is a permanent righting of wrongs, correction of injustice, and purification of people. The righteousness of God would lead to nothing short of the creation of “a new heaven and a new earth” where “the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.”[89] In a continuation of the imagery of the absolute difference between a pre- and post-righteousness world, Isaiah described this new world as a place where “wolf and lamb will feed together” and “they will not do what is evil or destroy on My entire holy mountain.”[90]
Conclusion
In conclusion, God’s righteousness was effected throughout the book of Isaiah in terms of both salvation and judgment. In Isaiah 1-39, righteousness was primarily paired with judgment and resulted in the destruction of all people groups who opposed the Lord. Isaiah 40-55 revealed that through this righteousness and judgment, a remnant would be saved by a servant who would act as a human king and bring righteousness and salvation to the land. Finally, in Isaiah 56-66, God’s righteousness would be imputed to those who chose YHWH through the permanent residence of His Spirit on them. Righteousness would be fulfilled after the remnant’s salvation when God would bring the old order to an end and release His people into a new heaven and new earth where righteousness, salvation, and justice would reign through God for all eternity.
Bibliography
Abernethy, Andrew T. The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach. New Studies in Biblical Theology. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2016.
Balogh, Csaba. “‘He FIlled Zion with Justice and Righteousness’ The Composition of Isaiah 33.” Biblica 89 (2008): 477–504.
Baltzer, Klaus. “The Book of Isaiah.” The Harvard Theological Review 103, no. 3 (July 2010): 261–270.
Bock, Darrell L., and Mitch Glaser, eds. The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012.
Boda, Mark J., and J. Gordon McConville, eds. “Justice, Righteousness.” Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
———, eds. “Salvation, Deliverance.” Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough. New York City, NY: Heritage Illustrated Publishing, 1012.
Goswell, Gregory. “Isaiah 16: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Messianism.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament: An International Journal of Nordic Theology 28, no. 1 (2014): 91–103.
Jeremias, Jorg. “Justice and Righteousness: The Message of the Prophets Amos and Isaiah.” Sacra Scripta 14, no. 1 (2016): 21–31.
Lynch, Matthew J. “Zion’s Warrior and the Nations: Isaiah 59:15b-63:6 in Isaiah’s Zion Traditions.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 70, no. 2 (April 2008): 244–263.
Moberly, R. W. L. “Whose Justice? Which Righteousness? The Interpretation of Isaiah V 16.” Vetus Testamentum 51, no. 1 (2001): 55–68.
Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah. Leichester: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Petter, Thomas D. “The Meaning of Substitutionary Righteousness in Isa 53:11: A Summary of the Evidence.” Trinity Journal 32, no. 2 (Fall 2011): 165–189.
Ropes, James Hardy. “‘Righteousness’ and ‘The Righteousness of God’ in the Old Testament and in St. Paul.” Journal of Biblical Literature 22, no. 2 (1903): 211–227.
Stevens, George. “The Righteousness of God.” The Biblical World 25 (1905): 274–282.
Witherington III, Ben. Isaiah Old and New: Exegesis, Intertextuality, and Hermeneutics. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017.
[1] Isaiah 1:17; 3:15 (HCSB).
[2] James Hardy Ropes, “‘Righteousness’ and ‘The Righteousness of God’ in the Old Testament and in St. Paul,” Journal of Biblical Literature 22, no. 2 (1903): 214.
[3] Isaiah 28:17 (HCSB).
[4] Ropes, “‘Righteousness’ and ‘The Righteousness of God’ in the Old Testament and in St. Paul,” 214.
[5] Ibid, 215.
[6] Isaiah 5:23 (HCSB).
[7] Ropes, “Righteousness’ and ‘The Righteousness of God’ in the Old Testament and in St. Paul, 216; Isaiah 5:23 (HCSB).
[8] Isaiah 1:26 (HCSB).
[9] Csaba Balogh, “‘He FIlled Zion with Justice and Righteousness’ The Composition of Isaiah 33,” Biblica 89 (2008): 482.
[10] Isaiah 33:18 (HCSB).
[11] Balogh, “‘He FIlled Zion with Justice and Righteousness’ The Composition of Isaiah 33,” 482.
[12] Isaiah 9:6-7 (HCSB).
[13] Isaiah 11:1-5 (HCSB).
[14] Andrew T. Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, New Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2016), 608, Kindle.
[15] Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., “Justice, Righteousness,” Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 19207, Kindle.
[16] Isaiah 1:16-17 (HCSB).
[17] Isaiah 1:23 (HCSB).
[18] Klaus Baltzer, “The Book of Isaiah,” The Harvard Theological Review 103, no. 3 (July 2010): 268.
[19] Isaiah 1:21 (HCSB).
[20] Klaus Baltzer, “The Book of Isaiah,” 268.
[21] Isaiah 1:16 (HCSB).
[22] Jorg Jeremias, “Justice and Righteousness: The Message of the Prophets Amos and Isaiah,” Sacra Scripta 14, no. 1 (2016): 26.
[23] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 494, Kindle.
[24] Isaiah 6:11-12 (HCSB).
[25] Mark 10:18 (HCSB).
[26] Balogh, “‘He FIlled Zion with Justice and Righteousness’ The Composition of Isaiah 33,” 481.
[27] Matthew J. Lynch, “Zion’s Warrior and the Nations: Isaiah 59:15b-63:6 in Isaiah’s Zion Traditions,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 70, no. 2 (April 2008): 260.
[28] Ibid, 260.
[29] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 500, Kindle.
[30] Ibid., 519, Kindle.
[31] Isaiah 24:21 (HCSB).
[32] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 711, Kindle.
[33] Isaiah 24:21 (HCSB).
[34] Isaiah 5:16 (HCSB).
[35] R. W. L. Moberly, “Whose Justice? Which Righteousness? The Interpretation of Isaiah V 16,” Vetus Testamentum 51, no. 1 (2001): 63.
[36] Thomas D. Petter, “The Meaning of Substitutionary Righteousness in Isa 53:11: A Summary of the Evidence,” Trinity Journal 32, no. 2 (Fall 2011): 166.
[37] George Stevens, “The Righteousness of God,” The Biblical World 25 (1905): 274.
[38] Ibid, 274.
[39] Jeremias, “Justice and Righteousness: The Message of the Prophets Amos and Isaiah,” 27.
[40] Isaiah 1:7 (HCSB).
[41] Isaiah 3:4-6 (HCSB).
[42] Isaiah 5 (HCSB).
[43] Isaiah 5:16 (HCSB).
[44] Gregory Goswell, “Isaiah 16: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Messianism,” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament: An International Journal of Nordic Theology 28, no. 1 (2014): 97.
[45] Isaiah 10:17 (HCSB).
[46] Isaiah 10:17-18 (HCSB).
[47] Isaiah 10:20 (HCSB).
[48] Isaiah 11:2,8 (HCSB).
[49] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 1401, Kindle.
[50] Isaiah 51:5-6 (HCSB).
[51] Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., “Salvation, Deliverance,” Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 27662, Kindle.
[52] J. A. Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah (Leichester: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 405.
[53] Ibid, 405.
[54] Jeremias, “Justice and Righteousness: The Message of the Prophets Amos and Isaiah,” 28.
[55] Ibid, 28.
[56] Ibid, 28.
[57] Isaiah 45:8 (HCSB).
[58] James George Frazer, The Golden Bough (New York City, NY: Heritage Illustrated Publishing, 1012), 1482, Kindle.
[59] Isaiah 46:13 (HCSB).
[60] Isaiah 56:1 (HCSB).
[61] Isaiah 45:1 (HCSB).
[62] Isaiah 40:10 (HCSB).
[63] Isaiah 40:15,21-22 (HCSB).
[64] Isaiah 41:18-19 (HCSB).
[65] Isaiah 40:2 (HCSB).
[66] Isaiah 40:3 (HCSB).
[67] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 1138, Kindle.
[68] Isaiah 42:1 (HCSB).
[69] Isaiah 45:17 (HCSB).
[70] Ibid.
[71] Isaiah 51:6 (HCSB).
[72] Isaiah 52:13 (HCSB).
[73] Psalm 57:5; Psalm 113:4; Isaiah 2:11;
[74] Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser, eds., The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2012), 99.
[75] Jeremiah 23:5 as cited in Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser, eds., The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology, 99.
[76] Isaiah 53:11 (HCSB).
[77] Isaiah 53:10-12 (HCSB).
[78] Bock and Glaser, The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology, 105.
[79] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach, 1414, Kindle.
[80] Ibid, 1703, Kindle.
[81] Ibid, 1717, Kindle.
[82] Ibid, 1731, Kindle.
[83] Isaiah 59:7-8 (HCSB).
[85] Isaiah 59:21 (HCSB).
[86] Ben Witherington III, Isaiah Old and New: Exegesis, Intertextuality, and Hermeneutics (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017), 5797, Kindle.
[87] Isaiah 65:13-15 (HCSB).
[88] Isaiah 65:13-16 (HCSB).
[89] Isaiah 65:17 (HCSB).
[90] Isaiah 65:25 (HCSB).
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