Jehon Grist
Reading the Bible—Isaiah 40-41: Defining and Defending Divine Power

In our fall semester, our class explored the tragic last days of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE and its aftermath in texts from II Kings and Lamentations. To close the academic year, we’ll celebrate the restoration of the Jewish people promised in Isaiah 40-41. This text most likely dates to the 540’s BCE when the hated Babylonian Empire was about to fall to the Persians and Cyrus the Great. Exiled Judeans embraced the hope that soon, God would redeem them and return them home. In doing so, the writer jubilantly expresses the power of God in brilliant verses that confirm that the Jewish faith of the future would acknowledge only one God.

Our class will delve into these texts with translation and analysis, but we’ll also dig deeper to discover the historical and archaeological background of this pivotal era in the formation of the Jewish faith.

Prerequisite: While basic knowledge of Prayerbook/Biblical (or modern) Hebrew is helpful, students without that background will be able to share the learning since both the Hebrew text and an English Standard Version translation (with which we often disagree) will be on screen for every verse.

8 Sundays: 3/26, 4/2, 4/9, 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/7, and 5/21 @ 5:00-6:30 pm (Pacific)

Texts, recommended articles and notes will be provided by the instructor. Full video recordings of each lesson will be distributed to course registrants. (Video links will not appear on this page.)