If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
4. Messiah in the Book of Isaiah
If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
Niels Peter Lemche [+]
University of Copenhagen
Niels Peter Lemche, has been publishing in the field of Old Testament studies for fifty years. He has been both Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, from 1978 to 1986 and Professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen from 1987 to 2013. He is the founder of the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, and a member of the board of the Copenhagen International Seminar (Routledge). He has recently edited (in co-operation with Dr. Jim West) Jeremiah in History and Tradition (Routledge, 2019).
Description
Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” is founded on the Book of Isaiah, or rather on the messianic interpretation of the book before the introduction of historical critical analysis of the Bible. However, what if it is really a book inspired by messianic theology and not a book written by a prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.E.? The present revolution in Old Testament studies points in the direction of an messianic understanding already when the book was composed, not in Jerusalem around 800 B.C.E but many centuries later.