Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 24:10 describes a ruined city using language that echoes Genesis 1:2, where the earth is portrayed as formless and empty before creation begins. By using this language, Isaiah frames the destruction as a return to a primordial state of chaos.
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Genesis 1:2
Hebrew Bible
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was hovering11 over the surface of the water. 3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! 4 God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Isaiah 24:10
Hebrew Bible
8 The happy sound of the tambourines stops, the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt, the happy sound of the harp ceases. 9 They no longer sing and drink wine; the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it. 10 The city of chaos is shattered; all the houses are shut up tight. 11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... in Isaiah 24, the identity of “the city of chaos” (literally, “the city of formlessness”; compare Genesis 1:2) is ambivalent. Some interpreters propose that it refers to Jerusalem, whereas others read it as Babylon. Again, in the former case, the repeatedly occurring word ץרא may have meant the “land” of Judah. Once we designate this word as the “land” of Judah, the echoes of certain key words cohere well. Note the intertextual allusion of Isaiah 1 in 24:20 ... Note also the verbatim allusion of Amos 5:2 (“fallen, no more to rise, is maiden Israel” in Isaiah 24:20 (“it falls, and will not rise again”) ..."
Kim, Hyun Chul Paul
"City, Earth, and Empire in Isaiah 24–27" in Hibbard, James Todd, and Hyun Chul Paul Kim, (ed.) Formation and Intertextuality in Isaiah
(p. 36) Society of Biblical Literature, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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