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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 55

1 “Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost.⁠ 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food.⁠ 3 Pay attention and come to me. Listen, so you can live. Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, a ruler and commander of nations.” 5 Look, you will summon nations you did not previously know; nations that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he bestows honor on you. 6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; call to him while he is nearby!⁠ 7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 8 “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,” says the Lord, 9 “for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans. 10 The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. 11 In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” 12 Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands. 13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes; firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the Lord, a permanent reminder that will remain.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.17 VI:26 and KTU 1.23:6 and Isaiah 55:1

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 55 shares Ugaritic invitations to food and wine, which open with the same calling word and in the Tale of Aqhat offer eternal life, making God's generosity the basis for hope after exile.

Passages

KTU 1.17 VI:26

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
And Aqhat the hero answers: “The finest […] in Lebanon, the finest sinews from wild oxen, the finest horns from ibexes, […] from the hocks of a bull, the finest reeds from the […] thicket: give them to Kothar-wa-Hasis; he will make a bow for Anat, arrows for the Sister-in-law of the Peoples.” And there answers Virgin Anat: “Ask for life, Aqhat the hero, ask for life, and I will give it to you, deathlessness, and I will bestow it on you. I will make you count years with Baal, with the sons of El you will count months. As Baal, when he gives life, serves a feast for the one revived, serves a feast and gives him drink, sings and chants over him sweetly, and answers him, so I too will give life to Aqhat the hero.” And Aqhat the hero answers:
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

KTU 1.23:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Let me invoke the gracious gods, and beautiful, sons of Shapshu Let them give a feast to those of high rank, in the wilderness of the end of the world. on their heads, Eat from any of the food, and drink from the vat any wine! Greetings, king, greetings, queen, priests and temple-victuallers The lord and master sat enthroned, in his hand the staff of sterility, in his hand the staff of widowhood. Those who prune the vine pruned him, those who bind the vine bound him; they let his tendril fall like a vine. Seven times shall it be recited on the throne-dais, and the priests are to respond. Now the steppe, the vast steppe is the steppe of Athirat and Rahmay. Over a fire seven times the choristers of fine voice boil coriander in milk, mint in butter, and over the cauldron seven times let incense be burned.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Isaiah 55:1

Hebrew Bible
1 “Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food. 3 Pay attention and come to me. Listen, so you can live. Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, a ruler and commander of nations.” 5 Look, you will summon nations you did not previously know; nations that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he bestows honor on you.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

“... the chapter describes the Lord’s invitation to the exiles to leave Babylon and return to Zion to enjoy a rich feast. [...] Clifford first examines CTA 23 (=UT 52 = KTU 1.23), often thought to be a heiros gamos. In this short text a royal party greets guests by inviting them to partake of bread and wine. Like Isa 55:1, this text begins with ’ay, similar to the Hebrew yi/h. Compare Zech 2:10-11 MT; y/h is repeated twice in an invitation to leave Babylon and return to Zion. A second text has an almost identical invitation (CTA 17 = UT 2 Aqht = KTU 1.17), but the section ends by offering her guests eternal life (Clifford, “Isaiah 55,” 29). ...”
Phillip J. Long, The Origin of the Eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet in The Origin of the Eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet in the Synoptic Gospels: an Intertextual Study (Andrews University, 2013), 156.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.17 VI:26 and KTU 1.23:6 and Isaiah 55:1

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