Isaiah’s Herald

By Matthew Seufert

[Matthew Seufert is a PhD candidate in Old Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.]

I. Introduction

Isaiah is well known for his use of the Servant figure, and many scholars have written on the topic. Far less attention, however, has been given to another of Isaiah’s figures. In 1974 Robert W. Fisher observed, “Little if any notice has been given to … the herald of good news” (מבשׂר/מבשׂרת).[1] Nearly forty years have passed since Fisher’s observation and, besides the essay which Fisher himself wrote, little has changed. In this article I attempt to contribute to change with two primary objectives in mind: (1) to provide a robust picture of Isaiah’s Herald by exploring his various appearances and his important precursors, and (2) to show that Isaiah employs the image of the Herald as a theological leitmotif to witness to Yhwh’s victory in war and his ability to speak, exalting him above foreign gods and providing comfort for his people.

1. Terminology

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines leitmotif as “a frequently repeated phrase, image, symbol, or situation in a literary work, the occurrence of which usually indicates or supports a theme.”[2] The book of Isaiah repeats the Herald-image to support the themes of Yhwh’s word (its sureness and existence), Yhwh’s superiority, and the comfort of his people.[3]

2. Method

Since Isaiah’s Herald has largely been unexamined, I first set forth a few items of background information, which are simply intended to illumine the figure. I survey the meaning of the root בשׂר, from which Isaiah’s Herald (מבשׂר/מבשׂרת) comes, both throughout the ancient Near East and in the OT. After a brief look at the main context in which the Herald appears in the OT, the central portion of the study consists of an examination of the pertinent texts in Isaiah. I end the article with brief conclusions and suggestions for further study.

II. The Root בשׂר

The root בשׂר means one of two things, either “to bring good news” or “to bring news.” The consensus of scholarship, arrived at by both an investigation of the root’s usage in other Semitic languages and an evaluation of its occurrences in the HB, has reached this point. No one claims that the root in itself has negative connotations (i.e., “to bear bad news”).[4]

1. בשׂר And The Ancient Near East

The root is well attested in the ancient Near East. It appears in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Arabic, Old Southern Arabic, Ethiopic, Jewish Aramaic, and Tigrinya. Akkadian has the earliest occurrences. It is used to mean to report: “if a subject of mine stays among you, you must report to me,” and to bring news pleasant to the listener: “I brought the good news about the [coming] of rain to the king.”[5] Further, Fisher noted two occurrences where the root is used with an “undeniably negative sense.”[6] He concluded that although the root is used neutrally (“to report”) and negatively (“to announce bad news”) the predominant Akkadian use is positive (“to announce good news”).[7]

The word appears only positively in Ugaritic. Fisher cites Anat’s words to Baal: “The virgin Anat laughed, she lifted her voice and cried, ‘Receive good tidings, O Baal. Thy good tidings I have brought. There shall be built a house for thee like thy brother(s) and a court like thy kin.”8 Further, Fisher contends that in certain instances it should be understood as inherently positive, as the root appears in other contexts without a modifier (i.e., “good” or “glad”).[9]

The lack of a negative use in Ugaritic, along with the word standing alone to indicate a positive message, strongly suggests understanding the term as “to bear glad tidings.”[10]

Arabic’s use is positive. For instance, the word is used in connection with the joyful announcement of the birth of a child.[11] Old Southern Arabic, Ethiopic, Jewish Aramaic, and Tigrinya always employ the word for the bearing of “glad” or “good tidings.”[12] In summary, although there are instances in Akkadian where the root is used negatively and simply to inform, these appear to be quite limited. The majority of cases throughout the ancient Near Eastern literature positively present this term.

2. בשׂר In The Old Testament

The root occurs thirty times in the Hebrew Scriptures: fourteen times as a verb in the piel, once as a hithpael, nine times as a piel substantive participle, and six times as a noun (בשׂרה).[13] The noun appears in 2 Sam 4:10, four times in 2 Sam 18 (vv. 18:20, 22, 25, 27), and once in 2 Kgs 7:9. It is used to mean “the messenger’s reward” (2 Sam 18:22), “good tidings” (2 Sam 4:10; 18:20, 25; 2 Kgs 7:9), and possibly just “news” (2 Sam 18:27).[14] טֹובָה accompanies בשׂרה in 2 Sam 18:27, which has persuaded some to understand the term as neutral. The modifier could, however, be intended to convey really good news.[15] In 2 Kgs 7:9 and 2 Sam 18:20, 25, the word stands alone and clearly indicates “good” news. In 2 Kgs 7, for example, four lepers discover that the Syrians who had been besieging Samaria had fled their camp. They pronounce that it is a day of good news (הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יֹום־בְּשֹׂרָה הוּא, v. 9).

The use of the verb is similar to that of the noun in that it occurs alone to bear good news (1 Sam 31:9; 2 Sam 18:19, 20; Jer 20:15; Isa 60:6; etc.), to receive good news (2 Sam 18:31; hithpael), and with a positive modifier (1 Kgs 1:42). Jeremiah 20:15 reads, “Cursed be the man who brought good news [האִישׁ אֲשֶׁר בִּשַּׂר] to my father saying, ‘A son has been born to you.’ He caused him to rejoice greatly.”[16]

Finally, the participle denotes a messenger who proclaims good news every time but once. In 1 Sam 4:17 the herald (הַמְבַשֵּׂר) recounts his bad news to Eli, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter has come about among the people, moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, have died and the ark of God has been taken.”[17] The remaining contexts of the participle are positive (cf. 2 Sam 4:10; 18:26; Ps 68:12; Nah 1:15; Isa 40:9 [2x]; 41:27; 52:7 [2x]).

To summarize, even though negative news attends the use of this root once, and the presence of a positive modifier could indicate a neutral meaning of the term, the majority of occurrences mean “to bear good tidings.” This is consonant with the findings from the ancient Near East. Despite its single non-uniform occurrence in the OT, the lopsided usage favors the conclusion that the root בשׂר in the OT means “to bear good tidings.”[18]

3. The Main Context Of בשׂר In The Old Testament

בשׂר is typically used in a military context. Second Samuel 18:19–31 is a prime example, as the root is used here nine times. These verses recount the death of David’s son Absalom and the victory of Joab and his men over the enemies of their king. It was the מבשׂר who was responsible for delivering the news of victory. The Cushite, as herald, runs back from the battle to carry the good news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies. Ahimaaz, eager to bear the news himself, outruns the Cushite and gives David the good news first saying, “Peace!... Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who had lifted their hand against my lord the king” (v. 28 ESV; for its use in other military contexts, cf. 1 Sam 4:17; 31:9; 2 Sam 1:20; 4:10; 2 Kgs 7:9; 1 Chr 16:23; Ps 40:10; 68:12; Nah 1:15; Isa 40:9; 52:7; 61:1).

It is the mergence of speaking good news with a military context that makes the Herald a particularly fitting figure for Isaiah’s purposes. This is the context of every occurrence of Isaiah’s Herald. And every time he shows up, it is to bear the good news of Yhwh’s victory over Israel’s enemies.

III. The Herald And The Book Of Isaiah

The image of the Herald appears in three verses of Isaiah, each in the latter part of the prophecy (Isa 40:9; 41:27; 52:7). The root בשׂר also occurs in 60:6 (as an imperfect verb) and 61:1 (as an infinitive construct). I discuss these two occurrences after the Herald proper. I divide the first three verses by their purpose and examine them as follows: (1) 41:27—exalting Yhwh as the God who speaks; (2) 40:9—providing comfort through Yhwh’s exaltation; and (3) 52:7—the presence of all three themes, Yhwh as speaker, Yhwh exalted, and Israel’s comfort.

The Herald’s appearance in Isa 41:27 provides a lens through which to view his word-confirming role (i.e., Yhwh can speak, does speak, and the events he speaks of come to pass) in 40:9 and 52:7. Since Isaiah’s use of the Herald-image is closely connected with his theology of the word of Yhwh, as will be made apparent throughout the following three sections, I examine this verse first.

1. Yhwh Exalted As Speaker: Isaiah 41:27

This verse presents a set of interpretive challenges. The MT reads,רִאשֹׁוֹן לְצִיֹּן הִנֵּה הִנָּם וְלִיירוּשָׁלַם מְבַשֵּׂר אֶתֵּן. There are three problems commonly addressed: (1) Is the MT reading “Behold! Behold them!” correct? (2) How does רִאשֹׁוֹן function? (3) For those who hold to the MT reading, to whom does “them” refer in the phrase הִנֵּה הִנָּם? I answer these questions in order in what follows. The broader context is woven throughout the discussion, and I end with conclusions on the Herald and his function.

2. The Masoretic Text Reading And 1qisaa

1QIsaa spells the MT’s הִנָּם as הנומה, which has been identified as “a participle which Middle Hebrew has as נום…‘to speak.’”[19] This would make for nice parallelism and render the last part “to Zion behold I will give a speaker, and to Jerusalem a herald.” J. Gerald Janzen, however, shows that the Qumran reading is not a true variant but merely a different spelling of the MT. Citing the work by Elisha Qimron, he notes that waw sometimes appears where the Tiberian tradition has qamets. Further, he writes, “a long third masculine plural suffix form with ה- is common enough at Qumran.”[20] These observations vindicate the decision of the editors of BHS not to record the reading of 1QIsaa as a variant.[21] The MT reading is correct, “Behold! Behold them!”

3. The Function Of רִאשֹׁוֹן

The MT reads, “ רִאשֹׁוֹןto Zion, Behold! Behold them! And to Jerusalem I will give a Herald.” Janzen comments, “The opening word … is often taken adverbially, modifying ‘I give’ in the following line.” He then quotes C. R. North, however, who noted that when רִאשֹׁוֹן is used adverbially, it is in the feminine form.[22] Koole also writes, “The masc. sing. form … probably refers to a person.”[23] In this regard, other commentators have called attention to the use of רִאשֹׁוֹן as a first messenger or speaker. Janzen mentions D. Winton Thomas’s appeal to 2 Sam 19:21 in support of the rendering “forerunner.” He also lists G. R. Driver’s citation of Prov 18:17 as an instance where the word can indicate the first speaker in a line of other speakers.[24] Second Samuel 18:27 is cited by Janzen to support reading רִאשֹׁוֹן as “the very first herald of a news which will shortly be heard from others as well.”[25]

Koole maintains the personal referent of רִאשֹׁוֹן in agreement with the scholars listed above. Contrary to them, however, he understands it as a nominative referring to Yhwh rather than an accusative referring to another messenger. He writes, “Of course, the view of רִאשֹׁוֹן as acc. makes for a good syntactic and stylistic parallelism with מְבַשֵּׂר. On the other hand, one now expects [in this context] a statement about Yahweh’s own predictions; in contrast to the silent gods, God must announce himself in the nominative רִאשֹׁוֹן.” The most convincing argument Koole makes for the nominative reading is the Lord’s identification of himself as רִאשֹׁוֹן in 41:4. The question is posed by Yhwh, “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning [מֵרֹאשׁ]?” He answers, אֲנִי יְהוָה רִאשֹׁוֹן. Additionally, רִאשֹׁוֹן is also used in 44:6 and 48:12, in basically the same context, to refer to Yhwh.

Koole comments further, “The interpretation … as a nominative … produces a good symmetry with the two halves of the previous line. None of the gods, v. 26bA, foretold it, but Yahweh did, v. 27a; for this prediction there are no human witnesses, v. 26bB, but Yahweh gave a מְבַשֵּׂר, v. 27b.”[26] According to Koole’s arguments, vv. 26–27 read as follows, “Who announced this from the beginning [מֵרֹאשׁ] so that we may recognize it, and of old, so that we may say ‘He is right’? [v. 26bA]. No, nobody announced it, no, nobody declared it, [v. 26bB] no, nobody heard your words [v. 27a]. As the First One (I said it) to Zion: see, there they are! [v. 27b]. I will give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.”

The function of רִאשֹׁוֹן, therefore, is that it stands as the subject who speaks the words, “Behold! Behold them!” Further, it is Yhwh, as the first and only God, who announces it beforehand.

4. Behold! Behold “Them!”

One final issue remains regarding Isa 41:27. To whom does “them” refer in the phrase הִנֵּה הִנָּם? Supporters of the MT have proposed various referents. Amongst the proposals are armies of Cyrus,[27] the exilic returnees,[28] and the old promises or predicted events.[29] Janzen draws a direct connection here with vv. 9–11 of ch. 40 noting the repetition of “Behold!” The verses read, “Behold your God … Behold the Lord God comes with might … Behold, his reward is with him … he will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms” (ESV). Janzen concludes, “An even more succinct abbreviation, reducing to one repetition but retaining the final focus on the returning people, would produce הִנֵּה הִנָּם.”30

While I agree with Janzen’s referents, Yhwh and his people, it is better to understand the text as looking forward rather than back.[31] The Herald’s final appearance (52:7) and the surrounding scene give a full description of this succinct phrase. Following the Herald’s message Isaiah writes, “Your watchmen … sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.… The Lord has bared his holy arm.… Go out from there!… The Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isa 52:8a, d, 52:10a, 11a, 12b ESV). This is the climactic result of Yhwh’s declaration in 41:25 that he will raise up Cyrus to trample on rulers. Yhwh, in 41:27, is declaring beforehand his return to Zion with his people.[32]

5. Isaiah 41:27: The Herald’s Conclusions

Isaiah’s use of the Herald in 41:27 stands alone. Here he is seemingly mentioned in passing, whereas in the other two passages, as seen below, the image takes center stage. Here, however, his theological function comes immediately to the fore. Isaiah employs him to undergird Yhwh’s superiority in that he is a God who speaks/predicts/promises. The מבשׂר witnesses to the fact that Yhwh speaks of future events, unlike any other god, and brings them to pass. He is also the mouthpiece through whom Yhwh speaks, as will be further seen in connection with 52:7.

The Herald appears immediately after Yhwh’s charge of the non-existence of other speaker-gods. Isaiah 41:26 reads,מִי־הִגִּיד מֵרֹאשׁ וְנֵדָעָה וּמִלְּפָנִים וְנֹאמַר צַדִּיק אַף אֵין־מַגִּיד אַף אֵין מַשְׁמִיעַ אַף אֵין־שֹׁמֵעַ אִמְרֵיכֶם (“Who has announced from the beginning that we might know, and from former times that we might say, ‘He is right’? Surely there is no announcer, there is no publisher, and there is no hearer of your words”). The repetition of אֵיןcalls attention to the nothingness, the non-existence of other speakers. There is no declarer (אֵין־מַגִּיד) and there is no one who causes to hear (אֵין־מַשְֹׁמִיעַ). There is no hearer of their words (אֵין־שֹׁמֵעַ אִמְרֵיכֶם) because they have no words (cf. vv. 22–24). It is not that the gods have not spoken, but more simply, other announcer-gods do not exist.[33]

Yhwh alone is the God who speaks. Again, v. 27 means, “As the first and only one [רִאשֹׁוֹן] I, Yhwh, said to Zion, Behold! Behold the return of the Lord with his people! And I will give a herald to Jerusalem.” Distinguished from the mute idols, Yhwh foretells the future. But he not only predicts it, he brings it into existence. He will stir up Cyrus to destroy Babylon (cf. 41:25) and return Israel (cf. 43:14), and here announces it in advance. The Herald will be given to witness to Yhwh’s actions (cf. Ps 68:12–13) while he simultaneously, through his heralding, vindicates him as the God who speaks. That he sends a Herald, a proclaimer of events, contrasts him with and elevates him above the non-existent speaker-foreign-gods.[34] In sum, no other gods speak, but Yhwh will give a Herald.

6. The Exalting/Comforting Herald-Appearance: Isaiah 40:9

As 41:27 presented difficulties, 40:9 presents another, though different, challenge. What is its background? For critical scholarship, ch. 40 marks the beginning of Deutero-Isaiah (40–55).[35] Many consider 40:1–11 to be a unit of poetry and perceive it as the prologue to the second part of the book and/or the “call” of the prophet Second-Isaiah.[36] It follows the familiar chapter (39) of Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah concerning the pending Babylonian captivity and opens with the double imperative, “Comfort! Comfort my people!” Because of this smooth transition from the doom of ch. 39 to the comfort of ch. 40 it is tempting to join the chorus and relegate this text’s primary audience to the Babylonian exiles. As I will show, however, this is one step removed from its initially intended audience, Isaiah’s contemporaries.[37]

7. Isaiah 40:9: Context

A few chapters earlier, ch. 36 opens with the words, “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a great army.” The Assyrians have taken the cities of Judah and now stand at the wall of Jerusalem threatening war and demanding surrender (36:4–17). Hezekiah prays for deliverance and receives a word of rescue from the Lord (37:14–35). “And the Angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when the people arose in the morning, behold [הִנֵּה], these were all dead bodies” (37:36 ESV).

This is the primary background of 40:1–11.[38] In v. 9, the Heralds are commanded to proclaim to the cities of Judah what the Angel of the Lord has done. It reads, “Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news [מְבַשֶּׂרֶת צִיּוֹן]; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news [מְבַשֶּׂרֶת יְרוּשָׁלָמִ];[39] lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold [הִנֵּה] your God!’” (ESV). After 185,000 Assyrians have been slain, the Herald, Zion/Jerusalem,[40] brings the word of comforting victory (“Behold, these were all dead bodies” [37:36] = “Behold, your God” [40:9]) to the captured cities of Judah.

There are additional arguments for this conclusion concerning the background of our text. First, as a major thematic tie, much of the discourse in chs. 36–37 focuses on the failure of the foreign gods to save. The Lord is both compared (by the Assyrians) and contrasted (by Hezekiah) with these impotent gods (cf. 36:18–20; 37:10–13, 18–20). Yhwh’s contrast with the idols in ch. 40 and following is well known (cf. 40:19–31; 41:7–29; etc.). Specifically in regard to the Herald and what was seen in 41:27, it is the appearance of the Herald which exalts Yhwh above these gods.

Second, the frailty of grass and the surety of the word of the Lord are juxtaposed in 40:6–8. In ch. 37, the Lord describes the victims of Sennacherib’s conquests as grass (cf. 37:26–27). The people are the grass (אָכֵן חָצִיר הָעָם 40:7b; cf. 37:27) and the Assyrians are the breath of the Lord (40:7a) destroying the grass/people and accomplishing his will.[41] Yhwh says to Sennacherib, “I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash … while their inhabitants … have become … like tender grass, like grass [çثِدéّ] on the housetops, blighted before it is grown” (37:26–27 ESV). Isaiah 40:6 says, “Cry!” and the response in light of this is, “What could I possibly call out? The people are all like withering grass before the Assyrian army.”[42] The answer to this objection is v. 8,[43] “the grass withers [יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר], the flower fades [נָבֵל צִיץ], but the word of our God will stand forever”[44] (ESV; cf. 37:32, 35; the remnant and Davidic promise prevent Jerusalem’s destruction—God’s word stands).

Third, for those who hold to an appositional reading (i.e., Zion/Jerusalem is Herald), during the Babylonian captivity Zion-Jerusalem receives the Herald (cf. 41:27; 52:7). Katheryn Darr, who advocates interpreting the whole of Isaiah’s prophecy as a sequential reader would, comments, “The image of a strong and vocal Zion [in 40:9] is congruous with our last glimpse of her (37:22).”[45]

Finally, this background answers the well-known perplexing question, “To whom are the plural imperatives addressed in 40:1–2?”[46] It also resolves the apparent tension between Jerusalem receiving words of comfort in 40:2 but heralding good news to the cities of Judah in 40:9. The imperatives read, “Comfort [נַחֲמוּ], comfort [נַחֲמוּ] my people, says your God. Speak [דַּבְּרוּ] to the heart of Jerusalem, and call [וְקִרְאוּ] to her that her warfare has been completed.” Isaiah is the speaker who commands Eliakim, Shebna, and the senior priests (Hezekiah’s messengers—cf. 37:2) to comfort Hezekiah,[47] who, as king, represents Jerusalem and its people (cf. 37:1–35, esp. vv. 37:2, 5–6, 21–35).[48] The transmission of comfort runs thus: Yhwh → Isaiah → Hezekiah’s messengers → Jerusalem/Zion (Hezekiah) → the cities of Judah.

Knut Holter interprets the utilization of the cities in 40:9 as “an intentional link” to Isa 6:11, “until the cities have become desolate.”[49] He notes the repetition of עד in 6:11 calling attention to the limited duration of the hardening:

“The doubling of עד highlights here that hardening will come to an end. The hardening will be effective [until the cities lie desolate].”[50] The ruin of Judah’s cities by the Assyrians temporarily causes hardening to give way to the return of Yhwh to his people.[51]

8. Isaiah 40:9: The Herald’s Conclusions

In 40:9, contrary to 41:27, the Herald is identifiable with historical figures. He largely falls in line with the standard use as seen in Samuel—the people of Jerusalem witness the Lord’s victory in battle over Assyria and, as Heralds, as military messengers, announce the news to the cities of Judah in order to comfort them. But, in line with his function in 41:27 and peculiar to Isaiah’s employment of him, the Herald also appears as a witness to Yhwh’s word and actions.

The command to the Herald to ascend a high mountain and speak (אִמְרִי, 40:9) immediately follows the statement that Yhwh’s word will forever stand (וּדְבַר־אֱלֹהֵינוּ יָקוּם לְעֹולָם, 40:8b). This is not accidental. As in 41:27, the Herald here functions to call attention to the deeds of Yhwh which confirm his previously spoken promises. Yhwh assured Hezekiah that Assyria would be destroyed (cf. 37:33–35). Shortly after, he makes good on his word, and the Herald is then sent to witness to Yhwh’s deeds by proclaiming the realized promised victory.

The Herald-image calls attention to both the sureness of Yhwh’s word and his pre-eminence over other gods who do not speak and have not acted for the good of their people. This latter element, remember, was Assyria’s charge against the foreign nations’ gods (cf. 36:18–20; 37:10–13, 18–20). Contrarily, Yhwh not only acts, he first promises to act and then sends a Herald to witness to those actions.

Although in 40:9 the Herald certainly does support the exaltation of Yhwh above the foreign gods and proves the reliability of his word, his main purpose, through these actions, is to comfort Yhwh’s people. He declares, הִנֵּה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם “Behold your God,” in contrast to the false gods who are unable to deliver from Assyria. Comfort is secured through the sight of what Yhwh, as Israel’s God, can and did do.

Isaiah 40:10–11 further undergirds the centrality of the comfort-function. It reads, “Behold the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (ESV). Not only is Yhwh far superior to the nations’ deities in both word and deed, but his people are the recipients, the directly intended beneficiaries, of the fruits of their great God’s speech and action.

9. The Climactic Herald-Image: Isaiah 52:7

The Herald’s appearance in ch. 52 is the greatest picture given of the Herald in the text of Isaiah and his themes are all equally present. He is found in the context of Yhwh’s victory over Babylon and Israel’s subsequent return, and is thus best interpreted as a picture of the fulfillment of the Herald promised in 41:27 (41:25 predicts the raising up of Cyrus). Whereas Zion/Jerusalem was the Herald in 40:9, here, following 41:27, the image does not correspond to a particular historical figure. His use, rather, is theological. Having shown the “God speaks!” function of the Herald in 41:27, and his function of comfort and Yhwh exaltation in 40:9, I move to a clearer and more complex picture/function of the Herald wherein he exalts Yhwh as speaker, comforts Yhwh’s people, and speaks as Yhwh’s witness.

10. Isaiah 52:7: Message And Context

The Herald’s first function of 52:7, to support the claim that Yhwh indeed has spoken and does speak, is immediately apparent. In the lines preceding 52:7, Yhwh describes Israel’s history of enslavement, focusing on the Babylonian captivity which has resulted in the despising of his name (cf. 52:3–5). Verse 6 reads, “Therefore, my people shall know my name. Therefore, they shall know in that day that I am he, the one who speaks, behold, it is I [כּי־אֲנִי־הוּא הַמְדַבֵּר הִנֵּנִי].” Isaiah 52:7, again not accidentally (cf. 40:8–9), directly follows: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the herald [מְבַשֵּׂר], proclaiming [מַשְׁמִיעַ] ‘Peace!’, heralding [מְבַשֵּׂר] ‘Good!’, proclaiming [מַשְׁמִיעַ] ‘Salvation!’, saying [אֹמֵר] to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

Isaiah uses the Herald-image to convey future events as presently happening.[52] The Herald-image heralds the victory as though it were already accomplished. The repetition of essentially the same message with four different terms (peace, good, salvation, God reigns) emphasizes the mode of communication (i.e., heralding, proclaiming, speaking). He both witnesses to Yhwh’s previously promised actions and speaks for Yhwh, firmly solidifying the point: Yhwh speaks.

Second, the Herald exalts Yhwh above all other gods. The immediately preceding paragraph recalls the earlier contrasts between the non-existence of speaker-gods, in 41:27, and elevates Yhwh above them as one who speaks. Further, the crowning exclamation of the Herald’s message is מָלַךְ אֲלֹהָיִךְ, “your God reigns!” As seen earlier, it is your God, Yhwh, as opposed to the nations’ gods. He alone is the God who reigns as king.[53] As 44:6 reads, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (ESV).

Finally, undergirding the third theme, the Herald’s message is intended to bring comfort to suffering Israel. The content of the victory message is described under four headings: peace, goodness, salvation, and your God reigns.

First is “peace” (שׁלום). Those who had afflicted Israel will now be afflicted (49:22–23). Zion and Jerusalem are told to clothe themselves with strength and beautiful garments because “there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean” (52:1b). The destruction of Israel’s enemies results in their peace. Isaiah 51:11 reads, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (ESV). There will be peace in place of sorrow.

Second is “good” (טוב). Isaiah uses this term in fifteen other verses.[54] Here it is used to signify the blessings of Yhwh upon his people. Chapter 63 offers an exegesis of the term, “I will recount … the great goodness (טוב) to the house of Israel.… For he said, ‘Surely they are my people’… and he became their Savior.… In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them” (63:7b, 8c, 9c ESV). It is the all encompassing message, similar to that of peace.[55] It entails the destruction of Israel’s enemies and the redemption of his people, the Lord as Father of his children and Savior of his people.

Third is “salvation” (ישׁועה). Again the same thing is communicated, which, as stated earlier, emphasizes the mode of communication, speech.[56] The noun, as it appears in 52:7, shows up in seventeen other verses. Isaiah 60:18 represents the prophet’s usage well, “Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation” (ESV).[57] Yhwh’s salvation of Israel secures peace within their walls, removal of their enemies.

Finally is “your God reigns” (מלך אלהיך). This is the climax of his message; the source of the peace/good/salvation which has come to Israel. God is exercising his kingship over the nations by claiming what belongs to him, his people, and bringing them back to Zion. Isaiah 52:8 vividly pictures the return of the King: “The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion” (ESV).

The passage continues, “Break forth into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem” (52:9 ESV). The Herald’s exaltation of Yhwh and his word-confirming function have as their final aim the comfort of Israel. Yhwh speaks and acts and proclaims for their sakes.

These, 41:27, 40:9, and 52:7, are all of the occurrences of the Herald proper. It has been shown that Isaiah uses him as a leitmotif to exalt Yhwh above other gods, to highlight his ability as a speaker, and to comfort Israel in times of the distress of war and exile. For the sake of thoroughness, I will briefly examine the two other occurrences of the root בשׂר. While they are not an occurrence of the Herald proper, they do help to undergird the claims already made about what his function is.

11. The Final Two Uses Of בשׂר: Isaiah 60:6 And 61:1

In these last occurrences of the root, it is not the Herald who appears, but other subjects who are given the Herald’s task. In Isa 60:6 the nations are the subject of the verb בשׂר. The content of their heralding is the praises of Yhwh. The context is the flowing of the nations with their goods (gold and frankincense) to Israel. They will carry gold and frankincense and herald the praises of Yhwh. The nations, taking up the heralding function, witness to the materialization of the global promises of Yhwh which pervade the prophecy. As Yhwh foretells here, “The coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God” (60:9 ESV).

Finally, in Isa 61:1 the root occurs as an infinitive construct. Isaiah 61 has received much attention, as Jesus claims the fulfillment of this text in Luke 4. The figure presented here is a blended one and has been identified as prophet, priest, king, anointed one, Servant, the Spirit-endowed one, the Messiah, and finally, the Herald.[58] This eschatological figure takes up the speaking and comforting functions of the Herald.

The figure says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me” (61:1a). He then gives the reason why he was anointed, “to proclaim good news to the afflicted [לְבַשֵּׂר עֲנָוִים]” (v. 1b). Further, he is sent to proclaim (לִקְרֹא) liberty to the captives (61:1c) and the year of the Lord’s favor (61:2a). The heralding/proclaiming resumes the word-attesting function of the Herald. From what has been gleaned so far, this figure will proclaim and bear witness to what Yhwh has accomplished. He is also responsible, as the Spirit-endowed one, to speak the words of Yhwh.

He is sent to the afflicted. This form of the word (עֲנָויים) occurs twice in Isaiah. The first part of ch. 11 provides a strikingly fitting parallel to 61:1.[59] The relevant verses read, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.… And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.… He shall … decide with equity for the meek [or “afflicted”] of the earth [לְעַנְוֵי־אָרֶץ]; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (11:1a, 2a, 4b–d ESV). The content of the Herald’s message, the good news, as has been seen, is always that the Lord has defeated Israel’s oppressive enemies and set his people free (40:9; 52:7); this is their source of comfort. Likewise, the heralding function of 61:1 is comfort for the afflicted. The figure comes “to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning” (61:2–3 ESV).

IV. Conclusion

Isaiah utilizes the Herald as a recurring image, a leitmotif, to support various themes which run throughout the later chapters of his prophecy. There are seven things which clearly come into view concerning Isaiah’s Herald. (1) The Herald always emerges in the context of Yhwh’s victory in war over Israel’s enemies. (2) The Herald, when he has a message to bear (40:9 and 52:7), following in the footsteps of standard usage throughout the OT, brings the good news of Yhwh’s triumph to Yhwh’s people. (3) Isaiah always utilizes the Herald-image in conjunction with the word of Yhwh. The Herald confirms that Yhwh does speak (41:27), shows that his word is sure (40:9; 52:7), and is the declarer through whom Yhwh declares (41:27; 52:7). (4) The Herald is sometimes historically identifiable (40:9), sometimes not (41:27; 52:7), but always employed for theological purposes. (5) Isaiah 43:12 sets forth a programmatic statement of Yhwh’s unique operations towards his people, as opposed to other gods, and the Herald is an integral part of this process. First Yhwh predicts/promises salvation, then he acts to bring about the salvation, then he announces the fulfillment.[60] The Herald accomplishes this final part. He bears witness to the fulfilling actions of Yhwh’s promises by announcing the predicted/promised victory over Israel’s enemies. Isaiah has two concrete backgrounds for this unfolding process, the Assyrian (40:9) and Babylonian crises (41:27; 52:7). (6) The Herald, by calling attention to Yhwh’s ability to speak, to act, and to proclaim, exalts Yhwh above the idols. (7) The Herald provides comfort for Yhwh’s people.

Finally, the Hebrew root בשׂר underlies the LXX εὐαγγελίζω (cf. n. 17). This observation, along with Jesus’ appropriation of Isa 60:1 to himself in Luke 4 makes the image of the Herald and his peculiar functions particularly important for Christian readers of Scripture. What light can the above conclusions shed on the gospel and its proclamation? The Herald is certainly an important precursor of Jesus heralding the good news of the kingdom of God and heralding the good news of peace (cf. Eph 2:17), and this connection deserves much more exploration and explanation.

Notes

1. Robert W. Fisher, “The Herald of Good News in Second Isaiah,” in Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg, ed. Jared J. Jackson and Martin Kessler (Pittsburgh: Pickwick, 1974), 117.
2. Chris Baldick, Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 138.
3. This article assumes these themes of the latter part of Isaiah, as they are immediately apparent.
4. Although the root can be used in a negative context, this is rare and mostly early.
5. See CAD, s.v. “bussuru.” The first meaning listed is to praise, extol, “he should praise (the god) in terms of his (the god’s) liking.”
6. Robert W. Fisher, “A Study of the Semitic Root BŚR” (PhD diss., Columbia University, 1966), 120-21.
7. Ibid., 121, 151-54. For a more accessible treatment of the Akkadian texts at Mari, see Robert W. Fisher, “The Mubassirū Messengers at Mari,” in Mari in Retrospect: Fifty Years of Mari and Mari Studies, ed. Gordon D. Young (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992), 113-20. Cf. O. Schilling, “בשׂר,” TDOT 2:313, who, although noting that in the majority of Akkadian cases both the noun and verb denote a good message, concludes, “In itself, this word is neutral.” Followed by Stephen T. Hague, “בשׂר,” NIDOTTE 1:775; and R. Ficker, “מַלְאָךְ,” TLOT 2:669. Ficker comments that the root “had a neutral meaning at first.”
8. Fisher, “Study of the Semitic Root,” 52.
9. Ibid., 59.
10. Ibid., 69-70; cf. Schilling, TDOT 2:313; Hague, NIDOTTE 1:775.
11. The Arabic usage carries with it the notion of removing the face or surface of something. Cf. Fisher, “Study of the Semitic Root,” 20; BDB, s.v. “בשׂר”; Hague, NIDOTTE 1:775.
12. Schilling, TDOT 2:313; HALOT, s.v. “בשׂר”; contra Millard Burrows, “The Origin of the Term ‘Gospel,’” JBL 44 (1925): 25. Burrows claims that the Aramaic usage was neutral because modifiers, albeit positive ones, accompanied the term. A modified term, however, does not necessarily indicate a neutral term.
13. Cf. Schilling, TDOT 2:313. For a listing of each occurrence see BDB, s.v. “בשׂר” and “בשׂרה.”
14. BDB, s.v. “בשׂר”; HALOT, s.v. “בשׂר.” These classify 2 Sam 4:10 under “the messenger’s reward.”
15. Cf. Schilling, TDOT 2:314, for an alternative explanation.
16. All translations are mine unless otherwise indicated (ESV).
17. For an extensive discussion of this occurrence and the defense of a positive understanding of the word, contrary to its apparent use in this verse, cf. Fisher, “Study of the Semitic Root,” 190-96; cf. Schilling, TDOT 2:314-15; Hague, NIDOTTE 1:775-76. It is noteworthy that the LXX has τὸ παιδάριον here rather than its usual rendering ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος; cf. 2 Sam 18:26; Isa 40:9; Nah 2:1. In fact, every time εὐαγγελίζω appears in the LXX the MT has the root בשׂר. Joel 3:5 is no exception. The MT is וּבַשְּׂרִידִים and the translator apparently misread the root to be בשׂר.
18. Fisher, TDOT, TLOT, and NIDOTTE all conclude the same. They also point out that early on it may have had a neutral sense, but that it developed into a strictly positive word, contra HALOT and apparently BDB.
19. Jan L. Koole, Isaiah 40-48, trans. Anthony P. Runia (Kampen: Kok, 1997), 202. For a discussion of the interpretive possibilities in light of 1QIsaa, cf. A. Gelston, “‘Behold the Speaker’: A Note on Isaiah XLI 27, ” VT 43 (1993): 405-8; Fisher, “Herald of Good News,” 126-27. For further proposals and bibliography, cf. John D. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, WBC (Mexico City: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 647.
20. J. Gerald Janzen, “Isaiah 41:27: Reading הנה הנומה in 1QIsaa and הנה הנם in the Masoretic Text,” JBL 113 (1994): 597-98.
21. Many emendations have also been proposed. See the discussion in Koole, Isaiah 40-48, 201. For more bibliography, see Watts, Isaiah 34-66, 647. As an example, Blenkinsopp comments, “That the text was corrupted early is apparent from LXX: ‘I will give rule to Zion and will comfort Jerusalem in the way’ and Tg.: ‘The words of consolation which the prophets prophesied from the first to Zion, behold they come [to pass]’” (Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 40-55, AB 19a [New York: Doubleday, 2000], 204-5).
22. Janzen, “Isaiah 41:27, ” 602. He also refers to BDB, which lists about 40 instances of the fem. form being used adverbially.
23. Koole, Isaiah 40-48, 201.
24. Driver himself understood it to refer to “leading counsel.”
25. Janzen, “Isaiah 41:27, ” 604. There the word is used to refer to Ahimaaz who outran the Cushite to proclaim the news of victory in battle to King David.
26. Koole, Isaiah 40-48, 201.
27. Ibid., 202.
28. John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, trans. William Pringle (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 3:278-79; Janzen, “Isaiah 41:27, ” 602.
29. For these Koole cites J. Ridderbos, E. J. Young, and R. P. Merendino (Koole, Isaiah 40-48, 202-3). See also Targum Isaiah.
30. Janzen, “Isaiah 41:27, ” 601.
31. It could possibly look in both directions. But that Jerusalem is Herald in 40:9 and receives the Herald in 41:27, along with the different backgrounds (Assyrian and Babylonian), argues against this understanding. See below.
32. Koole’s view that “them” refers to Cyrus’s armies misses it by one step. His point that the immediate context refers to Cyrus and his armies (cf. 41:25) is well taken. But Cyrus is raised up for the purpose of the return of Israel and restoration of Jerusalem (cf. Isa 44:26). This, along with the Herald’s other occurrences, is determinative. The thing to “behold” is the Lord’s return with his people, even though this is accomplished through Cyrus and his armies.
33. Verse 29 calls them wind (רוּחַ) and nothingness (תֹּחוּ).
34. The question often asked of the text is, Who is this Herald? Whereas, as will be shown below, the image of the Herald can be connected to historical persons, his implementation here, and in 52:7, is theological. The specific identity of the Herald is not the point. That Yhwh can and will give one is.
35. David Carr remarks on the pre-critical notice of a shift beginning in ch. 40. He writes, “It does not take a text linguistic approach to recognize the radical break that Isaiah 40:1 represents. A perceptive pre-critical exegete like Rashi could observe that ‘from here to the end of the book are words of comfort.’… Likewise, in the Christian tradition, Luther … saw the book of Isaiah as made up of two parts: chapters 1-39 were the book of law, and chapters 40-66 were the book of grace. Such pre-critical perception of the break at the beginning of chapter 40 long preceded the widespread consensus in modern biblical scholarship that 40:1 begins the message of ‘second Isaiah’” (David M. Carr, “Isaiah 40:1-11 in the Context of the Macrostructure of Second Isaiah,” in Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature: What It Is and What It Offers, ed. Walter R. Bodine [Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995], 52). See also Calvin, who too sees a major shift here and says that the addressees are the Babylonian exiles (Commentary on Isaiah, 3:199).
36. Cf. Jan P. Fokkelman, “Stylistic Analysis of Isaiah 40:1-11, ” in Remembering All the Way: A Collection of Old Testament Studies Published on the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland, ed. Adam S. van der Woude, OTS 21 (Leiden: Brill, 1981), 68-90; David Noel Freedman, “The Structure of Isaiah 40:1-11, ” in Divine Commitment and Human Obligation: Selected Writings of David Noel Freedman, ed. John R. Huddlestun (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 2:232-57; Carr, “Isaiah 40:1-11, ” 51-74; Christopher Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah,” JBL 109 (1990): 229-47; Francis Landy, “The Ghostly Prelude to Deutero-Isaiah,” BI 14 (2006): 332-63; Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah, OTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 294-96; Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40-66: A Commentary, trans. David M. G. Stalker, OTL (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1969), 32-46. Westermann summarizes the critical view well: “40:1-11 seem so much like a beginning, an overture, a prologue, as to suggest that they come from the prophet himself, and were intended by him as the introduction to his message” (Isaiah 40-66, 32). There are some who see vv. 1-8 as its own unit and label this the “prophetic call.” For discussion, cf. Seitz, “Divine Council,” 229-30n3; Carr, “Isaiah 40:1-11, ” 59-63.
37. I do not mean to imply that the Babylonian exiles would not have claimed this text for themselves. I would propose that the text serves double duty. It looks back at the immediate deliverance from the Assyrians and forward to a day when the Lord would act against the Babylonians. This latter part seems evident in light of ch. 39 and the fact that Isaiah, shortly after and without any striking break from the material of 40:1-11, mentions the Lord’s raising up of Cyrus (cf. 41:25; 43:14; 44:28; 45:1) and Babylon’s destruction (cf. ch. 47). Their claim of this particular text, however, would be similar to the way an Israelite who had never lived in Egypt would claim the Exodus event and secure hope through it. This approach is a modification of modern scholarly consensus, of which Francis Landy’s comment is representative, “One cannot avoid the immense caesura between chapters 39 and 40, no matter how much it has been retrojected into the text of First Isaiah. In the space between chapters 39 and 40 is the catastrophe [the Babylonian exile]. Chapter 40, and Deutero-Isaiah generally, is a post-catastrophe text” (Landy, “Ghostly Prelude,” 336). For a somewhat modified position, see John N. Oswalt, “Who Were the Addressees of Isaiah 40-66?,” BSac 169 (2012): 33-47. Oswalt defends mid-7th century authorship while still maintaining the primary background of critical scholarship’s Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah as exile and post-exile.
38. I have recently developed the argument made in this section. See Matthew Seufert, “Reading Isaiah 40:1-11 in Light of Isaiah 36-37, ” JETS 58 (2015): 269-81.
39. I understand these two sets of terms to be in apposition. Jerusalem and Zion are personified as Heralds. Against the Tg., LXX, and Vulgate, which interpret the Herald as speaking to Zion and Jerusalem (cf. 41:27 and 52:7, where the Herald is clearly sent to Zion and Jerusalem). Fisher most extensively defended this view (cf. Fisher, “Herald of Good News,” 118-24). The Peshitta, Berges, Beuken, Blenkinsopp, Calvin, Childs, Fokkelman, Freedman, Koole, Oswalt, Watts, and Westermann all favor an appositional reading. Koole notes, “The voice should address itself to ‘the cities of Judah’, which are distinguished from Zion-Jerusalem, 44:26” (Koole, Isaiah, 1:71). He also records that Rashi and Ibn Ezra, among others, favored an accusative reading while Kimchi and most newer exegetes favor apposition. The LXX changes the fem. form to masc. reading ὁ εὐαγγελιζόμενος. Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion maintain the fem. form (see Watts, Isaiah 34-66, 606). The main argument usually given for an appositional reading, apart from the contextual one I use above, is that “the fem. form of … ‘herald’ can only refer to the fem. Jerusalem in this context” (John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, NICOT [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998], 54).
40. Zion and Jerusalem do not here refer to two separate entities; cf. 37:22, 32; 51:1-2.
41. That Cyrus is later described as anointed gives this connection further credence; cf. 45:1; also 61:1. Here the “Spirit” being upon the Isa 61 figure is a result of his having been “anointed.”
42. For support of the interpretation that the words of vv. 6b–7 are an objection to “Cry!,” cf. Westermann, Isaiah, 41: “The exiles’ greatest temptation—and the prophet speaks as one of their number—was precisely to be resigned to thinking of themselves as caught up in the transience of all things, to believing that nothing could be done to halt the extinction of their national existence, and to saying, ‘just like the countless other nations destroyed before our time, in our time and after our time, we are a nation that perishes: all flesh is as grass!’”
43. Again, Westermann supports this interpretation (ibid).
44. See also v. 7. Childs calls attention to Isa 28:1-4, which speaks of Ephraim as a drooping flower (צִיצַת נֹבֵל) who will soon be crushed by the Assyrians (Childs, Isaiah, 295-96).
45. Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, Isaiah’s Vision and the Family of God (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 168. Darr does, however, see the Babylonian exile as the background for ch. 40.
46. For various proposals, including “all flesh,” “a band of prophets,” “divine beings,” and others, see the bibliography listed in n. 36 above.
47. The messengers, in 37:4, refer to Yhwh as “your God” (אֱלֹהֶיךָ—Isaiah’s God). Isaiah, in 40:1, refers to him as “your God” (אֶלֹהֵיכֶם—the messengers’ God), perhaps as a subtle rebuke.
48. The specific message of comfort, that Jerusalem’s warfare has ended, corresponds well with the established peace which will run throughout Hezekiah’s days (cf. 37:30-35; 39:8).
49. Knut Holter, “Zur Funktion der Städte Judas in Jesaja xl 9, ” VT 46 (1996): 119: “eine absichtliche Anknüpfung.”
50. Ibid., 120: “Durch die Verdoppelung von ‘d wird hier markiert, daß die Verstockung ein Ende haben wird. Die Verstockung wird wirksam sein [until the cities lie desolate].”
51. Holter sees the Babylonian exile as the primary historical background for “until the cities lie desolate” in Isa 6. I agree that the climax of the desolation is then reached. But the Assyrian desolation is the first phase of a purging process (cf. Isa 6:11-13) and is a more fitting background for 40:9, especially since the cities of Judah are here explicitly labeled as those who receive the Herald’s message.
52. Nahum 1:15 also employs the Herald in this way. Although victory has not yet taken place, the Herald arrives on the scene announcing the news as though Yhwh had already defeated Israel’s enemies.
53. Before, “your” was plural; here it is fem. singular and refers to Zion.
54. It is used in a variety of ways: for moral good (5:20; 7:15, 16; 38:3; 55:2; 65:2), things that are valuable/well made (5:9; 39:2; 41:7), the good of the land (1:19), “good” as the word spoken to the righteous who eat the fruit of their deeds (3:10), the word which Hezekiah receives from the Lord that disaster will strike after his death (39:8), for a good/everlasting name given by Yhwh (56:5), and the Lord’s true servants rejoicing from “good of heart” (65:14).
55. Blenkinsopp writes, “What the herald announces is first presented in general terms, well being … and good” (Isaiah 40-55, 342).
56. Westermann comments, “The messenger of good tidings … has to proclaim something that has already taken place.… This is salvation for Israel, as all three clauses of v. 7b say in different ways” (Isaiah 40-66, 251). So Koole, who calls them “virtually synonymous” (Isaiah 49-55, 233).
57. Cf. 12:2; 25:9; 26:1, 18; 33:2, 6; 49:6, 8; 51:6, 8; 52:10; 56:1; 59:11, 17; 62:1. In every instance, except 26:18 where Israel has failed to accomplish salvation, it is the Lord who is responsible, either directly or through a mediator (i.e., the Servant), for salvation.
58. For these identifications, cf. Willem A. M. Beuken, “Servant and Herald of Good Tidings: Isaiah 61 as an Interpretation of Isaiah 40-55, ” in The Book of Isaiah, ed. Jacques Vermeylen (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1989), 411-40; Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 56-66, AB 19b (New York: Doubleday, 2003), 220-23; Childs, Isaiah, 502-5; John J. Collins, “A Herald of Good Tidings: Isaiah 61:1-3 and Its Actualization in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in The Quest for Context and Meaning: Studies in Biblical Intertextuality in Honor of James A. Sanders, ed. Craig A. Evans and Shemaryahu Talmon, Biblical Interpretation 28 (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 225-40; Bradley C. Gregory, “The Postexilic Exile in Third Isaiah: Isaiah 61:1-3 in Light of Second Temple Hermeneutics,” JBL 126 (2007): 475-96; H. A. J. Kruger, “Isaiah 61:1-3(4-9), 10-11: Transferor of Privileges, An ‘Identikit’ of the Servant of the Lord?,” Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 58 (2002): 1555-76; James A. Sanders, “From Isaiah 61 to Luke 4, ” in Christianity, Judaism and Other Greco-Roman Cults: Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, ed. Jacob Neusner (Leiden: Brill, 1975), 75-106; Jacob Stromberg, “An Inner-Isaianic Reading of Isaiah 61:1-3, ” in Interpreting Isaiah: Issues and Approaches, ed. David G. Firth and H. G. M. Williamson (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009), 261-72; Westermann, Isaiah 40-66, 365-67. The Targum identifies the speaker as “prophet.”
59. Isa 29:19 is the other occurrence.
60. The verse reads, “I alone announced (אָנֹכִי הִגַּדְתִּי), and saved, and declared (וְהִשְׁמַעְתִּי), and there does not exist (וְאֵין) among you a foreign god, and you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God.” The root שׁמע occurs in 52:7, in the hiphil, and the subject is the Herald. Yhwh declares through the Herald.