Isaiah

  Sponsors: Torsten Uhlig and Seulgi Byun

Following last year’s theme, “The People of YHWH,” we would like to explore the theme of “The Other Nations and Gentiles in the Book of Isaiah” in 2026. 

What role do the Gentiles and other nations play in the Book of Isaiah? How are they related to Judah, Zion, and the people of YHWH? How do the Gentiles and other nations relate to the God of the Book of Isaiah? How are the different prospects for the other nations related to each other, as well as to the different sections of the book? What is the theology of the oracles concerning the nations, and how does it relate to other parts of Isaiah? What kinds of metaphors are used, and how do they compare to the metaphors used for the people of YHWH? Are the other nations actually appropriately termed “other” nations? How should the term “servants” be related to the people of YHWH and other peoples? These are just a few of the many questions that arise when examining the other nations.

Please send paper proposals, as well as any questions, to Seulgi Byun ([email protected]) and/or Torsten Uhlig ([email protected]) by March 4th. 

Friday, November 20

9:00–11:00 AM

Presiding: Prof. Dr. Seulgi L. Byun; Prof. Dr. Torsten Uhlig

Arnon Batista: “Destined for Peace or Destined for War? Chronological and Logical Puzzles in the Fate of the Nations in Isaiah 1–12” (20 minutes)

Discussion (5 minutes)

Teryy Iles (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary): “Zion as a Refuge for the Nations: Compositional Poetics and the Presentation of the Past in the Isaian Nations Cycle” (20 minutes)

Discussion (5 minutes)

Kevin G. Wang (Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary): “Isaiah’s Thematic Metaphor of Blindness and Deafness Regarding the Nations” (20 minutes)

Discussion (5 minutes)

J. Gregory Davidson (McMaster Divinity College): “The Other Nations in Isaiah: Divine Self-Presentation and Relational Distinction” (20 minutes)

Discussion (5 minutes)

Alicia R. Jackson (School of Theology and Ministry, Vanguard University of Southern California): “War No More: Israeli Messianic Jewish and Palestinian Christian Intertextual Interpretations of Isaiah 2:1–5 and Micah 4:1–5” (20 minutes)

Discussion (5 minutes)