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Isaiah’s literary artistry, eloquence, and “persuasive strategies” are well-known—he employed hundreds of parallelistic structures, a variety of chiasms, and a great number of figures of speech and literary devices. But the very devices that add profundity and vividness to Isaiah’s words may also be difficult to comprehend for some readers. My objective in this chapter is to briefly examine forty-four literary devices that exist in Isaiah’s text[1], with the intent that the examination will serve to unlock Isaiah’s book to those who seek to comprehend it. Unlocking this closed book requires serious study, devotion of time, and the presence of the Holy Ghost, who reveals truths to us.

As God’s prophet and seer, Isaiah sets forth a multitude of skillfully articulated expressions that exist in various forms, structures, and configurations in his book. Isaiah is creative and artistic when he delivers his message and prophecies to his audiences, using the aforementioned figures of speech, literary devices, and writing techniques to add vibrancy, depth, and meaning to his words. Slotki wrote of Isaiah:

Prophet and statesman, he united deep religious feeling with a profound knowledge of the world and everyday life. His intellectual gifts and fine qualities of heart were harmoniously blended, his vision was clear and his judgment unerring. . . . He was justly described as one standing “with his head in the clouds and his feet on the solid earth, with his heart in the things of eternity and with his hands and mouth in the things of time, with his spirit in the eternal council of God and his body in a very definite moment in history.”[2]

The forty-four literary devices[3] found in Isaiah’s book[4] are listed in alphabetical order as follows: apostrophe, ardent wish, asyndeton, common cause, conditional constructions, contrast (or antithesis), delayed identification, dialogue, duplication (immediate repetition), epithet, euche (or prayer), euphemism, exclamation, exultation, hyperbole, implication, imprecation, inclusio, interpretation, intertwining, irony, keywords, lists, many names (polyonymia), merismus, metaphor, metonymy, multiclinatum, multiple negatives, personification, pleonasm, plural of amplification, polysyndeton, prolepsis (or prophetic perfect), quotations within verses, refrain, rhetorical questions, rhyming sounds, simile, synecdoche, synonymous words, triad (or groupings of three), understatement, and word picture.[5] Collectively, these literary devices are used more than a thousand of times in Isaiah. For example, simile occurs three hundred times, and there are also many instances of metaphor, metonymy, and other devices.

E. W. Bullinger, a well-known biblical scholar, summarizes the importance of biblical figures of speech. He explains: “Applied to words, a figure denotes some form which a word or sentence takes, different from its ordinary and natural form. This is always for the purpose of giving additional force, more life, intensified feeling, and greater emphasis. . . . When we apply this science then to God’s words and to Divine truths, we see at once that no branch of Bible study can be more important, or offer greater promise of substantial reward. It lies at the very root of all translation; and it is the key to true interpretation.”[6] I offer Bullinger’s summary as a reason to study the literary figures of speech in Isaiah. As readers endeavor to recognize and understand the literary figures Isaiah uses, they can better access the meaning of his words.

To the best of my knowledge, no single work has attempted to deal comprehensively with Isaiah’s literary techniques. While Bullinger includes the most complete catalog of figures in the Bible in his very important book Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, he only provides random examples of figures from all biblical books and only sometimes sets forth a passage from Isaiah. Moreover, Bullinger’s work, first published in 1898, does not include figures that scholars have discussed in the past 120 years. Shalom Paul deals directly with Isaiah and sets forth several of his compositional techniques, including rhetorical questions, triads, quotations within verses, and alliterations,[7] but while his work is an important contribution to this study, Paul deals only with only a handful of compositional techniques, and he is concerned with a specific portion of the book: Isaiah chapters 40–66. Leland Ryken also contributes significantly to the discussion of literary techniques by presenting a small, useful handbook with a limited number of figurative devices (including hyperbole, simile, metaphor, apostrophe, personification, metaphor, and simile), but he draws most of his examples from the book of Psalms rather than from Isaiah directly.[8]

This book is unique in its focus on Isaiah, and this chapter in particular aims to give readers a better understanding of the literary devices at play in the book of Isaiah. Note that most of the examples of these literary devices are my own. I invite readers to take the time to read the examples together with the greater context of each passage in Isaiah’s text.

Comprehending Isaiah’s Figures and Literary Devices Is Essential

For two reasons, it is crucial to gain an understanding of Isaiah’s figures of speech. First, Isaiah’s literary devices display qualities of great beauty and have the power to influence our emotions and sensibilities. Bullinger illustrates the difference between an ordinary statement and a striking figure of speech: “We may say, ‘the ground needs rain’: that is a plain, cold, matter-of-fact statement; but if we say ‘the ground is thirsty,’ we immediately use a figure.”[9] Literary devices are powerful elements of speech that add unique emphasis and inspire readers. In this way, Isaiah’s words add power to his message and access to readers’ emotions.

Second, Isaiah uses literary devices to facilitate a concrete understanding of gospel principles for his audiences, helping them avoid error. Bullinger explains, “It is most important to notice these. It is absolutely necessary for true interpretation. . . . Ignorance of Figures of speech has led to the grossest errors, which have been caused either from taking literally what is figurative, or from taking figuratively what is literal.”[10]

With this introduction, we will now briefly examine each of the forty-four literary devices in Isaiah. I will present representative examples of each of the forty-four, rather than a comprehensive listing of each instance of any one literary device.

Apostrophe (Speaking to Places As If They Were People)

Author Jack Lundbom explains, “Apostrophe is a turning away from one’s audience to address a person, city, nation, or other inanimate object.” The purpose of apostrophe is to “emphasize a point, heighten grief, or express indignation. This figure also includes personification. The person [being referred to] may also be purely imaginary, absent, or dead.”[11] Using apostrophe has the effect, as Laurence Perrine expresses, of “[giving] life and immediacy to language.”[12] Many examples of apostrophe in Isaiah feature the exclamatory marker O and occur when Isaiah speaks directly to various cities (such as Gallim, Anathoth, Zidon) as if they are people, delivering some form of bad news:

• “Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth” (10:30)
• “Howl, O gate; cry, O city” (14:31)
• “Be thou ashamed, O Zidon” (23:4)

At other times, Isaiah speaks directly to Jerusalem, the mountains, the islands, and the forests as if they are people, and he delivers good news:

• “O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” (40:9)
• “Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth” (44:23)
• “Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel” (44:23)
• “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted” (49:13; see also 1:2; 41:1; and 49:1)
• “Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. . . . Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem” (52:1–2; see also 62:6)

Ardent Wish

Isaiah uses the figure of speech ardent wish to express impassioned wishes or desires, creating a bridge of understanding that connects his readers to the emotions behind his and others’ deepest yearnings. I am aware of two such figures in Isaiah, and both are introduced with the exclamation O or Oh:

• “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea” (48:18)
• “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (64:1).

Asyndeton (Omitting And or Other Conjunctions)

Isaiah skillfully incorporates asyndeton into his book to bring more color to his words. Lundbom defines this literary device as “the rapid accumulation of verbs, with or without connectives”—that is, conjunctions like and or but.[13] Asyndetic expressions result “in a hurried rhythm or vehement effect”[14] and “[enable] the poet to achieve effects of extraordinary speed and economy.”[15] Connectives in the context of Hebrew literary writings chiefly pertain to the use of the conjunction ����� (and), which is the most common word in the Hebrew Bible. The following asyndetic phrases demonstrate this phenomenon in Isaiah:[16]

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil (1:16).

This single verse features five verbs (in bold font) in a single verse, all without a connective—three verbs open the passage and two end it. Note that the final word (translated “evil”) is also a verb (infinitive construct) in the Hebrew language. Consider also the following example:

The earth mourneth, fadeth away, the world languisheth, fadeth away (24:4, my translation).

The first half of this verse features four verbs and two nouns. In English the two nouns appear at the beginning of each clause. In the Hebrew, however, the nouns and verbs are syntactically arranged as follows: two verbs with no connective (marked in bold), a noun, two additional verbs with no connective, and a second noun. In the original Hebrew structure, the subjects are separated by verbs. (Note that the KJV translators, without the support of the Hebrew, have added in two places a connective, the conjunction and, marked in italics in the KJV: “T��� earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away.”)

Common Cause (asking for an opinion)

According to Gideon O. Burton, “common cause” (or anacoenosis) is “asking the opinion or judgment of the judges or audience, usually implying their common interest with the speaker in the matter.”[17] An example of this is found in Isaiah 5, in which the Lord asks the opinion of the inhabitants of Jerusalem concerning his vineyard:

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? (vv. 3–4)

Other examples include Isaiah 40:17–18 and 40:27–28.

Conditional Constructions (If-Then Clauses)

Isaiah’s text sets forth a handful of conditional clauses (protasis and apodosis clauses, commonly known as if-then clauses), each of which have a rhetorical quality to them.[18] The following are three examples (key words in bold):

If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday (58:9–10).

This passage features two protasis clauses commencing with if followed by one apodosis clause introduced with then. Similarly, in the same chapter:

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father (vv. 13–14).

The protasis clause features several elements, as does the apodosis clause. Note that the English translation does not always introduce the apodosis clause with the word then. The following passage presents two protasis clauses, followed by the apodosis clause, as marked in brackets:

If ye be willing and obedient [protasis clause], ye shall eat the good of the land [apodosis clause]: But if ye refuse and rebel [protasis clause], ye shall be devoured with the sword [apodosis clause]” (1:19–20).

Contrast (or Antithesis)

This figure sets forth contrasting phrases, which are designed to emphasize certain truths. Antithesis is “a contrasting of ideas made sharp by the use of words of opposite or conspicuously different meaning in contiguous clauses or phrases.”[19] Isaiah often uses this figure to illustrate the bleak reality of those who sin. For example, Isaiah 65:8–12 sets forth a series of blessings for the righteous and cursings for the sinful. Then in verses 13–14, we find some repeated words (marked in bold) that contrast the Lord’s servants and sinful individuals:

Behold, my servants shall eat,

but ye [sinful ones] shall be hungry:

behold, my servants shall drink,

but ye shall be thirsty:

behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but ye shall be ashamed:

Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart,

but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

A second example of antithesis is located in Isaiah 59:9, where light and obscurity are contrasted, as are brightness and darkness:

Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us:

we wait for light,

but behold obscurity;

for brightness,

but we walk in darkness.[20]

Isaiah’s use of antithesis underscores the stark reality of what he is teaching. Antithesis clearly defines the distinctions between sin and obedience, darkness and light, for Isaiah’s audience.

Delayed Identification

Wilfred G. E. Watson describes this literary device as “simply leaving the name of the subject to some time after his or her actions are described.”[21] One of Watson’s examples of delayed identification is Isaiah 13:3–4.[22] Verse 3 uses the first-person pronoun I twice but does not identify who the speaker is: “I have commanded . . . I have also called.” The reader lacks knowledge of the speaker’s identity until verse 4, where “the Lord of hosts” is established as the speaker. What is the role of this literary device? According to Watson, “T��� main function of delayed identification, evidently, is to achieve suspense.”[23]

Another example of delayed identification exists in Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

This passage refers to a child who is born, who will have the government on his shoulder. But we do not know his name until the latter part of the verse:

His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, etc.

A third example of delayed identification is found in Isaiah 63, which opens with two questions:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? (v. 1)

At the end of the verse we receive the answer to the questions:

I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save (v. 1).

Yet another example is located in Isaiah 66:

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (vv. 7–8)

Verse 7 speaks concerning a woman who had labor pains and then gave birth to a son. But who is the woman? Verse 8 informs us that she is none other than Zion, who is personified as a female.

Dialogue (Conversation between Two People)

Occasionally, Isaiah presents a dialogue[24] between two different speakers as if they are physically present in a given setting. This is a captivating teaching tool designed to involve the reader in the conversation, as if he or she is attentively hearing the exchange of words. One of Isaiah’s most famous dialogues is the following conversation, displayed here in a dialogue format, between Zion (depicted as Lady Zion) and the Lord.

Lady Zion: “T��� LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.”

Lord: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”

Lady Zion: “Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate . . . ?”

Lord: “Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders” (49:14–15, 21–22; see entire passage, vv. 14–23).

Another well-known dialogue is presented in the opening verses of Isaiah 63:

Unnamed questioner: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?”

Lord: “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Unnamed questioner: “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?”

Lord: “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment” (vv. 1–3; for other examples, see 6:11 and 14:16–19).

Readers of these dialogic exchanges in Isaiah learn important truths about doctrine, such as the role of the Lord in salvation.

Duplication (or Immediate Repetition)[25]

Another tool that Isaiah frequently uses to inspire his readers is duplication. According to Fogle, duplication can be defined as “repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern.”[26] Fogle adds, “A single word may be repeated as a unifying device or, especially in dramatic poetry, for emphasis.”[27] Occasionally, Isaiah repeats certain words or expressions for the purpose of accentuating an important point or “to convey a sense of urgency.”[28] Perhaps the most famous case of duplication in Isaiah is when the seraphs exclaim, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (6:3). The thrice-uttered “holy” serves to emphasize the Lord’s holiness—he is exceedingly and exceptionally holy! There exist multiple examples of duplication in Isaiah; each example functions to give prominence to some factor at hand, where the repeated expression is located. Examples include the following.

• “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” (21:9)
• “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” (21:11)
• “My leanness, my leanness” (24:16)
• “Peace, peace” (this is the Hebrew version; compare KJV’s wording, “perfect peace,” 26:3)
• “H�� may make peace with me; he shall make peace with me” (this is the Hebrew version; compare KJV’s wording, 27:5)
• “Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line” (28:10)
• “T��� living, the living” (38:19)
• “Comfort ye, comfort ye” (40:1)
• “Behold, behold” (41:27)
• “For mine own sake, for mine own sake” (this is the Hebrew version; compare KJV’s wording, 48:11)
• “I, I” (this is the Hebrew version; compare KJV’s wording, 48:15)
• “Awake, awake” (51:9; see also 52:1)
• ����貹���� ye, depart ye” (52:11)
• “Come, buy, and eat, and come, buy” (this is the Hebrew version; compare KJV’s wording, 55:1)
• “Cast ye up, cast ye up” (57:14)
• “Peace, peace” (57:19)
• “Go through, go through; . . . cast up, cast up” (62:10)
• “Behold me, behold me” (65:1)

Epithet (Giving Names or Titles)

According to Lundbom, “an epithet is an honorific or disparaging title giving character to a name.”[29] Isaiah gives titles to a number of characters, as the following examples demonstrate:

• Those that remain in Jerusalem will be called “holy” (4:3)
• A certain highway will be called “T��� way of holiness” (35:8)
• Babylon will no longer be called “T��� lady of kingdoms” (47:5)
• Those who fast properly will be called “T��� repairer of the breach” and “T��� restorer of paths to dwell in” (58:12)
• Those who keep the Sabbath holy call it “a delight,” “the holy of the Lord,” and “honourable” (58:13)
• Zion will be called “T��� city of the LORD” and “T��� Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (60:14)
• Zion will call her walls “Salvation” and her gates “Praise” (60:18)
• Those who mourn in Zion will be called “the planting of the LORD” (61:3)
• Certain individuals will be called “Priests of the LORD” and “the Ministers of our God” (61:6)
• Zion/Jerusalem will no longer be called “Forsaken” or “Desolate,” but rather “H��phzibah,” and her land will be called “Beulah” (62:4)
• Certain individuals will be called “T��� holy people,” “T��� redeemed of the LORD,” “Sought out,” and “A city not forsaken” (62:12)

For Isaiah’s audience, these epithets serve as consistent reminders of the nature of the subjects; his characters’ titles speak to the nature of God’s chosen people and of God himself.

Euche (or Prayer)

Bullinger writes that euche (Greek “prayer” or “vow”) is “An expression of feeling by way of prayer, curse, or imprecation. . . . This figure is a change by which a statement is expressed as a prayer, instead of as a matter of fact. And where the prayer comes in by way of parenthesis caused by the sudden change. Its use arises from and betokens an excited condition of feeling. The Scriptures abound with examples of all kinds, which may be sought out and studied for instruction and example.”[30]

Isaiah puts forward a handful of prayers, including the following three (these prayers have been abbreviated for space):[31]

• Isaiah’s address (prayer) to the Lord (2:6–9): “T���refore [O Lord,][32] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob.”
• A prayer about the Lord’s judgments (26:7–18): “In the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; . . . LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: . . . LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: . . . O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: . . .Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, . . . LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, . . . So have we been in thy sight, O LORD.”
• The righteous praise the Lord in prayer (33:2–6): “O LORD, be gracious unto us.”
• Hezekiah’s prayer (37:16–20): “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, . . . incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: . . . Of a truth, LORD . . . Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.”

Euphemism (A Mild Expression for a Harsh Expression)

Burton defines euphemism as “substituting a more favorable [term] for a pejorative or socially delicate term.”[33] The book of Isaiah contains a handful of euphemisms. Some examples of euphemism include the following:

• Some scholars have suggested that the “hair of the feet” (7:20) refers to private parts.
• Isaiah 38:10 reads, “I shall go to the gates of the grave,” a euphemism for “I will die.”
• The Hebrew version of Isaiah 57:8 uses the word yad (“hand”), which is a euphemism for nakedness. In the KJV we read, “thou sawest it” (yad), but the NIV reads, “And you looked with lust on their naked bodies.”

Exclamation

Isaiah uses exclamation (also known as exclamatio), an underappreciated but very meaningful literary device, in his writing. In characterizing exclamation, Burton explains that “most often exclamatio is simply the Latin term for ecphonesis (an emotional exclamation).”[34] There are several exclamations in Isaiah, each of which expresses a certain emotional outcry. The list below represents a few of them:

• “Ah sinful nation” (1:4)
• “How is the faithful city become an harlot!” (1:21)
• “Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries” (1:24)
• “Woe unto their soul!” (3:9)
• “Woe unto the wicked!” (3:11)
• “Woe is me!” (6:5)[35]
• “How hath the oppressor ceased!” (14:4)
• “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer” (14:12)
• “O Lord, I beseech thee” (38:3)
• “Aha, I am warm” (44:16)
• “T��� God reigneth!” (52:7)
• “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters” (55:1)

A very common exclamation in Isaiah, occurring about one hundred times, is behold, which has the sense of “Look!” or “listen carefully!” and emphasizes the words that follow. The following three examples illustrate the usage of behold in Isaiah:

• “Behold, a virgin shall conceive” (7:14)
• “Behold, God is my salvation” (12:2)
• “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh” (13:9).

These exclamations serve as a tone change for readers, capturing their attention and calling for an added measure of notice to the substance that follows.

Exultation

Exultation is “an expression of feeling by calling on others to rejoice.”[36] Isaiah’s text contains many instances of this figure, wherein he calls on people or objects to be joyful and jubilant. In fact, the ancient Hebrew language has many words that express singing joyful songs, including the following Hebrew words: gyl (“to rejoice”), sus (“to exult,” “to rejoice”), rnn (“sing for joy”), zamar (“sing,” “make music in praise of God”), shir (“to sing”), and ���ܲ�‘ (“to shout”). All of these exultations are found in Isaiah.

Isaiah uses this figure so that we as readers are also invited to join in the jubilation. For example, Isaiah 44 presents the three expressions: “sing,” “shout,” and “break forth into singing,” which are directed to the heavens, the earth, and God’s creations: “Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein” (v. 23). Why sing and shout? Because, as the next portion of this verse proclaims, “the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.”

Other examples of exultation in Isaiah include the following:

• “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song” (5:1)
• “Sing unto the LORD” (12:5)
• “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion” (12:6)
• “T���y shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD” (24:14)
• “We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (25:9)
• “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah” (26:1)
• “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust” (26:19)
• “T��� meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel” (29:19)
• “T��� desert shall rejoice” (35:1)
• “Sing unto the LORD a new song” (42:10)
• “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people” (49:13)
• “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God” (61:10)
• “As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee” (62:5)
• “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her” (66:10)

Hyperbole (Deliberate Exaggeration to Make an Impact)

Isaiah occasionally uses hyperbole to add depth to his writings. Lundbom defines hyperbole as “a deliberate exaggeration of the truth where something is represented as greater or less, better or worse, than is possible.”[37] Additionally, Burton calls hyperbole “rhetorical exaggeration” and states that it is “often accomplished via comparisons, similes, and metaphors.”[38] Watson states that the purpose of hyperbole “is to replace over-worked adjectives (such as ‘marvellous’, ‘enormous’, ‘colossal’) with a word or phrase which conveys the same meaning more effectively.”[39]

The following four examples demonstrate Isaiah’s use of hyperbole (the second example is from Lundbom):[40]

• “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them” (3:4). This hyperbole notes that the leaders of Jerusalem will be ruled by babies, underscoring how the Lord will bring the proud and the mighty down to be lowly and humble.
• “T��� rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them” (10:19). The greater context of this passage pertains to the Lord’s destruction of the wicked (see vv. 12–19). After he destroys them, the number of them remaining will be so few that a child can count and write it.
• “And Babylon . . . shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there” (13:19–20). This hyperbole demonstrates the complete destruction of Babylon.
• “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (55:12). This hyperbole illustrates that Israel’s gathering is so important that when it occurs, nature itself will join in the rejoicing and singing.

Implication (Something Implied Rather Than Explicitly Stated)

Implication as a figure of speech is “a declaration that implies the resemblance or representation; or comparison by implication.”[41] Implication is one of the most difficult figures of speech to comprehend, in part because it lacks an identifiable marker; a simile, for example, features the conjunction like or as. Additionally, implication is not a direct declaration that one thing represents another, such as metaphor. The expression “the child’s talents are blooming” implies that the child is a flower; the expression “he needs to harness his appetites” implies that the man in question is a draft animal. Implication is a powerful and expressive figure of comparison. According to Bullinger, implication “is calculated to arouse the mind and attract and excite the attention to the greatest extent. . . . This beautiful and far-reaching figure frequently occurs in Scripture. The Lord Jesus Himself often used it, and that with wonderful effect.”[42] Isaiah produces many instances of this figure. The following are some examples:

• “T��� LORD shall . . . roar; he shall prevail against his enemies” (42:13). The Lord is compared to a lion.
• “T���n shall thy light break forth as the morning” (58:8). A righteous person is compared to the dawning light.
• “Thine health shall spring forth speedily” (58:8). A righteous person is compared to a spring of fresh water.
• “T��� righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward [rearguard]” (58:8). This verse presents military images; just as advance guards and rearguards protect soldiers from both sides, one’s own righteousness will protect one’s front line and the Lord’s glory will guard one’s posterior.
• “If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke” (58:9). Isaiah implies that the individual is an animal with a yoke.

Imprecation (Words That Set Forth a Woe or Calamity)

Imprecatory passages consist of words that set forth a calamity, judgment, or curse on one’s enemies or on God’s enemies. While many instances of imprecation are seen as negative, most are set in a greater context of blessing and hope. Many of Isaiah’s declarations of imprecation are introduced with the interjection woe (some scholars[43] name this form the “woe oracle”). The following examples introduce imprecatory passages in Isaiah:

• “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity” (5:18)
• “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (5:20)
• “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes” (5:21)
• “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees” (10:1)
• “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim” (28:1)
• “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” (45:9)
• “Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou?” (45:10)

Inclusio (Word or Phrase That Begins and Concludes a Thought)

Also called “envelope figure,” inclusio is the repetition of a word or phrase so that it begins and concludes a stanza or poetic unit. While inclusio is used for the purpose of emphasis (similar to other figures of speech already discussed in this chapter) this particular figure can also be used to delimit a passage. Isaiah 55:8–9 presents an example of inclusio (the repeated words are marked here in bold font):

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 1:21–26 illustrates another instance of inclusio, this one opening with “faithful city” and concluding with the same words. Watson[44] provides an example from Isaiah 29 where verse 2 declares “I will distress Ariel” and verse 7 includes the phrase “the nations that fight against Ariel . . . and that distress her.”

Many instances of inclusio in Isaiah consist of a single verse or even a portion of a verse, as the following cases demonstrate (examples marked as “H��brew” indicate that the inclusiois not comprehensible in English):

• “Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim” (11:13)
• ����貹���� . . . depart” (14:25, Hebrew)
• “O���Ա�� . . . opened” (35:5, Hebrew)
• “T��� children . . . thy children” (54:13)
• “T��� righteous . . . the righteous” (57:1, Hebrew)
• “C�DzԳٰ����ٱ� . . . contrite ones” (57:15)
• “T��� wicked . . . the wicked” (57:20–21)
• “Shalt suck . . . shalt suck” (60:16, Hebrew)
• “All those things . . . all those things” (66:2, Hebrew)

Interpretation (A Saying Followed by an Explanation)

Sometimes Isaiah provides a complicated saying and then immediately follows up with an interpretation or explanation of that saying. Here are four such examples:[45]

• Isaiah states, “T��� silver has become dross, thy wine mixed with water,” and then he explains, “T��� princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves” (1:22–23).
• Isaiah states, “T��� sword of the LORD is filled with blood,” and then he explains, “for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea” (34:6).
• Isaiah states, “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground,” and then he explains, “I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” (44:3).
• Isaiah states, “Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [quarry] whence ye are digged,” and then he explains, “Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you” (51:1–2).

In every case, these instances of interpretation help Isaiah’s audience by making Isaiah’s message unforgettable and easy to understand.

Intertwining (Specific Words Interwoven into a Passage)

Isaiah’s writings also include the literary device of intertwining, which occurs when two (or more) words or expressions are repeatedly interwoven into a passage for emphasis. Here is an example from Isaiah (repetitions marked in bold):

Their land also is full of silver and gold,

neither is there any end of their treasures;

their land is also full of horses,

neither is there any end of their chariots:

Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: (2:7–8).

The repetition found in intertwining is a powerful literary tool that emphasizes or gives prominence to the repeated words—as in the example below (repetitions marked in bold) of Isaiah’s build / inhabit / plant / eat pattern. The result is a parallelistic structure. Such patterns create beautiful and artistic passages that become memorable for Isaiah’s readers.

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat (65:21–22).

Irony (One Meaning Is Stated but Another Meaning Is Intended)

While irony exists in various categories and has many definitions, the type of irony found in Isaiah’s work is defined as “a form of speech in which one meaning is stated and a different, usually antithetical meaning is intended.”[46] Lundbom provides his view of why irony is used in the Bible: “Speakers resort to irony when straight talk fails, making ironic language desperate and extravagant. Isaiah is said to be the master of verbal irony.”[47] Perhaps Isaiah’s mastery of irony is due to the somewhat stubborn nature of his audience, who often needed “desperate and extravagant” calls to change in order to finally listen to the prophet.

An example of irony is set forth in Isaiah 5:

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell [Hebrew sheol] hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (vv. 11–14)

Williams explains the irony in this passage: “T��� feasters arise early, they are indeed diligent as drinkers. The wine flows, the merrymakers open wide their mouths to take in the delicious morsels. And while this is going on, the ignorant ones do not see what is really going on: Sheol is smacking her lips with increasing appetite, opening her mouth so wide that you would not believe it!”[48]

Keywords (Repeating the Same Word, but in a Different Form)

This figure of speech is classified as “repeating a word, but in a different form” and as “using a cognate of a given word in close proximity.”[49] The following example, provided by Watson, illustrates Isaiah’s use of keywords (marked in bold):

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egyptshall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: . . . And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; . . . And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord. (19:1–4)[50]

Isaiah also uses keywords in the following four examples (note the Hebrew root in italics).

• “Neither fear [verb: �ⲹ����’] ye their fear [noun: �ⲹ����’] . . . let him be your fear [noun: �ⲹ����’]” (8:12–13)
• “T���y shall vow [verb: nadar] a vow [noun: nadar] unto the LORD” (19:21)
• “H�� will surely [verb: tznf] violently turn [verb: tznf] and toss [noun: tznf] thee like a ball” (22:18)
• “T��� treacherous [verb: bgd] dealers have dealt treacherously [verb: bgd]; yea, the treacherous [noun: bgd] dealers have dealt very treacherously [verb: bgd]” (24:16)

Using keywords like so helps Isaiah emphasize his point to his readers. The use of similar-sounding words in different forms helps solidify Isaiah’s message, making it memorable and unmistakable.

Lists

As Motyer has pointed out, Isaiah has “a penchant for making lists of one sort or another.”[51] Isaiah lists animals, body parts, place names, verbal forms, and more. For example, Isaiah 11:6–8 contains a list of twelve animals in four separate parallelisms—wolf, lamb, leopard, kid, calf, young lion, cow, bear, lion, ox, asp, and cockatrice. Another list of animals is found in Isaiah 1:11: rams, beasts, bullocks, lambs, and goats. Yet another animal list is found in Isaiah 13:21–22: beasts (two instances), creatures, owls, satyrs, and dragons. Isaiah 32:35 contains body parts—eyes, ears, heart, tongue, and heart (compare Isaiah 30:27–28, where Isaiah lists nose [the KJV translates this as anger] lips, tongue, breath, neck, and jaws). In Isaiah 32:3–4, Isaiah lists four body parts: eyes, ears, heart, and tongues (compare to the physical states blind, deaf, lame, and dumb listed in Isaiah 35:5–6).

Additionally, Isaiah created the following lists:

• eight imperatives (1:17–18)
• ten exalted things (2:12–16)
• eleven categories of individuals that are considered to have honor and status (3:2–3)
• six place-names (10:9)
• thirteen place-names (10:28–32)
• seven place-names (11:11)
• seventeen place-names (15:1–9)
• four uses of from (21:15)
• six comparisons (24:2)
• thirteen items of sorrow (24:7–12)
• six qualifications for exaltation (33:15–16)
• four uses of negation (not/nor; 37:33)
• thirteen attributive clauses (44:24–28)
• four verbal participles (52:7)
• five contrasts (65:11, 13–16)[52]

Isaiah often used lists to convey his message to readers because his lists provide a simple, easy-to-comprehend structure—even a child can understand a list of twelve animals (11:6–8) or the body parts eyes, ears, heart, and tongues (32:3–4). And adult readers can appreciate other lists, such as eleven categories of individuals that possessed social status (3:2–3) or thirteen place-names (10:28–32). Isaiah’s lists were generally important points of information that were representative and not comprehensive. Centuries later, the apostle Paul would use lists in his epistles, such as his list of categories of wickedness (Romans 1:29–31); his list of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21); and his list of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).

Many Names (or Polyonymia)

This figure pertains to the giving of multiple names to a person or place. Occasionally Isaiah gave a person or place more than one name that describes the person or place’s characteristics or attributes. For example, Jerusalem is called “T��� city of righteousness,” “the faithful city” (1:26), the “valley of vision” (22:1), “Zion,” “the city of our solemnities” (33:20), “the holy city,” and the “captive daughter of Zion” (52:1–2). Each of these names are descriptive, serving to characterize Jerusalem and help readers understand more about this location.

Another example of polyonymia in Isaiah is the use of multiple names for the Lord’s temple: “mountain of the LORD’s house,” the “mountain of the LORD,” and “the house of the God of Jacob” (2:2–3).

As a third example, Isaiah also gives God many descriptive names to characterize his divine mission for the audience. Some of these include the following (names marked in bold font):[53]

• “I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King” (43:15)
• “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (44:6)
• “As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel” (47:4)
• “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God” (48:17)

Merismus (Expressing a Totality)

Watson notes, “When a totality is expressed in abbreviated form, we are dealing with merismus.”[54] For example, regarding Isaiah’s words, “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it” (1:6), Watson explains that “the whole body is implied and not just the anatomical parts actually mentioned (‘sole, head’).”[55] With this explanation, Isaiah’s use of the phrase “soul and body” in Isaiah 10:18 is meant to denote the entire individual.[56] A meristic list of women’s items presented in Isaiah 3:18–23, including ornaments, bracelets, headbands, rings, and nose jewels, signifies all objects that are worn with pride and extravagance. Isaiah 41:19 sets forth the names of seven trees; this is a meristic presentation of the trees that the Lord will plant. One additional example is found in the presentation of the register of things that are lifted up and lofty (see 2:12–16). These merisms represent the entirety of groups or individuals who are lofty and proud.

Sometimes a merismus in the Hebrew Bible is introduced with the words from (Hebrew min) and until (Hebrew ‘a��).[57] Examples in Isaiah that use these words include the following:

• “From henceforth even for ever” (9:7)
• “From the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons” (22:24)
• “From the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt” (27:12)
• “From day even to night” (38:12, 13).

Isaiah’s use of merismus connects the concepts he taught to his audience in personal and contemporary ways.

Metaphor (Direct Declaration That One Thing Represents Another)

A metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a name, word, or phrase is transferred to an object or action different from, but analogous to, that which it is literally applicable.”[58] Because a metaphor is “a condensed verbal relation in which an idea, image, or symbol may, by the presence of one or more other ideas, images, or symbols, be enhanced in vividness, complexity, or breadth of implication,”[59] it should be no surprise that Isaiah employed metaphors so readily. They helped indicate to his audience that what he was teaching was true and should earn their attention and heed.

Metaphors are significant figures of speech in Isaiah’s text,[60] and through them Isaiah’s audience can learn many truths. Metaphors are generally easily identified because they are symbolic, rather than being statements of literal truth. For example, a metaphor is found in Isaiah 40:6–7: “All flesh is grass . . . surely the people is grass.” People are not literally grass, but Isaiah uses a metaphor here to teach his readers that, compared to the Lord’s word, people are grass—that is, they are flimsy, weak creatures that do not last long. As verse 8 teaches: “T��� grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

The following are several metaphors from Isaiah; each metaphor is followed by a brief explanation of one way to interpret the metaphor:

• “For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel” (5:7). This illustrates the relationship between the Lord and his covenant people, the house of Israel. The vineyard’s owner is the Lord, and the vineyard is the house of Israel (see also Doctrine and Covenants 33:4; 43:28).
• “T��� Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria” (8:7). Assyria’s king is compared to a flooding river that destroys whatever is in its path.
• “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (11:5). In these two metaphors, the twice-attested “girdle” (or sash) symbolizes that the Lord is clothed in righteousness and faithfulness.
• “T��� LORD Jehovah is . . . my song” (12:2). This expresses that the Lord is at the heart and focus of our song and of righteous music.
• “For thy Maker is thine husband” (54:5). The Lord is symbolically Israel’s loving husband (50:1; 62:5; Revelation 19:7–9), who devotedly cares for his wife, the house of Israel.
• “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head” (59:17). The Redeemer is portrayed as a warrior, clothed with a breastplate and helmet, but not as an ordinary warrior, for the Redeemer’s breastplate is his “righteousness,” and his helmet is his “salvation.”
• “O LORD . . . we are the clay, and thou our potter” (64:8). Just as a potter works clay into a beautiful, useful receptacle, God molds his people into functional vessels, if we permit him to do so.

By employing metaphor in his writings, Isaiah gives his prophecies an immediacy for his audience. They can easily access what Isaiah is teaching about the Lord or warning about the future because Isaiah is drawing on concepts they already understand.

Metonymy (Referring to an Object by Naming an Attribute)

A less commonly understood figure of speech that Isaiah uses frequently is metonymy, which is “a figure of speech that refers to something or someone by naming one of its attributes.”[61] Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s famous saying, “T��� pen is mightier than the sword,” contains two instances of metonymy—pen stands in for the written word, and sword symbolizes wars and warfare. Other examples of metonymy exist in contemporary colloquial language: using the White House to refer to the administration of the president; using a dish to refer to the entire plate of food; the Pentagon (a building) to refer to the US defense department; using Hollywood to signify the entire film industry; using the throne of England to signify the queen or king of England; using tongue when referring to language; and using hand to refer to one who helps (“helping hands” or “give me a hand”).

The book of Isaiah contains many instances of metonymy, as the following examples demonstrate.[62] Metonymic words are indicated in bold font, and an explanation of the metonymic device follows the verse.

• “T���y shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (2:4). Swords and spears indicate entire wars and the general concept of warfare; plowshares and pruninghooks indicate the concepts of agriculture and farming. When Christ returns to the earth, war instruments (swords and spears) will be turned into agricultural tools (plowshares and pruninghooks), signifying both peace and agricultural prosperity.
• “T��� house of Israel” (5:7). House here does not refer to a building for humans to inhabit but to the family and lineage of the man named Israel (Jacob).
• “See with their eyes, and hear with their ears” (6:10). Eyes and ears denote understanding rather than literal eyes and ears.
• “Cry, O city” (14:31). City is used to refer to all of the city’s inhabitants.
• “T���y shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory” (20:5). Ethiopia and Egypt do not refer to nations but to the inhabitants of those nations: the Ethiopians and the Egyptians.
• “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish” (23:1). Ships refer to the people—sailors and passengers—on the vessels rather than to the ships themselves.
• “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim” (28:1). Ephraim does not refer to the man named Ephraim (the son of Joseph and Asenath) but to the tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
• “O LORD . . . be thou their arm every morning” (33:2). Arm refers to the Lord’s actions and power rather than a limb of the body.
• “A stammering tongue” (33:19). Tongue here refers to language and speech, not to a literal tongue.
• “Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house” (36:3). House here refers to those who live inside the house.
• “Keep silence before me, O islands” (41:1). Islands refers to the people who inhabit the islands, rather than directly to lands, which are surrounded by water.
• “H��arken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called” (48:12). Jacob and Israel refer to the house of Israel, the descendants of the man named Jacob/Israel, not to just the man himself.
• “T��� walls are continually before me” (49:16). Walls, here denoting the walls of Jerusalem, refer to all the people who dwell within them.

Multiclinatum (Repeating Verbal Roots)

Multiclinatum is a rhetorical form defined as “the repetition of verbal roots in succession.”[63] The following three multiclinatum examples from Isaiah set forth the same verbal root, although the King James translators offered up a free translation of the verbs (marked in bold):

• “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths” (2:3). The Hebrew verbal root hlkh is used three times (translated by the KJV translators as go, come, and walk).
• “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” (5:4). The Hebrew root ��ٳ� is set forth four times (translated by the KJV translators as done [two instances], bring forth, and brought).
• “And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns” (7:23). The Hebrew root hyh is put forward four times (translated by the KJV translators as come to pass, shall be [two instances], and were).

The following two examples present an active/passive verbal combination, both with the same verbal root:

• “And the LORD shall be known [passive: �ⲹ�岹‘] to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know [active: �ⲹ�岹‘] the LORD” (19:21)
• “Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless [active: barakh], saying, Blessed [passive: barakh] be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance” (19:25)

Isaiah also employs multiclinatum when he uses the infinitive absolute together with a finite verb (such as an imperative, perfect, or imperfect verb), with the same root letters. In these cases, the English translation does not express the same cognate form or verbal root, so I have rendered an approximate literal translation from the Hebrew following each verse. Note that some verses present two or even three instances of this figure:

• “H��ar ye indeed . . . and see ye indeed” (6:9); “H��ar [finite verb], hearing [infinitive absolute]. . . and see [finite verb], seeing [infinitive absolute].”
• “H�� will surely violently turn and toss thee” (22:18); “Whirling [infinitive absolute], he will whirl [finite verb] you, a whirling [noun].”
• “T��� land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled” (24:3); “Emptying [infinitive absolute], the land will be emptied [finite verb], and spoiling [infinitive absolute] it will be spoiled [finite verb].”
• “T��� earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly” (24:19); “Breaking [infinitive absolute], the earth is broken down [finite verb], splitting [infinitive absolute], the earth is split [finite verb], tottering [infinitive absolute], the earth has tottered [finite verb].”
• “It shall blossom abundantly” (35:2); “Blossoming [infinitive absolute], it will blossom [finite verb].”
• “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD” (61:10); “Rejoicing [infinitive absolute], I will rejoice [finite verb] in the Lord.”

Multiple Negatives

The literary figure multiple negatives is recognized by many names. Watson names this figure “emphatic negation.”[64] Bullinger calls it “repeated negation,” “many noes,” or “the repetition of divers negatives.”[65] Its purpose? “Negatives are repeated even in English to strengthen and increase the emphasis: just as we say ‘No, no,’ ‘No, I will not.’ . . . Two or more negatives are used to strengthen the assertion.”[66] The following four examples demonstrate the device of multiple negatives in Isaiah’s text (marked in bold):

• Isaiah 36:14–15 presents four negatives: “Thus saith the king, Let not [’a��] Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not [����’] be able to deliver you. Neither [’a��] let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not [����’] be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
• Isaiah 40:28 features five negatives that use two different negative particles in Hebrew: “Hast thou not [����’] known? hast thou not [����’] heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not [����’], neither[����’] is weary? there is no [’a����] searching of his understanding.”
• Isaiah 44:8 sets forth five negatives that use four different negative particles in Hebrew: “Fear ye not [’a��], neither [’a��] be afraid: have not [����’] I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no [’a����] God; I know not [bal] any.”
• Isaiah 54:4 features five negatives that use two different Hebrew words: “Fear not [’a��]; for thou shalt not [����’] be ashamed: neither [’a��] be thou confounded; for thou shalt not [����’] be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not [����’] remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.”

Additional examples of multiple negatives can be found in Isaiah 35:9 and 59:8.

Personification (Giving the Attributes of a Person to Things)

This figure is employed when an inanimate or nonhuman thing is given the attributes of a person (hence personification). Author John Arthos explains that personification is used for the purpose of “endowing things or abstractions with life.”[67] Personification is a powerful literary device that Isaiah uses to better explain sacred ideas in vivid and captivating ways. Several well-known examples of personification in Isaiah pertain to Zion, who is portrayed as a woman. Van der Woude points out, “Whenever Zion is personified, she is invariably sketched as a woman. The roles she performs, however, are diverse. She figures as a partner (62:4), a mother (60:4), and a herald of good tidings (40:9). In correspondence to Zion, Yhwh plays divergent roles. He acts as her faithful husband (54:5), her redeemer (59:20), or the one who comforts her (51:3).”[68]

More examples of personification in Isaiah include the following:

• “Fir trees rejoice” (14:8); trees are plants, yet they rejoice as if they were people.
• “T��� moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed” (24:23); both the moon and the sun are given attributes of a person.
• “Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem” (52:1); Jerusalem is represented as a woman with beautiful clothing.
• “T��� mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (55:12); mountains, hills, and trees are given the attributes of a person.

There are yet more examples of personification in Isaiah: “hell hath . . . opened her mouth” (5:14); “the earth mourneth” (24:4); “for the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee” (38:18); “our sins testify against us” (59:12); and “judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off” (59:14). All these examples of Isaiah’s use of personification serve to capture his readers’ attention, causing them to think about concepts in ways they have not before.

Pleonasm (Using More Words than Necessary, for Emphasis)

Pleonasm is the employment of more words than needed in order to highlight an idea or concept. A modern example is the saying “to hear with one’s ears”; “to hear” would normally suffice, but “with one’s ears” emphasizes the act of hearing and actually listening. The following three expressions serve to demonstrate pleonasm in Isaiah:

• “T��� Egyptians are men, and not God” (31:3). Both expressions—“the Egyptians are men” and “the Egyptians are not God”—emphasize that the Egyptians are fallible and that God is on a much higher level than they are.
• “T���ir horses flesh, and not spirit” (31:3). Both the negative and positive statements convey the same idea—that the Egyptians’ horses are mortal, fallible creatures, unlike God.
• “For thou shalt die, and not live” (38:1). Both phrases—“thou shalt die” and “thou shalt not live”—emphasize the same idea: that the king, Hezekiah, was going to die and therefore needed to “set [his] house in order” (38:1).

As these examples show, Isaiah uses pleonasm as a tool of exaggeration and comparison, thereby clarifying meaning for his audience.

Plural of Amplification (Using the Plural to Emphasize Something)

As with the English language, biblical Hebrew text uses plural nouns to refer to multiple people or items. But in addition to the common usage of the plural, biblical Hebrew uses such nouns to amplify or emphasize ideas, even when readers would expect the singular form to be more appropriate. Biblical Hebrew grammarian Wilhelm Gesenius calls this concept the “plural of amplification,”[69] meaning that the plural is sometimes used to amplify an idea. The following are instances when Isaiah uses the plural of amplification:

• “For it is a people of no understanding” (27:11). The Hebrew literally reads “no understandings,” emphasizing the fact that the people lack understanding.
• “Strength of salvation” (33:6). The Hebrew literally reads “salvations.”
• “H�� that walketh righteously” (33:15). The Hebrew literally reads “he that walketh righteousnesses,” suggesting that the Lord is extremely righteous.
• God “calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might” (40:26). The Hebrew literally reads “by the greatness of his mights,” amplifying God’s unparalleled might.
• “That led them through the deep” (63:13). The Hebrew literally reads “the deeps.”

In these examples, the King James translators have mistranslated the Hebrew plural nouns into the English singular, perhaps because they did not comprehend the plural of amplification. This loss is unfortunate, because Isaiah’s use of the plural of amplification accentuates the points Isaiah makes every time the device is employed.

Polysyndeton (Using a Lot of Conjunctions)

This figure consists of “employing many conjunctions between clauses.”[70] There are dozens of examples of this figure interspersed throughout Isaiah; however, the following four passages will serve to demonstrate polysyndeton (conjunctions marked in bold):

• Four conjunctions: “And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them” (1:31).
• Six conjunctions: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (2:3).
• Seven conjunctions: “And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” (5:2).
• Eight conjunctions: “T��� mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator” (3:2–3).

As evidence in these examples, Isaiah’s use of polysyndeton allows him to emphasize actions and subjects one by one, drawing his readers’ attention to the large scale and scope of the Lord’s work.

Prolepsis (Prophetic Perfect/Past/Tense)

Burton defines prolepsis as “Speaking of something future as though already done or existing. A figure of anticipation.”[71] On several occasions, when referring to future events, the Old Testament prophets used the grammatical past tense or the present- or past-perfect tenses.[72] Some biblical Hebrew scholars call this phenomenon the “prophetic perfect” or the “prophetic past tense.” For example, Isaiah 37:22 uses past-tense verbs (marked in bold) to refer to a future event:

This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Seven centuries before Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah “was wounded for our transgressions” (53:5; emphasis added). He also used the prophetic perfect for future events elsewhere in Isaiah 53 (marked in bold):

• “H�� hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (v. 4)
• “H�� was bruised for our iniquities” (v. 5)
• “T��� chastisement of our peace was upon him” (v. 5)
• “T��� LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (v. 6)
• “H�� was oppressed, and he was afflicted” (v. 7)
• “H�� was cut off out of the land of the living” (v. 8)

There are many other examples of the prophetic perfect in the book of Isaiah (for example, 9:3, 6; 48:5–7; and 49:14).

Why did Isaiah and other prophets use the prophetic perfect? According to one scholar, “T���y were so certain that their prophecies would come to pass that they spoke in the past tense, as though the prophecy had already been fulfilled. This view aligns with the position of biblical scholar Wilhelm Gesenius, who noted that that the prophets sometimes used these forms ‘to express facts which are undoubtedly imminent, and, therefore, in the imagination of the speaker, already accomplished.’”[73] Isaiah’s use of prolepsis imbues his prophecies with a level of certainty for his readers—and might even help them exercise their own faith.

Quotations within Verses

As this chapter has so far illustrated, Isaiah is known for his many literary talents. One literary device that is found in Isaiah’s writings, as pointed out by Shalom Paul, is “the insertion of quotations within the verses.”[74] There are numerous cases of such quotations in Isaiah, as the following verses demonstrate. Note that I have added the inner quotation marks for the purpose of illustrating the concept of quotations within verses; these inner quotation marks are not included in the KJV.

• “And many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD’” (2:3)
• “In that day shall he swear, saying, ‘I will not be an healer’” (3:7)
• “Moreover the LORD saith, ‘Because the daughters of Zion are haughty’” (3:16)
• “Seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel’” (4:1)
• “But I said, ‘My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!’” (24:16)
• “And it shall be said in that day, ‘Lo, this is our God’” (25:9)
• “Because ye have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death’” (28:15)
• “T��� voice said, ‘Cry.’ And he said, ‘What shall I cry?’” (40:6)
• “O Jerusalem, . . . say unto the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” (40:9)
• “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, ‘Fear not; I will help thee.’” (41:13)
• “And none saith, ‘Restore.’” (42:22)

These quotations within verses provide Isaiah’s readers with a change in textual pacing and keep them engaged in the situation Isaiah is describing.

Refrain (Repeated Line in a Poem)

A refrain is a phrase or sentence in a poem or song that is repeated two or more times.[75] Such recurring expressions give prominence and emphasis to the repeated phrase. A refrain also “serves to mark off rhythmical units, and at the same time to unify a poem; and it may be very skillfully used to reinforce emotion and meaning.”[76] A famous example is the expression “his hand is stretched out still,” which occurs five times in Isaiah (5:25; 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4; see also 14:26–27).

The words “ye shall be broken in pieces” (marked in bold) occur three times in Isaiah 8:

“Ye shall be broken in pieces;

. . . gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces;

gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces” (v. 9).

The words “hearken to me” (marked in bold) commence three verses in Isaiah 51:

• “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness” (v. 1)
• “Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me” (v. 4)
• “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness” (v. 7)

And six times the expression “woe unto them” (marked in bold) opens verses in Isaiah 5:

• “Woe unto them that join house to house” (v. 8)
• “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning” (v. 11)
• “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity” (v. 18)
• “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (v. 20)
• “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes” (v. 21)
• “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine” (v. 22)

Another example is found in Isaiah 2:

• “T��� lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day” (v. 11)
• “And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day” (v. 17)

By using refrain, Isaiah gave these specific words and phrases clear emphasis and prominence in the scriptural passages.

Rhetorical Questions

Lundbom provides a clarifying definition of rhetorical questions. He explains that a rhetorical question “is a question posed for which there is only one answer, but because the answer is self-evident or self-condemnatory, the addressee will not give it.”[77] Rhetorical questions serve multiple purposes. Kuntz explains that a rhetorical question “functions more effectively as a persuasive device than would a direct assertion. . . . As one whose oratory surely must have often exerted a persuasive impact on his listeners, this prophet shows himself to be a true master over this device.”[78] Questioning, without the intent of receiving a response from the hearer, audience, or reader, is an important teaching tool. As Evans has explained, a rhetorical question is “used frequently in persuasive discourse, rhetorical question commands attention from the audience, serves to express various shades of emotion, and sometimes acts as a transitional device, to lead from one subject to another.”[79] It is also employed to emphasize one or more certain points being made by the speaker, which speaker in Isaiah’s text is generally Isaiah or the Lord.

Scores of rhetorical questions exist in Isaiah’s text; Isaiah 66:8–9 by itself sets forth six questions. Each question is designed to enlighten readers about the truths that are presented in the greater context of the passage.

In Isaiah 44:8, the Lord poses a significant question and then answers his own question without waiting for a response: “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” Another example of questioning is found in Isaiah 49:15: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”

In Isaiah 40, Isaiah contrasts the mightiness of God with the nothingness of humankind and idols in an exceptionally brilliant manner. Isaiah employs a variety of symbols, formulates several parallelisms, and poses twelve rhetorical questions (vv. 12–15, 18, 21, 27–29). Note also that the Lord himself asks a question in verse 25. Here are some of the questions from that section:

• “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” (v. 18)
• Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? (v. 21)
• “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One” (v. 25)

The following are other examples of questioning in Isaiah:

• “Why should ye be stricken any more?” (1:5)
• “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?” (1:11)
• “Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?” (1:12)
• “For wherein is he to be accounted of?” (2:22)
• “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?” (3:15)
• “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” (5:4)
• “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (33:14)
• “Who is mine adversary? let him come near to me” (50:8)
• “Who hath believed our report?” (53:1)
• “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” (58:3)

These questions make Isaiah’s audience ponder the answers and thereby—hopefully—change their way of thinking and acting.

Rhyming Sounds

Rhyming sounds are frequently used in Isaiah. One scholarly source defines this phenomenon as “any kind of echoing between words . . . (e.g., assonance, consonance, alliteration, etc.)”[80] Isaiah’s rhyming sounds function differently than rhyming in English poetry, which often features end or final rhymes for metrical purposes. In contrast, Isaiah’s rhyming schemes may appear anywhere in the verse and “the purpose of such inner, internal, or medial rhymes is then more rhetorical than metrical.”[81] J. J. Glück submits the chief purpose of scriptural rhyming sounds: “Assonantal sounds are suggestive of ideas, images and emotions; the Biblical poet realized that the music of the rimes stimulated the listener to receive his message as beautiful and believable.”[82]

Isaiah sometimes employs similar-sounding words to emphasize certain points he makes and to express himself artistically as well as poetically. Unfortunately for non–Hebrew speakers, the rhyming words exist only in Hebrew, and the rhyme therefore cannot be translated into other languages. One example of rhyming words in Isaiah’s text is found in Isaiah 5: “H�� looked for judgment [mishpat], but behold oppression [mispach]; for righteousness [tzedaqah], but behold a cry [�ٳ���‘a�粹��]” (v. 7).[83] In this passage, the Hebrew words that are translated as judgment and oppression are similar sounding words, as are the words translated as righteousness and cry. Note the beauty and power of Isaiah’s words, when expressed with its original rhyming sounds: the Lord “looked for mishpat, but behold mispach; for tzedaqah, but behold �ٳ���‘a�粹��.”

Here is a second example of rhyming words in Isaiah: “the stay [��������‘e��] and the staff [��������‘e��ah]” (3:1). The two Hebrew words—��������‘e�� and ��������‘e��ah—are from the same root, but the first one is a masculine form and the second is a feminine form. Thus, in this verse Isaiah is artfully stating the same thing twice, using both masculine and feminine forms. An English rendering would read, “the support [masc.] and the support [fem.]”

Other examples of rhyming sounds in Isaiah include the following:[84]

• “If ye will not believe [����’ ta’aminu], surely ye shall not be established [����’ te’amenu]” (7:9)
• “As a destruction [shod] from the Almighty [shaddai]” (13:6)
• “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble [margiz], that did shake [������‘i����] kingdoms” (14:16)
• “T��� name [shem], and remnant [�����’a��], and son [nin], and nephew [nekhed]” (14:22)
• “For the waters of Dimon [dimon] shall be full of blood [dam]” (15:9)
• “Damascus is taken away from being a city [me ‘ir], and it shall be a ruinous heap [me ‘i]” (17:1)
• “T��� treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously [haboged boged], and the spoiler spoileth [hashoded shoded]” (21:2)
• “H�� will surely violently turn and toss thee [tzanof yitznaf tzenefah]” (22:18)
• “T��� land shall be utterly emptied [hibboq tibboq], and utterly spoiled [hibboz tibboz]” (24:3)
• “Fear [pachad], and the pit [pachat], and the snare [pach], are upon thee. . . . He who fleeth from the noise of the fear [pachad] shall fall into the pit [pachat]; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit [pachat] shall be taken in the snare [pach]” (24:17–18)
• “A feast of fat things [shemanim], a feast of wines on the lees [shemarim], of fat things [shemanim] full of marrow, of wines on the lees [shemarim] well refined” (25:6)

As Isaiah’s audience comes to recognize Isaiah’s rhyming sounds, the beauty of the rhymes captures their attention, resonates with them, and makes his writing more memorable and powerful.

Simile (a Comparison, Using As or Like)

Simile is “a comparison of one thing with another, explicitly announced by the word ‘like’ or ‘as.’”[85] The purpose of simile is to “give an effect of brilliance.”[86] Similes, like metaphors, are easy to identify because they are not factual statements, nor are they literally true. Additionally, similes can be recognized because they feature the words like or as (marked in bold in the following examples). In terms of instances, simile is the most common figure of speech employed in the book of Isaiah—there are about 328 total similes in Isaiah, of which 69 are introduced with the word like and 259 with the word as. Similes are a comparison of two things, as the following examples illustrate:

• “T��� daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard” (1:8). After the destruction of the great city of Jerusalem (“the daughter of Zion”), the city is in ruins and is now more like a hut in a vineyard.
• “We should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (1:9). The speaker here—covenant Israel—compares herself to the ancient twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed centuries earlier because of their wickedness.
• “Though your sins be asscarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red likecrimson, they shall be as wool” (1:18). Three colors (scarlet, red, and crimson) are compared to sins, but these may become “white as snow” and may be “as wool” because of Christ’s Atonement.
• “T��� people Israel be as the sand of the sea” (10:22). This expression recalls the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 22:17; Abraham 3:14), which expresses that the people of the house of Israel will be as numerous as the sands of the sea.
• “T��� lion shall eat straw like the ox” (11:7). This simile suggests the peaceful conditions that will take place when Christ comes to earth again.
• “Moab shall be trodden down under him, even asstraw is trodden down for the dunghill” (25:10). Moab’s inhabitants are compared to straw-dung.
• “L����� as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey” (31:4). The Lord compares himself to a growling lion that is unafraid of the shepherds. Like a lion, the Lord will “fight for Mount Zion” (v. 4).
• “H�� shall feed his flock like a shepherd” (40:11). The Lord is the shepherd who protects, feeds, and provides water for his flock (see also Psalms 23; 28:9; Jeremiah 23:3).
• “T��� LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war” (42:13). Jehovah is portrayed as a great warrior and a “man of war” (see also Exodus 15:3).
• “All we like sheep have gone astray” (53:6). People are compared to sheep who have strayed from the Lord.
• “But the wicked are likethe troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (57:20). The Lord compares the wicked to the sea, which is continually restless and tossing to and fro.

Isaiah’s similes help his audience vividly understand the situations and relationships of which he prophesies.

Synecdoche

The literary figure synecdoche occurs when “a whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus).”[87] There are hundreds of cases of synecdoche in Isaiah; the following are representative examples:

• “Your hands are full of blood” (1:15). Hands represent the whole person.
• “For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken” (1:20; see also 40:5). Although the mouth speaks, it signifies the entirety of the Lord’s purpose.
• “T���ir swords . . . and their spears” (2:4). Swords and spears represent all kinds of weapons of war.
• “Grind the faces of the poor” (3:15). The phrase the poor refers to the totality of the poverty-stricken individuals and their entire circumstances.
• “Syria is confederate with Ephraim” (7:2). Both Syria and Ephraim refer to the inhabitants of those countries, not the countries themselves. Ephraim refers to all ten tribes in the Northern Kingdom.
• “A land of bread” (36:17). Bread is used to represent all kinds of foods, or an abundance of food.
• “Everlasting joy shall be upon their head” (51:11). Head refers to the entirety of the person that will receive the joy.
• “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings” (52:7). Feet represent the whole person, the messenger of good tidings who walks about declaring the gospel.
• “T��� arm of the LORD” (53:1). The arm (the Lord’s strength) represents the whole person.
• “Acceptable year . . . the day of vengeance” (61:2; see also 63:4). Year does not mean exactly 365 days and day does not denote 24 hours; rather, these periods of reckoning time are used to illustrate that God’s favor is much longer than his vengeance.
• “All flesh come to worship before me” (66:23). All flesh refers to the totality of humankind.

By using synecdoche, Isaiah invites his audience to think differently about terms and ideas they might already be familiar with and thus less receptive to. The imagery and logic involved in recognizing a part as a whole helps his audience see his teachings with a different perspective.

Synonymous Words

This figure, which is also called “synonymia,”[88] consists of several synonyms or near synonyms grouped together. Burton defines its purpose as “to amplify or explain a given subject or term.” He describes how many synonyms together offer “a kind of repetition that adds emotional force or intellectual clarity.”[89] Isaiah used synonyms throughout his text. For instance, Isaiah 1:4 presents one set of synonymous words—sinful, iniquity, evildoers, and corrupters—and groups it together with another set of synonymous words—nation, people, seed, and children. The following passage from Isaiah offers five near synonyms (marked in bold):

“And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken” (8:15; see also 28:13).

Isaiah 2:11–17 submits twelve instances of synonymous terms that describe humankind’s excessive pride: lofty (two instances), haughtiness (two instances), proud, lifted up (three instances), high (three instances), and loftiness. Note another set of synonyms in the same passage: Isaiah states that because of their pride, humankind will be humbled, bowed down (two instances), brought low, and made low (see vv. 11, 17). In a twice-repeated refrain, Isaiah demonstrates that in the end, “the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day” (v. 17). Other examples of synonymous words can be found in Isaiah 1:6; 22:25; 24:1; 25:12; and many other places. All these instances serve to provide clarity for Isaiah’s readers.

Triads (or Groupings of Three)[90]

In his commentary on Isaiah 40–66, Shalom Paul presents a number of literary forms in Isaiah, including the use of triads. Paul states that triads (also called the “rule of three”) are “for the purpose of accentuation.”[91] Paul’s examples of triads include the Hebrew particles ke (like, as), ki (for, because), gam ����’ (yea not), ’a�� (yea), ’a�� ’a�⾱�� (yea, there is none), ’a�� bal (yea not), ‘e������� (these), and mi (who). In the following section, I have added several examples, including those from Isaiah 1–39. Note that I have added the Hebrew particles, marked in italic font:

Isaiah used the threefold ’a�� ’a�⾱�� (“yea, there is none”):

“Yea [’a��], there is none [’a�⾱��] that sheweth, yea [’a��], there is none [’a�⾱��] that declareth, yea [’a��], there is none [’a�⾱��] that heareth your words” (41:26).

Isaiah used the threefold ’a�� (′��”):

“Yea [’a��], I have spoken, yea [’a��], I will bring it to pass: As I have purposed, yea [’a��], I will do it” (46:11, author’s translation)

Isaiah used the threefold gam ����’ (“yea not”):

“Yea [gam], thou heardest not [����’]; yea [gam], thou knewest not [����’]; yea [gam], from that time that thine ear was not [����’] opened” (48:8)

Isaiah used the threefold ki (“for, because”):

• “For [ki] I am undone; because [ki] I am a man of unclean lips . . . for [ki] mine eyes have seen the King” (6:5)
• “Because [ki] ye have said, We have made a covenant with death . . . ; when [ki] the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for [ki] we have made lies our refuge” (28:15)
• “That [ki] her warfare is accomplished, that [ki] her iniquity is pardoned: for [ki] she hath received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (40:2)

Isaiah used the threefold preposition ke (“like, as”):

• “As [ke] the fire . . . as [ke] rottenness . . . as [ke] dust” (5:24)
• “Is not Calno as [ke] Carchemish? is not Hamath as [ke] Arpad? is not Samaria as [ke] Damascus?” (10:9)
• “L����� [ke] the rushing of many waters . . . as [ke] the chaff . . . and like [ke] a rolling thing” (17:13)
• “As [ke] an hiding place. . . as [ke] rivers . . . as [ke] the shadow” (32:2)
• “As [ke] a scroll . . . as [ke] the leaf falleth . . . as [ke] a falling fig” (34:4)
• “As [ke] a drop of a bucket . . . as [ke] the small dust . . . as [ke] a very little thing” (40:15)
• “As [ke] grasshoppers . . . as [ke] a curtain . . . as [ke] a tent” (40:22)
• “As [ke] my messenger . . . as [ke] he that is perfect . . . as [ke] the LORD’s servant?” (42:19)
• “L����� [ke] smoke . . . like [ke] a garment . . . like [ke] manner” (51:6)
• “According [ke] . . . according [ke] . . . according [ke]” (63:7)

Isaiah used the threefold expression ’a�� bal (“yea not”):

“Yea [’a��], they shall not [bal] be planted; yea [’a��], they shall not [bal] be sown: yea [’a��], their stock shall not [bal] take root in the earth” (40:24)

Isaiah used the threefold demonstrative ‘e������� (“t������”):

• “T���se [‘e�������] shall come . . . these [‘e�������] from the north . . . these [‘e�������] from the land of Sinim” (49:12)
• “Who hath begotten me these [‘e�������] . . . and who hath brought up these [‘e�������]? . . . these [‘e�������], where had they been?” (49:21)

Isaiah used the threefold interrogative mi (“w���”):

“Who [mi] will contend with me? . . . who [mi] is mine adversary? . . . who [mi] is he that shall condemn me?” (50:8–9)

Understatement

Sometimes called litotes or meiosis, understatement is a literary figure that is used “to convey the impression that a thing is less in size, or importance, than it really is.”[92] One example of understatement is employed in Isaiah 7. In the first verse of that chapter, Pekah is identified as the king of Israel, but note that the Lord refers to him only as “the son of Remaliah” in verses four and five. Since Pekah usurped the kingship from Pekahiah (see 2 Kings 15:25), the kingdom was not rightfully his. This deliberate understatement (determining not to use the name “Pekah”) demonstrates Pekah’s lack of true kingship and his lack of importance to the narrative; the most important character in the narrative is none other than Immanuel (see Isaiah 7:1–14).

A second example of understatement is found in Isaiah 40:15, where the Lord compares mighty nations to a drop of water and specks of dust: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” A third example can be seen in Isaiah 41:14, where the house of Jacob is compared to a worm. This comparison happens in contrast to the greatness of Jehovah, who is our help and our Redeemer: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” A fourth example occurs in Isaiah 10:7: “It is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.”[93] In this verse, “not a few” denotes “a great number” of nations.

As highlighted in these examples, understatement is often used in Isaiah to emphasize the importance of certain things by contrasting them against seemingly insignificant things, which allows Isaiah’s audience to gain a better understanding of certain spiritual concepts.

Word Picture

The book of Isaiah often utilizes descriptive words that paint a graphic or detailed picture for his readers. Bullinger frames such a descriptive moment as a “word picture” and describes it as “visible representation of objects or actions by words.”[94] Bullinger provides us with the following examples of these instances: Isaiah 1:6–9; 1:11–15; 5:26–30; 34; 44:9–17; 46:6–7; and 53.

In one instance of word picture in Isaiah, the house of Israel is described as a physically sick person with decaying, untreated wounds: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (1:6). Another example of word picture in Isaiah centers on the image of a carpenter in his shop, using various tools—rule, line, planes, and compass—as he creates an idol: “T��� carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house” (44:13).

These word pictures allow Isaiah to command his audience’s attention and focus in on details that relate directly to them.

Conclusion

I have briefly examined forty-four literary devices and figures of speech found in Isaiah’s text, including the more prevalent forms of metaphor, personification, synecdoche, metonymy, rhetorical questions, and simile. On the one hand, every literary device Isaiah uses constitutes a significant element that enlightens his sacred message. On the other hand, some of Isaiah’s literary devices are difficult to comprehend, especially for modern audiences who may not know how to interpret or understand such things. Without question, Isaiah’s literary devices can be a genuine challenge for many readers. But with the assistance of the Holy Ghost and with much study and effort, readers can overcome this challenge.

These various literary devices demonstrate that Isaiah was a masterful rhetorician and a quintessential wordsmith who presented the word of God in an eloquent, persuasive, and powerful manner. But Isaiah was not simply a gifted writer—he was a prophet and seer of God. He did not write by his own power; his prophecies came about as the Holy Ghost spoke to him and revealed God’s word to him. As Peter wrote, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

Notes

[1] Regarding the various literary devices amd figures of speech in Isaiah's writings, see my recently published, Parry, "Unlocking Isaiah's Closed Book," 331-83.

[2] Slotki, Isaiah, ix–x.

[3] Various rhetorical handbooks present different definitions of the terms used in this book. I have employed definitions that are generally accepted by established publications.

[4] Regarding the Greek and Latin terms of these various writing techniques, Gideon Burton has written: "Don’t be scared of the intimidating detail suggested by the odd Greek and Latin terms. After all, you can enjoy the simple beauty of a birch tree without knowing it is Betula alba and make use of the shade of a weeping willow without knowing it is in fact Salix babylonica. The same is possible with rhetoric. The names aid categorization and are more or less conventional, but I encourage you to get past the sesquipedalian labels and observe the examples and the sample criticism (rhetoric in practice). It is beyond the definitions that the power of rhetoric is made apparent." "Forest of Rhetoric," Silva Rhetoricae.

[5] The identification and treatment in this chapter of several of Isaiah’s figures and literary devices should be considered a starting point, or a first step in a comprehensive study of Isaiah’s literary devices. It is my hope that future studies—theses, extensive papers, or monographs—will closely examine Isaiah’s writing techniques and their impact on both ancient and modern readers.

[6] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, v–vi.

[7] Paul, Isaiah 40–66, 24–30.

[8] Ryken, How to Read the Bible, 87–108.

[9] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, xv.

[10] Bullinger, Appendixes to the Companion Bible, 8.

[11] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 198.

[12] Lucy B. Palache, “Apostrophe,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 42.

[13] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 177.

[14] Burton, “Asyndeton,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[15] “Asyndeton,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 56.

[16] For other asyndetic sentences in Isaiah, see Isaiah 21:3; 23:2; 23:16; and 24:19 (this last verse features three infinitive absolutes). In Biblical Hebrew grammar, an infinitive absolute is a non-finite verbal form that always lacks an attached preposition, prefix, or suffix. One of the basic functions of an infinitive absolute is to convey intensity, especially when it is juxtaposed with a finite verb with the same verbal root.

[17] Burton, “Anacoenosis,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[18] See Kitis, who writes, “In this paper I will look into conditional constructions as rhetorical constructions used in discourse.” “Conditional Constructions,” 30–51.

[19] Stephen F. Fogle and Harold Bloom, “Antithesis,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 40.

[20] For other examples of antithesis, see Isaiah 1:3; 5:7; 9:10; 42:20; and 59:9, 11.

[21] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 336; for Watson’s entire discussion, see 336–37.

[22] Watson, 336, provides several examples from Isaiah, including Isaiah 13:5; 23:11; 28:26; 30:6–7; and 38:8, 17, 22. See also the examples in Polan, In the Ways of Justice, 98n8, 114.

[23] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 337.

[24] Dialogue is “speaking in another person’s character as part of a dialogue with oneself.” MacDonald, ed., Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, 779.

[25] Lundbom wrote that “repetition is the single most important feature of ancient Hebrew rhetoric, being used for emphasis, wordplays, expressing the superlative, creating pathos, and structuring both parts and wholes of prophetic discourse. Its importance can hardly be overestimated.” Biblical Rhetoric, 167–68.

[26] Stephen F. Fogle, “Repetition,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 699. Fogle goes on to say, “As a unifying device, independent of conventional metrics, repetition is found extensively in free verse, where parallelism . . . reinforced by the recurrence of actual words and phrases governs the rhythm which helps to distinguish free verse from prose” (699). See also Muilenburg, “Study in Hebrew Rhetoric,” 97–111.

[27] Fogle, “Repetition,” 700.

[28] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 277; italics in original.

[29] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 183.

[30] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 920.

[31] Note that all three prayers address the Lord with the exclamatory marker “O.” I invite readers to study the prayers in their entirety. For other prayers in Isaiah, see 37:16–20; 63:15–19; and 64:1–12.

[32] “O Lord” in the brackets, which is from the Joseph Smith Translation, indicates that this section is a prayer.

[33] Burton, “Euphemismus,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[34] Burton, “Exclamatio,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[35] There are dozens of “woe” exclamations in Isaiah similar to the examples given here. See also the section “Imprecation” in this chapter.

[36] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 926.

[37] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 193.

[38] Burton, “Hyperbole,” Silva Rhetoricae. See also the sections “Similes” and “Metaphors,” in this chapter.

[39] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 319; see pages 316–21 for Watson’s treatment of hyperbole. Watson also sets forth the following examples of hyperbole in Isaiah: 3:4; 4:1; 5:10; 30:7; 34:3–4; and 48:19. See also Eybers, “Some Examples of Hyperbole,” 38–49.

[40] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 193.

[41] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 744.

[42] Bullinger, 744.

[43] On the figure of speech named imprecation, or the woe oracle, see Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 940.

[44] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 286. For the various categories of inclusio, see Watson’s discussion, 282–87. See also Kessler, “Inclusio in the Hebrew Bible,” 44–49.

[45] All four examples are from Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 402.

[46] William Van O’Connor, “Irony,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 407.

[47] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 195. Lundbom presents three examples of irony in Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9–10; 28:10, 13; and 29:9–10). For two publications on irony in the Bible, see Good, Irony in the Old Testament; and Williams, “Irony and Lament,” 51–74.

[48] Williams, “Irony and Lament,” 57–58. Williams identifies other instances of irony in Isaiah (see pages 56–61 of his article): Isaiah 1:4–9; 5:8–10; 5:18–19; 10:1–4; 10:5–19; 28:1–4; 29:1–4; 30:1–3; and 31:1–4.

[49] Burton, “Polyptoton,” Silva Rhetoricae. For more on this figure of speech, see Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 285; and Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 287–295. This figure deals with nouns or a combination of verbs and nouns; compare the figure of speech multiclinatum, which deals with repetition of the same verbal root.

[50] This example is from Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 293.

[51] Motyer, Prophecy of Isaiah, 25.

[52] Motyer, 25.

[53] In addition to these names and titles, there are several other names and titles of the Lord in the book of Isaiah that I will not rehearse at this time.

[54] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 321. See Watson’s treatment of merismus on pages 321–24. See also Honeyman, “Merismus in Biblical Hebrew,” 11–18; and Polan, In the Ways of Justice, 110, 122.

[55] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 321.

[56] See Watson, 321.

[57] For this formula, see Honeyman, “Merismus in Biblical Hebrew,” 11–13.

[58] MacDonald, Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, 785. Biblical metaphors are extremely complex, and scholars have various approaches to studying them. See, for example, Lancaster, “Metaphor Research,” 235–85.

[59] George Whalley, “Metaphor,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 490.

[60] For a study of metaphors in Isaiah, see Gitay, “Why Metaphors?,” 57–65. For an examination of multiple instances of metaphor in Isaiah 13–23, see Nesbitt, “Metaphor and Metonymy,” 123–44.

[61] MacDonald, Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, 785.

[62] For an examination of multiple instances of metonymy in Isaiah 13–23, see Nesbitt, “Metaphor and Metonymy,” 123–44.

[63] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 176. Also compare the section “Keywords (or Polyptoton)” in this chapter. See also the following two studies by Held: “yqtl-qtl (qtl-yqtl) Sequence,” 281–90; and “Action-Result (Factitive-Passive) Sequence,” 272–82.

[64] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 279.

[65] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 339.

[66] Bullinger, 339.

[67] John Arthos, “Personification,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 612.

[68] Van der Woude, “Comfort of Zion,” 159. See also van der Woude’s entire chapter, 159–67.

[69] Gesenius, Hebrew Grammar, 397–98.

[70] MacDonald, Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, 787.

[71] Burton, “Prolepsis,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[72] “In prophecies a future event is sometimes regarded as having already been accomplished.” Joüon and Muraoka, Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 335. For the prophetic perfect in the Bible and Book of Mormon, see Ricks, “Verb Tenses in Prophecy,” 27–28; and Parry, Preserved in Translation, 77–79.

[73] Ricks, “Verb Tenses in Prophecy,” 27. The quote from Gesenius is in Hebrew Grammar, 312–13.

[74] Paul, Isaiah 40–66, 26.

[75] See Watson’s discussion of refrain in Classical Hebrew Poetry, 295–99.

[76] Laurence Perrine, “Refrain,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 687.

[77] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 187. For a study on the topic of rhetorical questions, see Gordis, “Rhetorical Use of Interrogative Questions,” 212–17. Regarding some of the complexities involved with rhetorical questions in general, see Burton, “Rhetorical Question,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[78] Kuntz, “Rhetorical Questions in Deutero-Isaiah,” 123, 141. Kuntz identifies several instances of rhetorical questions, including Isaiah 40:12–1, 18, 21, 25, 28; 41:2, 4, 26; 42:19, 24; 43:13; 44:7–8, plus others (126). See also Kuntz’s entire article, pages 121–41.

[79] Robert O. Evans, “Rhetorical Question,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 705.

[80] Arthur Melville Clark and Harold Whitehall, “Rhyme,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 705. See also Polan, In the Ways of Justice, 127, 148, 157, 267, who points out several instances of assonance in Isaiah’s text.

[81] Clark and Whitehall, “Rhyme,” 706. For sixteen examples of alliteration in Isaiah, see Boadt, “Intentional Alliteration in Second Isaiah,” 353–63; these examples include Isaiah 40:9; 45:14c; 46:3b; and 46:8.

[82] Glück, “Assonance in Ancient Hebrew Poetry,” 84.

[83] Note that I have used the transliteration style as expressed in transliterations from Accordance 11, Version 11.1.2b1 (November 2015), OakTree Software, Inc.

[84] See also Motyer, Prophecy of Isaiah, 25, which provides several passages in Isaiah where there exist rhyming sounds: Isaiah 8:12; 24:1, 6, 16, 23; 27:7; 35:9; 37:30; 40:31; 41:2; 50:4; 54:11; 58:12; 59:7, 11; and 60:18.

[85] George Whalley, “Simile,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 767.

[86] Whalley, “Simile,” 767, citing Aristotle’s Rhetoric 1410a.

[87] Burton, “Synecdoche,” Silva Rhetoricae. See also the section “Metonymy” in this chapter, which expresses a similar idea.

[88] MacDonald, Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies, 790, defines “synonymia” as “amplification by means of words or phrases with the same or similar meaning.”

[89] Burton, “Synonymia,” Silva Rhetoricae.

[90] Triads are famously used in Greek lyric poetry (consisting of strophe, antistrophe, and epode) as well as in medieval Welsh and Irish literature. Note, however, that triads in biblical Hebrew are quite different from instances in other literature, especially in form.

[91] Paul, Isaiah 40–66, 26.

[92] Robert O. Evans, “Meiosis,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 488.

[93] This example is from Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 317n140.

[94] Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 444–45.