Product Review

This is Volume 20 of The Anchor Bible, a new translation in fifty-six volumes, each with an introduction and notes.  John L. McKenzie, S.J., Professor of Old Testament Theology at DePaul University, Chicago, has prepared The Anchor Bible translation of Second Isiah, including Chapters 34-35, and 40-66 of the Book of Isaiah.

With its focus on the events surrounding the fall of Babylon to the forces of Cyrus of Persia, Second Isiah is a prophetic book of immense and exultant belief in the renascence of Israel, as the prophet foresees a new age after the long exile.  Father McKenzie does justice to the literary sophistication of this book in his translation and he discusses the questions of authorship, dating, purpose, and the audience of Second Isiah in an extensive introduction.  In accordance with the aims of The Anchor Bible, Father McKenzie's translation applies new material from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and reflects as closely as possible the mood, sense and style of the Hebrew poetry.