Antti Laato: Reading Isa 8:4 inside Isa 7:10-17 – An Attempt to Understand Justin Martyr’s Isaiah Exegesis

• Centre for Advanced Studies
• Novum Testamentum Patristicum

The aim of this paper is to discuss why Justin quotes twice Isa 7:10-17 so that Isa 8:4 is compiled inside the text (Dial 43; 66). Was such a quotation Justin’s own idea or did he adopted an earlier tradition to read these two Isaianic texts together? How should we understand the fact that the boy child Maher-Salal-Hash-Baz in the context of Isa 8:1-4 is the child of Isaiah and that he is identified with Immanuel in Justin’s Christological interpretation? By considering early Christian exegesis as well as Jewish reception history on Isaiah I will present reasons for Justin’s curious way to relate Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz to his Christological interpretation of Immanuel prophecy.