The Sealed Vision

Description

This paper considers early trajectories of transmission, translation and interpretation of the sealed prophecies of Isaiah 8. Across the Qumran manuscripts, MT, the Septuagint, the Book of Daniel and 4QMysteries the closed books become paradigmatic for the continuous postponement of ultimate revelation, which results in endless interpretation, chasing after knowledge, and composition of new visions. From Isaiah 8 onwards, the sealing of the vision is tied up with the notion of divine withdrawal, and various forms of destruction that come in its wake. In his final vision, Daniel is told that “these words are secret and sealed to the time of the end” (Dan 12:9). In earlier chapters Daniel was given insight into future events and into the temporal structures that govern the course of history. But in this final vision, the angel does not reveal any more than the very fact that the books are sealed in the midst of calamities. In 4QMysteries, the mystery that is to come will bring annihilation upon those who have not studied the things of old and are not aware of the destructive powers of the raz nihyeh. The vision is sealed from those who have not acquired insight into true knowledge. Reading across biblical and non-biblical distinctions, we can see an emerging framework of hidden prophecy and vision that grows out of Isaiah but manifests itself in a broad range of texts and versions. Rather than a closed canon, we encounter a plethora of texts that participate in mutual rewriting, and elaborate the notion that hiding knowledge is essential for the progress of history and the self-improvement of communities.

Period	20-Nov-2022
Event title	Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting: Denver 2022
Event type	Conference
Location	Denver, United StatesShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International