You Are Israel: How Isaiah Uses Genesis as a Means of Identity Formation

Isaiah has a richer theology of creation than any book of the Bible. Isaiah uses the Hebrew word for "create" more than any book of the Bible. Isaiah ends with a vision of the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah uses the name Jacob more than any book of the Bible except for Genesis itself. The name Jacob is used in Isaiah almost as many times as it is used in all of the books of the prophets combined. Isaiah even says that God created Jacob. Isaiah also mentions the Garden of Eden, Abraham and Sarah, Noah and the flood, with echoes of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel, Isaac, Rachel, and Joseph and his brothers. Many scholarly studies have ignored the importance of Genesis in Isaiah. This book argues Genesis is Isaiah's instrument to re-form the identity of the exilic and post-exilic Jewish communities.