Critique of the Community: While there are positive notes throughout 56:9–59:8, the dominant tone is confrontational, and even the positive notes incorporate barbed comment. The way the passages speak of shalom, which occurs six times (57:2, 19, 21; 59:8), sums up this point. This distinctive concentration of references finds its closest parallel in Zechariah 8, which again belongs to the same period as Isaiah 56–66. Admittedly there are no specific indications of a particular context here, and the material reminds us of Isaiah 1–12. It thus expounds something of the nature of “justice” and “right” (56:1). At the same time, the concern with shalom is not the only reappearance of a theme from chapters 40–55. The material takes up issues from both chapters 1–39 and chapters 40–55.

56:9–12 The…