With this volume, Dr. John D. W. Watts completes his portrayal of the book of Isaiah as a dramatic vision of God at work in Israel's preexilic and exilic history. His unique dramatic approach to the book has found resonance in recent scholarship, now reviewed in this revised edition. Dr. Watts shows how, in Isaiah, YHWH/God and his people air their complaints against each other and reveal their anxiety for the future. In chapters 34-66, the dispute over Zion which began in the first part of the book (treated in Isaiah 1-33, vol. 24 of the Word Biblical Commentary) continues in the setting of Judah's exile and the restoration of Jerusalem.

Dr. Watts sees the overall purpose of Isaiah's vision as announcing to Israel that a new age is dawning-an age not of nationhood but of servanthood to all. Isaiah portrays many in Israel and Jerusalem as rejecting this new role, but the remnant of Israel who accept it receive God's active support and the reinforcement of faithful worshipers drawn from all the nations. In this revision of Isaiah 34-66, Dr. Watts expands his analysis of these promises to the exiles and suggests that the book addresses an audience in Jerusalem at the end of the fifth century-just after the temple had been rebuilt but when the community still felt itself very much in jeopardy. God in Isaiah promises to them and to all subsequent readers-forgiveness and support in exchange for their faithfulness to the divine plan.

This new revision preserves careful attention to the book of Isaiah's language, dramatic form, theological content, and place in Scripture, as well as the sweeping historical significance of Isaiah's message. It interacts with the most recent scholarship and demonstrates in many new excursuses and strand tables how distinctive vocabulary and particular themes integrate the parts of Isaiah into a unified message and "vision."