Rhetorical Analysis in Isaiah 2,1-5: The going of the nations to Jerusalem for peace Análisis retórico en Isaías 2,1-5: El camino de las naciones hacia Jerusalén para la paz

Abstract

In Isaiah (Isa.)  2,1-5 readers are taken to a very different place, a supernatural vision of righteousness, justice and endless peace, where a city on a hill is at the center of a dream. This city is higher than all, towering above the world, to which people flow in order to attain their blessings and their greatest reward: peace. Since this passage has received various interpretations over the centuries, and the theme of pacifism is a recent phenomenon, this article proposes to analyze it through steps of the Critical Historical Method and the Semitic Biblical Rhetorical Analysis. The pacifist message is totally relevant to the present day, where the primordial order, especially in the sphere of inter-human relations, is here restored forever. Special attention is given to the value of people “going” to Jerusalem, “city of peace”, called to be a radiating center for peaceful and pacifying behavior, capable of impacting the world with a peace project that is real and lasting, according to the heart of YHWH. To this end, a segmentation and commented translation of the pericope of Isa. 2,1-5 is offered; textual criticism is carried out in order to see possible problems with textual variants; literary criticism or the constitution of the text is carried out; redactional criticism; literary genre criticism and Rhetorical Analysis. All of this provides insight into the biblical theology that this biblical text offers for the practice and cultivation of a culture of peace, which can help in today’s times, with so many challenges.