Exegesis and theology in the transmission of Isaiah

After the book of Isaiah was written in a single exemplar it was copied by scribes, generation after generation, and was submitted to processes of exegesis by translators and early exegetes. Our study deals with the textual and exegetical transmission of that book, one of the most influential in the Bible. As a rule, the textual transmission started upon the completion of the literary composition—that is, after it had been written and had undergone a process of editing. Not every book was edited, but in the case of Isaiah this was definitely the case. For one thing, the historical chapters 36–39 had been appended to the book of Isaiah son of Amoz and the hand of the editor is visible in many details. The textual transmission and exegesis of the book started when the literary composition of the book named Isaiah had been completed; yet the words of the prophet were interpreted and changed by scribes, translators, and exegetes in manuscripts, translations, pesharim and in the New Testament. For example, the large Isaiah scroll includes exegesis, and the ancient translators embedded their ideas in the various translations. Likewise, the pesharim introduced actualizing exegesis. Each source developed in its own way, which was haphazard to some extent, and there are but few tendencies that characterize several sources at the same time....