Connection between Isaiah 24–27 and the Rest of the Book. One of the main viewpoints on Isa 24–27 is that it is a composition or collection separate from the rest of the book dating to the second century bc, and thus one of the latest compositions of the Old Testament. This is due to the viewpoint that apocalyptic literature did not develop until this period, and thus this section of Isaiah likewise could not have been written before this period. Alberto Soggin identified Isa 24–27 as one of four major parts of the book (along with chapters 1–39 [not including 24–27], 40–55, and 56–66; Soggin, Introduction, 299, 309). Philip Smitz identified three reasons why Isa 24–27 has been seen as a separate unit (Smitz, “Resurrection,” 145):

• absence of a plausible connection with the Neo-Assyrian period

• distinctive vocabulary and syntax

• themes and imagery generally associated with later periods in the history of Israel.

More recently, as interest in the final form of Isaiah has grown, there have been attempts to discover how Isa 24–27 functions in the book as a whole. Gordon McConville suggests that chapters 24–27 function as a conclusion to the oracles against nations in chapters 13–23. The oracles against nations have an international scope and chapters 24–27 carry this further with cosmic events. Both units work together to show God’s sovereignty over the whole earth (McConville, Prophets, 19).

Since the chapters lack specific historical references, Goldingay prefers to see them as a continuation of the movement from a focus on Judah in Isa 1–12, to the nations in Isa 13–23, to the whole world in Isa 24–27 (Goldingay, Isaiah, 8, 137).

Marvin Sweeney’s study of chapters 24–27 identifies seven textual citations or allusions to the rest of the book of Isaiah. These are identified by their “high lexical correspondence and thematic correlation” (Sweeney, “Isaiah 24–27,” 42). The connections come from chapters 2, 4, 5, 11, 13, 17, 21, 32, 33, and 66. John Oswalt identifies a chiastic structure for Isa 1–39. Chapters 24–27, God’s Triumph over the Nations, stand as the climax to that chiasm (Oswalt, “Isaiah 24–27,” 79).