In The Theology of the Book of Isaiah, John Goldingay makes the historical narrative chapters a part of a collage dealing with the days of King Hezekiah that includes chapters 27-39.
Goldingay does not at all deal with the narratives in Isaiah 36-39 in terms of historical criticism.
He analyzes their message as it relates to the oracles of Isaiah that occur both within the narrative and in the earlier chapters of Isaiah.
Isaiah advocates a radical trust in Yahweh that must have seemed crazy to statesmen and the royal court. Judah must not rely on geopolitical strategies. The king must trust in God alone. Hezekiah moves toward Isaiah’s position. But chapter 39 with the king’s reception of a delegation from Merodach-Baladan II of Babylon shows that he was still into geopolitical strategy.
The mocking of Yahweh by the emissary from Sennacherib of Assyria sets the stage for the…
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James' Ramblings 