Sevens all the way down

O’Connell ( Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) ) finds a complex sevenfold structure in Isaiah:

A. 1:1-2:5: exordium, appeal for reconciliation

B. Two accusatory sections

B1. Cultic, 2:6-21

B2. Social, 3:1-4:1

C. Two prophecies of punishment and reconciliation

C1. Zion, 4:2-11:16

C2. Nations, 13:1-39:8

D. Exoneration of Yahweh, 40-54

E. Final ultimatum and appeal for reconciliation, 55-66

2:6 and 12:1-6 form transitional sections within this schema. But the seven sections are themselves sevenfold in various ways.

The exordium and the ultimatum each contain ten “tiers” or distinct subsections, but there are repetitions in each, to that the exordium has three unique tiers and the ultimatum four, making a total of 7. The two B sections and D contain seven sections each, the first two in 3 + 4, and the last in a 4 + 3 pattern. Though the two C sections contain six triadic frames, and when the central axis is included, they too are heptamerous structures (238).

A specific example will clarify how this works (p. 152). O’Connell argues that the D section (40-54) is organized by a quadratic inclusio on which a triadic inclusio is superimposed. The quadratic frame consists of words of consolation and dispute at the beginning and end of the section (40:1-32:13 and 43:16-46:13 form the first double, 48:1-13 and 49:1-54:7 form the second). Prophecies concerning deliverance from Babylon alternate with the sections in the first double (43:14-15 and 47:1-7) and this theme is picked up later in the section that lies between the second double (48:14-22). All this surrounds what O’Connell claims is the central section, the taunt song against Babylon in 47:8-15. Schematically, it looks like this:

A. Consolation and disputation 1

B. Babylon

A’. Consolation and disputation 2

B’. Babylon

C. Taunt song

A”. Disputation 3

B”. Babylon

A”’. Disputation and consolation 4

It’s a kind of structural terza rima, alternating rhyming themes in patterns of seven.