As a supplement to his three-volume Anchor Bible Commentary on Isaiah, leading expert Joseph Blenkinsopp has produced an intertextual reading of Isaiah and the Psalms. His argument is that these two books coalesce in a religious vision, ‘a way of experiencing and articulating commitment to the fundamentals of the faith of Israel’ (p. 1). He notes the language of Torah in both books, but also that the law proceeds from Zion rather than Sinai, is mediated through prophetic instruction and is open to all nations. Blenkinsopp focuses on liturgical psalms within the Psalter, as attributed to guilds of singers. He raises the possibility of actual historical contact between these and those who finalised the book of Isaiah in the Babylonian diaspora of the fourth century bce.

The nature of the liturgical context is explored in chapter 2, relying on the Chronicler's (and Ezra and Nehemiah's) description of temple singers and music, including the possible Edomite connection. David's role as psalmic author and, at times, prophetic figure (2 Sam 23:1–7) is explored in chapter 3, alongside other examples of musical and prophetic activity being combined both in prophetic circles and in the cult. Blenkinsopp revisits the older idea of a cultic prophet role. Then three chapters treating the different sections of the book of Isaiah – each from different original contexts, although combined into the final form by later circles – are considered in relation to the possible presence of psalmic material. Of course, this has long been noted in the scholarship, especially in relation to Isaiah 40–55, and Blenkinsopp mentions Berges’ idea of an ‘oratorio of hope’ in Isaiah 40–8, composed by exiled temple singers in Babylon. In chapter 7 Blenkinsopp turns to consideration of the Zion theme in both books, probably older traditions drawn on in temple liturgy. Whilst the Zion of Isaiah is essentially eschatological in its focus, in the Psalms Zion is an actual city and focus of hope after destruction. Titles for God also overlap in the two books.

In chapter 8 Blenkinsopp considers emphasis on moral choices for ‘the righteous, the devout, the poor, the servants of the Lord over against the wicked, the sinners, the scoffers and the godless’ (p. 167). These also often represent self-segregating groups of people, for example, ‘the company of the righteous’ (Ps 14:5). In the following chapter (9) Blenkinsopp looks at the particular title of ‘servant(s) of the Lord’ (on a personal and group level) in both texts. He argues that by the time of Trito-Isaiah the term becomes a sectarian one and denotes a faithful, minority, remnant group. A fixation on ‘enemies’ in many psalms may reflect the conflicts of temple personnel rather than being an abstract concept. He writes, ‘Experience teaches that hostility and conflict of this kind can lead to the self-segregation of those deprived of power, and this may have happened to the temple singers as well as to the Servants of the Lord and those who trembled at his word’ (p. 133). Chapter 10 treats the topic of the repudiation of sacrifice in Isaiah and Psalms. Blenkinsopp traces an unease with sacrifice in prophetic books, particularly if offered in the wrong spirit (cf. Amos), culminating in an explicit rejection of the agents of such practices (Isa 66:3). This moral repudiation is echoed in Psalm 50, where it is followed by the rejection of animal sacrifice in favour of a thanksgiving offering. Blenkinsopp uncovers a disagreement between priests and Levites (which included the liturgical musicians) over daily cultic sacrifices that escalated into a schism. Blenkinsopp surmises, ‘It was probably the conviction that the temple priesthood was irredeemably corrupt and inauthentic that led some temple personnel … and the Levites … to set up an alternative centre and alternative forms of worship at Qumran’ (p. 146).

The final chapter considers the temple as the place of encounter with God for psalmists and Isaiah alike, notably in Isaiah 6. His theory is that musical groups had much more influence on the shaping of this material than has been previously recognised. It is interesting that Blenkinsopp is still following in the wake of those such as Hanson who, especially in relation to Trito-Isaiah, posited ideas as being the property of different rival groups. Whilst ideas never emerge in a complete abstract vacuum, some of the attempts to ground these similarities in actual situations seems a bit fanciful at times – ultimately these reconstructions have no firm basis. However, Blenkinsopp has shown in this fascinating bringing together of two major texts of the Hebrew Bible how ideas intersect across our different ‘genre groupings’ of books (prophecy/psalmody) to which we have become too tied in the past. We are wrong also to think that genres eventuate in separate groups of people – perhaps Blenkinsopp is right that, for ancient psalmists and prophets alike, in their attention to ‘the beauty of holiness’ there was a meeting of minds and of musical rejoicing.