Seth Erlandsson

Waukesha, Wisconsin: Northwestern Publishing House, 2020. 296 pages. $39.99.

Reviewed by Ryan Tietz on 09/02/2020

Attempting to write a brief commentary on Isaiah is a very challenging task. The author provides many familiar understandings of the Book of Isaiah and as such breaks no new ground. He also presents a helpful summary of the arguments for the authorship of Isaiah and their exegetical significance. However, Erlandsson does not address the wealth of scholarship on Isaiah. For example, he rightly claims the importance of Isaiah 36–39 as a central text of the book, but does not address or even cite Christopher R. Seitz’s seminal work on that topic. Thus, the book functions best as an introduction to Isaiah meant for college students or educated laypeople rather than scholars of the book.