The City-Soul Analogy in Isaiah

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem. Print by Louis Haghe based on David Roberts’ 1848 painting .

Isaiah 1 (KJV)

[1] The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
[2] Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
[4] Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
[7] Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
[18] Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
[19] If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
[20] But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
[21] How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
[25] And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
[26] And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

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TAKEN literally, Isaiah is condemning the faithlessness and corruption of the kingdom of Israel.  But a literal and historical interpretation has little relevance to our present lives. Rather, the timeless and vital meaning concerns the fall of the city of our soul — and our strong hope for its salvation from God.

Thus the real significance relies on the analogy between a city and our soul.  This is the same analogy Plato explored in his greatest work, the Republic, and which constitutes its core and power.  Plato makes explicit (e.g., at 2.368) — though many miss this — that his real concern is the salvation of the soul through virtue, Wisdom, and righteousness.  His references to a city constitute an elaborate and highly effective metaphoric language, by which things concerning the soul can be discussed that would otherwise be impossible.

Was Isaiah, like Plato, consciously aware of this trope?  That is, was it intentional, or only something governed by his unconscious creative imagination?  To me it seems very likely that the symbolism is conscious.

Why? For several reasons. One is that to suppose otherwise makes the common mistake of thinking we moderns are much more sophisticated than the ancients.  (Rather a strange supposition, given that we’re still reading and learning from Isaiah after 2500 years!)  Second, it would be similarly absurd to think that the ancient Jewish prophets were less psychologically and poetically sophisticated than Plato and other Greeks.

Yet another possibility is that the original version of Isaiah (or versions, as the present book appears to be a compilation drawn from several sources) was in fact written with an aim to literal social criticism and reform, but then a later, philosophically-minded author edited and revised the text to make it a powerful psychological metaphor.

Why does the question of conscious intention matter?  Because if Isaiah is intentionally and knowingly applying the city-soul analogy, then we will be more alert to particular details that apply to our own mental and moral life.  We will look for psychological correspondents of individual symbols.  The Book of Isaiah becomes a means of self-knowledge, as well as a call for personal reform and renewal.

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