Isaiah does not copy so much assharethe geographical terminology and
conceptual framework of the empire he so fears. To Isaiah, a would-be subject
of the empire, viewing it from the marginal Judahite periphery, the Assyrian
army was by definition always at the edges of the earth; its very mission was to
expand them. In the biblical texts, the centrality of the Assyrian role in shaping
and carving out geography is further underscored by a conflation of the
emperor’s role with that of God himself. Just as the Assyrian ruler “enlarges
the boundary of Assyria,” so too does God: “Lord, you have enlarged the
nation... and won honour for yourself; you have extended all the boundaries
of the land” (Isaiah 26 : 15 ).^60
The geographic terms and symbolism of Isaiah were not theological
metaphors nor hollow ornaments employed for the glorification of God. In
the Assyrian context, they were concrete, meaningful terms that referred to
geographic boundaries and imperial limits. Thus, imperial propaganda was
closely linked to the geographic dimensions of Hebrew prophecy—a critical
component of the environment in which the story of the lost tribes was cast
and later elaborated.
From Deportation to Exile: Judahites and Israelites
The period between the mid-eighth and early sixth centuriesbcewas one of
rapid change and transition. Judah developed and flourished under the shadow
of two empires, Assyria and Babylonia, the latter of which eventually destroyed
it. Judah was continually affected by the power negotiations between the
Egyptian kingdom to its south and the Mesopotamian empires to its north.
The thinly populated, poor southern kingdom, born in the tenth century,
saw the destruction of its sister and rival northern Israelite kingdom by the
Assyrians.
Judah itself barely survived another Assyrian campaign and a siege on
Jerusalem launched by Sargon’s successor, Sennacherib, in 701. Emboldened
by a perceived Assyrian weakness after the death of Sargon II and supported by
Egypt, the Judahites tried to defy the world empire. Sennacherib’s retaliatory
campaign and siege left a strong imprint of Assyrian power in Judah; indeed, it
was this Assyrian army that Isaiah saw coming “from the end of earth.”^61
However, the Assyrians quite miraculously spared the kingdom after a myste-
rious military setback.^62 Later on, as Assyrian power waned and the empire
retreated from the region, Judah was able to rise to a status of some regional
significance. It became more populated, more centralized, and somewhat
stronger in military terms. This uptick was mainly due to temporary changes