Correct me if I'm wrong, but Isaiah's writings, the oldest available manuscripts anyway, are dated to about 300 years AFTER the events they record. The WT acknowledges this. Remember the old Live forever book? It explains that the oldest copies of Isaiah changed very little from the earliest copies (about 200 B.C.) to the masoretic text, which was about 1000 years later. They reason that if so little change took place during those 1000 years, it's logical that there was little or no change prior to the oldest known copies. That may or may not be so. Of course it doesn't take into account deliberate insertions or the theory that the book was written after the Babylonian exile. In other words, according to most scholars, the oldest copies around are pretty much the original versions and don't qualify as prophecy since they were written after the fact.
Bible Prophecies?
by mindfield 12 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Most scholars accept that the Book of Daniel, often cited as a prophetic book, was written about 165 B.C., well after the events took place. The jews were going through a difficult period at the time since they were under the domination of the Greeks. Whereas the Persians had let them do their own thing, the Greeks were determined to "Greekasize" them in terms of religion, culture, and diet. The purpose of the book was apparently to encourage the Jews to "hang in there". In the case of Isaiah, only the first 39 chapters appear to be from the period of the actual Isaiah. Chapters 40 on appear to be 6th century B.C.(555 b.c. to 539 b.c.) during the reign of Nabonidus, and from Chapter 56 to 66 perhaps later still. The writer of Revelation was writing during the period of great tribulation by the Roman emperor Domitian and apparently had the book of Daniel open on the desk since the imagery is the same. The purpose of that book was apparently the same as that of the book of Daniel. "Hang in There!".
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cellomould
The Bible is so full of interpolations...many of which are obvious. But it is easy to imagine that 'Cyrus' could be an interpolation. You just add the word 'Cyrus' into the margin, and later a copyist places it into the text. Oops!
By the way, there were a lot of 'prophecies fulfilled' by Jesus that don't really exist in the OT, or are quite vague. Like 'not a bone of his will be crushed'. Try to search for that in the OT! You may find something (now I can't remember where) quite unlike the NT interpretation.
cellmould