Judgment and Blessing (Chs. 34, 35). 

        Much of the message of “Proto-Isaiah” is summed up here. Edom personifies the hostile nations in general. That the eschatological picture should not be taken too literally is easily seen by comparing 34:9f with 34:11-15. A number of the beings mentioned in ver. 14 are mythological, but even they could not live in burning pitch and brimstone.

        Ch. 35 is an outstanding example of the parabolic use of the transformation of nature so common in Isaiah, cf. also 11:1-9, 40:3f etc. While there is no reason why we should not take the transformation of nature literally (cf. Rom. 8:19-22), it should be clear that it is the antecedent transformation of men that is uppermost in the prophet’s mind.