YOU ARE OUR FATHER, OUR REDEEMER (Isa 63:15–64:11)

Abstract

The Hebrew root  (G'L) is typical of Deutero-Isaiah, but also oc­curs in Trito-Isaías, and commentators find it hard to deepen. In this way, our intention is to analyze the lamentation described in Isa 63:15–64:11, using the historical-critical-literary method. In addition to being one of the rare OT texts to designate YHWH as Father, it contains the last occurrence of the radical  (G'L) in Trito-Isaiah, and expresses the need for God's redemptive action. By uniting the gô'Ä“l institution and paternity, it stresses God's responsibility to rescue his people from this desolate reality, to fulfill his function of protecting the family (Ex 6:2-6), and to be in solidarity with his people's suffering. It is a text that is in alignment with the lamentation of our Latin American people, in the face of suffering and the apparent silence of God.