Business, As Usual
Israel’s Ancient Blindspot Is Also Ours
10Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty.
11The haughty eyes of man shall be humbled,
and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down,
and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12For the day of the Lord of hosts is upon everything proud and lofty,
upon everything lifted up—
and it shall be brought low—
13Upon all the cedars of Lebanon high and exalted,
and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14Upon all the high mountains,
and upon all the lofty hills;
15Upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall;
16Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
and upon all the shapely vessels.
17The pride of man shall be bowed down
and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18But the idols he shall utterly demolish. (Is. 2:10–18)
Twice in this section, Isaiah uses the noun gabehuth. This word, translated as “haughtiness,” never appears elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible; it is exclusively Isaiah’s word.
In verse 11 we find it in the expression ‘einei gabehuth ’adam, literally, “the eyes of the haughtiness of man,” meaning “the haughty eyes of man.” In verse 17 the same idea is shortened to gabehuth ’adam, “the haughtiness of man.” This noun, gabehuth—used only in these two verses of the Bible—is related to a Hebrew word for “mountain,” gaboah, so that the loftiness of a mountain becomes a symbol of man’s pride and arrogance.
“Everything proud and lofty,” says Isaiah, “everything lifted up,” “the cedars of Lebanon” and “the oaks of Bashan,” “all the high mountains,” “all the exalted hills,” “every high tower” and “every fortified wall” shall be brought low.
The pride indicated here is not abstract; it is something solid. It is more than an attitude of pride; it is something tangible that expresses pride. Isaiah thinks of man’s haughtiness in institutional terms; it takes on economic, political, and military expression.
This pride takes shape in technology and the use of technology in the production of wealth. The imagery here recalls the pride that inspired the Tower of Babel: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:4). In the Judah of his day, the mid-eighth century, Isaiah was witnessing once again the repetition of that ancient pride which led to the division of tongues.
An Even More Dangerous Threat
As a concrete expression of this gabehuth, Isaiah refers to the commercial fleets of Tarshish (Greek Tartessos), the furthermost post of Phoenician mercantile power. This city lay beyond the Straits of Gibraltar.
The Phoenicians called this city Gadir, meaning “walled city.” It appears in Greek mythology as Gadira, a name they explained by ascribing its founding to Hercules, who built it just after performing his tenth labor, the slaying of the monster Geryon.
The Romans later called the place Gades, from which is derived its modern name, Cadiz. It is the oldest continuing city on the Iberian Peninsula, and perhaps the oldest city in southwestern Europe. When the Phoenicians colonized it, it was still an Atlantic island in a large gulf fed by several rivers, most notably the Guadalete and the Guadalquivir. As an island city, Cadiz resembled the original capital of the Phoenicians, Tyre.
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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