With Breath and Bludgeon: Violence, Weaponry, and the Limits of Resistance in Isaiah

Abstract

This article explores how the passages in Isaiah that resist violence are undone by the many passages in the book that promote it. More specifically, the article contends that Isaiah features an ambivalent relationship toward “domination personhood,” a type of personhood reliant on dehumanizing violence. The pervasiveness of images of violence and weaponry in Isaiah relates to the book’s problematic relationship with domination personhood. Nonetheless, if employed as part of a larger strategy of justice-seeking, passages in Isaiah can be used as tools of resistance. This article is also available in Portuguese in the electronic issue on the SAGE website.