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Chapter 5
CONCLUSIONS
The two parts of this study hang together. In the first part I showed
that many of the structural studies undertaken in current scholarship
are carried out with insufficient regard for academic rigour. The
strict criteria advocated by a number of scholars are almost universally
ignored. I suggested that one significant way of minimizing the
subjective element in structural studies would be to examine all occurrences
of repeated words. I showed beyond reasonable doubt that, if I
had taken notice of these criteria, I should not have been able to
present 'Isaiah 67' as a well-structured whole.
I also suggested that the units to be investigated should be decided
without regard to structural considerations, and as far as possible,
conform to the results agreed by mainline biblical scholarship.
Words were to be examined for their distinctiveness and potential
for acting as markers for the literary structure of a text, and this was
done without regard for the particular structure of the unit under
consideration. I showed that many studies today make use of very
common words. 1
I noted the tendency for scholars to choose convenient labels for the
sub-sections of a unit, so that an apparent regularity of structure was
achieved which did not stand up to close scrutiny. 2 1 resolved to avoid
subjective labelling, and to rely on the content of the unit in question
as explicitly stated in its own words.
It was easy to show that the application of these criteria would have
removed much of the subjective element in current studies. It seemed
likely that scholars studying the same text would no longer be able to
produce conflicting results. 3
1. P. 32 and n. 2; pp.45, 48.
2. See, e.g., pp. 43-44, 50, 169-71, 180, 181-82, 190-91, 195-97.
3. Pp. 59-61.