ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the poetic and theological potentials of the metaphor of 'the way'. The richness and variety of metaphors in Isaiah 40-55 indicate that much more than a historical return from Babylon is at stake. Several critical voices have emerged against the traditional interpretation that Deutero-Isaiah proclaims a new exodus out of Babylon. The criticism that began to appear in the 1970s mainly derives from the assumption that Deutero-Isaiah does not address the exiles in Babylon, but by contrast the people in Jerusalem. The widespread allegorical approach of ancient interpreters is, of course, not a proof that the biblical narratives were composed as allegories. Due to the creative and changing nature of language, metaphors and the function of them are hardly stable throughout the centuries of interpretation. Their meaning is complex and readers can sense and elaborate on different aspects of their content.
