Book excerpt: In this lucid study, Berges interprets the scroll of Isaiah as a 'literal cathedral', written by many hands and empowered by the experience of sorrow and disaster, liberation and joy. Methodologically, the book combines synchronic and diachronic perspectives and paves the way to a fruitful conversation between them. The vast reception history of the Book of Isaiah in the Septuagint, the New Testament, and in rabbinic and Christian traditions, as well as in painting and music, is also illustrated by some of the most illuminating examples.