(1782,
Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery).]]
Isaiah ( ; Greek: , Ēsaïās ; Aramaic/Syriac/Assyrian: ܐܫܥܝܐ , Isha`ya ; , Ašʿiyāʾ ; "Yahweh is salvation"; (US), (UK)) lived approximately 2700 years ago and was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah. Part of his message was: "The land will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word." (Isaiah 24:3). Isaiah therefore warns the people of Israel to turn back to Yahweh. Isaiah was sensitive to the common people's problems and was very outspoken regarding their treatment by the aristocracy.
Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed (although not the earliest) of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Christians believe that Isaiah prophesied the virgin birth of Jesus Christ (, King James version):
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus refer to the book of Isaiah.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395), believes that the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah) "knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel." Saint Jerome (c. 342–420) also lauds the Prophet Esias, saying, "He was more of an Evangelist than a Prophet, because he described all of the Mysteries of the Church of Christ so vividly that you would assume he was not prophesying about the future, but rather was composing a history of past events."
Islam usually regards Isaiah as a Prophet (although he is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an). Muslims believe that he was one of the many prophets to have prophesied to the Jews after the reign of King David. He is said to have prophesied about the coming of prophet Muhammad.
Biography
.]]
Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (), the kings of Judah. Uzziah reigned fifty-two years in the middle of the 8th century BC, and Isaiah must have begun his career a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the 740s BC. Isaiah lived till the fourteenth year of Hezekiah (who died 698 BC), and may have been contemporary for some years with Manasseh. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for the long period of at least sixty-four years.
Isaiah's wife was called "the prophetess" (), either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like Deborah () and Huldah (), or simply because she was the wife of "the prophet" (). The second interpretation, that it was simply an honorary title, "Mrs. Prophet" as it were, is likely. They had two sons, naming one Jasub, meaning "A remnant shall return" and the younger, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning, "Spoil quickly, plunder speedily."
In early youth, Isaiah may have been moved by the invasion of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-Pileser III (); and again, twenty years later, when he had already entered on his office, by the invasion of Tiglath-Pileser and his career of conquest. Ahaz, king of Judah, at this crisis refused to co-operate with the kings of Israel and Syria in opposition to the Assyrians, and was on that account attacked and defeated by Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel (; ). Ahaz, thus humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of Tiglath-Pileser against Israel and Syria. The consequence was that Rezin and Pekah were conquered and many of the people carried captive to Assyria (, ; ).
, (c. 1317–1327, National Gallery, London).]] Soon after this Shalmaneser V determined wholly to subdue the kingdom of Israel, Samaria was taken and destroyed (722 BC). So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was unmolested by the Assyrian power; but on his accession to the throne, Hezekiah, who was encouraged to rebel "against the king of Assyria" (), entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt (). This led the king of Assyria to threaten the king of Judah, and at length to invade the land. Sennacherib (701 BC) led a powerful army into Judah. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians (). But after a brief interval war broke out again, and again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem (; ). Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians (), whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread before the LORD" ().
icon of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century (iconostasis of Transfiguration Church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).]]
According to the account in Kings (and its derivative account in Chronicles) the judgment of God now fell on the Assyrian army and wiped out 180,000 of its men. "Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made no more expeditions against either southern Palestine or Egypt."
The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful (). Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh, but the time and manner of his death are not specified in either the Bible or recorded history. There is a tradition (reported in both the Martyrdom of Isaiah and the Lives of the Prophets) that he suffered martyrdom by Manasseh due to pagan reaction.
Isaiah in Islamic belief
Most Muslim scholars, both classical (
Ibn Ishaq,
Ibn Kathir) and modern (
Muhammad Asad,
Abdullah Yusuf Ali) accept
Isaiah as a true
Hebrew prophet, who preached to the Israelites following the death of King
David. The
Qur'an states: }} Thus, in accordance with belief, Muslims generally accept Isaiah as a Hebrew prophet of the 8th Century B.C., some of whose writings and incidents were later recorded in the
Book of Isaiah. The
Book of Isaiah, in
Muslim belief, essentially represents the
hadith of Isaiah, as it contains portions of his sayings and teachings. However, Muslims feel that, like the rest of the
Hebrew Bible, the words of the Book have been changed over time and now represent a corrupted documentation of Isaiah's life.
Rabbinic literature
According to the Rabbinic literature, Isaiah was a descendant of the imperial house of
Judah and
Tamar (
Sotah 10b). He was the son of Amoz (
not to be confused with Prophet Amos), who was the brother of
King Amaziah of Juda. (
Talmud tractate
Megillah 15a).
See also
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
References
External links
Sermons on Isaiah Isaiah (Isaias) at the Catholic Encyclopedia Avraham Gileadi's new translation and commentary on Isaiah Prophet Isaiah Orthodox icon and synaxarion
Category:8th-century BC people Category:Hebrew Bible people Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Category:Old Testament saints
