Tanakh and Old Testament
Tanakh Torah • Genesis (Brʾeišyt) • Exodus (Šemot) • Leviticus (Wayiqra) • Numbers (Bəmidbar) • Deuteronomy (Devarim) Nevi'im First Prophets • Joshua • Judges • Samuel • Kings Latter Prophets • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Ezekiel Minor Prophets • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Ketuvim Poetic Books • Psalms (Təhillîm) • Proverbs • Job Five Scrolls • Song of Songs • Ruth • Lamentations • Ecclesiastes • Esther Historical Books • Daniel • Ezra-Nehemiah • Chronicles
Judaism portal Old Testament Pentateuch • Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy Historical Books • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • 1 Samuel • 2 Samuel • 1 Kings • 2 Kings • 1 Chronicles • 2 Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther Wisdom and Poetry • Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Songs Prophetic Books Major Prophets • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel Minor Prophets • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Books of the Deuterocanon • 1 Maccabees • 2 Maccabees • Wisdom of Solomon • Wisdom of Sirach • Baruch • Judith • Tobit
Christianity portal	v t e

The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: ספר ישעיה‎) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve. (The order of the subsequent books differs somewhat in Christian Old Testament).

The first 39 chapters prophesy doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God, while the last 27 prophesy the restoration of the nation of Israel and a new creation in God's glorious future kingdom;^[1] this section includes the Songs of the Suffering Servant, four separate passages referring to the nation of Israel, interpreted by Christians as prefiguring the coming of Jesus Christ.

Tradition ascribes authorship of the book to Isaiah son of Amoz, but for over a hundred years scholars have seen it as a compilation of writings from three different periods. The first, termed Proto-Isaiah (chapters 1–39), contains the words of the 8th-century BCE prophet with 7th-century BCE expansions; the second, Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55), is the work of a 6th-century BCE author writing near the end of the Babylonian captivity; and the third, the poetic Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56–66), was composed in Jerusalem shortly after the return from exile, probably by multiple authors.^{[1][2][3][4]:pp. 558–562}

Texts and manuscripts[link]

The oldest surviving manuscripts of Isaiah are two scrolls found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: dating from about a century before the time of Jesus, they are substantially identical with the Masoretic version which forms the basis of most modern English-language versions of the book.^{[5]:pp. 22–23} (Isaiah was the most popular prophet among the Dead Sea collection: 21 copies of the scroll were found in Qumran.)

Composition[link]

A fragment of the Book of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jewish and Christian tradition held that the entire book is by the 8th century BCE prophet Isaiah, but scholars have concluded since the late 19th century that it cannot be by a single author.^[6]:p.1[7] The observations which have led to this are as follows:^[8]

• Prophecies → Passages of Isaiah 40–66 refer to events that did not occur in Isaiah's own lifetime, such as the rise of Babylon as the world power, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the rise of Cyrus the Great, which is taken as evidence of later composition.^[9] R. N. Whybray uses these passages to pinpoint the period of Deutero-Isaiah's activity to 550–539 BCE).^[10]
• Anonymity → Isaiah’s name suddenly stops being used after chapter 39.
• Style → There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40;^[11] numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other.^[12]
• Historical Situation → The historical situation goes through three stages: in chapters 1–39 the prophet speaks of a judgment which will befall the wicked Israelites; in chapters 40–55 the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (587 BCE) is treated as an accomplished fact and the fall of Babylon as an imminent threat; and in chapters 56–66 the fall of Babylon is already in the past.^[12]

Scholars therefore divide the book into three parts:^[13]

• Chapters 1 to 39 (First Isaiah, Proto-Isaiah or Original Isaiah): the work of the original prophet Isaiah, who worked in Jerusalem between 740 and 687 BCE.^[14]
• Chapters 40 to 55 (Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah): by an anonymous author who lived in Babylon near the end of the Babylonian captivity.^[13]:418
• Chapters 56 to 66 (Third Isaiah or Trito-Isaiah): the work of anonymous disciples committed to continuing Isaiah's work in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.^[13]:444 This section includes visions of new heavens and new earth.^[14] (Other scholars suggest that chapters 55–66 were written by Deutero-Isaiah after the fall of Babylon.)^{[4]:p. 561}

This implied sequence of pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic material is somewhat misleading, as significant editing has clearly taken place in all three parts.^[15]:p.183

There is some uncertainty as to how Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah came to be attached to the original Isaiah: the two competing theories are either that Deutero-Isaiah was written as a continuation of Proto-Isaiah, or that it was written separately and became attached to the famous Isaiah later.^[16]

Proto-Isaiah (Isaiah 1–39)[link]

Scroll of Book of Isaiah

Isaiah 1 at Bible Gateway

Structure[link]

The following is from Margaret Barker's commentary on Isaiah in Eerdman's Commentary on the Bible^[17]

• Ch.1: various poems, possibly compiled as an introduction to the final form of the book
• Ch. 2–12: oracles about Judah and Jerusalem reflecting the late 8th century expansion of Assyria into Syria-Palestine
• Ch. 13–23: oracles against the nations
• Ch. 24–27: the "Isaiah apocalypse"
• Ch. 28–31: more oracles about the 8th century crisis
• Ch. 32–33: oracles about kingship
• Ch. 34: oracles against Edom (a kingdom bordering Judah to the south)
• Ch. 35: oracle of salvation for Israel
• Ch. 36–39: stories about Isaiah during the Assyrian crisis

Authorship and historical background[link]

Isaiah's first significant acts as a prophet occurred when Judah, under king Ahaz, faced invasion from Israel and Aram Damascus (Syria) after refusing to join them in a revolt against Assyria, the dominant imperial power of the age. Ahaz, against Isaiah's advice to seek the protection of God, invited the Assyrians to protect him, turning Judah into an Assyrian vassal. Israel (the northern kingdom) was consequently destroyed by the Assyrians. On the death of Ahaz, c.715 BCE, his son Hezekiah followed a policy which Isaiah saw as dangerous, waging war on the Philistine cities and on Edom even though territory under direct Assyrian control (i.e., the former kingdom of Israel) now came to within a few miles of Jerusalem. Isaiah's warning that Judah would meet the same fate as Israel was ignored. Eventually Hezekiah revolted against Assyria, and as Isaiah had predicted the country was ravaged by Assyrian armies. Hezekiah then took Isaiah's advice and threw himself on the protection of God, and Jerusalem was saved.^{[15]:pp. 100–107}

Content and structure[link]

Isaiah 2:4 is taken as an unofficial mission statement by the United Nations. (Isaiah Wall in Ralph Bunche Park, a New York City park near UN headquarters)

Proto-Isaiah is divided between verse and prose passages: a currently popular theory is that the verse passages represent the prophecies of the original Isaiah, while the prose sections are "sermons" on his texts composed at the court of Josiah, at the end of the 7th century BCE.^[5]:p.4 Chapters 7, 21, and 36–39 appear also in 2nd Kings: it is not known whether the author of Isaiah borrowed them from Kings, or vice-versa.^[5]:p.3 Chapters 24–27, known as the "Isaiah Apocalypse",^[18][19] are usually thought to be the work of an author who lived long after Isaiah.^[5]:p.4

Chapters 1–5 and 28–29 prophesy judgment against Judah. Judah thinks itself safe because of its covenant relationship with God. However, God tells Judah (through Isaiah) that the covenant cannot protect them when they have broken it by the worship of other gods and by acts of injustice and cruelty, which oppose God's law. Chapter 6 describes Isaiah's call to be a prophet of God. The throne scene at the opening of chapter 6 is noteworthy for its depiction of an idealised temple with singing seraphs. Chapters 7–23 contain prophecies against Judah's enemies. Chapters 24–34, while too complex to characterize easily, are primarily concerned with prophecies of a "Messiah", a person anointed or given power by God, and of the Messiah's kingdom, where justice and righteousness will reign. Chapters 36–39 concern Hezekiah's triumph over the Assyrians and his faith in God. It ends with a visit to Hezekiah by envoys from a rebel prince of Babylon, and Isaiah's words prophesying the Babylonian exile.

Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40–55)[link]

Authorship and historical background[link]

Two crises occurred between Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. The first was the late 7th century Deuteronomistic reform of official Judean religion under king Josiah, who banned many elements of the old polytheistic cult from the Temple, and the sudden collapse of Assyria and the rise of Babylon to take its place; the second was exile of the royal court, the priests and other members of the ruling elite following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem c.586 BCE. Deutero-Isaiah delivered his prophesies to this group, which was actually quite small – the majority of the population stayed in Judah.

By the middle of the 6th century the king of Babylon was Nabonidus. He alienated the powerful priests of Marduk, the official god of Babylon, by taking up the worship of Sin, the god of Harran (a city in northern Mesopotamia), absenting himself for long periods from the city and neglecting crucial ceremonies. He also neglected the rise of powerful new enemies, first the Medes, then the Persians under Cyrus the Great. In 550 BCE Cyrus defeated the Medes, and had allied himself with the priests of Marduk, and the fall of Babylon to the Persians became a real possibility. These events date Deutero-Isaiah's earlier prophecies. Chapters 49–55 probably come from a slightly later period, after Babylon had fallen to Cyrus and the return to Jerusalem became a real possibility.^[20]:p.524

Content and structure[link]

Deutero-Isaiah prophesies the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Babylonians and their restoration in the land promised to them by God. It affirms that the Jews are indeed the chosen people of God and Yahweh is both their national god and the God of the universe (46:9). Cyrus is named as the messiah who will overthrow Babylon and allow the return of Israel (chapter 45:1). The remaining chapters are a vision of the future glory of Zion. A "suffering servant" is referred to (esp. ch. 53). Christians have traditionally interpreted it as a prophecy of Jesus as the Christ (i.e., Messiah).^[21]

Chapters 40–55 fall into two parts, with 40–48 dealing with the rise of Cyrus, while 49–55 are focused on Zion as the wife whom God has renounced and then taken back. The Cyrus chapters are similar in style and theme to the Cyrus cylinder, and it is possible that Deutero-Isaiah was influenced by the propaganda of Cyrus and his supporters, who claimed that the god Marduk had chosen Cyrus to liberate Babylon.^[20]:p.524

Themes[link]

The Servant of Yahweh[link]

Second Isaiah contains four passages of “songs of the servant of Yahweh.”

1) 1st / Isa 42:1–4 The servant is the chosen one, given the Spirit to establish justice through the world

2) 2nd / Isa 49:1–6 The servant speaks to the entire world and identifies himself as one called by God before birth

3) 3rd / Isa 50:4–11 The servant declares his confidence in divine help even in the face of physical persecution

4) 4th / Isa 52:13–53:12 The suffering of the servant; how despite his innocence the servant was oppressed “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,” but his suffering is surrogate like a scapegoat.

The "servant of Yahweh" can be interpreted as any of three plausible characters: the first is an individual chosen by God, like Moses, Hezekiah, Josiah, Cyrus, etc., who is identified as a messianic figure of the future. The second is Israel itself as a personified nation, as shown in Isaiah 49:3 and the third is the remnant of the First Isaiah, the restored Israel from the exile (Isa 46:3).^[22]

Monotheism[link]

Isaiah 44:6 contains the first clear statement of monotheism in the Hebrew scriptures: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god". In Isaiah 44:09–20 this is developed into a satire on the making and worship of idols, mocking the foolishness of the carpenter who worships the idol that he himself has carved. While Yahweh had shown his superiority to other gods before, in Second Isaiah he becomes the sole God of the world. This model of monotheism became the defining characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism, and became the basis for Christianity and Islam.^[23]

A new Exodus[link]

A central theme in Second Isaiah is that of a new Exodus – the return of the exiled people Israel from Babylon to Jerusalem. The author imagines a ritualistic return to Zion (Judah) led by Yahweh. The importance of this theme is indicated by its placement at the beginning and end of Second Isaiah (40:3–5, 55:12–13). This new Exodus is repeatedly linked with Israel's Exodus from Egypt to Canaan under divine guidance, but with new elements. These links include the following:

• The original Exodus participants left "in great haste" (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3), whereas the participants in this new Exodus will "not go out in great haste" (Isa 52:12).
• The land between Egypt and Canaan of the first Exodus was a "great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland" (Deut 8:15), but in this new Exodus, the land between Babylon (Mesopotamia) and the Promised Land will be transformed into a paradise, where the mountains will be lowered and the valleys raised to create level road (Isa 40:4).
• In the first Exodus, water was provided by God, but scarcely. In the new Exodus, God will "make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water" (Isa 41:18).^[24]

Trito-Isaiah (Isaiah 56–66)[link]

Isaiah 56 at Bible Gateway

Authorship and historical background[link]

Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. One of his first acts was to allow those peoples exiled by the Babylonians (the Jews, among other captive peoples) to return to their respective homes. The Jews, or at least some of them, returned to Jerusalem, and by 515 BCE had rebuilt the Temple. The return, however, was not without problems of its own: the returnees found themselves in conflict with those Jews who had remained in the country and who now owned the land, and there were further conflicts over the form of government that should be set up. This was the background to Trito-Isaiah, who was probably not a single author but a group under the influence of Deutero-Isaiah and his followers.

Content and structure[link]

Trito-Isaiah is not a unity: the majority of scholars regard it as an anthology of about twelve passages, differing in date and/or purpose,^[25]:p.394 and it may include material from the First Temple period.^[15]:p.183 The contents are correspondingly varied: a confession of sin and a plea to God not to maintain his anger forever (ch.63:7–64:11); a poem on the theme that God has no need of a temple because Heaven is his throne and Earth his footstool (Isaiah 66:1–2); verses setting out conditions for admission to the community; complaints of sin, incompetence and paganism; and distinctions between the "righteous" and the "sinners", foreshadowing the categories used in much later Judaism and early Christianity.^{[25]:pp. 394–5}

Influence on Christianity[link]

Peace, 1896 etching by William Strutt, based upon Isaiah 11:6,7

Isaiah is the most quoted of all the books of the Hebrew Bible outside of the Torah.^[26] Of notable importance is Isaiah 7:14, where the prophet is assuring king Ahaz that God will save Judah from the invading armies of Israel and Syria; the sign that will prove this is the forthcoming birth of a child called Emmanuel, "God With Us". The Hebrew of the original callst the child's mother a "young woman", but the Greek-speaking 1st century CE author of Matthew 1:23, using the Hellenistic Greek translation of the Hebrew sacred texts, interpreted it as a prophecy that the Messiah would be born of a virgin.

Another important passage was Isaiah 40:3–5, which imagines the exiled Israel proceeding home to Jerusalem on a newly-constructed road, led by the victorious Yahweh who has conquered the gods of Babylon. The vision was taken up by all four Gospels and applied to John the Baptist and Jesus, leading God's people out of exile.^[27]

Isaiah 52:13–53:12, the fourth of the "Suffering Servant" songs, was interpreted by the earliest Christians as a prophecy of the death and exaltation of Jesus, a role which Jesus himself seems to have accepted (Luke 4:17–21).^{[20]:pp. 534–5}

Jehovah's Witnesses adoption of Isaiah 43:10–12[link]

The Bible-based name Jehovah's Witnesses identifies these Christians as a 'people for God's name.' The name Jehovah's witnesses, based on Isaiah 43:10–12, was adopted in 1931. At Isaiah 43:10, as per New World Translation reads: "'You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'even my servant whom I have chosen.'"

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

Commentaries on Isaiah[link]

[edit] General commentaries

• Barker, Margaret (2003). "Isaiah". In James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA489&dq=Barker+the+book+of+Isaiah#v=onepage&q=Barker%20the%20book%20of%20Isaiah%20was%20not%20written%20by%20one%20person&f=false. 
• Broyles, Craig C. and Evans, Craig A., ed. (1997). Writing and reading the scroll of Isaiah: Studies of an interpretative tradition. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum. 70,1. Leiden, New York, Kŏln: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10936-6. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=CkTBGITvMQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Writing+and+reading+the+scroll+of+Isaiah#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Childs, Brevard S. (2000). Isaiah. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-22143-2. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=yTxixTkYagoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Childs,+Brevard+S.++Isaiah#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

[edit] Proto-Isaiah (Isaiah 1–39)

• Sweeney, Marvin A (1996). Isaiah 1–39: with an introduction to prophetic literature. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com/books?id=BdSzj9-SZv0C&pg=PR3&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2000). Isaiah 1-39: A new translation with introduction and commentary. Anchor Bible. 19. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-49716-4. 

[edit] Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40–55)

• Goldingay, John (2005). The message of Isaiah 40–55: a literary-theological commentary. Continuum International Publishing Group. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=KL_JPUaUensC&pg=PA20&dq=Deuteronomy+40-55#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2002). Isaiah 40–55: A new translation with introduction and commentary. Anchor Bible. 19A. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-49717-2. 
• Whybray, R.N (1983). The Second Isaiah. T&T Clarke. http://books.google.ca/books?id=QMENImo6ISYC&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

[edit] Trito-Isaiah (Isaiah 56–66)

• Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2003). Isaiah 56–66: A new translation with introduction and commentary. Anchor Bible. 19B. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50174-9. 
• Smith, Paul Allan (1995). Rhetoric and redaction in Trito-Isaiah: the structure, growth, and authorship of Isaiah 56–66. Leiden and New York: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10306-6. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=xeVIBodlZLgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Trito-Isaiah#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

General works[link]

• Brettler, Marc Zvi (2005). How to read the Bible. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0-8276-0775-0. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=39nQafdJ_ssC&dq=How+to+read+the+Bible++Marc+Zvi+Brettler&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Brueggemann, Walter (2003). An introduction to the Old Testament: the canon and Christian imagination. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox. ISBN 978-0-664-22412-7. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=WvX4ZlRUxwYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=An+introduction+to+the+Old+Testament+Brueggemann#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996). The Hebrew Bible. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-33702-1. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=esHK1XA7_8UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Hebrew+Bible++Dan+Cohn-Sherbok#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Le Sor, William Sanford et al., ed. (1996). Old Testament survey: the message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-3788-3. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6wSWpZmmlAoC&dq=Old+Testament+survey:+the+message,+form,+and+background+of+the+Old+Testament&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• Lemche, Niels Peter (2008). The Old Testament between theology and history: a critical survey. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-23245-0. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RWqLVc7ccG0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Old+Testament+between+theology+and+history:+a+critical+survey#v=onepage&q=Isaiah&f=false. 

• Levin, Christoph (2005). The Old testament: a brief introduction. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11394-7. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7geSuBAQ1e0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Old+testament:+a+brief+introduction+Christoph+Levin#v=onepage&q&f=falseLevin,. 

• McKenzie, Steven L.; Graham, M.P. (1998). The Hebrew Bible today: an introduction to critical issues. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-25652-X. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=owwhpmIVgSAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Hebrew+Bible+today:+an+introduction+to+critical+issues#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Isaiah

Translations[link]

• Book of Isaiah (Hebrew) side-by-side with English)
• Book of Isaiah (English translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org)
• Bible Gateway

Websites[link]

• Introduction to the book of Isaiah from the NIV Study Bible
• Was She, or Was She not "A Virgin"?, Messiah Truth

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2011)

Isaiah
Prophet Isaiah; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (c. 1904)
Prophet
Born	8th Century B.C. Judah (?)
Died	7th Century B.C.
Honored in	Judaism Roman Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Orthodox Church Lutheranism Islam[1] Armenian Apostolic Church
Feast	May 9 [2]

Isaiah ( /aɪˈzeɪ.ə/ or UK /aɪˈzaɪ.ə/;^[2] Hebrew: יְשַׁעְיָהוּ, Modern Yeshayahu Tiberian Yəšạʻyā́hû ; Greek: Ἠσαΐας, Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation"^[3]) was a prophet who lived in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.^[4][5] 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 latter prophets.^[6]

Biography[link]

This section improperly uses one or more religious texts as primary sources without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources, with multiple points of view.

Russian icon of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century (iconostasis of Transfiguration Church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).

Isaiah is not mentioned anywhere outside of the Bible^[7]. It is stated in the first verse of the Book of Isaiah that he prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah (Isaiah 1:1). 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 until 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 as long as sixty-four years.

Isaiah's wife was called "the prophetess" (Isaiah 8:3), either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), or simply because she was the wife of "the prophet" (Isaiah 38:1). The second interpretation, that it was simply an honorary title, "Mrs. Prophet" as it were, is likely.^[8] They had two sons, naming one Shear-Jashub, meaning "A remnant shall return"Isaiah 7:3 and the younger, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning, "Spoil quickly, plunder speedily."Isaiah 8:3

In early youth, Isaiah may have been moved by the invasion of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15:19); 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 (2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chronicles 28:5–6). 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 (2 Kings 15:29, 16:9; 1 Chronicles 5:26).

Isaiah receives his vision of the Lord's house. A stained glass window at St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston, SC

Isaiah, by Michelangelo, (c. 1508-1512, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican City).

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" (2 Kings 18:7), entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt (Isaiah 30:2–4). 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 (2 Kings 18:14–16). But after a brief interval war broke out again, and again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem (Isaiah 36:2–22; 37:8). Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians (37:1–7), whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread before the LORD" (37:14).

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."^[9]

The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful (2 Chr 32:23–29). 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.

In Christianity[link]

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395), believed that the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah) "knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel." 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."^[10]

In Islam[link]

Although Isaiah is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an or in the authenticated sayings of Prophet Muhammed, some Muslim sources have accepted him as a prophet.^[11] Some Muslim scholars, such as Ibn Kathir and Kisa'i, reproduced Jewish traditions, transmitted through early Jewish converts to Islam, regarding Isaiah. Such Old Testament stories, which are not confirmed by the Quran or prophetic hadeeth, are referred to as Isra'iliyyah, and are not considered strong enough to be used as evidence in Islamic law. Isaiah is mentioned as a prophet in Ibn kathir's Stories of the Prophets and the modern writers Muhammad Asad and Abdullah Yusuf Ali^[12] accepted Isaiah as a true Hebrew prophet, who preached to the Israelites following the death of King David. Isaiah is well known in Muslim exegesis and literature, notably for his predictions of the coming of Jesus and Muhammad.^[13] Isaiah's narrative in Muslim literature can roughly be divided into three sections. The first part establishes Isaiah as a prophet of Israel during the reign of Hezekiah; the second part focuses on Isaiah's actions during the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib; and the third part is primarily focused upon Isaiah warning the people of coming doom.^[14]

Muslim exegesis preserves a tradition, which parallels that of the Hebrew Bible, which states that Hezekiah was the king that ruled over Jerusalem during Isaiah's time. Hezekiah obeyed and gave an ear to what Isaiah advised him but, nonetheless, this was a turbulent time for Israel.^[15] Tradition, however, maintains that Hezekiah was a righteous man and that the turbulence increased after Hezekiah's death. After the death of the king, Isaiah told the people to not forsake God and he warned Israel that the people must cease from their persistent sin and acts of disobedience. Muslim tradition maintains that the unrighteous people of Israel were angered and sought to kill Isaiah.^[15] In a death which resembles that attributed to Isaiah in Lives of the Prophets, Muslim exegesis recounts that Isaiah was martyred by Israelites by being sawed in half.^[15]

Rabbinic literature[link]

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).^[16]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Church, Brooke Peters (1953). The Private Lives of the Prophets and the Times in Which They Lived. New York: Rinehart. 
• Cohon, Beryl D. (1939). The Prophets: Their Personalities and Teachings. New York: Scribner. 
• Herbert, Arthur Sumner (1975). The book of the prophet Isaiah : Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-08624-8. 
• Herbert, Arthur Sumner (1975). The book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapters 40-66. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20721-5. 
• Kraeling, Emil G. (1969). The Prophets. Chicago: Rand McNally. 
• Miscall, Peter D. (1993). Isaiah. Sheffield, England: JSOT Press. ISBN 1-85075-435-7. 
• Quinn-Miscall, Peter D. (2001). Reading Isaiah : poetry and vision. Louisville: Westminster Press. ISBN 0-664-22369-9. 
• Phillips, J.B. (1963). Four Prophets, Amos, Hosea, First Isaiah, Micha: A Modern Translation from the Hebrew. New York: Macmillan. 
• Sawyer, John F.A. (1996). The fifth gospel : Isaiah in the history of Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44007-6. 
• Scott, R.B.Y. (1968). The Relevance of the Prophets. Macmillan: London. 
• Smith, J.M. Powis (1941). The Prophets and Their Times. Chicago: University of Chicago. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Isaiah

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Isaiah

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Isaiah

• Sermons on Isaiah
• From Faith to Faith, Chapter IV - Prophecy (A study of Isaiah of Jerusalem)
• Isaiah (Isaias) at the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Avraham Gileadi's new translation and commentary on Isaiah
• Prophet Isaiah Orthodox icon and synaxarion

This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.