The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet",[12] but the exact relationship between the Book of Isaiah and the actual prophet Isaiah is complicated. The traditional view is that all 66 chapters of the book of Isaiah were written by one man, Isaiah, possibly in two periods between 740 BC andc. 686 BC, separated by approximately 15 years.
Another widely held view suggests that parts of the first half of the book (chapters 1–39) originated with the historical prophet, interspersed with prose commentaries written in the time of KingJosiah 100 years later, and that the remainder of the book dates from immediately before and immediately after the end of the 6th-century BCexile in Babylon (almost two centuries after the time of the historical prophet), and that perhaps these later chapters represent the work of an ongoing school of prophets who prophesied in accordance with his prophecies.[a]
The first verse of the Book of Isaiah states that Isaiah prophesied during the reigns ofUzziah (or Azariah),Jotham,Ahaz, andHezekiah, the kings ofJudah.[13] Uzziah's reign was 52 years in the middle of the 8th century BC, and Isaiah must have begun his ministry a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the740s BC. He may have been contemporary for some years withManasseh. Thus, Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as 64 years.[14]
According to some modern interpretations, Isaiah's wife was called "the prophetess",[15] either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, likeDeborah[16] andHuldah,[17] or simply because she was the "wife of the prophet".[14][18] They had two sons, naming the elderShear-Jashub, meaning "A remnant shall return",[19] and the youngerMaher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning, "Quickly to spoils, plunder speedily."[20]
Soon after this,Shalmaneser V determined to subdue the northern Kingdom of Israel, taking over and destroyingSamaria and beginning theAssyrian captivity. So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was untouched by the Assyrian power. But when Hezekiah gained the throne, he was encouraged to rebel "against the king of Assyria",[21] and entered into an alliance with the king ofEgypt.[22] The king of Assyria threatened the king of Judah, and at length invaded the land.Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant brought his powerful army into Judah. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians.[23] But after a brief interval, war broke out again. Again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem.[24] Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians,[25] whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread beforethe LORD".[26][14]
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus said GOD, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed, concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria—
this is the word that GOD has spoken concerning him:Fair Maiden Zion despises you,She mocks at you;Fair Jerusalem shakesHer head at you. Whom have you blasphemed and reviled?Against whom made loud your voiceAnd haughtily raised your eyes?
According to the account in2 Kings 19 (and its derivative account in2 Chronicles 32) an angel of God fell on the Assyrian army and 185,000 of its men were killed in one night. "LikeXerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made no more expeditions against either Judea or Egypt."[14][28]
The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful. Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign ofManasseh. The time and manner of his death are not specified in either theBible or other primary sources.[14] TheTalmud says that he suffered martyrdom by beingsawn in two under the orders of Manasseh.[29]
The book of Isaiah, along with the book of Jeremiah, is distinctive in the Hebrew bible for its direct portrayal of the "wrath of the LORD" as presented, for example, in Isaiah 9:19 stating "Through the wrath ofthe LORDof hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire."[30]
Representation of the Prophet Isaiah illustrating a 14th-century prose translation of the Gospels
TheAscension of Isaiah, apseudepigraphical Christian text dated to sometime between the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 3rd, gives a detailed story of Isaiah confronting an evil false prophet and ending with Isaiah beingmartyred – none of which is attested in the original Biblical account.
Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395) believed that the Prophet Isaiah "knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel".Jerome (c. 342–420) also lauds the Prophet Isaiah, 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."[31] Of specific note are thesongs of the Suffering Servant, which Christians say are a direct prophetic revelation of the nature, purpose, and detail of the death of Jesus Christ.
The Book of Isaiah is quoted many times by New Testament writers.[32] TheGospel of John says that Isaiah "saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him."[33]
TheBook of Mormon quotes Jesus Christ as stating that "great are the words of Isaiah", and that all things prophesied by Isaiah have been and will be fulfilled.[36] The Book of Mormon andDoctrine and Covenants also quote Isaiah more than any other prophet from the Old Testament.[37] Additionally, members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider the founding of the church byJoseph Smith in the 19th century to be a fulfillment ofIsaiah 11, the translation of the Book of Mormon to be a fulfillment ofIsaiah 29,[38] and the building of Latter-day Saint temples as a fulfillment ofIsaiah 2:2.[39]
According to Muslim scholars, Isaiah prophesied the coming ofJesus andMuhammad, although the claim is disputed by other religious scholars.[43] Isaiah's narrative in Islamic literature can be divided into three sections. The first establishes Isaiah as a prophet of Judea during the reign ofHezekiah; the second relates Isaiah's actions during thesiege of Jerusalem in 597 BC by Sennacherib; and the third warns the nation of coming doom.[44][41] Paralleling the Hebrew Bible,[45] Islamic tradition states that Hezekiah was king inJerusalem during Isaiah's time. Hezekiah heard and obeyed Isaiah's advice, but could not quell the turbulence in Israel.[46] This tradition maintains that Hezekiah was a righteous man and that the turbulence worsened after him. After the death of the king, Isaiah told the people not to forsake God, and warned Israel to cease from its persistent sin and disobedience. Muslim tradition maintains that the unrighteous of Judea in their anger sought to kill Isaiah.[46]
In a death that resembles that attributed to Isaiah inLives of the Prophets, Muslim exegesis recounts that Isaiah was martyred by Israelites by being sawn asunder.[46][47]
In the courts ofal-Ma'mun, the seventhAbbasid caliph,Ali al-Ridha, the great-grandson of Muhammad and prominent scholar of his era, was questioned by theExilarch to prove through theTorah that both Jesus and Muhammad were prophets. Among his several proofs, al-Ridha references theBook of Isaiah, stating "Sha'ya (Isaiah), the Prophet, said in the Torah concerning what you and your companions say 'I have seen two riders to whom (He) illuminated earth. One of them was on a donkey and the other was on a camel. Who is the rider of the donkey, and who is the rider of the camel?'" The Exilarch was unable to answer with certainty. Al-Ridha goes on to state that "As for the rider of the donkey, he is 'Isa (Jesus); and as for the rider of the camel, he is Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family. Do you deny that this (statement) is in the Torah?" The Rabbi responds "No, I do not deny it."[48]
Allusions inJewishrabbinic literature to Isaiah contain various expansions, elaborations and inferences that go beyond what is presented in the text of the Bible.
While Isaiah, says theMidrash, was walking up and down in his study he heardGod saying "Whom shall I send?" Then Isaiah said "Here am I; send me!" Thereupon God said to him," My children are troublesome and sensitive; if you are ready to be insulted and even beaten by them, you may accept My message; if not, you would better renounce it".[51] Isaiah accepted the mission, and was the most forbearing, as well as the most patriotic, among the prophets, always defending Israel and imploring forgiveness for its sins. When Isaiah said "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips",[52] he was rebuked by God for speaking in such terms of His people.[53]
Further accounts state that Isaiah was actually the maternal grandfather ofKing Manasseh,[54] which would makeQueen Consort Hephzibah from2 Kings 21:1 his daughter andKing Hezekiah his son-in-law. Hephzibah's name (lit. 'my delight (is) in her') was used as a symbolic name forZion following its restoration to the favor ofYahweh inIsaiah 62.[55]
It is related in theTalmud that RabbiSimeon ben Azzai found in Jerusalem an account wherein it was written thatKing Manasseh killed Isaiah. King Manasseh said to Isaiah "Moses, your master, said 'No man may see God and live';[56] but you have said 'I saw the Lord seated upon his throne'";[57] and went on to point out other contradictions—as between Deuteronomy[58] and Isaiah 40;[59] between Exodus 33[60] and 2 Kings[61] Isaiah thought: "I know that he will not accept my explanations; why should I increase his guilt?" He then uttered thetetragrammaton, a cedar-tree opened, and Isaiah disappeared within it. King Manasseh ordered the cedar to be sawn asunder, and when the saw reached his mouth Isaiah died; thus was he punished for having said "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips".[62]
A somewhat different version of this legend is given in theJerusalem Talmud.[63] According to that version Isaiah, fearing King Manasseh, hid himself in a cedar-tree, but his presence was betrayed by thefringes of his garment, and King Manasseh caused the tree to be sawn in half. A passage of theTargum to Isaiah quoted by Jolowicz[64] states that when Isaiah fled from his pursuers and took refuge in the tree, and the tree was sawn in half, the prophet's blood spurted forth. The legend of Isaiah's martyrdom spread to the Arabs[65] and to the Christians as, for example,Athanasius thebishop of Alexandria (c. 318) wrote, "Isaiah was sawn asunder".[66]
In February 2018, archaeologistEilat Mazar announced that she and her team had discovered a small seal impression which reads "[belonging] to Isaiah nvy" (could be reconstructed and read as "[belonging] to Isaiah the prophet") during theOphel excavations, just south of theTemple Mount inJerusalem.[67] The tinybulla was found "only 10 feet away" from where an intact bulla bearing the inscription "[belonging] to King Hezekiah of Judah" was discovered in 2015 by the same team.[68] Although the name "Isaiah" in thePaleo-Hebrew alphabet is unmistakable, the damage on the bottom left part of the seal causes difficulties in confirming the word "prophet" or a name "Navi", casting some doubts whether this seal really belongs to the prophet Isaiah.[69]
^Wells, John C. (1990). "Isaiah".Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 378.ISBN978-0-582-05383-0.
^Rippin, A., "S̲h̲aʿyā", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs.
^New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale Press, Wheaton, IL, 1987.
^The Scofield Study Bible III, NKJV, Oxford University Press
^De Jong, Matthijs J.,Isaiah Among The Ancient Near Eastern Prophets: A Comparative Study of the Earliest Stages of the Isaiah Tradition and the Neo-Assyrian Prophecies, BRILL, 2007,pp. 13–17
^"Yevamot 49b:8".www.sefaria.org.Isaiah said to himself: I know him, i.e., Manasseh, that he will not accept whatever explanation that I will say to him to resolve my prophecies with the words of the Torah. And even if I say it to him, I will make him into an intentional transgressor since he will kill me anyway. Therefore, in order to escape, he uttered a divine name and was swallowed within a cedar tree. Manasseh's servants brought the cedar tree and sawed through it in order to kill him. When the saw reached to where his mouth was, Isaiah died. He died specifically at this point due to that which he said: "In the midst of a people of unclean lips, I dwell" (Isaiah 6:5). He was punished for referring to the Jewish people in a derogatory manner.
^abJane Dammen McAuliffeEncyclopaedia of the Qurʾān Volume 2 Georgetown University, Washington DC p. 562-563
^The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Note.2173 to17:4: "The Book is the revelation given to the Children of Israel. Here it seems to refer to the burning words of Prophets like Isaiah. For example, see Isaiah, chap, 24. or Isaiah 5:20–30, or Isaiah 3:16–26."
^"Isaiah’s Signature Uncovered in Jerusalem: Evidence of the prophet Isaiah?" By Megan Sauter. Bible History Daily. Biblical Archeology Society. 22 Feb 2018. Quote by Mazar: "Because the bulla has been slightly damaged at end of the wordnvy, it is not known if it originally ended with the Hebrew letteraleph, which would have resulted in the Hebrew word for "prophet" and would have definitively identified the seal as the signature of the prophet Isaiah. The absence of this final letter, however, requires that we leave open the possibility that it could just be the name Navi. The name of Isaiah, however, is clear."
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