Isaiah

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Isaiah (Hebrew: יְשַׁעְיָהוּ, Standard Yəšaʿyáhu Tiberian Yəšaʿăyāhû ; Greek: Ἠσαίας, Ēsaiās ; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa ; "Salvation of/is the LORD") is the main figure in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, and is commonly considered to be its author.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Isaiah in the Bible 2 Isaiah in Rabbinic literature 3 Critical scholarship 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Isaiah in the Bible

Isaiah was born in the 8th century BC to a man named Amoz.^{[citation needed]} He married a woman known as "the prophetess" (8:3). Why she was called this is not certain. Some believe she may have carried out a prophetic ministry in her own right, like Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20). Others maintain, however, that it was simply because she was the wife of "the prophet" (Isa. 38:1),and not because she was herself endowed with the prophetic gift. Isaiah had by her two sons, who bore symbolic names (Isa. 8:18) - Shear-jashub, 'Remnant will return' or '[Only] a remnant will return' (7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 'To speed the spoil he hasteneth thy prey' (8:1-4).

He exercised the functions of his office during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1), 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. He lived till the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, and in all(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.

In early youth Isaiah must 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).

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 (Isa. 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 (Isa. 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).

“

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

”

According to the account in Kings (and its derivative account in Chronicles) the judgment of God now fell on the Assyrian army. "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 (2 Chr. 32:23, 27-29). 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 that he suffered martyrdom in the pagan reaction in the time of Manasseh. Both Jewish and Christian traditions state that he was killed by being sawed in half. Some interpreters believe that this is what is referred to by Hebrews 11:37 (in the New Testament), which states that some prophets were "sawn in two". It is also mentioned in the book of The Martyrdom of Isaiah that he lived into the days of Manasseh, and was also sawn in half with a wooden saw.

[edit] Isaiah in Rabbinic literature

Main article: Isaiah in Rabbinic Literature

According to the Rabbinic literature, Isaiah was a descendant of Judah and Tamar (Sotah 10b). His father was a prophet and the brother of King Amaziah (Talmud tractate Megillah 15a).^[1]

[edit] Critical scholarship

Parts of this article may be confusing or unclear. Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page. (September 2007)

Isaiah 20:1 – Sargon The King of Assyria There is a vase in the British Museum with Sargon’s named engraved into it. The Fortress of Sargon or Palace of Sargon was discovered in 1842 by the French Archaeologist Paul Emille Botta.

Isaiah 37:21 – Sennacherib King of Assyria Taylor’s Prism also known as Sennacherib’s Prism is an artifact that records Sennacherib’s own wars and history. This prism has King Hezekiah’s name on it and he is also found in the book of Isaiah. Sennacherib’s palace and remains from his capital of Nineveh are on display in the British Museum.

Isaiah 37:38 – Esarhaddon King of Assyria There is a plaque of King Esarhaddon and the Queen Mother Nakija in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The stone Prism of Esarhaddon and a lion’s head statue with his name inscribed on it in the British Museum.

Isaiah 37:9 – Pharaoh Tirhakah Statuette of Tirhakah and the Falcon God in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The belt on this statue has his name engraved in it. A Granite shabti and sphinx of King Tirhakah From the pyramid of Tirhakah at Nuri – British Museum.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sermons on Isaiah
• Isaiah (Isaias) at the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Biblaridion magazine: Critical Studies in the Psalms and Isaiah by J. William Thirtle

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.