Difference between revisions of "Isaiah" - New World Encyclopedia
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Isaiah's personal life, like his public persona, was a reflection of his religious calling as prophet whose oracles are destined to fall on deaf ears. He was married to a woman referred to as "the prophetess" (8:3). Why she is called this is disputed. Some believe she may have carried out a prophetic ministry in her own right, while others maintain that it was simply because she was the wife of "the prophet." Isaiah had by her two sons, who bore symbolic names (Isa. 8:18) - Shear-jashub, "Remnant will return" (7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, "Destruction is imminent"(8:1-4). | Isaiah's personal life, like his public persona, was a reflection of his religious calling as prophet whose oracles are destined to fall on deaf ears. He was married to a woman referred to as "the prophetess" (8:3). Why she is called this is disputed. Some believe she may have carried out a prophetic ministry in her own right, while others maintain that it was simply because she was the wife of "the prophet." Isaiah had by her two sons, who bore symbolic names (Isa. 8:18) - Shear-jashub, "Remnant will return" (7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, "Destruction is imminent"(8:1-4). | ||
| − | Contrary to the spirit of the prophecies in the Book of Isaiah for which he is best known, the historical Isaiah was not primarily a prophet of hope. He exercised his ministry in a spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to all that bore on the interests of religion. To dramatize the futility of Judah allying itself with with Egypt against Assyria, | + | Contrary to the spirit of the prophecies in the Book of Isaiah for which he is best known, the historical Isaiah was not primarily a prophet of hope. He lieved during a time of terrible military and political upheavals which witnessed Israel and Judah allying with other kingdoms and warring against each other. Eventually, during his lifetime, the northern kingdom was completely defeated and many of its citizens taken into exile in the Assyrian Empire. Later, Sennacharib of Assyria invaded Judah itself, conquering all of its major towns except Jerusalem. Isaiah exercised his ministry in a spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to all that bore on the interests of religion. To him, political issues were secondary. The key to Judah's survival was its faithfulness to the commands of God alone. |
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| + | To dramatize the futility of Judah allying itself with with Egypt against Assyria, Isaiah stripped and walked naked and barefoot for three years, declaring: | ||
:The king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared -— to Egypt's shame. Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame. (Isa. 20) | :The king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared -— to Egypt's shame. Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame. (Isa. 20) | ||
| − | Isaiah's most dramatic success, according to the biblical account, came during the reign of King Hezekiah. When Sennacharib of Assyria had successfully invaded Judah and taken nearly every Judean town except Jerusalem, Isaiah counseled Hezekiah not to | + | Isaiah's most dramatic success, according to the biblical account, came during the reign of King Hezekiah. When Sennacharib of Assyria had successfully invaded Judah and taken nearly every Judean town except Jerusalem, Isaiah counseled Hezekiah not to capitulate: |
:Out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. | :Out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. | ||
Revision as of 21:01, 27 May 2006
Isaiah or Yeshayáhu (יְשַׁעְיָהוּ "Salvation of/is the Lord", Standard Hebrew Yəšaʿyáhu, one of the greatest prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
In his long career, he advised several of the Kings of Judah. He warned Israel and Judah of impending doom as a punishment from God for His people's sin. As court prophet to Judah's King Hezekiah, the Bible reports that he converted that king from a sickly compromiser to a faithful leader who — with God's miraculous help — successfully turned back the rampaging armies of Assyria that had ravaged the entire nation save Jerusalem itself. As the purported author of the Book of Isaiah, he is credited with having written some of the most memorable lines in literature, especially those predicting the coming of the Messianic Kingdom of universal peace. (Isaiah 9,11,60) In Christian tradition, Isaiah's prophecies of the Suffering Servant are seen as foreseeing the crucifixion of Jesus, although this interpretation is not shared by Jews. The New Testament indicates that the Book of Isaiah was influential on both John the Baptist and Jesus.
The details of the history of Isaiah's life are much debated by scholars, as is the question of which sections of the Book of Isaiah actually record prophecies made by him and which sections reflect later oracles penned by writers who took inspiration from him.
Biography
Isaiah was the son of Amoz, not to be confused with the northern prophet Amos, whose oracles do seem to have influenced Isaiah considerable. His ease of access to the king and other leaders (Isa. 7:3; 8:2), together with sources which tell us that Isaiah was the cousin of King Uzziah, suggests he was of a family of high rank.
He exercised the functions of his prophetic office during the reigns of Uzziah (also called Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Uzziah reigned fifty-two years in the middle of the 8th century B.C.E. Isaiah must have begun his career a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the 740s B.C.E. He lived at least until the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, who died 690s B.C.E., and may have been contemporary for some years with Manasseh. An apocryphal story preserved in the Talmud tells of his martyrdom at the hands of that wicked king. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for the long period of sixty-four years or more.
His first call to the prophetical office is not recorded. A second call came to him "in the year that King Uzziah died" (Isa. 6:1).
- "I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
- "And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
- He said, "Go and tell this people:
- " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'"...
- "Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
- And he answered:
- "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitants... until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken."
Isaiah's personal life, like his public persona, was a reflection of his religious calling as prophet whose oracles are destined to fall on deaf ears. He was married to a woman referred to as "the prophetess" (8:3). Why she is called this is disputed. Some believe she may have carried out a prophetic ministry in her own right, while others maintain that it was simply because she was the wife of "the prophet." Isaiah had by her two sons, who bore symbolic names (Isa. 8:18) - Shear-jashub, "Remnant will return" (7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, "Destruction is imminent"(8:1-4).
Contrary to the spirit of the prophecies in the Book of Isaiah for which he is best known, the historical Isaiah was not primarily a prophet of hope. He lieved during a time of terrible military and political upheavals which witnessed Israel and Judah allying with other kingdoms and warring against each other. Eventually, during his lifetime, the northern kingdom was completely defeated and many of its citizens taken into exile in the Assyrian Empire. Later, Sennacharib of Assyria invaded Judah itself, conquering all of its major towns except Jerusalem. Isaiah exercised his ministry in a spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to all that bore on the interests of religion. To him, political issues were secondary. The key to Judah's survival was its faithfulness to the commands of God alone.
To dramatize the futility of Judah allying itself with with Egypt against Assyria, Isaiah stripped and walked naked and barefoot for three years, declaring:
- The king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared -— to Egypt's shame. Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame. (Isa. 20)
Isaiah's most dramatic success, according to the biblical account, came during the reign of King Hezekiah. When Sennacharib of Assyria had successfully invaded Judah and taken nearly every Judean town except Jerusalem, Isaiah counseled Hezekiah not to capitulate:
- Out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
- Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,: declares the Lord.
A story preserved in both Isaiah and the Book of Kings then relates that an Angel of the Lord smote the Assryian army, putting 185,000 to death. However, the account in Kings also relates that Hezekiah, in an effort to assuage Sennacharib, had written a note of abject apology to him, saying: "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me." The account goes on to say that "the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace." (2 King 18:13-16) Sennacharib himself records a similar version of the story in his own victory steele, claiming that he conquered all of Judah except Jerusalem, where "I kept Hezekiah like a bird in a cage."
Hezekiah falls ill, and Isaiah foretells his imminent death. Hezekiah then prays desperately to God for deliverance. Isaiah, instructing that a poultice of figs be applied to Hezekiah's infected boil, declares that God has added 15 years to his life. Not only that, but because of Hezekiah's detemination to act as God wishes, God will protect Jerusalem from the Assyrians.
In youth Isaiah must have been moved by the invasion of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15:19). Later, Ahaz, king of Judah, 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 together with King Pekah of Israel (2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chronicles 28:5, 6). Ahaz then allied his nation with Assyria 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 B.C.E.). 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 by Isaiah 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 B.C.E.) 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). According to the account in Kings (and its derivative account in Chronicles) the judgement 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.
Second Isaiah, or Deutero-Isaiah, is the title given to the writings that comprise a major part of the Book of Isaiah. Either as an individual or a collective body of prophetic writings later collected into a single volume, Deutero-Isaiah is thought to have been written during the period of exile in Babylon in the sixth century b.c.e.. It includes the great messianic prophecy of Isaiah 60 as well as the Servant Songs concerning Israel's suffering and redemption. These hymns, especially Isaiah 52-53, were later interpreted by Christians to refer to Jesus rather than to the Jews as a people. A "Third Isaiah" is also posited, referring to writings incorporated into the Book of Isaiah from post-exilic times. Some evangelical scholars, it should be noted, deny the thesis of "two Isaiahs," insisting that virtually the entire Book of Isaiah, except for a few narrative sections, is the work of the historical Isaiah of Jerusalem.
==Critical scholarship==
The noticeable break between the first part of Isaiah (Is. 1-39) versus the latter half of the book (Is. 40-66) caught the eye of eighteenth century critical scholars Doderlein (1789) and Eichhorn (1783), who advocated a source-critical reading of the book, seeing chapters 40-66 as later, post-exilic additions, or even totally separate works artificially appended to the earlier composition. The term "Deutero-Isaiah" described the anonymous later writer, to whom some ascribed some redactionary roles as well. Some more recent commentators have further divided 40-66 by adding a third Isaiah, Trito-Isaiah, who wrote 56-66. The provenance of the text in the latter half of the book seemed to support a post-exilic timeframe, with direct references to Cyrus, King of Persia (44:28; 45:1, 13), a lament for the ruined temple, and other details. Also, the tone of the two halves is different; the first seems to warn erring Judah of impending divine judgement through foreign conquest, while the second seems to provide comfort to a broken people.
Other scholars, such as Margalioth (1964) challenged the view of multiple authorship by pointing out the remarkable unity of the book Isaiah in terms of theme, message, and vocabulary. Even certain verbal formulas unique to Isaiah, such as "the mouth of the Lord has spoken," appears in both halves of Isaiah but in no other Hebrew prophetic literature. While clear differences between the two halves of the book were evident, thematically the two halves are remarkably similar, certainly more similar to each other than to any other existing prophetic literature.
Recent trends in critical scholarship have focused on synchronic approaches, which advocate a whole-text reading, rather than the traditional historical-critical diachronic approaches, which tend to be directed at taking the text apart, looking for sources, redactional seams, etc. Inspired by Hebrew Bible literary criticism done by Robert Alter, recent scholars have tended to circumscribe authorship and historical-critical questions and look at the final form of the book as a literary whole, a product of the post-exilic era which is characterized by literary and thematic unity.
External links
- Isaiah (Isaias) at the Catholic Encyclopedia
This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. cs:Izajáš de:Jesaja (Prophet) es:Isaías fi:Jesaja fr:Ésaïe he:ישעיהו pl:Izajasz pt:Isaías ro:Isaia ru:Исаия sv:Jesaja
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