For centuries, countless men and women have turned to the Bible to encounter the Lord God, and to understand better the reality of life on earth and in heaven. From the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, people have searched for God's truth, counsel, and words of comfort and strength. Each of the biblical books contained in Sacred Scripture speak to us in various ways. In particular, the prophetic books in the Old Testament echo God's word in a uniquely powerful and vivid manner. Among them, the book of the prophet Isaiah holds a preeminent position in Sacred Scripture, and in the hearts of many biblical scholars and lovers of Scripture.
The book of Isaiah the prophet begins with a third-person verse identifying the name of the book's visionary, and concludes not only with a prophetic word of hope for God's chosen people, but also with an oracle of warning to those who do evil. Sixty-six chapters are contained in this book, making it the lengthiest writing among all the prophetic works in the Old Testament. In addition, the book of Isaiah is the most quoted in the New Testament.1 Jewish tradition lists Isaiah among the “Latter Prophets,” while Christian tradition includes it among the “Prophets.” Along with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets in our modern Bibles because of its (large) size.2 The other (smaller) prophetic books are listed under the Minor Prophets, which the Jewish canon calls the “Twelve.”3 Isaiah of Jerusalem, who is considered one of the greatest prophets by both Jewish and Christian traditions, “appeared at a critical moment of Israel's history, [during] the second half of the eight century B.C.”4 The great prophet was born in Jerusalem around 760 BC.5 Lawrence Boadt states that Isaiah initiated his prophetic ministry sometime after 740 BC until at least 700 BC.6 The opening verse of the book of Isaiah mentions that he was the son of Amoz, and that he pertained to the southern kingdom of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. A member of the kingdom of Judah, Isaiah's book was “composed and edited over a period of more than two centuries, from 733 BC (the year when King Uzziah died and when Isaiah began his prophetic ministry) to the years following the return of the Babylonian exiles, that is, around 525 BC.”7 Bible scholars within the last three centuries have identified three separate sections, or “three Isaiahs,” in this book. The first section encloses the irrefutable, actual words and sayings of Isaiah himself in Palestine, found in chapters 1 through 39. The second section, chapters 40 through 55, “interpret the Isaian legacy for exiles in the mid-sixth century; and [the third section] chapters 56 through 66 interpret the same legacy for the rebuilding of Zion.”8 Undoubtedly, the style and material of the first section is mostly dissimilar to the second, and the second is also distinct from the third. The Second Isaiah wrote in Babylon about 150 years after the …show more content…
It gives us a portrait of the disintegration of morality in Judah, and in the capital Jerusalem. It also places us in the context of the war in 734, when Isaiah the prophet exhorted Ahaz to trust in God, but Ahaz turned instead to the powerful Assyria to defend them against northern Israel and Damascus. Assyria did defend Judah, and defeated these two kingdoms. However, Ahaz of Judah became a vassal of Assyria, and northern Israel was divided into three Assyrian provinces. Later on in 705 BC, King Hezekiah of Judah rebelled against Assyria and obtained freedom. However, four years later, the Assyrian army attacked and destroyed all of Judah except Jerusalem—just as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 37. The people saw God's intervention in the survival of Jerusalem and rejoiced, but soon became overly confident in more ways than one.
Judah's arrogance eventually gave way to the Babylonian captivity, in which most of its citizens were deported to Babylon. This is the prophetic setting of the second section of the book of Isaiah. Boadt states that “Second Isaiah clearly refers to the capture and destruction of Jerusalem as a past event and to the present state of the people as exiles in Babylon. It praises Cyrus the Persian as a deliverer for Israel, and places major emphasis on the return home to Palestine for all exiles in
The book of Isaiah the prophet begins with a third-person verse identifying the name of the book's visionary, and concludes not only with a prophetic word of hope for God's chosen people, but also with an oracle of warning to those who do evil. Sixty-six chapters are contained in this book, making it the lengthiest writing among all the prophetic works in the Old Testament. In addition, the book of Isaiah is the most quoted in the New Testament.1 Jewish tradition lists Isaiah among the “Latter Prophets,” while Christian tradition includes it among the “Prophets.” Along with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets in our modern Bibles because of its (large) size.2 The other (smaller) prophetic books are listed under the Minor Prophets, which the Jewish canon calls the “Twelve.”3 Isaiah of Jerusalem, who is considered one of the greatest prophets by both Jewish and Christian traditions, “appeared at a critical moment of Israel's history, [during] the second half of the eight century B.C.”4 The great prophet was born in Jerusalem around 760 BC.5 Lawrence Boadt states that Isaiah initiated his prophetic ministry sometime after 740 BC until at least 700 BC.6 The opening verse of the book of Isaiah mentions that he was the son of Amoz, and that he pertained to the southern kingdom of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. A member of the kingdom of Judah, Isaiah's book was “composed and edited over a period of more than two centuries, from 733 BC (the year when King Uzziah died and when Isaiah began his prophetic ministry) to the years following the return of the Babylonian exiles, that is, around 525 BC.”7 Bible scholars within the last three centuries have identified three separate sections, or “three Isaiahs,” in this book. The first section encloses the irrefutable, actual words and sayings of Isaiah himself in Palestine, found in chapters 1 through 39. The second section, chapters 40 through 55, “interpret the Isaian legacy for exiles in the mid-sixth century; and [the third section] chapters 56 through 66 interpret the same legacy for the rebuilding of Zion.”8 Undoubtedly, the style and material of the first section is mostly dissimilar to the second, and the second is also distinct from the third. The Second Isaiah wrote in Babylon about 150 years after the …show more content…
It gives us a portrait of the disintegration of morality in Judah, and in the capital Jerusalem. It also places us in the context of the war in 734, when Isaiah the prophet exhorted Ahaz to trust in God, but Ahaz turned instead to the powerful Assyria to defend them against northern Israel and Damascus. Assyria did defend Judah, and defeated these two kingdoms. However, Ahaz of Judah became a vassal of Assyria, and northern Israel was divided into three Assyrian provinces. Later on in 705 BC, King Hezekiah of Judah rebelled against Assyria and obtained freedom. However, four years later, the Assyrian army attacked and destroyed all of Judah except Jerusalem—just as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 37. The people saw God's intervention in the survival of Jerusalem and rejoiced, but soon became overly confident in more ways than one.
Judah's arrogance eventually gave way to the Babylonian captivity, in which most of its citizens were deported to Babylon. This is the prophetic setting of the second section of the book of Isaiah. Boadt states that “Second Isaiah clearly refers to the capture and destruction of Jerusalem as a past event and to the present state of the people as exiles in Babylon. It praises Cyrus the Persian as a deliverer for Israel, and places major emphasis on the return home to Palestine for all exiles in