THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

The book of Isaiah is not a unified work that can be attributed to the historical
prophet Isaiah of the 8th century. Th. Leclerc (pp. 168-170) says that a number of
curiosities “have led scholars to postulate that the book was written by at least three
different authors in three different time periods and was subject to further editorial
work as well”. They are the First, the Second and the Third Isaiah – 1-39; 40-55; 56-
66 (also Proto- Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah). The main reason for this claim are the
different historical periods to which these three parts of the book refer to. In addition,
there are also clear differences in style, language and topics treated in these various
parts.

1. First Isaiah = 8th century Isaiah (742-701 BC)

Chapters 1-39 clearly refer to (the second half of) the 8th century BC. Here God
speaks through the historical prophet Isaiah who was called to be a prophet in Judah,
in Jerusalem, in 742 BC – in the last year of king Uzziah – as we read in chapter 6 of
his book.
In chapters 1-39:
1. Kings are mentioned who ruled in Judah 8th century BC (cf. 1:1): Uzziah
(783-742; Isa 6), Jotham (742-735; Isa 7), Ahaz (735-715; Isa 7);
Hezekiah (715-687; Isa 36-39).
2. Judah’s primary enemy is Assyria (cf. Isa 10; 14:24-27) and some Assyrian
rulers are mentioned: kings Sargon II (721-705, Isa 20:1), Sennacherib
(704-681, Isa 36-37) and Esarhaddon (680-669; Isa 37:38).
3. The conspiracy of Syria and Israel against Judah, in 734-732 BC, is detailed
in Isaiah 7-8, and the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria (Sennacherib) in 701 BC
is detailed in Isaiah 36-37.
4. God threatens Judah and Jerusalem with punishment (5:8-10; 10:11): the
city and the land are persisting in the sinful ways, similarly to the Northern
Kingdom – the prophet announces punishments for the lack of trust in God,
lack of social justice and idolatry.

2. Second Isaiah = 6th century (around 540 BC)

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Chapters 40-55 clearly refer to a much later historical period, precisely to the 6th
century BC:
1. No 8th century king is mentioned here, especially none of the kings of Judah are
mentioned, not even from a later historical period.
2. There is no mention of Assyria: instead there are references to Babylon and
Persia!
The kingdom of Assyria was at its zenith from the mid-8th to the mid-7th century
and came to an end in 605, when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605-
562 BC) inflicted a crushing defeat to the Assyrians and their allies the
Egyptians (Neco II) in the battle of Carchemish. From that moment Babylonia
became the dominant power in Mesopotamia (605-539 BC). During that time,
precisely under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II Babylonia conquered the
Southern Kingdom of Judah, destroyed Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of Judah
and Jerusalem were taken into Babylonian captivity / exile (597-587 BC).
The kingdom of Babylon came to an end in 539, when the Persian ruler Cyrus II
– Cyrus the Great (600-530 BC) – inflicted a final defeat to the Babylonians
(Nabonidus) and took over Babylonian empire, entering in triumph the city of
Babylon. He has permitted to the Judeans to return to Judah and Jerusalem
(539-538 BC).
3. Chapters 40-55 announce the downfall of Babylon and the return of the
Judeans to Jerusalem during the reign of Cyrus the Great: cf. Isa 43:14; 47;
48:14; 48,20; 44:28 and 45,1 (Cyrus!).
4. God announces to the people the return from the Babylonian exile: “Comfort
my people…”; cf. chapters 40; 43; 44:26; 54:7-8. God speaks of comfort,
pardon, reconciliation, forgiveness, love, compassion.

3. Third Isaiah = 6th century (around 520-515 BC)

Chapters 56-66 refer to a still later period, after the return from the Babylonian
exile:
1. No rulers are mentioned by name, foreign or domestic.
2. The city of Jerusalem and the Temple are being rebuilt (520-515 BC): cf.
chapters 59; 60; 62.

The book of Isaiah is thus a compilation from different periods. It is known from
his book that he had disciples (8,16-17). Being a famous and important prophet, it is

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not surprising that his message inspired others to preserve and supplement his
prophecies.

FIRST ISAIAH

1. Superscription and historical framework

The two main historical events of the second half of the 8th century BC in Judah are
the Syro-Ephraimite war (734-732 BC) and the siege of Jerusalem (701 BC),
and Isaiah witnessed both (cf. Isa 7-8 and Isa 36-37).
The Syro-Ephraimite war was waged by Pekah of Israel (=Ephraim) and Rezin of
Syria (=Aram) against Ahaz of Judah who refused to join their anti-Assyrian alliance.
This attack caused great fear among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and Ahaz turned
for help to Assyria, more precisely to Tiglath-pileser III. Ahaz paid tribute to him, and
he invaded Israel and Syria, thus saving Judah in the short term (cf. 2 Kings 16).
The downfall of Israel in 721 BC had significant consequences for the life in Judah,
because the border with Assyria was now less than thirty miles away. The son of
Ahaz, Hezekiah, who was a pious king and started a religious reform by removing the
idols from the Temple in Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kings 18:1-7), also undertook military
preparations for a possible Assyrian attack. He built new defensive walls in Jerusalem
and many other cities, as well as the Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem itself, to provide the
city with a sufficient amount of water in the event of a siege. Hezekiah joined an anti-
Assyrian alliance of small Palestinian states and Egypt and the successor of Sargon II,
Sennacherib, in 701 BC, marched on Judah, captured many cities (Lachish! Cf. the
Lachish reliefs from Niniveh), and imprisoned Hezekiah in Jerusalem ”like a bird in a
cage” (as we read in the Assyrian chronicles – Sennacherib’s or Taylor Prism).
However, Sennacherib did not conquer or destroy Jerusalem: the city was saved. The
Bible offers different versions of the event. According to 2 Kings 18:13-16 and the
Sennacherib’s Prism king Hezekiah saved Jerusalem by paying tribute to Sennacherib.
On the other hand in 2 Kr 18:17 – 19:37 and in Isa 36-37 we read how Hezekiah
consulted Isaiah and God’s angel saved the city by striking down 185 000 members of
Assyrian army.

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 According to Isa 6:1 Isaiah was called to be a prophet in 742 BC, in the year that
king Uzziah died. Since one of the last events he mentions in the book is the siege of
Jerusalem in 701 BC, it is probable that he prophesied between 742 and 701 BC.
Isaiah was son of Amoz, married to a prophetess (8:3) and had two sons who had
symbolic names: Shear Yashub (“The Remnant Will Return”; 7:3) and Maher Shalal
Hash Baz (“The spoil speeds, the pray hastens”; 8:3). The first name is positive and it
refers to a remnant – maybe to those in Jerusalem saved in 701 BC. The second name
refers to Samaria and Damascus, who will be attacked by Assyria during the Syro-
Ephraimite war. The name Isaiah means “YHVH saves”.

The chapters 1-39 can be divided as follows:

1-12 Concerning Judah and Israel
13-23 Judgements against foreign nations
24-27 The apocalypse of Isaiah
28-33 Judah and Assyria
34-35 Judgement against Edom, restoration of Zion
36-37 Siege of Jerusalem
38-39 Isaiah and Hezekiah

We will deal in detail only with Isa 1-12 and 36-37 (for these two chapters see
the powerpoint!)

2. Isaiah 1-12

The call (Isa 6)

Isaiah receives his prophetic call in the Temple of Jerusalem in 742 BC. The text
has three parts: 1) vision of God; 2) cleansing; 3) commission. The vision of God is
magnificent: Isaiah sees God sitting on his throne, surrounded by the seraphs who
sing: “Holy, holy, holy…”. God’s holiness indicates his transcendence, while his glory –
that fills the earth – indicates his revelation. Isaiah responds to the vision of God by
realizing his own unworthiness and impurity. Then God sends one of the seraphim to
cleanse and consecrate Isaiah with the symbolic touching of his mouth with a live coal
from the altar. Isaiah then hears God’s voice, responds, and God gives him his
prophetic task.

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 The task given to Isaiah is hard to understand. He has to make the mind of the
people dull (actually, according to the Hebrew text, he has to make the heart of the
people fat), stop their ears, shut their eyes, so that they may not look or listen,
comprehend and turn and be healed. It seems that he is not supposed to make them
repent and return to the Lord, but to provoke the hardening of their heart (cf. Exodus
7:3-5). That will lead to judgement and punishment (Isa 6:11-13), and finally to
repentance. Although this is not explicitly stated in our text, it is possible to think that
God’s punishment is aimed at opening people's eyes, ears and hearts and ultimately
leading to understanding and knowledge of God. God’s punishment would thus aim to
purify the people, cleanse them, remove the wickedness and sins that separate them
from God and prevent them from knowing God. This purified remnant will be a holy
seed: the seed of the renewed people of God (cf. the salvation of Jerusalem in 701
BC).

Judgement (Isa 1-5*; 9-10*)

The book of Isaiah opens with the Lord stating how he brought up the children
of Israel, but they have rebelled against him: “The ox knows its owner, and the
donkey its master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people do not
understand” (1:3). Since the ox and the donkey “know their master’s crib” they are
usually present in the Christmas crib, near Jesus – their master! Isaiah denounces the
sinfulness of God’s people. God sees their religious practices, but does not accept
them, because they are evildoers: they should instead cease to do evil, learn to do
good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow (cf.
1:10-17).
In 2:1-17 and 3:16 – 4:1 Isaiah pronounces judgements on arrogance.
In 5:1-7 we find the Song of the unfruitful vineyard: the people of God are
likened to a vineyard that God has planted and took care of him, but that vineyard did
not yield grapes – it yielded wild grapes – and therefore it will be destroyed.
In 5:8-30 punishment is announced because of various social injustices: at the
end the arrival of Assyria is mentioned (vv.26-30) – Assyria will be used by God to
punish his sinful people.
Isa 9:8 – 10:11 announce the punishment of Israel and Samaria - in 10:5-11 it
is clearly said that Assyria is “the rod of God’s anger”! In 10:11 God asks: “shall I not
do to Jerusalem and her idols what I have done to Samaria and her images?” Isa

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10:20-23 speak of the return of a remnant to the mighty God, and 10:12-19 and
10:24-25 of the punishment of Assyria.

Syro-Ephraimite war (Isa 7-8)

In Isa 7 we read about the Syro-Ephraimite war. King Ahaz of Judah and the
people were afraid of Syria and Israel, but the Lord told Ahaz not to fear “there two
smouldering stumps of firebrands”. The Lord assured Ahaz that Pekah and Rezin will
not kill him and conquer Jerusalem and asked him to have faith: “If you do not
stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all” (cf. 7:1-9). To have faith, in the
Hebrew language, means to lean on God who is solid like a rock, steadfast and
faithful.
The Lord gave also Ahaz a sign pointing to salvation of Jerusalem: “Look, the
young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him
Immanuel” (7:14); “For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose
the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted” (7:16).
The child will eat curds and honey, just as “everyone that is left in the land shall eat
curds and honey”: he is thus a sign of those who will survive, a sign of salvation. This
child might be Ahaz’ son Hezekiah, but his symbolic name (“God is with us”) points to
a messianic figure, and ultimately the New Testament sees here an announcement of
the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:22-23). It is though important to notice that the Hebrew
text speaks of almah (young girl), not of betulah (virgin), while the Septuagint speaks
of a virgin (parthenos).
In Isa 8 a second sign is given: this sign is another child, Isaiah’s son Maher
Shalal Hash Baz whose name indicates that Assyria will attack Syria and Israel (8:1-
4). Assyria attacked because king Ahaz called Tiglath-pileser III for help – he did not
have the faith God asked of him. Isa 8:5-8 indicate that Assyria is a mighty river that
“will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks, it will sweep on into Judah
as a flood, and, pouring over, it will reach up to the neck…”: this might be a warning
that in the future Assyria will attack also Judah (cf. the siege in 701 BC).

Salvation (Isa 2:1-5; 4:2-6; 9:1-6; 11:1-9.10-16; 12:1-6)

Passages 9:1-6 and 11:1-9 also speak of the birth of a child-king. These texts
might point to the birth of the great king Hezekiah, but also clearly point to the future
Messiah (Hebrew Mashiah – the anointed one; Greek Christos), a descendant of Jesse

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(David’s father), a king who will establish justice and bring salvation and universal
peace, similar to that described in Genesis 1 (cf. 11:6-8). Together with Isa 7:14
9:1-6 and 11:1-9 are the most important texts about the establishment of the
messianic kingdom in the book of Isaiah. Isa 2:1-5 envisions the future where all
the nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord’s house (Jerusalem) to learn his
ways and walk in his paths.