486
ISAIAH
ISAIAH
younper contemporary. Isaiah prophesied uiuler Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Jndah. The chief political events of his life were the ascent of the great soldier Tiglath-pileser III. to the throne of Assyria in 745, with a new policy of conquest ; the league of Aram and N. Israel in 735, and tlieir invasion of Judah, which moved Ahaz to call Assyria to his help ; Tiglath-jiileser's capture of Damascus, and the captivity oi (;ilead and Galilee in 734 ; the invasion of N. Palestine by Salinanassar IV. in 725, with the long siege of Samaria which fell to his successor Sargon in or about 721 ; Sargon's defeat of Egypt on her border at Raphia in 719 ; Sargon's invasion of Palestine in 711 with the reduction of Ashdod, and his defeat of Merodach-baladan and capture of Babylon in 7U'J ; Sennacherib's succession in 705, and invasion of Palestine in 701 ; his encounter with Egypt at Eltekeh on the borders of Philistia and Judah ; his capture of Ekron and siege of Jerusalem, witli tlie pestilence that overtook him between Palestine and Egypt ; and his retreat from Palestine, with the consequent relief of Jerusalem — all in 701. About 695 (some say about 690 or even 6S5) Hezekiah was succeeded by Manasseh. Whether Isaiah lived into the reign of the latter is very doubtful. We have no prophecies from him later than Hezekiah's reign, perhaps none after 701.* The Mishna (Jebamoth 496 ; cf. Sanhedr. 1036) says that he was slain by Manasseh. The apocry- phal work, The Ascension of Isaiah, which was wTitten in the beginning of the 2nd Christian cent, (only an Ethiopic version is extant : see Dillmann's ed. with a Latin translation, Leipzig, 1877), attirms that Isaiah's martyrdom consisted in being sawn asunder, which Justin Martyr repeats (Dial. c. Tri/ph. ch. 120, c. A.D. 150). Whether this be true, and whether it is alluded to in He 11", we cannot tell. See next article.
Isaiah is called the son of Amo? (i'lCij 1' 2' etc.), who must not be confounded, as he has been Viy various Christian Fathers, with the prophet Amos (oiDj;). A Jewish tradition (Megilla 106) makes Isaiah nephew of king Amaziah ; and his royal descent has been inferred from his familiarity with successive monarchs of Judah, and his general politi- cal influence. A stronger reason than these might be dra\vn from the presence in his name of J", which appears to have been confined at the earlier periods of Israel's history to proper names of the royal houses. But even this is not conclusive, and one really knows nothingof either Isaiah's forefathers or his upbringing. He was married, his wife is called ' tlie prophetess ' (8'), and he had two sons to whom he gave names symbolic of those aspects of the nation's history which he enforced in his prophecies : She' ar-yashub, ' a remnant shall re- turn,' who was old enough in 736-735 to be taken by his father when he went to face king Ahaz (7'), and Maker • shalal ■ hash ■ baz ' spoil • speeds- booty-hastes,' who was bom about a year later (S'"*). The legend that Isaiah was twice married has been deduced from the false inference that the ' young woman of marriageable age,' n'^Sirr of 7", was his wife. By this expression the prophet probably did not mean a definite individual.
The most certain and significant fact about Isaiah is that he was a citizen, if not a native, of Jerusalem, t and had constant access to the court and presence of the king. Jerusalem is Isaiah's 'immediate and ultimate regard, the centre and return of all his thoughts, the hinge of the history of his time, the summit of those brilliant hopes
• Eichhom and MoUer, quoted by Vatke, EiT\l. 620, assigned chB. 40-66 to reign of Manasseh. None of the titles in the Bk. of laiiah atlirm that he prophesied under Manasseh.
f Some deduce from 2 K 20* that he lived in * the middle ' or lower city ' (Cheyne, Encyl, Brit.^ xiii. 37S).
with wliich he fills tlie future. He has traced for us the main features of her jiositioii and .some of tlie lines of her construction, many of the great figures of her streets, the fasliions of her women, tlie arrival of embassies, the ell'ect of rumours. He has painted her aspect in triumph, in siege, in famine, and in earthquake : war filling her vallej's with chariots, and again nature rolling tides of fruitfulness up to her very gates ; her moods of worship, panic, and profligacy. If he takes widei observation of mankind, Jerusalem is his wat*h tower. It is for her defence he biittles through fiftj' years of statesmanshij), and all liis prophecy mav he said to travail in anguish for her new birtli.' III. Structure and Cuntknts of tiik Book OF LsAIAH. — The book which bears Isaiah's name consists of 66 chapters, which f.-ill into two very distinct collections of proplietic discourses : chs. 1-35 and chs. 40-G6, which are se])arate<J by a stretch of narrative or history, chs. 36-39.
A. Clis. 1-35 are further divisible into at least five sections — (1) 1-12 a series of orations upon the religious and political state both of Judah in face of invasions by Assyria and by the confederates S3Tria and N. Israel, and of N. Israel in face of an invasion hy Assyria ; as well as upon the Messianic future of Israel. There is also a series of narratives recounting Isaiah's call (6), his inter- view witli king Aliaz (7), and other measures that he took (S) ; as well as a song of praise (12). This section seems composed of independent grouiis of oracles. Ch. 1 appears to stand by itself, and carries a title which more than covers the contents of the whole section, ' the reigns which it enumerates exhaust the range of Isaiah's career.' At the head of ch. 2 there is another title which appears to cover 2-4, which form a unity by themselves. Cli. 5 stands apart from them, ami is itself composed of independent pieces. Then we have the pieces of narrative : 6 by itself on the prophet's vision in the year Uzziah died, and 7-8* containing more oracles and running out into others 8'-9', all of them apparently from the reign of Ahaz. 9^-10*, along with 5-''*, which obviously belongs to them, from an oracle against N. Israel. lO''*" is an oracle against Assyria, and ch. 11 consists of two prophecies, one of the Messiah (w.'-"), the other of the restoration of all Israel (vv. "•'«). Ch. 12 is the lyric already alluded to. (2) Chs. 13-23 contain a series of oracles upon heathen nations, ^^ith a few upon Judah, but none upon N. Israel. 13-14^ treats of the fall of Babylon ; 14-''"" is on Assyria, and w.^-^ against the Philistines, assignee! by its title to the year of Ahaz' death ; 15. 16 on Moab ; 17''" on the fall of D.amascus and N. Israel ; w.''-", the repulse of Assyria ; 18, the same in the form of an address to Ethiopia ; 19 on Egypt — vv.'*-^ appear to be separate from vv.'""; 20 on Egypt, with a bit of narrative that points to Sargon's march against her about 711 ; 21'""' on Babylon, ' oracle of the wUdemess of the sea,' yy li. 12 Qu EJom, vv.'^-" on Arabia; 22'"" against Jerusalem during a siege, and vv.'°"" against Shebna, a statesman of Judali ; 23'"" on Tyre, with an appendix w.""". (3) 24-27, an apoca lyptic prophecy, describing the judgment ot tlie whole world oy supernatural convulsions, the blessedness of Israel who shall be rescued, and the resurrection of their dead. (4) 28-33, a series of oracles reflecting, apparently, the historical cir- cumstances of Isaiah's day ; 28'"" predictive of the fall of Samaria, w.'"^ a controversy with the dis- solute politicians of Jerusalem ; 29'"' the abasement and subsequent deliverance of Jerusalem, w."'* the spiritual stupidity of Jerusalem, vv.""^-' exposure of a conspiracy of the court with Egypt, suddenly changing to a prediction of the future deliverance ; 30'"" a return to the Egyptian alliance with denon-