THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DF..AN OP GLOUCESTER;
AND BY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
WlTH
INTRODUCTIONS BY THE
VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERBURY. RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAWLINSON, M.A. REV. A. PLUMMER, M.A., D.D.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1907 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND &ECCLES. THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, BDlTED BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., ~E.6..11 or GLOUOBdTI&;
AND BY THB
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
ISAIAH. ~xpositfon anlJ lt'!omffttks BY REV. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.., O.&llOll 011 OAliTERIIUBY ; AND O~.BN P&OrBSBOB or ilCIIDT BISTOBY, OXJ'O.BD.
lilomilfts b11 l111tious autflom. BEV.PROF. E. JOHNSON, M.A. REV. W. CLARKSON, B.A. BEV. W. 111. S'l'.A.THAM. REV. R. TUCK_ B.A..
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FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 190i THE
BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. ON THE PERSONALITY OF ISAIAH.
Isaiah's name. The name borne by this great prophet was really Tesha'- yahu, which signifies "the Salvation of Jehovah." The name was not an uncommon one. It was borne by one of the heads of the singers in the time of David (1 Chron. xxv. 3, 15), by a Levite of the same period (1 Chron. xxvi. 25), by one of the chief men who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra (Ezra viii. 7), by a Benjamite mentioned in Nehemiah (ri. 7), and others. The form may be compared with that of Khizki-yahu, or Hezekiah, which meant "the Strength of Jehovah," and Tsidki-yahu, or Zedek:iah, which meant "the Righteousness of Jehovah." It was one of singular appropriateness in .the case of the great prophet, since "the salvation of Jehovah" was the subject which Isaiah was especially commissioned to set forth. Bis parentage and family. Isaiah was, as he tells us repeatedly (eh. i. 1; ii. 1; xiii. 1, etc.)," the son of Am.oz." This name must not be con- founded with that of the Prophet Amos, from which it diliers both in its initial and· in its final letter. Amoz, according to a Jewish tradition, was a brother of King Amaziah; but· this tradition can scareely be authentic, since it would make Isaiah too old. Amoz was probably not a man of any high distinction, since he is never mentioned excepting as Isaiah's father. Isaiah was married, and his wife was known as "the prophetess " ( eh. viii. 3), which, however, does not necessarily imply that the prophetic gift bad been bestowed upon her. It may have been, as it was upon Deborah (Judg. iv. 4) and upon Huldah (2 Kings xx:ii. 14-20) ; or she may have been called " the prophetess " simply as being the wife of " the prophet " (oh. xx.xviii. 1). Isaiah tells us that he had two sons, Shea.r-jashub and ISAIAH. 6 ii INTRODUCTION TO
Maher-shalal-hR,sh-ba11, whose names are connecl;"ed with his prophetical office. Shear-jashub was the elder of the two by many years. His date. The prophet tells us that he" saw a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah" (eh. i. 1). It would follow from this, that, even if he began his prophetic career as earl)- a.s the twentieth year of his ago, he must have been born twenty years before Uzziah's death, or in B.C. 779. He certainly lived till the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, or B.c. 714, and probably outlived that monarch, who died in B.C. 699-8. It is not unlike½' that he was even contemporary for some years with Manasseh, Hezekiah's son; so that we may, perhaps, assign him, conjecturally, the space between B.C. 780 and n.c. 690, which would give him a lifetime of ninety years. His position. That Isaiah was a Je,v of geod position, dwelling at Jeru- salem, and admitted to familiar intercourse with the Jewish monarchs, Ahaz and Hezekiah, is sufficiently apparent (eh. vii. 3-16; xxxvii. 21- 35; xxxviii. 1-22; x.xxix, ~_:__8). Whether or no he was brought up in the " schools of the prophets" is uncertain; but he must have received his call at a very early age, probably· when he was about twenty. That he was historiographer at the !lebrew court during .the reign of Jotham, and again during tlie reign of Hezekiah, appears from the Second Book of Chronicles (x.i::ri. 22; mii. 32). In this capacity he wrote an, account of the reign of Uzziah, and also one of the reign of Hezeklah for the "Book of the Kings." He may als_o have written accounts of the reigna of Jotham and Ahaz, but this is not stated .. His main office.was that of prophet, or preacher to both king and people; and the composition o(,hie numerous and elaborate prophecies, which are poems of a high order, must h.Ji,ve furnished him with continnsl occupation.. It is n(!t certain that .we possess a.11 his prophecies; for the book, as it has come down to us; he,s a fragmentary character, and appears to be a compilation,. . His call. Isaiah relates, in his sixth chapter, a very solemn call which he received from God" in the year that King Uzziah died." It is phought by some that this was hie original call to the prophetical office. 1 But. the majority of commentators are of a different opinion. - They note that the original call of a prophet, where recorded, naturally occupies the first place in his work, and that there is no conceivable reason for Isaiah's having postponed to his sixth c:hapte, a.n account of a.n event which $1 k'!JPotkesi, preceded his first. It would follow that, the. original call of the pl"C!phet u, unrecorded, as is the case with most prophets; e.g. Daniel, Joel, Amoe, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniab, Haggai, ~echaria.h, )falachi. Hu prophetic ca,ree,-. The career of Isaiah as e. prophet commenced, &!I he tells us, in the reign of King Uzziah, or .Azariah. It is a reasonable supposition that it began late in that monarch's reign, but atill a y~ or two before its close. Uzziah was at that time a leper, and "dwelt iJJ, 1 De Wette, 'Einleitung ia das Alt. Te1t ..' ~ 21)7. THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. iii