The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: ספר 'שע'ה) is one of the Prophetic books of the Bible. In the first 39 chapters Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the restoration of the nation of Israel and prophecies of a new creation in God's glorious future kingdom.[1] This section includes the Songs of the Suffering Servant, four separate passages understood by Jews and modern scholars to refer to the nation of Israel, but interpreted by Christians as prefiguring the coming of Jesus Christ.[2]
Tradition ascribes the book to Isaiah himself, but for over a hundred years scholars have divided it into three parts: Proto-Isaiah (chapters 1-39), containing the words of the 8th century BCE prophet and 7th century BCE expansions; Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-55), a 6th century BCE work by an author who wrote under the Babylonian captivity; and Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56-66), composed probably by multiple authors in Jerusalem shortly after the exile.[1][3][4][5]:pp.558-562
The oldest surviving manuscript of Isaiah was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: dating from about a century before the time of Christ, it is substantially identical with the Masoretic version which forms the basis of most modern English-language versions of the book.[6]:pp.22-23 (Isaiah was the most popular prophet among the Dead Sea collection: 21 copies of the scroll were found in Qumran.)[2]
[edit] Composition

A fragment of the Book of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jewish and Christian tradition held that the entire book is by the 8th century BCE prophet Isaiah, but scholars have held since the late 19th century that it cannot be by a single author.[7]:p.1 The observations which have led to this conclusion are as follows:[8]
Prophecies → Passages of Isaiah 40-66 refer to events that did not occur in Isaiah's own lifetime, such as the rise of Babylon as the world power, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the rise of Cyrus the Great. (R. N. Whybray notes that Deutero-Isaiah's prediction that Cyrus would destroy Babylon - in fact he made it more splendid than ever - further pinpoints the time in which the author wrote.)[9]
Anonymity → Isaiah’s name stops being used after chapter 39. However, the name occurs in only eight chapters of the book. Similarly, it is not used in 17 consecutive chapters between 20:3 and 37:2.
Style → There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40;[10] numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other.[11]
Historical Situation → The historical situation goes through three stages: in chapters 1-39 the prophet speaks of a judgment which will befall the wicked Israelites; in chapters 40-55 the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (587 BCE) is treated as an accomplished fact and the fall of Babylon as an imminent threat; and in chapters 56-66 the fall of Babylon is already in the past.[11]
Many scholars therefore divide the book into three parts:[12]
Chapters 1 to 39 (First Isaiah, Proto-Isaiah or Original Isaiah): the work of the original prophet Isaiah, who worked in Jerusalem between 740 and 687 BCE.[13]
Chapters 40 to 55 (Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah): by an anonymous author who lived in Babylon near the end of the Babylonian captivity.[12]:418
Chapters 56 to 66 (Third Isaiah or Trito-Isaiah): the work of anonymous disciples committed to continuing Isaiah's work in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.[12]:444 This section includes visions of new heavens and new earth.[13] (Other scholars suggest that chapters 55-66 were written by Deutero-Isaiah after the fall of Babylon.)[5]:p. 561
This implied sequence of pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic material is somewhat misleading, as significant editing has clearly taken place in all three parts.[14]:p.183 There is some uncertainty as to how Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah came to be attached to the original Isaiah: the two competing theories are either that Deutero-Isaiah was written as a continuation of Proto-Isaiah, or that it was written separately and became attached to the famous Isaiah later.[15]
[edit] Proto-Isaiah (Isaiah 1-39)

Scroll of Book of Isaiah
Isaiah 1 at Bible Gateway
[edit] Authorship and historical background
Isaiah's career is framed by the beginning of Judah's vassalage to Assyria and its subsequent rebellion. The dominant regional power in the late 8th century BCE was the Assyrian empire. Isaiah's first significant acts as a prophet occurred when Judah, under king Ahaz, faced invasion from Israel and Aram Damascus (Syria) after refusing to join them in a revolt against Assyria. Ahaz, against Isaiah's advice, invited the Assyrians to protect him, turning Judah into an Assyrian vassal. Isaiah records the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians. Ahaz died c.715 BCE and was followed by his son Hezekiah. The new king followed a policy which Isaiah saw as dangerous, waging war on the Philistine cities and on Edom even though territory now under direct Assyrian control (i.e., the former kingdom of Israel) now come to within a few miles of Jerusalem. Isaiah warned that the consequence would be the same fate that Israel had met, but was ignored. Eventually Hezekiah revolted against Assyria, and the result was as Isaiah had predicted: the country was ravaged by Assyrian armies. Hezekiah then took Isaiah's advice, and Jerusalem was saved.[14]:pp.100-107
[edit] Content and structure
Proto-Isaiah is divided between verse and prose passages: a currently popular theory is that the verse passages represent the prophecies of the original Isaiah, while the prose sections are "sermons" on his texts composed at the court of Josiah, at the end of the 7th century BCE.[6]:p.4 Chapters 7, 21, and 36-39 appear also in 2nd Kings: it is not known whether the author of Isaiah borrowed them from Kings, or vice-versa.[6]:p.3 Chapters 24-27, known as the "Isaiah Apocalypse",[16][17] are usually thought to be the work of an author who lived long after Isaiah.[6]:p.4
Chapters 1-5 and 28-29 prophesy judgment against Judah. Judah thinks itself safe because of its covenant relationship with God. However, God tells Judah (through Isaiah) that the covenant cannot protect them when they have broken it by the worship of other gods and by acts of injustice and cruelty, which oppose God's law. Chapter 6 describes Isaiah's call to be a prophet of God, and chapters 7-23 contain prophecies against Judah's enemies. Chapters 24-34, while too complex to characterize easily, are primarily concerned with prophecies of a "Messiah", a person anointed or given power by God, and of the Messiah's kingdom, where justice and righteousness will reign. Chapters 36-39 concern Hezekiah's triumph over the Assyrians and his faith in God. It ends with a visit to Hezekiah by envoys from a rebel prince of Babylon, and Isaiah's words prophesying the Babylonian exile.
[edit] Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55)
Isaiah 40 at Bible Gateway
[edit] Authorship and historical background
Two crises occurred between Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. The first was the reform of official Judean religion under king Josiah, who banned many elements of the old polytheistic cult from the Temple; the second was the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, who conquered Jerusalem in 586 BCE and carried the royal court, the priests and other members of the ruling elite into captivity. It is widely believed that Deutero-Isaiah delivered his prophesies to this group, which was actually quite small - the majority of the population stayed in Judah.
By the middle of the century the king of Babylon was Nabonidus. He alienated the powerful priests of Marduk, the official god of Babylon, by taking up the worship of Sin, the god of Harran (a city in northern Mesopotamia) and absenting himself for long periods from the city and neglecting crucial ceremonies. He also neglected the rise of powerful new enemies, first the Medes, then the Persians under the king Cyrus the Great. In 550 BCE Cyrus defeated the Medes, and in 539 BCE he conquered Babylon, helped by the priests of Marduk. These events date Deutero-Isaiah's earlier prophecies. Chapters 49-55 probably come from a slightly later period, when the return to Jerusalem became a real possibility.[18]:p.524
[edit] Content and structure
Deutero-Isaiah prophesies the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Babylonians and their restoration in the land promised to them by God. It affirms that the Jews are indeed the chosen people of God and Yahweh is both their God and the God of the universe (46:9). Cyrus is named as the messiah who will overthrow Babylon and allow the return of Israel (chapter 45:1). The remaining chapters are a vision of the future glory of Zion. A "suffering servant" is referred to (esp. ch. 53) - probably a metaphor for Israel, Christians have traditionally interpreted it as a prophecy of Jesus as the Christ (i.e., Messiah).[19]
Chapters 40-55 fall into two parts, with 40-48 dealing with the rise of Cyrus, while 49-55 are focused on Zion as the wife whom God has renounced and then taken back. The Cyrus chapters are similar in style and theme to the Cyrus cylinder, and it is possible that Deutero-Isaiah was influenced by the propaganda of Cyrus and his supporters, who claimed that the god Marduk had chosen Cyrus to liberate Babylon.[18]:p.524
[edit] Trito-Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66)
Isaiah 56 at Bible Gateway
[edit] Authorship and historical background
Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. One of his first acts was to allow peoples exiled by the Babylonians (the policy had affected more people than just the Jews) to return to their homes. The Jews, or at least some of them, returned to Jerusalem, and by 515 BCE had rebuilt the Temple. The return, however, was not without problems of its own: the returnees found themselves in conflict with those Jews who had remained in the country and who now owned the land, and there was further conflicts over the form of government that should be set up. This was the background to Trito-Isaiah, who was probably not a single author but a group under the influence of Deutero-Isaiah and his followers.
[edit] Content and structure
Trito-Isaiah is not a unity: the majority of scholars regard it as an anthology of about twelve passages, differing in date and/or purpose,[20]:p.394 and it may include material from the First Temple period.[14]:p.183
The contents are correspondingly varied: a confession of sin and a plea to God not to maintain his anger forever (ch.63:7-64:11); a poem on the theme that God has no need of a temple because Heaven is his throne and Earth his footstool(Isaiah 66:1-2); verses setting out conditions for admission to the community; complaints of sin, incompetence and paganism; and distinctions between the "righteous" and the "sinners", foreshadowing the categories used in much later Judaism and early Christianity.[20]:pp.394-5
[edit] Themes in Deutero-Isaiah (Second Isaiah)

Isaiah 2:4 is taken as an unofficial mission statement by the United Nations. (Isaiah Wall in Ralph Bunche Park, a New York City park near UN headquarters)
[edit] The Servant of Yahweh
Main article: Servant songs
Second Isaiah contains four passages of “songs of the servant of Yahweh.”
1) 1st / Isa 42:1-4 The servant is the chosen one, given the Spirit to establish justice through the world
2) 2nd / Isa 49:1-6 The servant speaks to the entire world and identifies himself as one called by God before birth
3) 3rd / Isa 50:4-11 The servant declares his confidence in divine help even in the face of physical persecution
4) 4th / Isa 52:13-53:12 The suffering of the servant; how despite his innocent the servant was oppressed “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,” but his suffering is surrogate like a scapegoat.
The "servant of Yahweh" can be interpreted as any of three plausible characters: the first is an individual chosen by God, like Moses, Hezekiah, Josiah, Cyrus, etc., who is identified as a messianic figure of the future. The second is Israel itself as a personified nation, as shown in Isaiah 49:3 and the third is the remnant of the First Isaiah, the restored Israel from the exile (Isa 46:3).[21]
[edit] Monotheism
Second Isaiah contains the first clear statement of monotheism in the Hebrew scriptures: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god" (Isaiah 44:6), developed in Isaiah 44:09-20, a satire on the making and worship of idols where the foolishness of idolaters is elaborated such as the carpenter who carves an idol and worships it.
In Genesis 1, P alludes to Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story by the god Marduk after his defeat of Tiamat, offering a monotheistic alternative to the Mesopotamian myth. Second Isaiah makes this explicit. It was Yahweh, not Marduk, who defeated primeval chaos, the "great deep" (Isa 51:10), Second Isaiah repeatedly says, it was Yahweh, not Marduk, who created the world (40:12): "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? " (Isaiah 40:12). It was Yahweh, not Marduk, who formed light and created darkness: "I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the LORD do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7) Moreover, unlike Marduk, Yahweh did all this alone, "without any assistance" (44:24), and had "no offspring" (43:10). "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by myself spread out the earth" (Isaiah 44:24). "Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me" (Isaiah 43:10).
While Yahweh had shown his superiority to other gods before, in Second Isaiah Yahweh becomes the sole God of the world. This model of monotheism became the defining characteristic of Judaism, followed by Christianity and Islam.[22]
[edit] A New Exodus
A central theme in Second Isaiah is that of a new Exodus - the return of the exiled people Israel from Babylon to Jerusalem. The author imagines a ritualistic return to Zion (Judah) led by Yahweh. The importance of this theme is indicated by its placement at the beginning and end of Second Isaiah (40:3-5, 55:12-13). This new Exodus is repeatedly linked with Israel's Exodus from Egypt to Canaan under divine guidance, but with new elements. These links include the following:
The original Exodus participants left "in great haste" (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3), whereas the participants in this new Exodus will "not go out in great haste" (Isa 52:12).
The land between Egypt and Canaan of the first Exodus was a "great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland" (Deut 8:15), but in this new Exodus, the land between Babylon (Mesopotamia) and the Promised Land will be transformed into an paradise, where the mountains will be lowered and the valleys raised to create level road (Isa 40:4).
In the first Exodus, water was provided by God, but scarcely. In the new Exodus, God will "make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water" (Isa 41:18).[23]
[edit] Other Themes in the Book of Isaiah
[edit] Ethical behaviour
Isaiah is concerned with the connection between worship and ethical behavior. One of his major themes is Yahweh's refusal to accept the ritual worship of those who are treating others with cruelty and injustice.
[edit] Idolatry
Isaiah speaks also of idolatry, which was common at the time. The Canaanite worship, which involved fertility rites, including sexual practices forbidden by Jewish law, had become popular among the Jewish people. Isaiah picks up on a theme used by other prophets and tells Judah that the nation of Israel is like a wife who is committing adultery, having run away from her true husband, YHWH.
[edit] The nature of God
An important theme is that YHWH is the God of the whole earth. Many gods of the time were believed to be local gods or national gods who could participate in warfare and be defeated by each other. The concern of these gods was the protection of their own particular nations.
No one can defeat YHWH; if YHWH's people suffer defeat in battle, it is only because he permits it to happen. Furthermore, Yahweh is concerned with more than the Jewish people. He has called Judah and Israel his covenant people for the specific purpose of teaching the world about him.
[edit] "Holy One of Israel"
A unifying theme found throughout the Book of Isaiah is the use of the expression of "the Holy One of Israel". It is found 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 14 times in chapters 40-66. This expression appears only 6 times within the Old Testament outside the book of Isaiah.[24]
[edit] Kingdom of Yahweh
A final thematic goal that Isaiah constantly leans toward throughout the writing is the establishment of Yahweh's kingdom on earth, with rulers and subjects who strive to live by his will.
[edit] Influence on Christianity

Peace, 1896 etching by William Strutt, based upon Isaiah 11:6,7
The book of Isaiah has always been of great importance to the Christian religion. Many of its passages are interpreted as messianic prophecies, both by the authors of the New Testament and by Christian theologians. A few examples are given below. In the New Testament Isaiah is the most quoted of all the prophets outside of the Torah[25]. Some have even considered Isaiah an evangelist, rather than just a prophet.[26] The well-known oratorio Messiah from George Frideric Handel quotes extensively from Isaiah.
Virgin birth of Jesus
The authors of the New Testament delved into the Hebrew scripture for passages which they reinterpreted to be about Jesus.[27] One of the best-known of these is Isaiah 7:14. The prophet is assuring king Ahaz that God will save Judah from the invading armies of Israel and Syria: the sign that will prove this is the forthcoming birth of a child called Emmanuel ("God With Us"); the oracle is widely thought to refer to the birth of Hezekiah, Ahaz's son and eventual heir.[14]:p.101 The Greek translation of Isaiah used by early Christian communities, however, translated the Hebrew word עלמה almah as παρθένος parthenos, meaning "virgin", and changed the tense to the future. The Greek-speaking 1st century CE author of Matthew 1:23 used it in this form as foretelling the virgin birth of Jesus.
"A way in the wilderness"
Isaiah 40:3-5 imagines the exiled Israel proceeding home to Jerusalem on a newly-constructed road, led by the victorious Yahweh who has conquered the gods of Babylon. The vision was taken up by all four Gospels and applied to John the Baptist and Jesus, leading God's people out of exile.[28]
Jesus the Suffering Servant
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the fourth of the "Suffering Servant Songs". Many Jews interpret the servant as the people of Israel, and Trito-Isaiah saw himself in the role[citation needed]. The earliest Christians saw the Servant a prophecy of the death and exaltation of Jesus, a role which Jesus himself seems to have accepted (Luke 4:17-21).[18]:pp.534-5
[edit] References
^ a b May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 1977.
^ a b www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982919.html
^ Williamson, Hugh Godfrey Maturin, "The Book Called Isaiah" (Oxford University Press, 1994: ISBN 978-0-19-826360-9)pp.1-3
^ Lemche, Niels Peter, The Old Testament between theology and history: a critical survey, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, p.96 [1]
^ a b Kugel, James L. (2008). "chapter 30: The Book of Isaiah(s)". How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. New York, NY: Free Press. pp. 538–568. ISBN978-0-7432-3587-7.
^ a b c d Goldingay, John, Isaiah. New International Biblical Commentary Old Testament Series. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001 ISBN 0-85364-734-8.
^ Sweeney, Marvin A., Isaiah 1-4 and the post-exilic understanding of the Isaianic tradition, Beiheft zur Zeitscrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 171. Berlin & New York: de Gruyter, 1988 ISBN 0899254047.
^ Creelman, Harlan (1917). An Introduction to the Old Testament. The Macmillan company. pp. 172.
^ [2] Whybray, Roger Norman, The second Isaiah, Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1983 ISBN 0-567-08424-8, page 10.
^ Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1982). The international standard Bible encyclopedia. pp. 895–895. ISBN9780802837820.
^ a b Mercer dictionary of the Bible
^ a b c Boadt, Lawrence (1984). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. ISBN9780809126316.
^ a b "Introduction to the Book of Isaiah". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/isaiah/intro.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
^ a b c d Blenkinsopp, Joseph, A history of prophecy in Israel, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, revised edition,1996 ISBN 0664256392
^ Petersen, David L., "The prophetic literature: an introduction" (Westminster John Knox, 2002) p.48
^ pages 432-433, Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, Second Edition, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19-537840-5. Chapter 26.
^ But to the contrary, "a growing consensus that this designation is misleading and should be abandoned", page 346 in Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 1-39: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, volume 19, The Anchor Bible, New York: Doubleday, 2000, ISBN 0-385-49716-4.
^ a b c Barker, Margaret, "Isaiah", pages 489-542 in Dunn, James D. G., and Rogerson, John William (eds) Eerdmans commentary on the Bible, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2003 ISBN 0-8028-3711-5.
^ "Servant Songs." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
^ a b Soggin, J. Alberto, Introduction to the Old Testament: from its origins to the closing of the Alexandrian canon. Old Testament Library. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 3rd edition, 1989 ISBN 0664213316. Translation of the 4th edition of Introduzione all'Antico Testamento
^ Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" page 334-335, Oxfrod University Press, 2009.
^ Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" pages 335-336, Oxford University Press, 2009.
^ Michael D. Coogan, A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament (New York: Oxford, 2009), 333
^ "Introduction to the book of Isaiah". Zondervan. www.ibsstl.org/niv/studybible/isaiah.php. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
^ New Testament Citations of the Old Testament by Crossway
^ mhcw.biblecommenter.com/isaiah/53.htm Matthew Henry's Bible commentary on Isaiah 53
^ A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Bruce Metzger
^ Brueggemann p.174
[edit] External links

Wikisource
has original text related to this article: Isaiah
[edit] Translations
Book of Isaiah (Hebrew) side-by-side with English)
Book of Isaiah (English translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org)
Bible Gateway
[edit] Websites
Introduction to the book of Isaiah from the NIV Study Bible
Was She, or Was She not "A Virgin"?, Messiah Truth
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Isaiah
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