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Isaiah — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Biography

The first verse of the Book of Isaiah states that Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah. Uzziah's reign was 52 years in the middle of the 8th century BC, and Isaiah must have begun his ministry a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the 740s BC. He may have been contemporary with Manasseh for some years. Thus, Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as 64 years.

According to some modern interpretations, Isaiah's wife was called "the prophetess", either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like Deborah and Huldah, or simply because she was the "wife of the prophet". They had two sons, naming the elder Shear-Jashub, meaning "A remnant shall return", and the younger Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning, "Quickly to spoils, plunder speedily." According to the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 the two also had a son named Immanuel, a verse interpreted by Christians as prophesizing the virgin birth of Jesus.

Soon after this, Shalmaneser V determined to subdue the northern Kingdom of Israel, taking over and destroying Samaria and beginning the Assyrian captivity. So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was untouched by the Assyrian power. But when Hezekiah gained the throne, he was encouraged to rebel "against the king of Assyria", and entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt. The king of Assyria threatened the king of Judah, and at length invaded the land. Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant brought his powerful army into Judah. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians. But after a brief interval, war broke out again. Again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem. Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians, whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread before the LORD".

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus said GOD, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed, concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria—

this is the word that GOD has spoken concerning him:

Fair Maiden Zion despises you,

She mocks at you;

Fair Jerusalem shakes

Her head at you.

Whom have you blasphemed and reviled?

Against whom made loud your voice

And haughtily raised your eyes?

Against the Holy One of Israel!

According to the account in 2 Kings 19 (and its derivative account in 2 Chronicles 32) an angel of God fell on the Assyrian army and slew 185,000 of its men in one night. "Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made no more expeditions against either Judea or Egypt."

The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful. Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh. The time and manner of his death are not specified in either the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) or other primary sources. The Talmud says that he suffered martyrdom by being sawn in two under the orders of Manasseh.

The book of Isaiah, and the book of the prophet Jeremiah, are distinctive in the Hebrew Bible for their direct portrayal of the "wrath of the LORD" as presented, for example, in Isaiah 9:19 stating "Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire."

In Islam

Isaiah (Arabic: إِشَعْيَاء, romanized: Ishaʿyāʾ) is not mentioned by name in the Quran or the Hadith, but appears frequently as a prophet in Muslim sources such as the qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ and various tafsirs. Al-Tabari (310/923) provides the typical accounts for Islamic traditions regarding Isaiah. He is listed among the prophets in the book of salawat Dalail al-Khayrat. He is further mentioned and accepted as a prophet by other Islamic scholars such as ibn Kathir, Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi and al-Kisa'i and also modern scholars such as Muhammad Asad and Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

According to Muslim scholars, Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus and Muhammad, although the claim is disputed by other religious scholars. Isaiah's narrative in Islamic literature can be divided into three sections. The first establishes Isaiah as an Israelite prophet of Judea during the reign of Hezekiah; the second relates Isaiah's actions during the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC by Sennacherib; and the third warns the nation of coming doom. Paralleling the Hebrew Bible, Islamic tradition states that Hezekiah was king in Jerusalem during Isaiah's time. Hezekiah heard and obeyed Isaiah's advice, but could not quell the turbulence in Israel. This tradition maintains that Hezekiah was a righteous man and that the turbulence worsened after him. After the death of the king, Isaiah told the people not to forsake God, and warned Israel to cease from its persistent sin and disobedience. Muslim tradition maintains that the unrighteous of Judea in their anger sought to kill Isaiah.

In a death resembling the one found in Lives of the Prophets, Muslim exegesis recounts Isaiah's martyrdom by Israelites sawing him asunder.

In the courts of al-Ma'mun, the seventh Abbasid caliph, Ali al-Ridha, the great-grandson of Muhammad and prominent scholar of his era, was questioned by the Exilarch to prove through the Torah that both Jesus and Muhammad were prophets. Among his several proofs, al-Ridha references the Book of Isaiah, stating "Sha'ya (Isaiah), the Prophet, said in the Torah concerning what you and your companions say 'I have seen two riders to whom (He) illuminated earth. One of them was on a donkey and the other was on a camel. Who is the rider of the donkey, and who is the rider of the camel?'" The Exilarch was unable to answer with certainty. Al-Ridha goes on to state that "As for the rider of the donkey, he is 'Isa (Jesus); and as for the rider of the camel, he is Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family. Do you deny that this (statement) is in the Torah?" The Rabbi responds "No, I do not deny it."