Isaiah - Introduction

Introduction

Well, we have finished the minor prophets, so let's go on to the major prophets, starting with my favourite. This could take some time!

Isaiah is sometimes known as the prince of prophets, probably being the best known of the Old Testament prophets. His prophecies are the most immediately relevant to the gospel, especially Isaiah 53. In the Hebrew Bible Isaiah is the first of the latter prophets, as distinguished from the former prophets. The former prophets are the ones like Elijah and Elisha and others who appeared mostly in Kings and Chronicles. They mostly gave advice to kings and performed miracles. The latter prophets were far more concerned with telling the nation of their sins, and how God was going to deal with the nation. They also looked ahead, both into the near term future, and looking far ahead. In Isaiah we find all of this. There is immediate concern with the immediate state of Judah, particularly in the light of the Assyrian threat. A primary feature of all the prophets is that the main issue is the moral state of the nation, rather than military matters. Isaiah also looks beyond the immediate context, prophesying the release from the future captivity of Israel in Babylon, and then further beyond that as well.

Isaiah is a very long prophecy, and it splits into three main segments. Chapters 1-39 deal with the Assyrian situation, with chapters 36-39 being almost identical to material in 2 Kings 18-20, and relating events also recorded in 2 Chronicles 31 and 32. Isaiah 40-55 address the Babylonian captivity and Israel’s release, and 56-66 everlasting judgement and salvation. Motyer summarises these three sections as (i) the Kingl; (ii) the Servant and (iii) the Anointed Conqueror.

This jump in context after chapter 39 causes most commentators (even evangelical ones) to assume a change in author, with Isaiah 40 onwards often referred to as deutero-Isaiah, and chapter 56 onwards sometimes as trito-Isaiah. So they see Isaiah as writing the first 39 chapters, and then later prophets being responsible for the later chapters. The reason for this is this historical jump in context, especially Isaiah specifically naming Cyrus in chapter 45. However, not all commentators take this line, instead assuming the unity of the book, and this is the line that I will take.

It has to be said that the only real reason for the multi-Isaiah approach is the context jump. Other reasons are given, but these are really only supposed grounds for supporting the multi-Isaiah approach. All the manuscript evidence supports a single author. Isaiah scrolls were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and there is no break. The New Testament references to Isaiah all assume a single author. The name of Isaiah is the only one associated with the book. So the choice of authorship that we have is either the historical figure of Isaiah, the only one with any historical or documentary attestation. Or Isaiah plus one or more unknown, unattested authors, ie made-up authors.

Sometimes there are claims made that there are linguistic differences between the two halves of Isaiah, but there are also numerous similarities between the two, and features of the two that are unique to Isaiah.

Moreover, one of the key points in 40-55 is God’s unique ability to foretell the future. So there is a consistency with these chapters being given many years before the events unfurled.

There is one practical problem in interpretation. Namely, how should we read chapters 40 onwards? With chapters 1-39 it is straightforward. We read them first in the context of the Assyrian threat, and other political and geographical realities of the time. And we use this historical context when seeking to understand the future aspects of the prophecies. With most Biblical prophecy there is a meaning and a partial fulfilment within the immediate historical context. Then there is a future greater fulfilment that the prophecy is pointing to. So what are we to do about chapters 40 onwards? It is difficult to see what they would mean to the immediate hearers, and we will look at them in the light of the Babylonian captivity.

There is one further point that we should make about the authorship of the book, and this applies to all of Scripture. All Scripture is God-breathed. This means that He is the ultimate author. Now He did not do this by some sort of automatic writing, or taking over the mind of the human writers. The human writers, their personalities, characters, and circumstances all matter, but God is the ultimate author. Therefore, whether or not we accept that Isaiah is the single author of this book, or whether we think that there were two or more human authors, writing at different periods, if we wish to appreciate the book properly, then we need to read the book as a unified whole, because God has put this book together for us. Indeed, this applies to the whole of scripture. The Bible is a unified piece of writing, even though it has many human authors, covering a thousand years or more.

Isaiah is an amazing book, and I am looking forward to working on this series of writings.

As well as my usual study Bibles and general sources, I am greatly indebted to the following work:

The Prophecy of Isaiah, Alec Motyer, IVP, 1983.

Let the journey begin!