ISAIAH (i-za'ya or i-zd'ya.), (Heb. yesk ah-yaw'hoo; LXX, 'Ikea* 1. Life and Times of the Prophet Isaiah. The heading of this book places the prophet un der the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hez ekiah, kings of Judah; and an examination of the prophecies themselves, independently of the head ing, leads us to the same chronological results. Chapter vi, in which is related the call of Isaiah, is thus headed: 'In the year in which King Uz ziah died [i. e., B. C. 735] I saw the Lord,' etc. Isaiah was accordingly born about 765. His father's name is given as Amoz (not Amos, with which it was confounded by some ancient Fa thers).* According to a Jewish rabbinical tradi tion, Isaiah was either the brother or nephew of King Amaziah, a tradition which has been sup ported in modern times by pointing to the occur rence of the name of Jehovah as a part of lab's name. This, it has been said, was custom ary in the earlier periods of Israel's history only in royal circles. But no safe conclusion can be drawn from these data, and, as a matter of fact we must confess that of his earlier personal life nothing is known.
The age in which Ile lived, however, was crit ical, and is one of the best understood of all Bib lical periods. It is the age in which the great Assyrian monarchs, Tiglath-pileser III, Shalma neser IV, Sargon, and Sennacherib undertook and carried on extensive campaigns of conquest in Northern Palestine, as well as against Israel and Judah. It was an age in which the true mission of Israel was in need of being specially emphasized. And to this work Isaiah was di vinely called. If we assume that he began his prophetic work in B. C. 735, and take into ac count the data in chapters 36-39 of the book, which indicate that he was active in public life in the fifteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah; e., B. C. 713, we shall have a life of public service extending over at least twenty-two years How much longer he lived and prophesied it is not easy to determine precisely. Some modern scholars, led by Staudlein, Jahn, Bertholdt, and Gesenius, have advanced the opinion that Isaiah lived to a much later period, and that his life extended to the reign of Manasseh, the successor of Hezekiah. For this opinion the following
reasons are adduced: (t) According to 2 Chron. xxxii :32, Isaiah wrote the life of King Hezekiah, It would hence appear that he survived that king.
(2) We find a tradition current in the Talmud. in the Fathers, and in Oriental literature, that Isaiah suffered martyrdom in the reign of Manas seh, by being sawn asunder. It is thought that an allusion to this tradition is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi:37), in the expression, they were sawn asunder (hrplcrOnaav), which seems to harmonize, though somewhat vaguely, with 2 Kings xxi :16, 'Moreover NIanasseh shed inno cent blood very much.' (3) The authenticity of the second portion of the prophecies of Isaiah being assumed. the na ture of this portion would seem to confirm the idea that its author had lived under Manasseh.
These arguments, however, cannot be regarded as conclusive. The first can only prove that Isa iah survived Hezekiah; but even this does not follow with certainty, because in 2 Chron.
32, where Isaiah's biography of Hezekiah is men tioned, the important words, 'first and last,' are omitted; while in chapter xxvi :22, we read, 'Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah, the son of Amoz, write.' If we take into consideration this important omis sion, we can easily believe that Isaiah died before Hczekiah, although he wrote his biography up to a certain point ; more especially if we bear in mind that, according to the books of Kings and Chronicles, the latter years of the reign of Hez ekialt were devoid of important events. We cer tainly find, in all ages of literature, biographies of persons written during their lifetime.
We may well suppose that the history of Hez ekiah terminated with the glorious aid granted to him in his war with the Assyrians, and with the events immediately consequent upon that war.