According to these statements Isaiah belongs to the cycle of the most ancient prophets whose pre dictions have been preserved in writing. He was a contemporary of Hosea, Amos, and Jonah, al though younger than those prophets, who belonged to the kingdom of Israel. He was likewise a con temporary and co-worker of the prophet Micah in the kingdom of Judah. We infer also from the circumstance that the prophecies of Joel are in serted among the books of the minor prophets before those of Micah, that Isaiah must have been a contemporary of Joel, since the minor prophets are chronologically arranged.
Micah entered upon his prophetic office under the reign of Jotham, consequently somewhat later than Isaiah commenced his prophetic career. Oba diah, who is placed among the minor prophets, after Joel and before Micah, was likewise a con temporary of Isaiah. It is not accidental that Isaiah and all these prophets commence the series of those whose prophetic utterances svcre written down and preserved. Nor is there any reason to assert that the preceding age was neglectful of the preservation of prophetic literature, although even Ewald, in his Propheten (i. p. 54, Stuttgard, 184o), asserts that beyond the prophetic literature which we possess there lay an earlier, which was inore comprehensive. There is, however, no one genuine proof sufficient to evince that there were written prophecies beforc Isaiah and his contem poraries. Hosea refers (viii. 12), not to earlier prophetic writings, but to the books of Moses. This has been proved by Hengstenberg (Bei/rage, part ii. p. 604, seq.) Isaiah ii. and Micah iv. do not rest upon an earlier prophetic production which was lost ; but Isaiah rests upon Micah as Jeremiah does upon Obadiah ; and it is not the case that both prophets rest upon a third unknown prophet. At the period whcn these prophcts commenced their career, prophetism itself had attained a new epoch, at which a great number of important pro phets were ranged beside each other. The affairs of the Israelites became at this period more inter woven with those of the great Asiatic empires, which then began to bring about the threatened judgments of the Lord upon his people. Hence forward, also, the prophetic office was to be con ducted on a grander scale. To the prophets it was now assigned to declare and to interpret the judgrnents of the Lord, in order to render the people conscious as well of his chastising justice as of his preserving mercy. A larger field was now opened to the strictly prophetic office, which consisted in uttering predictions of the future.
The admonitions to repentance were now also supported by more powerful motives. The hopes of a coming Messiah were revived. To the worldly power, which threatens destruction to the external theocracy, is henceforth opposed the kingdom ot God, destined to conquer and to govern the world through the Messiah. This consolation was offered to those who would othenvise have been driven tc despair. Now only was prophetism able to de velope its full power and become important for all subsequent ages. This persuasion induced the: prophets to write their prophecies, and it caused these docuinents also to he carefully preserved. The reason why the earlier prophets did not com mit their utterances to writing is the same that, with two exceptions, led Isaiah not to write under Uzziah, and to omit writing his utterances under Jotham altogether.
Little is known respecting the circumstances of Isaiah's life. His father's name was Amoz (rom:4). The fathcrs of the church confound him with the prophet Amos (Dvx;), because they were unac quainted with Hebrew, and in Greek the two names are spelled alike. The opinion of the Rabbins, that Isaiah was a brother of King Amaziah, rests also on a. mere etymological combination. Isaiah resided at Jerusalem, not far from the temple. We learn from chapters vii. and viii. that lae was married. Two of his sons are mentioned, STrear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz. These significant names, which he gave to his sons, prove how much Isaiah lived in his vocation. He did not consider his children to belong merely to himself, but rendered them living admonitions to the people. In their names were contained the two chief points of his prophetic utterances : one recalled to mind the severe and inevitable judgment wherewith the Lord was about to visit the world, and especially his people ; the other, which signifies "The remnant shall return,' pointed out the mercy with which the Lord would receive the elect, and with which, in the midst of apparent destruction, he would take care to preserve his people and his kingdom. Isaiah calls his wife rIN'1:, prophetess. This indi cates that his marriage-life was not in opposition to his vocation, and also that it not only went along with his vocation, but that it was intimately intenvoven with it. This name cannot mean the wife of a prophet, but indicates that the prophetess of Isaiah had a prophetic gift, like Miriam, De borah, and Huldah. The appellation here given denotes the genuineness of their conjugal relation.