“Isaiah ... is the greatest of the Hebrew prophets and orators. For splendor of diction, brilliance of imagery, versatility and beauty of style, he is unequalled. Correctly he has been called the ‘Prince of Old Testament Prophets.’“
—Merrill F. Unger
MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Is 1:1
In The Disciple’s Study Bible we are told:
The Book of Isaiah presents an exciting challenge to the reader both by its size and its content. The book’s riches open only to those diligent and persistent. Little is known of the origin of the book. The content falls easily into two distinct divisions: 1-39 historically set in the eighth century B.C., and 40-66 historically set in the sixth century B.C.. Such a striking and unusual phenomenon within one book has caused serious students of the Bible to reach differing conclusions as to exactly what happened. Did God reveal to Isaiah truth for his own day (eighth century) and truth relevant two hundred years in the future (sixth century)? Were there perhaps two prophets involved in bringing this truth to us, Isaiah and a nameless one who lived and ministered two hundred years later? Each one who takes up the Book of Isaiah should remember: (1) that such a difference in time does exist between the two parts; (2) that scholars will forever be divided on how to explain this difference; and (3) that the question is not a question of what God could or could not do. Either position fits comfortably within the belief that God is all powerful. More important than the explanation accepted is the realization that these two parts of the book are not contradictory but complementary. Together they reveal the total message of the inspired book.
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Disciple’s Study Bible Copyright © 1988 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN. All rights reserved.
Dr. John MacArthur indicates:
The book derives its title from the author, whose name means “The LORD is salvation,” and is similar to the names Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus. Isaiah is quoted directly in the NT over sixty-five times, far more than any other OT prophet, and mentioned by name over twenty times.
Isaiah, the son of Amoz, ministered in and around Jerusalem as a prophet to Judah during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah (called “Azariah” in 2 Kin.), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1), from ca. 739–686 B.C. Isaiah evidently came from a family of some rank, because he had easy access to the king (7:3) and intimacy with a priest (8:2). He was married and had two sons who bore symbolic names: “Shear-jashub” (“a remnant shall return,” 7:3) and “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” (“hasting to the spoil, hurrying to the prey,” 8:3). When called by God to prophesy, in the year of King Uzziah’s death (ca. 739 B.C.), he responded with a cheerful readiness, though he knew from the beginning that his ministry would be one of fruitless warning and exhortation (6:9–13). Having been reared in Jerusalem, he was an appropriate choice as a political and religious counselor to the nation.
Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea and Micah. His writing style has no rival in its versatility of expression, brilliance of imagery, and richness of vocabulary. The early church father Jerome likened him to Demosthenes, the legendary Greek orator. His writing features a range of 2,186 different words, compared to 1,535 in Ezekiel, 1,653 in Jeremiah, and 2,170 in the Psalms. Second Chronicles 32:32 records that he wrote a biography of King Hezekiah also. The prophet lived until at least 681 B.C. when he penned the account of Sennacherib’s death (cf. 37:38). Tradition has it that he met his death under King Manasseh (ca. 695–642 B.C.) by being cut in two with a wooden saw (cf. Heb. 11:37).
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH presents one of the most startling examples of messianic prophecy in the OT. With vivid imagery, Isaiah depicts the future Christ as the Suffering Servant, who was “led as a lamb to the slaughter” (53:7) and “shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities” (53:11).
MacArthur, John: The MacArthur Bible Handbook. Nashville, Tenn. : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003, S. 183
So now we undertake one of our most challenging and yet one of the most rewarding of our endeavors.
“Who has given credence to what we have heard? And who has seen in it a revelation of Yahweh’s arm? 2 Like a sapling he grew up before him, like a root in arid ground. He had no form or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts; 3 he was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom we had no regard. 4 Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God; 5 whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises. 6 We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion of all of us to bear on him. 7 Ill-treated and afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth. 8 Forcibly, after sentence, he was taken. Which of his contemporaries was concerned at his having been cut off from the land of the living, at his having been struck dead for his people’s rebellion? 9 He was given a grave with the wicked, and his tomb is with the rich, although he had done no violence, had spoken no deceit. 10 It was Yahweh’s good pleasure to crush him with pain; if he gives his life as a sin offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his life, and through him Yahweh’s good pleasure will be done. 11 After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content. By his knowledge, the upright one, my servant will justify many by taking their guilt on himself. 12 Hence I shall give him a portion with the many, and he will share the booty with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious. “
The New Jerusalem Bible. New York : Doubleday, 1985, S. Ge 1:1-3
