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Old Testament · Prophecy

The Book of Isaiah: Author, Context and Complete Study

Isaiah is the great prophet of the holiness and salvation of God. He confronts Judah's sin in the days of Assyria and then comforts God's people with promises of a coming King, a suffering Servant and new heavens and a new earth.

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What is Isaiah about?

Isaiah is the book of the prophet Isaiah, who preached in Jerusalem from about 740 to 700 BC, while Assyria was swallowing up the nations around Judah. Chapters 1-39 denounce Judah's sin, call its kings to trust God instead of foreign alliances and announce a coming King from David's line (7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-10). Chapters 40-66 comfort God's people in exile with the promise of a new exodus, the suffering Servant who bears the sins of many (52:13-53:12) and new heavens and a new earth (65:17).

Author
Isaiah son of Amoz, a prophet in Jerusalem (1:1). Tradition attributes all 66 chapters to him; many modern scholars assign chapters 40-66 to later prophets in his tradition, writing during and after the exile.
Date
Isaiah's ministry ran c. 740-700 BC; chapters 40-66 speak to the exiles in Babylon and to those who returned after 539 BC.
First readers
The people of Judah and Jerusalem under the threat of Assyria and, in the later chapters, the exiles in Babylon and the community that returned to rebuild.
Genre
Prophecy
Chapters
66 chapters
Key verse
Isaiah 53:5

Historical context

Isaiah received his call in the year King Uzziah died, about 740 BC (6:1), and prophesied under Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (1:1). Uzziah's long reign had brought Judah wealth and military strength, but also pride, injustice and empty worship (1:10-17; 5:8-23). Meanwhile Assyria was expanding under Tiglath-pileser III. Around 735 BC Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel marched on Jerusalem to force Ahaz into an alliance against Assyria; Isaiah urged the king to trust God, but Ahaz paid Assyria for protection instead (7:1-9; 2 Kings 16:7-9). Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom, fell to Assyria in 722 BC.

Under Hezekiah, Judah rebelled against Assyria and looked to Egypt for help, which Isaiah condemned (30:1-2; 31:1). In 701 BC Sennacherib invaded, took the fortified cities of Judah and threatened Jerusalem, but the city was spared when the angel of the Lord struck the Assyrian camp (36-37). Chapters 40-66 look beyond Isaiah's day: Jerusalem has fallen to Babylon, the people are in exile, and the Lord names Cyrus of Persia as the one who will let them go home (44:28-45:1). Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the exiles to return (Ezra 1:1-4).

Geographical context

Isaiah lived in Jerusalem, and Zion, the hill of the temple and the city of David, stands at the center of his message: the place God chose, the city he judges and the city he will make a joy for all the earth (2:2-4; 60-62). Two key scenes happen at the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Washer's Field, where Isaiah met Ahaz (7:3) and where Sennacherib's officer later taunted the city (36:2). Isaiah also speaks of the gently flowing waters of Shiloah (8:6) and of the city's preparations for siege (22:9-11).

The oracles of chapters 13-23 sweep across the ancient Near East: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Edom, Arabia and Tyre. Galilee, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali first struck by Assyria, receives the promise of a great light (9:1-2). In chapters 40-55 the horizon is Babylon, and the road home through the desert becomes the highway of a new exodus (40:3-5; 43:19).

Why does the book of Isaiah exist?

Isaiah was written to call a proud, unfaithful nation back to the Holy One of Israel. Judah offered sacrifices while oppressing the poor, and its kings trusted armies, treaties and Egypt more than the Lord. Isaiah announces that God will judge such sin in Judah and in every nation, but that a remnant will return to him (10:20-22). Faith, for Isaiah, means relying on God when every human power looks stronger (7:9; 30:15).

The book also exists to give a hope that outlasts judgment. To people facing Assyria, and later to exiles in Babylon, Isaiah proclaims that God is the only Creator and Savior, that idols are nothing, and that he will bring his people home, raise up a righteous King and send a Servant who will suffer for the sins of many. No Old Testament book gives a fuller portrait of the Messiah, which is why the New Testament quotes Isaiah so often.

Outline of Isaiah

  1. Chapters 1-5

    Judah's rebellion and the Lord's case against it

    Isaiah charges Judah with rebellion and empty worship, yet invites the people to be cleansed (1:18). He sees the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord (2:2-4), sings the song of the fruitless vineyard (5:1-7) and pronounces six woes on injustice.

  2. Chapters 6-12

    Isaiah's call and the promise of Immanuel

    Isaiah sees the Lord on his throne and is sent (6). He urges Ahaz to trust God and announces Immanuel (7:14), the child who will reign on David's throne (9:6-7) and the shoot from the stump of Jesse (11:1-10), closing with a song of salvation (12).

  3. Chapters 13-23

    Oracles against the nations

    Judgment on Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem itself and Tyre. The Lord rules every empire, and one day even Egypt and Assyria will worship him together with Israel (19:23-25).

  4. Chapters 24-27

    Judgment of the earth and the feast on God's mountain

    Often called the Isaiah Apocalypse: the earth is laid waste for breaking God's covenant, but the Lord prepares a feast for all peoples, swallows up death forever (25:6-8) and promises that the dead will live again (26:19).

  5. Chapters 28-35

    Woes on false trust and the desert in bloom

    Woes on the leaders of Ephraim and Jerusalem and on those who run to Egypt for help (30-31), the promise of a king who reigns in righteousness (32:1), judgment on Edom (34) and the desert blooming as the redeemed return to Zion singing (35).

  6. Chapters 36-39

    Hezekiah, Sennacherib and the envoys from Babylon

    A historical bridge: Sennacherib's officer mocks the Lord, Hezekiah prays and the Assyrian army is struck down (36-37). Hezekiah recovers from a deadly illness, then shows his treasures to envoys from Babylon, and Isaiah foretells the exile (38-39).

  7. Chapters 40-48

    Comfort: the incomparable God and Cyrus

    God speaks comfort to his people (40:1), mocks idols made by human hands (44:9-20) and names Cyrus as the shepherd who will set the exiles free (44:28-45:1). Babylon and its gods will fall, and the people are told to leave it (48:20).

  8. Chapters 49-55

    The Servant of the Lord and the restoration of Zion

    The Servant is called to be a light for the nations (49:6), is beaten and spat upon (50:6) and is crushed for the sins of others (52:13-53:12). Zion is restored, and everyone who thirsts is invited to receive mercy freely (55).

  9. Chapters 56-66

    Zion's future glory and the new creation

    Foreigners are welcomed into God's house of prayer (56:7), true fasting is defined (58), and the anointed one brings good news to the poor (61:1-3). The book ends with the promise of new heavens and a new earth (65:17; 66:22).

Famous passages in Isaiah

  • Isaiah 1:18

    An invitation to be made clean

    After exposing Judah's empty worship and bloodstained hands, the Lord invites the people to settle the matter with him: though their sins are like scarlet, they can become white as snow. The verse is loved as one of the Old Testament's clearest offers of forgiveness, set right beside the call to seek justice for the orphan and the widow (1:17).

    Study Isaiah 1 →

  • Isaiah 6:1-8

    Isaiah sees the holy God

    In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees the Lord on a high throne while seraphim call out holy, holy, holy. Undone by his sin, he is cleansed by a burning coal from the altar and answers God's call by offering himself to be sent. The scene shapes Christian worship and mission, and John 12:41 says Isaiah saw the glory of Christ.

    Study Isaiah 6 →

  • Isaiah 7:14

    The sign of Immanuel

    When King Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, the Lord gives one anyway: the young woman, or virgin, will conceive and bear a son and call him Immanuel, which means God with us. The sign spoke to Ahaz's crisis, and Matthew 1:22-23 announces its full meaning in the virgin birth of Jesus.

    Study Isaiah 7 →

  • Isaiah 9:6-7

    A child born to reign forever

    Into the darkness of Assyrian invasion Isaiah announces the birth of a child who will carry the government on his shoulders, named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, and who will reign on David's throne with justice forever. Churches read it every Christmas as a prophecy of Christ.

    Study Isaiah 9 →

  • Isaiah 40:28-31

    Strength for the weary

    The everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth, never grows tired, and he gives power to the faint. Those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength, rise up on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary. First spoken to exiles who felt forgotten (40:27), it is one of the most memorized promises in Scripture.

    Study Isaiah 40 →

  • Isaiah 52:13-53:12

    The suffering Servant

    The Servant is despised and rejected, wounded for the transgressions of others, silent like a lamb led to slaughter, assigned a grave with the wicked and the rich, and then highly exalted. The New Testament quotes and echoes it often (Acts 8:32-35; 1 Peter 2:22-25), and Christians read it as the Old Testament's clearest portrait of the cross.

    Study Isaiah 52 →

  • Isaiah 55:6-11

    Higher thoughts and a word that does not fail

    The Lord calls everyone to seek him while he may be found and promises abundant pardon to the wicked who return. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth, and his word, like rain and snow, will not return to him empty but will accomplish what he intends.

    Study Isaiah 55 →

  • Isaiah 61:1-3

    Good news for the poor

    The anointed speaker is sent by the Spirit of the Lord to bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives and comfort all who mourn. In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read this passage and declared that it was fulfilled that day in the hearing of his listeners (Luke 4:16-21).

    Study Isaiah 61 →

Main themes

The Holy One of Israel
Isaiah's favorite title for God, used about twenty-five times in both halves of the book, flows from his vision of the thrice-holy Lord (6:3). God's holiness exposes sin, yet the Holy One is also the Redeemer of his people (41:14; 43:14).
Trust instead of alliances
Isaiah confronts kings who looked to Syria, Assyria or Egypt for security. Ahaz is warned that without firm faith he will not stand firm (7:9), and Hezekiah's generation hears that in returning and rest they would be saved (30:15).
Judgment and the remnant
God will judge pride in Judah and among the nations, yet a remnant will return to the mighty God (10:20-22). Isaiah's son Shear-jashub, whose name means a remnant shall return, was a living reminder of that hope (7:3).
The coming King
A child from David's line will be called Mighty God and will reign forever (9:6-7). The shoot from the stump of Jesse will be filled with the Spirit and will judge the poor with righteousness (11:1-5), and a king will reign in righteousness (32:1).
The Servant of the Lord
In chapters 41-53 the Servant is sometimes Israel (41:8; 49:3) and sometimes an individual who restores Israel and brings light to the nations (49:5-6). He suffers in silence and bears the sin of many (53:4-12).
New exodus and new creation
The return from Babylon is pictured as a new exodus, with a highway through the desert and rivers in the wilderness (40:3-5; 43:16-21). The hope widens until God creates new heavens and a new earth (65:17-25).

Main characters

Isaiah
Son of Amoz and prophet in Jerusalem for some forty years. Married to a woman called the prophetess (8:3), he gave his sons symbolic names and walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt and Cush (20:2-3).
Ahaz
King of Judah during the crisis with Syria and Israel. Offered any sign he wished, he refused with false piety (7:10-12) and relied on Assyria instead of the Lord, a choice that cost his kingdom dearly.
Hezekiah
Son of Ahaz and a reforming king. Threatened by Sennacherib, he spread the Assyrian letter before the Lord and prayed (37:14-20). God added fifteen years to his life (38:5), but he proudly showed his treasures to envoys from Babylon (39).
Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz
Isaiah's sons, whose names were messages: a remnant shall return (7:3) and the spoil speeds, the prey hastes (8:1-4). The second announced that Assyria would soon plunder Damascus and Samaria. Isaiah calls his children signs in Israel (8:18).
Sennacherib
King of Assyria who invaded Judah in 701 BC and sent his officer, the Rabshakeh, to mock the Lord before Jerusalem (36). After his army was struck down he returned to Nineveh, where two of his sons killed him (37:36-38).
Shebna and Eliakim
Officials of Hezekiah's court. Shebna, who carved himself a showy tomb, is to be replaced by Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who receives the key of the house of David (22:15-22), an image Revelation 3:7 applies to Christ.
Merodach-baladan
King of Babylon who sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah after his recovery (39:1). The visit of his envoys led Isaiah to warn that Judah's treasures and some of the king's descendants would one day be carried off to Babylon (39:5-7).
Cyrus
King of Persia, named in 44:28 and 45:1, on the traditional view some 150 years before his rise. The Lord calls him his shepherd and his anointed, the ruler who will free the exiles and order Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt, though Cyrus does not know the Lord (45:4).
The Servant of the Lord
The chosen one in whom God delights, who brings justice to the nations without breaking a bruised reed (42:1-4), sets his face like flint (50:7) and is crushed for the transgressions of others (53:5). The New Testament identifies him with Jesus (Matthew 12:17-21).

In-depth study of Isaiah

Introduction

Isaiah opens in a courtroom: heaven and earth are summoned to hear the Lord's case against children who have rebelled against him (1:2). It closes with new heavens and a new earth, where people from every nation come to worship (66:22-23). Between those two scenes stand some of the best-known words in Scripture: the seraphim crying holy, holy, holy; the sign of Immanuel; the child called Prince of Peace; the voice in the wilderness; the wings like eagles; the Servant wounded for the transgressions of others.

With 66 chapters, Isaiah has more chapters than any other prophetic book, and it stands first among the Major Prophets in English Bibles. Its message can be summed up in the prophet's own name, which means the Lord saves. The Holy One of Israel cannot ignore sin, but he will not abandon his people. He judges in order to purify, and he saves through a King and a Servant whom the New Testament recognizes as Jesus.

Who wrote Isaiah and when?

The prophet and his times

The book calls itself the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (1:1). Isaiah lived in Jerusalem, spoke directly to kings and was married to a woman called the prophetess (8:3). His call came in the year Uzziah died, about 740 BC (6:1), and his last dated public actions belong to Sennacherib's invasion in 701 BC. Chronicles says he also wrote accounts of the reigns of Uzziah and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 26:22; 32:32). A later Jewish tradition, recorded in the Talmud and in an ancient writing called the Ascension of Isaiah, says that King Manasseh had him sawn in two, and some connect Hebrews 11:37 with that story; it remains a tradition, not a biblical statement.

One author or several?

Jewish and Christian tradition has always read the whole book as Isaiah's. The New Testament quotes both halves under his name: Matthew 3:3 cites Isaiah 40:3, Matthew 8:17 cites 53:4, and John 12:38-41 quotes 53:1 and 6:10 together, adding that Isaiah spoke of Christ because he saw his glory. The Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran, copied in the second century BC, presents all 66 chapters as one continuous book.

Since the late eighteenth century many scholars have argued that chapters 40-55 come from an unnamed prophet among the exiles in Babylon, about 550-539 BC, and chapters 56-66 from the period after the return. They point to the change of setting, the naming of Cyrus (44:28; 45:1) and differences in style. Defenders of a single author answer that God can reveal the future, that themes and vocabulary run through the whole book, such as the title the Holy One of Israel, and that the New Testament treats the book as Isaiah's. Either way, the church has received the book as one inspired whole.

Literary style and structure

Isaiah is mostly poetry, full of parallel lines, vivid images and wordplay. The song of the vineyard (5:1-7) ends with a double pun in Hebrew: God looked for justice (mishpat) and found bloodshed (mispach), for righteousness (tsedaqah) and heard a cry of distress (tseaqah). The prophet also uses lawsuit speeches, woe oracles, taunt songs, hymns and laments.

Three movements

  1. Chapters 1-35: judgment and hope in the Assyrian period, including the oracles against the nations (13-23) and the vision of worldwide judgment and resurrection (24-27).
  2. Chapters 36-39: a prose bridge, closely parallel to 2 Kings 18:13-20:19. Assyria's threat ends in deliverance, but the visit of Babylonian envoys points ahead to exile. Hezekiah's illness probably came before the Assyrian crisis, but the book places it last so that the word Babylon leads straight into chapter 40.
  3. Chapters 40-66: comfort for the exiles, the Servant Songs and the glory of the new Jerusalem.

The Servant Songs

Four passages describe the Servant of the Lord: 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9 and 52:13-53:12. The label Servant Songs comes from the German scholar Bernhard Duhm (1892). Read in order, they move from a gentle Servant who brings justice to the nations to a Servant who is rejected, dies for the sins of others and is exalted.

Threads that tie the book together

  • Zion: the mountain of the Lord appears in chapter 2 and returns, transformed, in chapters 60-66.
  • The highway: a road for the remnant (11:16), the way of holiness (35:8) and the way in the wilderness (40:3).
  • Light: the people in darkness see a great light (9:2), the Servant is a light for the nations (49:6) and Zion is told to arise and shine (60:1).

Isaiah in the story of the Bible

Isaiah stands where the kingdoms of Israel and Judah meet the great empires. 2 Kings 18-20 tells the same events as Isaiah 36-39. Isaiah's contemporaries include Hosea and Micah, with Amos shortly before, and Micah's vision of the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord is almost identical to Isaiah's (Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 2:2-4). Isaiah's warning that Babylon would carry off Hezekiah's treasures and descendants (39:6-7) is fulfilled in 2 Kings 24-25 and echoed at the opening of Daniel, where young men of the royal family serve in Nebuchadnezzar's court (Daniel 1:3).

The New Testament quotes Isaiah more than any other prophet. All four Gospels apply the voice in the wilderness (40:3) to John the Baptist (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23). Jesus explains his parables with Isaiah 6:9-10 (Matthew 13:14-15), condemns lip service with Isaiah 29:13 (Mark 7:6-7) and cleanses the temple with the words of Isaiah 56:7 (Mark 11:17). Paul draws on Isaiah throughout Romans 9-11 and 15, and Revelation borrows its pictures of the new heavens and new earth, the end of tears and the Lord as the light of the city (Isaiah 25:8; 60:19; 65:17; Revelation 21:1-4, 23).

Isaiah and Jesus Christ

  • Immanuel. The sign given to Ahaz (7:14) is fulfilled in the virgin birth of Jesus, God with us (Matthew 1:22-23).
  • A great light in Galilee. Matthew 4:12-16 sees Isaiah 9:1-2 fulfilled when Jesus begins his ministry in Capernaum, in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali.
  • The Son of David. The child who will reign on David's throne forever (9:6-7) and the shoot from the stump of Jesse (11:1-10) point to the Messiah; Paul quotes 11:10 in Romans 15:12.
  • The Servant. The Father's words at Jesus' baptism echo Isaiah 42:1 (Mark 1:11), and Matthew 12:17-21 quotes 42:1-4 to describe his gentle ministry. Jesus says that the words of Isaiah 53:12 about being counted among the lawless must be fulfilled in him (Luke 22:37), and Peter tells believers that they are healed by Christ's wounds and have returned to their Shepherd (1 Peter 2:24-25).
  • The anointed preacher. In Nazareth Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 and announces its fulfillment (Luke 4:16-21). He stops before the line about the day of vengeance, which many see as awaiting his return.
  • The Lord himself. Isaiah 45:23 says every knee will bow to the Lord, and Philippians 2:10-11 applies those words to Jesus. John 12:41 says the glory Isaiah saw in the temple was the glory of Christ.

Interpretive challenges

Does Isaiah 7:14 speak of a virgin?

The Hebrew word almah means a young woman of marriageable age; another word, betulah, is more often used to stress virginity. The sign had meaning for Ahaz: before the child could tell good from evil, the two kings he feared would be gone (7:16). Some interpreters see a near fulfillment in a child born in Isaiah's day and a full fulfillment in Christ; others read the prophecy as directly messianic, noting that the child of 9:6 is called Mighty God. Matthew, following the ancient Greek translation, reads it as virgin and finds its fulfillment in the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:23).

Who is the Servant?

Sometimes the Servant is clearly Israel (41:8; 44:1), yet in 49:5-6 the Servant has a mission to restore Israel, so he cannot simply be the nation. In chapter 53 he is innocent and suffers for the sins of others. Jewish interpretation has often identified him with the nation or the faithful remnant; the New Testament identifies him with Jesus, the true Israel who does what the nation could not.

Is the king of Babylon in chapter 14 Satan?

Isaiah 14:12-15 describes the Day Star, son of Dawn, who wanted to climb above the stars of God and was cast down. The context is a taunt against the king of Babylon (14:4). Many Christian readers since the early centuries have also heard in it the fall of Satan, sometimes linking it with Luke 10:18; others think it describes only the arrogance of a human tyrant. The lesson is the same: pride that reaches for God's throne ends in the pit.

How should chapters 65-66 be read?

The new heavens and new earth include long lives, houses, vineyards and the wolf and the lamb grazing together (65:20-25). Some read this as a future earthly kingdom before the final state; others as poetic language for the new creation of Revelation 21-22, painted with the best images of life the first readers knew. Both views share the hope of a world freed from the curse.

Little-known facts

  • The Great Isaiah Scroll, found in 1947 in the first cave at Qumran, is the only complete book of the Bible among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Copied around 125 BC, it is about a thousand years older than the complete Hebrew manuscripts known before it, and its text agrees closely with them.
  • Isaiah's second son has the longest personal name in the Bible: Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning the spoil speeds, the prey hastes (8:1-3).
  • Sargon II of Assyria is named in the Bible only in Isaiah 20:1. For centuries he was known almost only from that verse, until excavations at his palace at Khorsabad, in modern Iraq, began in 1843.
  • Sennacherib's annals, written on clay prisms, boast that he shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage, but they never claim that he captured the city, which fits the account of Isaiah 37.
  • The familiar picture of the lion lying down with the lamb is not a verse. Isaiah 11:6 has the wolf dwelling with the lamb and the leopard with the young goat, and 65:25 has the wolf and the lamb grazing together while the lion eats straw like the ox.
  • Some readers notice that Isaiah's 66 chapters match the 66 books of the Bible, with 39 chapters before the message of comfort and 27 after it. It is a curiosity, not a key to interpretation: the chapter divisions were added in the thirteenth century AD.

How to study Isaiah

Reading plan

At one chapter a day, Isaiah takes a little over two months. A faster plan reads it in three blocks: chapters 1-39 in three weeks, 40-55 in two weeks and 56-66 in one. Read some chapters aloud; much of Isaiah is poetry meant to be heard.

What to look for

  • The titles of God, especially the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer and the Creator.
  • The contrast between trusting God and trusting armies, idols or alliances.
  • The promises about the King (7-11) and the Servant (42-53), and how the New Testament uses them.
  • The key words remnant, Zion, highway, light and comfort.

Teaching it in a Sunday school class or small group

A ten-week series could cover the courtroom and the invitation (1), the call of Isaiah (6), Immanuel and the child (7-9), the shoot of Jesse (11), the feast on the mountain (25-26), Hezekiah's prayer (36-37), comfort and eagles' wings (40), the folly of idols (44), the suffering Servant (52-53) and the new heavens and new earth (65-66). For each passage ask what it shows about God's holiness, what it said to its first hearers and how it is fulfilled in Christ. With children, Isaiah's vision and Hezekiah's prayer work well; with youth groups and adults, take time with chapter 53 and its New Testament quotations.

Isaiah chapter by chapter

Every chapter of Isaiah with a summary, key verses explained, themes, people, questions with answers and application.

Frequently asked questions about Isaiah

Who wrote the book of Isaiah?

The book is titled the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz (1:1), and Jewish and Christian tradition attributes all 66 chapters to him. The New Testament quotes both halves under his name (Matthew 3:3; 8:17; John 12:38-41). Many modern scholars, noting that chapters 40-66 address the exile and name Cyrus, assign them to later prophets in Isaiah's tradition. Those who hold to a single author see these chapters as genuine prediction.

When was Isaiah written?

Isaiah prophesied from about 740 BC, the year Uzziah died (6:1), until at least 701 BC, when Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem. He may have lived into the reign of Manasseh, since 37:38 records Sennacherib's death in 681 BC. Scholars who divide the book date chapters 40-55 to about 550-539 BC and chapters 56-66 to the years after the return from exile.

What is the main message of Isaiah?

The Holy One of Israel judges sin and pride, both in his people and in the nations, but he also saves. He calls Judah to trust him instead of human power, promises a remnant, a righteous King from David's line and a Servant who bears the sins of many, and ends with new heavens and a new earth. The prophet's own name means the Lord saves.

How many chapters does Isaiah have and how is it organized?

Isaiah has 66 chapters. Chapters 1-35 contain oracles of judgment and hope for Judah and the nations; chapters 36-39 are a historical bridge about Hezekiah; chapters 40-66 bring comfort and restoration, including the four Servant Songs (42, 49, 50 and 52-53) and the vision of new heavens and a new earth.

Is Isaiah 53 about Jesus?

Jewish interpreters have often read the Servant as the nation of Israel or its faithful remnant. The New Testament applies Isaiah 53 directly to Jesus: Philip explains it to the Ethiopian official as the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:32-35), and Peter draws on it to describe the cross (1 Peter 2:22-25). The Servant is innocent (53:9) and suffers for the sins of others, which fits Christ as it fits no nation.

What does Immanuel mean in Isaiah 7:14?

Immanuel means God with us. The sign was first given to King Ahaz around 735 BC as a pledge that the two kings threatening him would soon fall (7:16). The Hebrew word almah means a young woman of marriageable age; the ancient Greek translation rendered it virgin, and Matthew 1:23 sees the full fulfillment in the virgin birth of Jesus, who is truly God with us.

Is Isaiah 14:12 about Satan?

The passage is a taunt against the king of Babylon (14:4), who wanted to raise his throne above the stars of God and was brought down to the pit. The name Lucifer comes from the old Latin rendering of the Hebrew for day star. Many readers hear in it an echo of Satan's fall, in light of Luke 10:18; others read it only as a picture of human pride. Both agree that God humbles the proud.

Why is Isaiah sometimes called the fifth gospel?

Because Isaiah speaks so clearly of the Messiah: his birth (7:14), his ministry in Galilee (9:1-2), the Spirit resting on him (11:2; 61:1), his suffering and death for sinners (53) and his worldwide kingdom. The early Christian scholar Jerome said Isaiah should be called an evangelist more than a prophet. After the Psalms, Isaiah is the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament.

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