The Encyclopedia of World Religions

218 S Isaiah

servant who suffers, the prophet was probably talking about the people of Israel itself. The book of Isaiah addresses three different historical situations facing the southern kingdom of Judah and its descendants. Given the date of these situations, scholars conclude that the book contains the words of at least two and perhaps three different prophets. For convenience, they call them First, Second, and Third Isaiah. First Isaiah is Isaiah, the son of Amoz, after whom the whole book is named. He prophesied in the time of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze kiah (roughly 742–701 B . C . E .; Isaiah 1–39). At this time Judah’s political existence was threatened. First, its neighbors to the north, Syria and Israel, formed an alliance to try to place a puppet ruler on the throne of Judah. Then Assyria, a growing superpower, annexed Syria and Israel and threat ened to do the same to Judah. Isaiah responded by identifying the ultimate cause of the military threat: The rulers of Judah had acted improperly. Isaiah also issued a series of oracles against other nations. At the same time, he insisted that God would keep his promise. Despite the threats, a descendant of D AVID would remain on the throne of Judah. The setting and tone of Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40–55) are completely different. In 587 B . C . E . Judah fell not to Assyria but to Babylon. The conquerors destroyed the Temple built by S OLOMON in J ERUSALEM and deported the leadership of Judah to Babylon. Second Isaiah addresses these exiles with moving words of comfort, hope, and encouragement. He also develops a very profound view of Israel’s God as the creator of the entire universe. Second Isaiah was probably prophesying just before the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, in 539 B . C . E . He celebrates the rise of Cyrus. He even calls him God’s messiah, which means anointed one (Isaiah 45.1). With Third Isaiah (Isaiah 56–66) the scene abruptly changes once more. The exiles have returned to Judah, and the Temple has been rebuilt. (The Temple was rededicated in 515 B . C . E .) This portion of Isaiah addresses the returnees with words of both comfort and warning.

three traditional male ancestors of the people of Israel. But unlike Abraham and Jacob, he is not the main character in many stories. The name Isaac means “he laughs.” The Bible connects the name with the behavior of Abraham and Sarah when they were told they would bear a son in old age: They laughed (Genesis 17.17–19, 18.12–15, 21.6–7). The Bible tells how Abraham was willing to SAC RIFICE Isaac at G OD ’s command (Genesis 22). It also tells how Abraham arranged for Isaac’s marriage to R EBEKAH (Genesis 24), and how Rebekah helped her son Jacob deceive Isaac and steal the blessing that should have been Esau’s (Genesis 27). Among Arabs, Isaac’s counterpart is Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. For example, Mus lims believe that Abraham was commanded to sac rifice Ishmael, not Isaac. Christians have traditionally read the prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as predicting the coming of J ESUS as the M ESSIAH . They found it particularly fruitful to read Isaiah this way. The G OSPEL of Matthew quotes a Greek translation of Isaiah 7.14 that predicts the birth of a child from a virgin. This passage provided the precedent for the important idea that M ARY , Jesus’s mother, was a virgin ( see VIRGIN BIRTH ). The latter part of Isa iah contains several sections known as the songs of YHWH’s (“the Lord’s”) servant. Christians saw these songs as predicting the sufferings and death of Jesus. Recent biblical scholars have tended to adopt a view of prophecy much closer to the traditional Jewish attitude. In this view, prophets spoke on G OD ’s behalf to his chosen people. They addressed issues of their own day. Thus, the Hebrew original of Isaiah 7.14 does not mention a virgin; it speaks only of a young woman. This woman may have been the queen; the prophet may have seen the child she was carrying, the future king, as a sign of God’s promise. Similarly, in talking about YHWH’s Isaiah A prophetic book in the Hebrew B IBLE It preserves some of the most beautiful prophetic statements from ancient Israel.