Though fifth in the order of time, the writings of the Prophet
Isaiah are placed first in order of the prophetical books, principally
on account of the sublimity and importance of his predictions, and
partly also because the book which bears his name is larger than all the
twelve minor prophets put together. Concerning his family and descent,
nothing certain has been recorded, except what he himself tells us,
Isaiah, i, 1, namely, that he was the son of Amos, and discharged the
prophetic office “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah,” who successively flourished between A. M. 3194 and
3305. There is a current tradition that he was of the blood royal; and
some writers have affirmed that his father Amoz or Amos was the son of
Joash, and consequently brother of Uzziah, king of Judah. Jerom, on the
authority of some rabbinical writers, says, that the prophet gave his
daughter in marriage to Manasseh, king of Judah; but this opinion is
scarcely credible, because Manasseh did not commence his reign until
about sixty years after Isaiah had begun to discharge his prophetic
functions. He must, indeed, have exercised the office of a prophet
during a long period of time, if he lived to the reign of Manasseh; for
the lowest computation, beginning from the year in which Uzziah died,
when he is by some supposed to have received his first appointment to
that office, brings it to sixty-one years. But the tradition of the
Jews, which has been adopted by most Christian commentators, that he was
put to death by Manasseh, is very uncertain; and Aben Ezra, one of the
most celebrated Jewish writers, is rather of opinion that he died before
Hezekiah; which Bishop Lowth thinks most probable. It is, however,
certain, that he lived at least to the fifteenth or sixteenth year of
Hezekiah; which makes the least possible term of the duration of his
prophetic office to be about forty-eight years. The name of Isaiah, as
Vitringa has remarked after several preceding commentators, is in some
measure descriptive of his high character, since it signifies the
_salvation of Yahweh_; and was given with singular propriety to him,
who foretold the advent of the Messiah, through whom “all flesh shall
see the salvation of God,” Isa. xl, 5; Luke iii, 6; Acts iv, 12. Isaiah
was contemporary with the Prophets Amos, Hosea, Joel, and Micah.
Isaiah is uniformly spoken of in the Scriptures as a prophet of the
highest dignity: Bishop Lowth calls him the prince of all the prophets,
and pronounces the whole of his book to be poetical, with the exception
of a few detached passages. It is remarkable, that his wife is styled a
prophetess in Isaiah viii, 3; whence the rabbinical writers have
concluded that she possessed the spirit of prophecy: but it is very
probable that the prophets’ wives were called prophetesses, as the
priests’ wives were termed priestesses, only from the quality of their
husbands. Although nothing farther is recorded in the Scriptures
concerning the wife of Isaiah, we find two of his sons mentioned in his
prophecy, who were types or figurative pledges; and their names and
actions were intended to awaken a religious attention in the persons
whom they were commissioned to address and to instruct. Thus,
Shear-jashub signifies, “a remnant shall return,” and showed that the
captives who should be carried to Babylon should return thence after a
certain time, Isaiah vii, 3; and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which denotes,
“make speed (or _run swiftly_) to the spoil,” implied that the kingdoms
of Israel and Syria would in a short time be ravaged, Isaiah viii, 1, 3.
Beside the volume of prophecies, which we are now to consider, it
appears from 2 Chron. xxvi, 22, that Isaiah wrote an account of “the
acts of Uzziah,” king of Judah: this has perished with some other
writings of the prophets, which, as probably not written by inspiration,
were never admitted into the canon of Scripture. There are also two
apocryphal books ascribed to him, namely, The Ascension of Isaiah, and
The Apocalypse of Isaiah; but these are evidently forgeries of a later
date, and the Apocalypse has long since perished.
The scope of Isaiah’s predictions is threefold, namely, 1. To detect,
reprove, aggravate, and condemn, the sins of the Jewish people
especially, and also the iniquities of the ten tribes of Israel, and the
abominations of many Gentile nations and countries; denouncing the
severest judgments against all sorts and degrees of persons, whether
Jews or Gentiles. 2. To invite persons of every rank and condition, both
Jews and Gentiles, to repentance and reformation, by numerous promises
of pardon and mercy. It is worthy of remark, that no such promises are
intermingled with the denunciations of divine vengeance against Babylon,
although they occur in the threatenings against every other people. 3.
To comfort all the truly pious, in the midst of all the calamities and
judgments denounced against the wicked, with prophetic promises of the
true Messiah, which seem almost to anticipate the Gospel history, so
clearly do they foreshow the divine character of Christ.
Isaiah has, with singular propriety, been denominated the evangelical
prophet, on account of the number and variety of his prophecies
concerning the advent and character, the ministry and preaching, the
sufferings and death, and the extensive permanent kingdom, of the
Messiah. So explicit and determinate are his predictions, as well as so
numerous, that he seems to speak rather of things past than of events
yet future; and he may rather be called an evangelist than a prophet. No
one, indeed, can be at a loss in applying them to the mission and
character of Jesus Christ, and to the events which are cited in his
history by the writers of the New Testament. This prophet, says Bishop
Lowth, abounds in such transcendent excellencies, that he may be
properly said to afford the most perfect model of prophetic poetry. He
is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamented; he unites
energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In his sentiments
there is uncommon elevation and majesty; in his imagery, the utmost
propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity; in his language, uncommon
beauty and energy; and, notwithstanding the obscurity of his subjects, a
surprising degree of clearness and simplicity. To these we may add, that
there is such sweetness in the poetical composition of his sentences,
whether it proceed from art or genius, that, if the Hebrew poetry at
present is possessed of any remains of its native grace and harmony, we
shall chiefly find them in the writings of Isaiah: so that the saying of
Ezekiel may most justly be applied to this prophet:--
“Thou art the confirmed exemplar of measures,
Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.”
Ezekiel xxviii, 12.
Isaiah also greatly excels in all the graces of method, order,
connection, and arrangement: though in asserting this we must not forget
the nature of the prophetic impulse, which bears away the mind with
irresistible violence, and frequently in rapid transitions from near to
remote objects, from human to divine. We must likewise be careful in
remarking the limits of particular predictions, since, as they are now
extant, they are often improperly connected, without any marks of
discrimination; which injudicious arrangement, on some occasions,
creates almost insuperable difficulties.
Bishop Lowth has selected the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters of
this prophet, as a specimen of the poetic style in which Isaiah delivers
his predictions, and has illustrated at some length the various beauties
which eminently distinguish the simple, regular, and perfect poem
contained in those chapters. But the grandest specimen of his poetry is
presented in the fourteenth chapter, which is one of the most sublime
odes occurring in the Bible, and contains the noblest personifications
to be found in the records of poetry. The prophet, after predicting the
liberation of the Jews from their severe captivity in Babylon, and their
restoration to their own country, verses 1–3, introduces a chorus of
them, expressing their surprise and astonishment at the sudden downfall
of Babylon, and the great reverse of fortune that had befallen the
tyrant, who, like his predecessors, had oppressed his own, and harassed
the neighbouring kingdoms. These oppressed kingdoms, or their rulers,
are represented under the image of the fir trees and the cedars of
Libanus, which is frequently used to express any thing in the political
or religious world that is supereminently great and majestic: the whole
earth shouts for joy; the cedars of Libanus utter a severe taunt over
the fallen tyrant, and boast their security now he is no more, verses
4–8. This is followed, verse 9, by one of the boldest and most animated
personifications of hades, or the regions of the dead, that was ever
executed in poetry. Hades excites his inhabitants, the shades of
princes, and the departed spirits of monarchs. These illustrious shades
rise at once from their couches as from their thrones; and, advancing to
the entrance of the cavern to meet the king of Babylon, they insult and
deride him on being reduced to the same low state of impotence and
dissolution with themselves, verses 10, 11. The Jews now resume the
speech, verse 12; they address the king of Babylon as the morning star
fallen from heaven, as the first in splendour and dignity, in the
political world fallen from his high state: they introduce him as
uttering the most extravagant vaunts of his power and ambitious designs
in his former glory; these are strongly contrasted, in the close, with
his present low and abject condition, verses 13–15. Immediately follows
a different scene, and a most happy image, to diversify the same
subject, and give it a new turn and additional force. Certain persons
are introduced, who light upon the corpse of the king of Babylon, cast
out and lying naked upon the bare ground, among the common slain, just
after the taking of the city, covered with wounds, and so disfigured,
that it is some time before they know him. They accost him with the
severest taunts, and bitterly reproach him with his destructive
ambition, and his cruel usage of the conquered; which have deservedly
brought upon him this ignominious treatment, so different from what
those of his high rank usually meet with, and which shall cover his
posterity with disgrace, verses 16–20. To complete the whole, God is
introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon; the utter extirpation of the
royal family, and the total desolation of the city; the deliverance of
his people, and the destruction of their enemies; confirming the
irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath, verses 21–27. How
forcible, says Bishop Louth, is this imagery, how diversified, how
sublime! How elevated the diction, the figures, the sentiments! The
Jewish nation, the cedars of Lebanon, the ghosts of departed kings, the
Babylonish monarch, the travellers who find his corpse, and last of all
Yahweh himself, are the characters which support this beautiful lyric
drama. One continued action is kept up, or rather, a series of
interesting actions are connected together in an incomparable whole:
this, indeed, is the principal and distinguished excellence of the
sublimer ode, and is displayed in its utmost perfection in this poem of
Isaiah, which may be considered as one of the most ancient, and
certainly one of the most finished, specimens of that species of
composition which has been transmitted to us. The personifications here
are frequent, yet not confused; bold, yet not improbable; a free,
elevated, and truly divine spirit pervades the whole; nor is there any
thing wanting in this ode to defeat its claim to the character of
perfect pathos and sublimity. There is not a single instance in the
whole compass of Greek and Roman poetry which, in every excellence of
composition, can be said to equal or even to approach it.
Isaiah are placed first in order of the prophetical books, principally
on account of the sublimity and importance of his predictions, and
partly also because the book which bears his name is larger than all the
twelve minor prophets put together. Concerning his family and descent,
nothing certain has been recorded, except what he himself tells us,
Isaiah, i, 1, namely, that he was the son of Amos, and discharged the
prophetic office “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah,” who successively flourished between A. M. 3194 and
3305. There is a current tradition that he was of the blood royal; and
some writers have affirmed that his father Amoz or Amos was the son of
Joash, and consequently brother of Uzziah, king of Judah. Jerom, on the
authority of some rabbinical writers, says, that the prophet gave his
daughter in marriage to Manasseh, king of Judah; but this opinion is
scarcely credible, because Manasseh did not commence his reign until
about sixty years after Isaiah had begun to discharge his prophetic
functions. He must, indeed, have exercised the office of a prophet
during a long period of time, if he lived to the reign of Manasseh; for
the lowest computation, beginning from the year in which Uzziah died,
when he is by some supposed to have received his first appointment to
that office, brings it to sixty-one years. But the tradition of the
Jews, which has been adopted by most Christian commentators, that he was
put to death by Manasseh, is very uncertain; and Aben Ezra, one of the
most celebrated Jewish writers, is rather of opinion that he died before
Hezekiah; which Bishop Lowth thinks most probable. It is, however,
certain, that he lived at least to the fifteenth or sixteenth year of
Hezekiah; which makes the least possible term of the duration of his
prophetic office to be about forty-eight years. The name of Isaiah, as
Vitringa has remarked after several preceding commentators, is in some
measure descriptive of his high character, since it signifies the
_salvation of Yahweh_; and was given with singular propriety to him,
who foretold the advent of the Messiah, through whom “all flesh shall
see the salvation of God,” Isa. xl, 5; Luke iii, 6; Acts iv, 12. Isaiah
was contemporary with the Prophets Amos, Hosea, Joel, and Micah.
Isaiah is uniformly spoken of in the Scriptures as a prophet of the
highest dignity: Bishop Lowth calls him the prince of all the prophets,
and pronounces the whole of his book to be poetical, with the exception
of a few detached passages. It is remarkable, that his wife is styled a
prophetess in Isaiah viii, 3; whence the rabbinical writers have
concluded that she possessed the spirit of prophecy: but it is very
probable that the prophets’ wives were called prophetesses, as the
priests’ wives were termed priestesses, only from the quality of their
husbands. Although nothing farther is recorded in the Scriptures
concerning the wife of Isaiah, we find two of his sons mentioned in his
prophecy, who were types or figurative pledges; and their names and
actions were intended to awaken a religious attention in the persons
whom they were commissioned to address and to instruct. Thus,
Shear-jashub signifies, “a remnant shall return,” and showed that the
captives who should be carried to Babylon should return thence after a
certain time, Isaiah vii, 3; and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which denotes,
“make speed (or _run swiftly_) to the spoil,” implied that the kingdoms
of Israel and Syria would in a short time be ravaged, Isaiah viii, 1, 3.
Beside the volume of prophecies, which we are now to consider, it
appears from 2 Chron. xxvi, 22, that Isaiah wrote an account of “the
acts of Uzziah,” king of Judah: this has perished with some other
writings of the prophets, which, as probably not written by inspiration,
were never admitted into the canon of Scripture. There are also two
apocryphal books ascribed to him, namely, The Ascension of Isaiah, and
The Apocalypse of Isaiah; but these are evidently forgeries of a later
date, and the Apocalypse has long since perished.
The scope of Isaiah’s predictions is threefold, namely, 1. To detect,
reprove, aggravate, and condemn, the sins of the Jewish people
especially, and also the iniquities of the ten tribes of Israel, and the
abominations of many Gentile nations and countries; denouncing the
severest judgments against all sorts and degrees of persons, whether
Jews or Gentiles. 2. To invite persons of every rank and condition, both
Jews and Gentiles, to repentance and reformation, by numerous promises
of pardon and mercy. It is worthy of remark, that no such promises are
intermingled with the denunciations of divine vengeance against Babylon,
although they occur in the threatenings against every other people. 3.
To comfort all the truly pious, in the midst of all the calamities and
judgments denounced against the wicked, with prophetic promises of the
true Messiah, which seem almost to anticipate the Gospel history, so
clearly do they foreshow the divine character of Christ.
Isaiah has, with singular propriety, been denominated the evangelical
prophet, on account of the number and variety of his prophecies
concerning the advent and character, the ministry and preaching, the
sufferings and death, and the extensive permanent kingdom, of the
Messiah. So explicit and determinate are his predictions, as well as so
numerous, that he seems to speak rather of things past than of events
yet future; and he may rather be called an evangelist than a prophet. No
one, indeed, can be at a loss in applying them to the mission and
character of Jesus Christ, and to the events which are cited in his
history by the writers of the New Testament. This prophet, says Bishop
Lowth, abounds in such transcendent excellencies, that he may be
properly said to afford the most perfect model of prophetic poetry. He
is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamented; he unites
energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In his sentiments
there is uncommon elevation and majesty; in his imagery, the utmost
propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity; in his language, uncommon
beauty and energy; and, notwithstanding the obscurity of his subjects, a
surprising degree of clearness and simplicity. To these we may add, that
there is such sweetness in the poetical composition of his sentences,
whether it proceed from art or genius, that, if the Hebrew poetry at
present is possessed of any remains of its native grace and harmony, we
shall chiefly find them in the writings of Isaiah: so that the saying of
Ezekiel may most justly be applied to this prophet:--
“Thou art the confirmed exemplar of measures,
Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.”
Ezekiel xxviii, 12.
Isaiah also greatly excels in all the graces of method, order,
connection, and arrangement: though in asserting this we must not forget
the nature of the prophetic impulse, which bears away the mind with
irresistible violence, and frequently in rapid transitions from near to
remote objects, from human to divine. We must likewise be careful in
remarking the limits of particular predictions, since, as they are now
extant, they are often improperly connected, without any marks of
discrimination; which injudicious arrangement, on some occasions,
creates almost insuperable difficulties.
Bishop Lowth has selected the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters of
this prophet, as a specimen of the poetic style in which Isaiah delivers
his predictions, and has illustrated at some length the various beauties
which eminently distinguish the simple, regular, and perfect poem
contained in those chapters. But the grandest specimen of his poetry is
presented in the fourteenth chapter, which is one of the most sublime
odes occurring in the Bible, and contains the noblest personifications
to be found in the records of poetry. The prophet, after predicting the
liberation of the Jews from their severe captivity in Babylon, and their
restoration to their own country, verses 1–3, introduces a chorus of
them, expressing their surprise and astonishment at the sudden downfall
of Babylon, and the great reverse of fortune that had befallen the
tyrant, who, like his predecessors, had oppressed his own, and harassed
the neighbouring kingdoms. These oppressed kingdoms, or their rulers,
are represented under the image of the fir trees and the cedars of
Libanus, which is frequently used to express any thing in the political
or religious world that is supereminently great and majestic: the whole
earth shouts for joy; the cedars of Libanus utter a severe taunt over
the fallen tyrant, and boast their security now he is no more, verses
4–8. This is followed, verse 9, by one of the boldest and most animated
personifications of hades, or the regions of the dead, that was ever
executed in poetry. Hades excites his inhabitants, the shades of
princes, and the departed spirits of monarchs. These illustrious shades
rise at once from their couches as from their thrones; and, advancing to
the entrance of the cavern to meet the king of Babylon, they insult and
deride him on being reduced to the same low state of impotence and
dissolution with themselves, verses 10, 11. The Jews now resume the
speech, verse 12; they address the king of Babylon as the morning star
fallen from heaven, as the first in splendour and dignity, in the
political world fallen from his high state: they introduce him as
uttering the most extravagant vaunts of his power and ambitious designs
in his former glory; these are strongly contrasted, in the close, with
his present low and abject condition, verses 13–15. Immediately follows
a different scene, and a most happy image, to diversify the same
subject, and give it a new turn and additional force. Certain persons
are introduced, who light upon the corpse of the king of Babylon, cast
out and lying naked upon the bare ground, among the common slain, just
after the taking of the city, covered with wounds, and so disfigured,
that it is some time before they know him. They accost him with the
severest taunts, and bitterly reproach him with his destructive
ambition, and his cruel usage of the conquered; which have deservedly
brought upon him this ignominious treatment, so different from what
those of his high rank usually meet with, and which shall cover his
posterity with disgrace, verses 16–20. To complete the whole, God is
introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon; the utter extirpation of the
royal family, and the total desolation of the city; the deliverance of
his people, and the destruction of their enemies; confirming the
irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath, verses 21–27. How
forcible, says Bishop Louth, is this imagery, how diversified, how
sublime! How elevated the diction, the figures, the sentiments! The
Jewish nation, the cedars of Lebanon, the ghosts of departed kings, the
Babylonish monarch, the travellers who find his corpse, and last of all
Yahweh himself, are the characters which support this beautiful lyric
drama. One continued action is kept up, or rather, a series of
interesting actions are connected together in an incomparable whole:
this, indeed, is the principal and distinguished excellence of the
sublimer ode, and is displayed in its utmost perfection in this poem of
Isaiah, which may be considered as one of the most ancient, and
certainly one of the most finished, specimens of that species of
composition which has been transmitted to us. The personifications here
are frequent, yet not confused; bold, yet not improbable; a free,
elevated, and truly divine spirit pervades the whole; nor is there any
thing wanting in this ode to defeat its claim to the character of
perfect pathos and sublimity. There is not a single instance in the
whole compass of Greek and Roman poetry which, in every excellence of
composition, can be said to equal or even to approach it.