The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary On The Books Of The Bible, Volume 15 (of 32)

INTRODUCTION

Of Isaiah, “the evangelical prophet,” nothing is known beyond what we are told of him in the Scriptures. Various traditions concerning him are current among the Jews, such as that his father Amoz was brother of King Amaziah, and that he himself died a martyr’s death, being sawn asunder by order of Manasseh; but all that is certain is, that he was the son of Amoz; that his prophetic ministry commenced in the reign of Uzziah, and closed in that of Hezekiah  (ch. i. 1); that his wife was a prophetess (ch. viii. 3), and bare him two sons (ch. vi. 3; viii. 3); and that he was the author of a portion of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (2 Chron. xxvi. 22).

His name signifies The Salvation of the Lord, and this the salvation which God works for His people from their sins and consequent misery is the great, though not the exclusive, theme of his prophecy.

The length of his ministry is variously estimated. The lowest estimate would make it comprise forty-nine years, from the last year of Uzziah to the seventeenth of Hezekiah (b.c. 759–710); the highest, sixty-four years, from the fourth year before Uzziah’s death to the last year of Hezekiah (b.c. 762–698).

In the following Commentary it is assumed that the whole of the sixty-six chapters of which the Book of Isaiah is composed, were written by one pen.

For clear and conclusive refutations of the theory of a second Isaiah, see the introductions to the Commentaries of Alexander, Delitsch, and Kay, and the article Isaiah in Smith’s, Kitto’s, and Fairbairn’s Dictionaries of the Bible.

Appended are Ewald’s criticisms on Isaiah’s style, and some admirable observations by Dr. Kay on the title of Isaiah’s prophecy, which readers of it will do to bear in mind throughout.