Isaiah, the first of the great Hebrew prophets, son of Amoz, flourished under Kings Uz-ziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, from about 760 to 700 B. C. Ahaz was consoled by his prophecies when King Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel warred against Judah. But his chief activity falls in the reign of Hezekiah, during the invasion of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. (See Hebrews, vol. viii., p. 589.) The leading themes of his prophecies are denunciations of vice and oppression, announcements of impending ruin, and the promise of regeneration and a universal reign of justice. The eloquent style and sublimity of thought of the main portions of the book of Isaiah give him the highest rank among the prophets. The last 27 chapters, which differ in diction and topics, treating of the victories of Cyrus, the fall of Babylon, and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, are generally considered by critics to be by some author of the time of the captivity, whose name is unknown, and who is often designated as the second Isaiah. Some other chapters (xiii., xxxiv., xxxv., etc.) are also regarded as productions of unknown authorship.

Among the best commentators are Lowth (London, 1775), Gesenius (3 vols., Leipsic, 1820-'21), Hitzig (2 vols., Heidelberg, 1833), J. A. Alexander (2 vols., New York, 1846-'7), Barnes (2 vols., 1848), Drechsler (3 vols., completed by De-litzsch and Hahn, 1857), Knobel (3d ed., 1861), Delitzsch (1866), and Ewald (2d ed., 1867).

Isaiah #1

Isaiah, the first of the great Hebrew prophets, son of Amoz, flourished under Kings Uz-ziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, from about 760 to 700 B. C. Ahaz was consoled by his prophecies when King Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel warred against Judah. But his chief activity falls in the reign of Hezekiah, during the invasion of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. (See Hebrews, vol. viii., p. 589.) The leading themes of his prophecies are denunciations of vice and oppression, announcements of impending ruin, and the promise of regeneration and a universal reign of justice. The eloquent style and sublimity of thought of the main portions of the book of Isaiah give him the highest rank among the prophets. The last 27 chapters, which differ in diction and topics, treating of the victories of Cyrus, the fall of Babylon, and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, are generally considered by critics to be by some author of the time of the captivity, whose name is unknown, and who is often designated as the second Isaiah. Some other chapters (xiii., xxxiv., xxxv., etc.) are also regarded as productions of unknown authorship.

Among the best commentators are Lowth (London, 1775), Gesenius (3 vols., Leipsic, 1820-'21), Hitzig (2 vols., Heidelberg, 1833), J. A. Alexander (2 vols., New York, 1846-'7), Barnes (2 vols., 1848), Drechsler (3 vols., completed by De-litzsch and Hahn, 1857), Knobel (3d ed., 1861), Delitzsch (1866), and Ewald (2d ed., 1867).