The Divine Lamp

The following is from S.R. Driver, who was, in his day, a well known and respected Protestant scholar. It come from a book ISAIAH: HIS LIFE AND TIMES AND THE WRITINGS WHICH BEAR HIS NAME. Published in 1888 the work is now in the public domain. The work is obviously dated, but is still serviceable.

Of the personal life of Isaiah little is known. From notices in his own book we learn that he received the prophetic call in the last year of the reign of King Uzziah (6:1),from which it may be inferred that he was at that time not less than 20 or 21 years of age, possibly rather older. He was married (8:3); and two sons are mentioned; one, Shear-Jashub, sufficiently old in 736-735 to accompany his father on the occasion of his interview with King Ahaz during the Syro-Ephramite war (7:3); the other, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, born about a year afterwards(8:1-4). The scene of his labors appears to have been chiefly, if not exclusively, Jerusalem; and from the position that was evidently accorded to him at Court under both Ahaz and Hezekiah, it has been supposed that he was of noble blood. The Rabbinical tradition, however, which made the prophet’s father, Amoz, to be a brother of King Amaziah, and Isaiah consequently to be a cousin to King Uzziah, rests probably upon nothing better than a fanciful etymological combination; and, as the great medieval commentator, David Kimchi of Narbonne, remarks, nothing is in fact known respecting the prophet’s genealogy and connections.

From notices either in his own book or in the Book of Kings, it cannot be inferred with certainty by how many years he survived the great crisis of Hezekiah’s reign in 701; but according to a tradition current among the Jews in the second century AD, and alluded to by many ancient writers, both Jews and Christians, he suffered martyrdom in the heathen reaction under Hezekiah’s successor, Manasseh. In one of the treatises of the Mishnah (collected about 200 AD), mention is made of a “roll of genealogies” in Jerusalem, in which it is stated that “Manasseh slew Isaiah;” and other authors specify the manner in which he was reputed to have suffered . thus Justin Martyr, writing about A.D. 150, in his controversial dialogue with the Jew Trypho reproaching the Jews with the deed, writes-”Whom ye saw asunder with a wooden saw;” and the same account of his martyrdom, together will details as to the circumstances which led to it, is given in the apocryphal work called “The Assumption of Isaiah,” which is assigned by critics to the beginning of the second century. Whether the tradition be true or not we do not know; but there is a definiteness and (in its earliest form as cited here) a simplicity attaching to it which is in its favor. The martyrdom of Isaiah is supposed to be alluded to in the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:37-”were sawn asunder”), and this is possible: the passage cannot, however, be quoted in proof of the tradition, for of course the reference in it may be to other martyrs.

The chronolgy of the reigns of Jewish kings contemporary with Isaiah is in some particulars uncertain, but upon the shortest possible scheme, that which places Uzziah’s death in 740, Isaiah’s prophetical ministry will have embraced a period of at least 40 years (740-701); and if he survived the ascension of Manasseh, he will hardly at the time of his death have been less than 70 years of age. In addition to the prophecies embodied in the book which bears his name, he was, according to the Chronicler (2 Chron 26:22; 32:32), the author of a history of the reign of Uzziah, and also of a work (called a “vision”)containing an account of the reign of Hezekiah; the latter was incorporated into the lost “Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel,” which is one of the authorities often referred to by the Chronicler in the course of his work.

But though little can be told concerning the incidents of Isaiah’s private life, his personality and character stand before us in his writings with all the certainty and clearness that could be desired. True, a considerable part of the contents of the book which bears his name cannot (as will be seen) be attributed to him; but in the parts which are undoubtedly his we can watch him, and, as it were, walk by his side, through all the varied and eventful phases of his forty year mission. We can observe him as a reformer, denouncing social abuses, sparing neither high or low in his fearless and incisive censure, We can follow him as a statesman, devoted particularly to his country’s interest, and advising her political leaders in times of difficulty and distress. We can see him as a theologian, emphasizing old truths, developing new ones, bringing fresh ideas to light which were destined to exercise an important influence in the generations which followed. Throughout the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah he is the central figure in Jerusalem, and the position which he took-his motives, principals, policies, the character of his teaching, the nature and extent of his influence-are all reflected in the collection of his prophecies which we posses.

Posted by Dim Bulb.

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