A Commentary on Isaiah 6
A Commentary on Isaiah 6
Isaiah 6 is written with a mixture of prose and verse, detailing the calling, or commission, of Isaiah by the Lord God. Much of the verse is written in the style of a vision, detailing message to the people of Judea. The main theme running through Isaiah is the message of salvation, even the name of the prophet means ‘salvation of Yahweh’. The book is first of the ‘major prophets’, so called due to its greater length than the shorter ‘minor prophets’ or ‘twelve prophets’. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and in all other English Bibles, the book follows on from the Song of Solomon or Song of Songs. However in the Hebrew Bible, it is seen after 2 Kings, which A.S. Herbert states is ‘a more natural order since this prophet [Isaiah] was deeply involved in the historical events of his day’ and gave a ‘distinctive interpretation of these events’ (1973:1). The genre of the book is mainly of a prophetic nature, with a mixture of oracles, prophesies and reports of the situation in Judah; however it does deviate from this, most notably in chapter 13, where it takes the form of a supposed psalm. This book is written at a time of great strife for the region of Israel. The region has split into two kingdoms, the Assyrian empire is closing in around them and the death of Jeroboam II of Israel (745 BC) and the death Uzziah of Judah (742) ended a time of peace, security and prosperity for both states. Soon after Jeroboams death, civil war broke out in Israel and in 721 BC the Assyrian armies completely subjugated the kingdom. So, we can see that Isaiah is writing in a time of great conflict and insecurity, which increased throughout his prophetic life, ending in the unavoidable conquering of the small Judean kingdom by the Assyrian empire.
It is not easy to trace who Isaiah actually was and when he lived, however the general consensus is that he started his ministry around the death of King Uzziah in 742 BC, where he is thought to be
Isaiah 6 is written with a mixture of prose and verse, detailing the calling, or commission, of Isaiah by the Lord God. Much of the verse is written in the style of a vision, detailing message to the people of Judea. The main theme running through Isaiah is the message of salvation, even the name of the prophet means ‘salvation of Yahweh’. The book is first of the ‘major prophets’, so called due to its greater length than the shorter ‘minor prophets’ or ‘twelve prophets’. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and in all other English Bibles, the book follows on from the Song of Solomon or Song of Songs. However in the Hebrew Bible, it is seen after 2 Kings, which A.S. Herbert states is ‘a more natural order since this prophet [Isaiah] was deeply involved in the historical events of his day’ and gave a ‘distinctive interpretation of these events’ (1973:1). The genre of the book is mainly of a prophetic nature, with a mixture of oracles, prophesies and reports of the situation in Judah; however it does deviate from this, most notably in chapter 13, where it takes the form of a supposed psalm. This book is written at a time of great strife for the region of Israel. The region has split into two kingdoms, the Assyrian empire is closing in around them and the death of Jeroboam II of Israel (745 BC) and the death Uzziah of Judah (742) ended a time of peace, security and prosperity for both states. Soon after Jeroboams death, civil war broke out in Israel and in 721 BC the Assyrian armies completely subjugated the kingdom. So, we can see that Isaiah is writing in a time of great conflict and insecurity, which increased throughout his prophetic life, ending in the unavoidable conquering of the small Judean kingdom by the Assyrian empire.
It is not easy to trace who Isaiah actually was and when he lived, however the general consensus is that he started his ministry around the death of King Uzziah in 742 BC, where he is thought to be
Bibliography: Anderson, B (1988) the living world of the Old Testament Fourth Edition, Longman Singapore Publishers (PTC) Ltd., Singapore Watts, J (1985) 24 WORD Biblical Commentary Isaiah 1-33, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Clements, R (1980), The New Century Bible Commentary: Isaiah 1-39, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Mich. Blenkinsopp, J (2000) The Anchor Bible Isaiah 1-39 A New Translation with introduction and commentary, Yale University Press, New Haven Herbert, A (1973) The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the the New English Bible, The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 1-39, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition (1995) Oxford University Press, Oxford