Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/221

 ISAIAS

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ISAIAS

"Ascension of Isaias", the Prophet's martyrdom con- sisted in being sawed asunder. Tradition shows this to have been unhesitatingly believed. The Targum on IV Kings, xxi, 6, admits it; it is preserved in two treatises of the Talmud (Yeliamoth, 491); Sanlicdr., 103b); St. Justin (Dial. c. Tryph., cxx), and many of the Fathers adopted it, taking as unmistakable allu- sion to Isaias these words of the Heb., xi, 37, "they (the ancients) were cut asunder" (ef. Tertullian, "De patient.", xiv; P. L., I, 1270; Orig., "In Is., Horn." I, 5, P. G., XIII, 223; "In Matt.", x, 18, P. G., XIII, 882; "In Matt.", Ser. 28, P. G., XIII, 1637; "Epist. ad Jul. Afr.", ix, P. G., XI, 65; St. Jerome, " In Is.", Ivii, 1, P. L., XXIV, 546-548; etc.). However, little trust should be put in the strange details mentioned in the " De Vit. Prophet." of pseudo-Epiphanius (P. G., XLIII, 397, 419). The date of the Prophet's demise is not known. The Roman Martyrology com- memorates Isaias on 6 July. His tomb is believed to ha^'e been in Paneas in Northern Palestine, whence his relics were taken to Constantino- ple in A. D. 442.

The literary activity of Isaias is attested by the canonical book which bears his name; moreover allusion is made in II Par., x.wi. 22, to "Acts of Ozias first and last . . . written by Isaias, the son of Amos, the proph- et". Another passage of the same book informs us that "the rest of the acts of Ezechias and his mercies. are written in the ^'ision of Isaias, son of Amos, thr prophet", in the Book of the Kings of Juda and Israel. Such at least is the reading of the Massoretic Bible, but its text here, if we may judge from the variants of the Greek and St. Jerome, is somewhat corrupt. Most commentators who believe the passage to be authen- tic think that the WTiter refers to Is., xxxvi-xxxix. We must finally mention the "Ascension of Isaias", at one time attributed to the Prophet, but never admitted into the t'anon.

II.— The Book of Isai.\s. — The canonical Book of Isaias is made up of two distinct collections of dis- courses, the one, cc. i-xxxv, called sometimes the " First Isaias"; the other, cc. xl-l.xvi, styled by many modern critics the " Deutero- (or Second) Isaias"; be- tween these two comes a stretch of historical narrative ; some authors, as Michaelis and Hengstenberg. holding with St. Jerome that the prophecies are placed in chron- ological order; others, like Vitringa and Jahn, in a logical order; others finally, like Gesenius, Delitzsch, Keil, think the actual order is partly logical and partly chronological. No less disagreement prevails on the question of the collector. Those who believe that Isaias is the author of all the prophecies con- tained in the book generally fix upon the Prophet him- self. But for the critics who question the genuine- ness of some of the parts, the compilation is by a late and unknown collector. It would be well, however, before suggesting a solution to analyse cursorily the contents.

In the first collection (cc. i-xxxv) there seems to be a grouping of the discourses according to their sub- ject-matter: (1) cc. i-xii, oracles dealing with Juda

MicheUi

and Israel; (2) cc. xiii-xxiii, prophecies concerning (chiefly) foreign nations; (3) cc. xxiv-xxvii, an apoc- alypse; (4) cc. xxviii-xxxiii, discourses on the rela- tions of Juda to Assyria; (5) cc. xxxiv-xxxv, future of Edom and Israel.

In the first group (i-xii) w-e may distinguish sep- arate oracles. Ch. i arraigns Jerusalem for her in- gratitude and unfaithfulness; severe chastisements have proved unavailing; yet forgiveness can be se- cured by a true change of life. The ravaging of Juda points to either the time of the Syro-Ephraimite co- alition (735) or the Assyrian invasion (701). Ch. ii threatens judgment upon pride and seems to be one of the earliest of the Pro])het's utterances. It is fol- lowed (iii-iv) by a severe arraignment of the nation's rulers for their injustice and a lampoon against the women of Sion for their wanton luxury. The beau- tiful apologue of the vineyard serves as a preface to t he a nnouncement of t he pun- ishment due to the chief so- cial disorders. ' These seem to point to the last days of Joatham, or the very begin- ning of the reign of Aehaz (from 736-735 b. c). The next chapter (vi). dated in the year of the death of Ozias (740). narrates the calling of the Prophet. With vii opens a series of utterances not inappropriately called "the Book of Emmanuel"; it is made up of prophecies bear- ing on the Syro-Ephraimite war, and ends in a glowing description (an independent Oracle?) of what the country will be under a future sov- ireign (ix, 1-6). Ch. Lx, 7-x, t, in five strophes announces that Israel is foredoomed to utter ruin; the allusion to ri- \alries between Ephraim and ilanasses possibly has to do with the revolutions which followed the death of Jero- boam II; in this case the prophecy might date some time between 743-734. Much later is the prophecy against .'Vssur (x, 5-34), later than the capture of Arshad (740), C'alano (738), or Charcamis (717). The historical situation therein described sug- gests the time of Sennacherib's invasion (about 702 or 701 B. c). Ch. xi depicts the happy reign to be of the ideal king, and a hjTim of thanl^giving and praise (xii) closes this first division.

The second group. — The first "burden" is aimed at Babylon (viii, 1-xiv, 23). The situation presupposed by the Prophet is that of the Exile; a fact that in- clines some to date it shortly before 549, against others who hold it was written on the death of Sargon (705). Ch. xiv, 24-27, foretelling the overthrow of the Assyrian army on the mountains of Juda, and re- garded by some as a misplaced part of the prophecy against Assur (x, 5-34), belongs no doubt to the period of Sennacherib's campaign. The next passage (xi^', 28-32) was occasioned by the death of some foe of the Phili.stines: the names of Achaz (728), Theglathphal- asar III (727), and Sargon (705) have been suggested, the last appearing more probable. Chapters ,xv-xvi, " the burden of iloab", is regarded by many as refer- ring to the reign of Jeroboam II," King" of Israel (787-746); its date is conjectural. The ensuing "burden of Damascus" (xvii, 1-11). directed against the Kingdom of Israel as well, should be assigned to

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