Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/912

* ISAIAH. 806 ISAIAH. Juilali, mid the King watched for every ehiiiice to oppose Assyria. He not only joined with Kjrypt, Ijut attuaily organized a revolt against fienua- clierib (see Hf:zeki.H), which terminated disas- trously for the Judean Icingdoni, althougli, by a fortunate turn of events, it e>eaped l)eing entirely wiped out. At this juneture the leading thought in what may be railed Isaiah's theology reveals itself. The terrilied ruler and his people in their distress hoped that by entreaties and sacriliees they might again secure the favor of Vahweh, for the calamity that befell the country was looked upon as a sign of Yahweh's displeasure. The first chai)ter of Isaiah (verses ;j-2G) gives the prophet's view of the situation. There is only one hope of salvation, and that is by a complete t-hance of conduct on the part of the people, by upright piacticcs and by fair dealings, by honest govern- ment and just courts. As for sacrifices, prayers, and festivals, Vahweh hales them. This and other chapters alford an insight into the social conditions prevailing in the' days of Isaiah, which is most important for understanding the attitude of the prophet toward iiolitical events. He felt dteply that there was actually no hope for .ludah unless by a total change of conduct the people might secure once more the favor of Yahweh. Po- litical alliances were of no avail, either with As- syria or with Egv'iit. He had warned .haz. but the warning was not lieedod. His inthience over Hezckiah was greater. Largely, no doubt, at his instigation, the King undertook some religious reforms, though not to the extent pictured by the compilers of the Books of Kings. (See Heze- KIAH.) But Hezckiah. like Ahaz, yielded to pressure, and put his trust in princes instead of in Yahweh. Isaiah, no doubt sorely disappointed, lost all hope, and became a prophet who foresaw only gloom and woe for his people, declaring that none, whether great or small, would escape the punishment deserved by their shortcomings. Hence, despite the obsciirity in which the per- sonality of the great prophet is enveloped through editorial interference with his productions, enough can be determined to enable us to grasp his essential message in its full force. His watchword is, through right conduct alone can a people be saved, and it is because of the pro- foimd impression that this message made — not, indeed, upon his own age. but upon the genera- tions of the E.ile and the post-exilic period — that Isaiah I)ccame, instead of a real personality, a type of the true prophet of Yahweh, and th;it dis- courses of various periods which seem worthy to be associated with Isaiah were grouped with his utterances, and a composite Book of Isaiah was gradually evolved. ISAIAH, Book of. One of the longest and greatest of ilie prophetic books of the Old Testa- ment. It is placed first in the writings of the prophets in the English Bible, and is the first of the four so-called greater prophets. Most modern scholars are agreed that the book is a composite structure of an exceedingly complicated character, not the work of one author, but of perhaps half a dozen, or even more. It represents a gradual growth extending through several cen- turies, and is even more complicated than the Hexateueh {q.v. ), althoiigh its composition did not occupy so long a period as that of the latter. As early as the latter part of the eighteenth cen- tury the theory was put forward that the book consists of two inde|K'ndent works: (1) Chapters i.-x..ix.. and (2) cha|)lers xl.lxvi. By the middle of the nineteenth century this view had been widely accepted. 'I'he author of the second sec- tion (often called Deuterolsaiah) has in mind distinctly exilic and post-exilic conditions, and refers to exilic and post-exilic events, such as the permission given by Cyrus — who is mentioned by name — to the Jews to return to .Jerusalem. Hence it seems that he cannot ])Ossibly be identical with the Isaiah living before the Exile, whose dis- cour.ses are incorporated in the first section. Sec I.SAIAH. Further investigation brought forth the theory that both parts of the book consist of several distinct sections, belonging to periods separated from one another by intervals, so that the dis- courses in the book, if arranged in chronological order, extend from the last half of the eighth century down to the third century n.c. There are still a number of problems connected with Isaiah to be investigated, but the researches of scholars have proceeded so far that they feel justified in saying that not a single discourse of Isaiah has been preserved in the form in which he delivered or wrote it. His work has been rearranged, and additions made to it, reflecting post-exilic views and conditions. Isaiah became the type and model ol Hebrew prophecy. His religious point of iiew appealed to the pious Y'ah- wch-worshipers of the Exile, who felt that events justified the main thesis put forth by the prophet. The popularity that he thus attained in certain circles led to his Wing amplified, as it were. His discourses, instead of being handed down in their original form, were modified so as to fit in with Inter conditions, and. as this process went on. the character of the collection naturally took on a totally difTerent form. Moreover, various other discourses, or groups of discourses, that were deemed worthy of a place beside Isaiah were in- corporated with him, and thus there was pro- duced a collection which merited the name of Isaiah only because the personality of the prophet overshadowed that of all others whose discourses were joined to his. From the religious point of view, however. I.saiah represented only a part of the whole. He is not a prophet of hope, but rather one who, disappointed in the policy adopted by both Ahaz and Hc7.ekiah. looks for- ward to a future of gloom and woe. (See I.SAI.It.) The prophet of doom ne<'ds to be sup- plemented by the prophet of hope, and hence there was joined to the first Book of Isaiah a second collection, entirely post-exilic in origin, the main themes of which were encouragement to the faithful followers of Yahweh, assurance of God's favor toward the community which sought to regulate public and private conduct and the cult according to divine law, and advice in peri- ods of distress and anguish. While the date of the combination of the two collections cannot be definitely determined, it is safe to assume that the book was put in its present form later than the second half of the third century B.C. Taking up the two collections, one finds in the first (chaps, i.-xxxix.) the following divisions, corresponding roughly to the component parts of the collection itself: (a) chaps, i.-xii.; (b) xiii.-xxiii. ; (c) xxiv.-xxxv. ; (d) xxxvi.-xxxix. The general subject of (a) is the political and religious conditions in Judah in the face of the threatened invasion by Israel and Syria, with