Old Testament

Isaiah

Isaiah is the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem: a call to a rebellious people to trust the Holy One of Israel, a warning of judgment through Assyria and Babylon, and a promise that God will comfort His people, bring them home, and make all things new. Along the way it gives Scripture's richest portraits of the coming King from David's line and of the Servant of the LORD who suffers for the sins of others and is exalted. It belongs in the Bible because it shows the holiness and the mercy of God on the largest scale, and because the New Testament quotes it more than almost any other book to explain who Jesus is.

Author: The book names Isaiah son of Amoz, a prophet in Jerusalem (1:1), and Jewish and Christian tradition long held that he wrote all of it. Many modern scholars assign chapters 40–55 to an unnamed prophet among the exiles and 56–66 to the period after the return, while others see one book shaped over time by Isaiah and those who carried on his message; the New Testament quotes passages from both halves under Isaiah's name (John 12:38–41).
Audience: First the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the Assyrian crisis, then, in chapters 40–66, a people in or after Babylonian exile who needed comfort and a call to faithfulness. The book also speaks to the nations and to every later generation waiting for God's promises.
When: Isaiah's ministry spans the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (1:1), from about 740 BC, the year Uzziah died (6:1), to at least Sennacherib's invasion of 701 BC (chapters 36–37). Chapters 40–66 address the exile and return of the sixth century BC, whether as prophecy from Isaiah's day or as words from that later time.
Where: Jerusalem, at the temple and the royal court, under the shadow of Assyria and later Babylon. The horizon widens to Egypt, Cush, Babylon, Tyre and the coastlands, and finally to the new heavens and new earth.
Genre: Isaiah is prophecy, mostly in Hebrew poetry, with prose stories of Isaiah, Ahaz and Hezekiah (chapters 7–8, 20, 36–39). Its oracles were spoken to real situations, so read each first in its setting, then follow how its promises reach beyond that setting. The book uses vivid images, sudden shifts between judgment and hope, and repeated words such as 'Holy One of Israel,' 'remnant,' 'servant' and 'Zion' that tie its parts together. Expect poetry rather than a timeline, and let the whole book shape the reading of each part.

Shape of the book

Judah on Trial and the Promised Child · ch 1–12God charges His people with rebellion, Isaiah sees the LORD on His throne and is sent, Ahaz refuses to trust, and the signs of Immanuel, the child of 9:6 and the shoot of Jesse promise a righteous King; a song of salvation closes the section.
Oracles Against the Nations · ch 13–23Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Edom, Arabia, Tyre and even Jerusalem are judged, showing that the LORD rules every nation, with surprising hope for Egypt and Assyria (19:24–25).
Judgment and Feast for the Whole Earth · ch 24–27Often called the Isaiah Apocalypse: the earth is laid waste for breaking God's covenant, God prepares a feast on His mountain, swallows up death, and slays Leviathan.
Woes, Egypt and the Coming King · ch 28–35Woes on leaders who trust Egypt instead of the LORD, the tested cornerstone laid in Zion, a king who reigns in righteousness, judgment on Edom, and the desert blooming as the redeemed return.
Hezekiah, Assyria and Babylon · ch 36–39A prose bridge paralleling 2 Kings 18–20: Jerusalem is spared from Sennacherib, Hezekiah is healed, and his display to Babylon's envoys brings word of exile to Babylon.
Comfort, Cyrus and the Folly of Idols · ch 40–48God comforts His people, presents His chosen Servant, mocks idols that cannot predict or save, names Cyrus as His anointed to free the exiles, and calls them to leave Babylon.
The Servant and the Restored Zion · ch 49–55The Servant is sent as a light to the nations, endures mocking, and is pierced for others' sins and exalted (52:13–53:12); barren Zion is told to sing, and all who thirst are invited to come.
True Servants and New Heavens and Earth · ch 56–66Foreigners and eunuchs are welcomed, false worship exposed, the Spirit-anointed one brings good news, Zion's glory draws the nations, a prayer for God to rend the heavens is answered, and God promises new heavens and a new earth.

Themes

The Holy One of Israel. Isaiah sees the LORD high and lifted up while seraphim cry, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts' (). His favorite name for God, the Holy One of Israel, runs through both halves of the book. God's holiness exposes sin, as Isaiah confesses he is a man of unclean lips (), and it is also the ground of God's saving faithfulness.
Trust in the LORD, Not in Nations. Ahaz relies on Assyria (), later leaders on Egypt (), but Isaiah calls for trust in God alone: in returning and rest is salvation (). Hezekiah's prayer before Sennacherib () shows the trust Ahaz refused, and the city is spared.
Judgment and a Remnant. God judges His people for injustice, idolatry and empty worship (; ), yet a remnant survives, like a stump that still holds a holy seed (). Isaiah's son is named Shear-jashub, 'a remnant will return' (; ), and Paul cites Isaiah to show God keeping a remnant by grace ().
Comfort and a New Exodus. 'Comfort, comfort My people,' says God (). picture the return from Babylon as a new exodus: a highway in the desert, water from rock, and God Himself leading His people home. God's word stands forever (), and idols that cannot speak or save are mocked.
The Nations and the New Creation. From the start, nations stream to Zion to learn God's ways (). The Servant is a light to the nations (), foreigners join the LORD's people (), and the book ends with God creating new heavens and a new earth (; ), where all mankind comes to worship.

Where Christ is

Isaiah has been called the fifth Gospel, and the New Testament quotes it constantly. Its promises of the child Immanuel, the Son of David on whom the Spirit rests, the Servant who bears sin, and the Spirit-anointed preacher of good news are applied directly to Jesus. John even says Isaiah saw Christ's glory (). These are fulfillments the New Testament names, though readers differ on how some, such as , first applied in Isaiah's own day.

Immanuel and the Child Who Will Reign. Promise and fulfillment. A sign is given to Ahaz: a young woman, or virgin, will bear a son called Immanuel (). Matthew applies it to Jesus' conception, while readers differ on whether it also had a first fulfillment in Ahaz's day. The child of bears divine titles and reigns forever on David's throne, as Gabriel promises Mary. (; ; ; ; ; )
The Shoot From Jesse's Stump. Promise and fulfillment. When David's royal tree is cut down, a shoot will grow from the stump, filled with the Spirit and ruling with justice (). Paul quotes to say that Christ, the root of Jesse, rules over the nations, who hope in Him. (; ; )
The Suffering Servant. Fulfillment. The Servant brings justice gently (, quoted in ) and then is despised, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, yet sees life after death (, 10–11). Philip explains as the good news about Jesus, Peter applies to the cross, and Jesus says 'He was numbered with the transgressors' must be fulfilled in Him. Readers have long debated the Servant's identity, but the New Testament answers clearly. (; ; ; ; ; )
The Lord Whose Way Is Prepared and Whose Glory Isaiah Saw. Fulfillment. All four Gospels apply the voice in the wilderness () to John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, so the LORD who comes is Jesus. After quoting and , John says Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him. (; ; ; ; )
The Anointed Preacher and the New Creation. Fulfillment, begun and still to come. In Nazareth Jesus reads and says it is fulfilled today, stopping before the day of vengeance. The new heavens and new earth of and are taken up in Revelation's vision of the new Jerusalem, where the Lamb is its lamp. (; ; ; ; ; )

Voices

Jerome. In his preface to Isaiah he said Isaiah should be called an evangelist rather than a prophet, because he describes the mysteries of Christ and the church so fully that he seems to be telling past events, not foretelling future ones. More from Jerome at CCEL ↗
John Calvin. He read the fall of the 'day star' in as spoken of the king of Babylon, and rejected applying it to Satan as an error that arose from ignorance of the context. Read the full commentary ↗

Reading well, key terms and common misreadings

Read it well

Read 1:1 and chapters 6–7 early. They give the setting, Isaiah's call and the crisis of faith under Ahaz that shapes much of the book.
Read chapters 36–39 alongside 2 Kings 18–20. They show Isaiah's message tested in history and set up the turn to Babylon in chapter 40.
Read the four Servant Songs together (42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12), then see how the New Testament applies them.
Ask first what an oracle meant for its hearers, then how the book's later chapters and the New Testament carry it forward. Many promises have a near horizon and a far one.
Watch for words that link the halves of the book: Holy One of Israel, highway, comfort, Zion, the arm of the LORD, and the nations coming to God's light.

Key terms

Holy One of Israel קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל (qedosh Yisrael) — Isaiah's signature name for God, used about twenty-five times across both halves of the book and only a few times elsewhere. It joins God's utter purity with His covenant bond to Israel.
Remnant שְׁאָר (shear) — Those who survive judgment and return to God. Isaiah's son Shear-jashub carries the word in his name (7:3), and the idea runs through the book (10:20–22; 37:31–32).
Immanuel עִמָּנוּ אֵל (immanu el) — 'God with us,' the name of the promised child (7:14; 8:8). Matthew translates it for his readers and applies it to Jesus (Matthew 1:23).
Servant of the LORD עֶבֶד יְהוָה (eved YHWH) — Sometimes Israel the nation (41:8), and sometimes one who has a mission to Israel and the nations (49:5–6), who suffers and is exalted (52:13–53:12). After chapter 53 the book speaks of 'servants' in the plural (54:17; 65:13–15).
Redeemer גֹּאֵל (goel) — The kinsman who buys back and defends his family. Chapters 40–66 often call God Israel's Redeemer (41:14; 43:14; 54:5), the one who rescues His people from exile.
Justice and righteousness מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה (mishpat utsedaqah) — A paired phrase for a society ordered rightly before God. God looked for it in His vineyard and found bloodshed and a cry of distress instead (5:7), and the coming King will establish it (9:7).

Easy to misread

Reading Isaiah only as a collection of proof texts about Jesus. The New Testament's use of Isaiah is real and central, but each passage first spoke to Ahaz, Hezekiah or the exiles, and seeing that setting makes the fulfillment richer, not weaker.
Taking 14:12–15 as a plain account of Satan's fall. The poem is a taunt against the king of Babylon (14:4). Many church fathers read it of Satan, while Calvin and most modern interpreters read it of the king, some seeing his pride as mirroring a deeper rebellion.
Treating 53:5 as a promise that every sickness will be healed now. Matthew applies 53:4 to Jesus' healings (Matthew 8:17), but Peter applies the healing by His wounds to sin forgiven and life made new (1 Peter 2:24). Full bodily healing belongs to the resurrection.
Assuming the authorship debate decides whether Isaiah is true prophecy. Faithful readers differ on how the book came together, but all can read its sixty-six chapters as one book, as the New Testament and the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran do.

Further reading: David Guzik, Enduring Word · Matthew Henry on CCEL · BibleProject overview video