Isaiah, The Book of

The book of, the longest prophetic book in the OT. Chaps. 1–39 present the oracles of the prophet Isaiah of Jerusalem, active during the second half of the eighth century BCE (the Assyrian period of Israel’s history); chaps. 40–55 appear to present the words of a later prophet active during the sixth–fifth century BCE (the time of the exile); chaps. 56–66 seem to represent prophetic words spoken during the postexilic period. There is, however, coherence of theme and perspective throughout the book, so that it presents similar “words of the Lord” addressed to divergent contexts.

Outline of Contents

Isaiah

I. First Isaiah (Isa 1-39)

A. Prophecies against Judah and Jerusalem (Isa 1-12)

B. Oracles against foreign nations (Isa 13-23)

C. Prophecies of universal judgment and Zion’s subsequent role (Isa 24-27)

D. Oracles of woe against Judah and Jerusalem (Isa 28-33)

E. Prophecies of Zion’s restoration after judgment (Isa 34-35)

F. Historical account concerning Isaiah and Hezekiah (Isa 36-39)

II. Second Isaiah (Isa 40-55)

A. The coming salvation of Yahweh, the only God; Babylon’s fall and Cyrus as God’s anointed (Isa 40-48)

B. Promises of restoration for Zion/Jerusalem (Isa 49-55)

III. Third Isaiah (Isa 56-66)

A. Prophecies of judgment against the restoration community (Isa 56-58)

B. Call to repentance and community response (Isa 59)

C. Promises of salvation (Isa 60-62)

D. Community lament and God’s response (Isa 63-64)

E. Further prophecies of judgment and promises of final salvation (Isa 65-66)