THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

B.C.Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Kings of Judah

The Times of Isaiah

THE KINGS OF ISAIAH’S DAY

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

Isaiah 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

“Shebnayahu, official to Uzziah” THE KINGS OF

ISAIAH’S DAY

bulla

Isaiah 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

“Belonging to Ahaz, (son of) Jotham, king of Judah”

THE KINGS OF ISAIAH’S DAY

B.C.Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III745-727 B.C.Kings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

The Kings of Isaiah’s Day

Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745-727)

“I received the tribute of Kushtashpi of Commagene, Urik of Qu’e….Jehoahaz of Judah...” (The Ancient Near East, vol. 1, James Pritchard, p. 193)

THE KINGS OF ISAIAH’S DAY

Isaiah 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

“Belonging to Hizqiyahu, (son of)

Ahaz, king of Judah.”

THE KINGS OF ISAIAH’S DAY

B.C.

Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III

Sennacherib705-681 B.C.Kings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

The Kings of Isaiah’s Day

Isaiah 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

“The officials, the patricians and the (common) people of Ekron -- who had thrown Padi, their king, in fetters (because he was) loyal to (his) solemn oath (sworn) by the god Ashur, and had handed him over to Hezekiah, the Jew -- (and) he held him in prison…” (ANE, Pritchard, p. 199)

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

• The threat from Israel and Syria during Ahaz’s reign, 7:1-17; 8:3-4

B.C.Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III745-727 B.C.

Kings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

Pekah (742-732)

Hoshea

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

2 Kgs, 16:7, “So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.”

2 Kgs. 16:8, “And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria hear- kened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.”

Tigl.-pileser

2 Kgs. 15:29, “In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.”

“Israel…all its inhabitants (and) their possessions I led to Assyria.” (ANE, Pritchard, 194)

“…And the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria” (Isa. 8:4)

2Kgs. 15:30, “And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.”

“….They overthrew their king Pekah and I placed Hoshea king over them.” (ANE, Pritchard, 194)

Isaiah 7:1-8:4

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

• The threat from Israel and Syria during Ahaz’s reign, 7:1-17; 8:3-4

• Sargon’s capture of Ashdod, 20:1

SARGON II’S

PALACE

B.C.

Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III

Sargon II,

722-705SennacheribKings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

“Azuri, king of Ashdod, had schemed not to deliver tribute any more and sent messages (full) of hostilities against Assyia, to the kings (living) in his neighborhood….

“I besieged (and) captured the cities of Ashdod, Gath, Asdudimmu…” (ANE, Pritchard, 197)

Isaiah 20:1

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

• The threat from Israel and Syria during Ahaz’s reign, 7:1-17; 8:3-4

• Sargon’s capture of Ashdod, 20:1

• Sennacherib’s first invasion, 36:1

B.C.

Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III

Sennacherib705-681 B.C.Kings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

SargonShal- maneser

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

“As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and conquered (them) by means of well-stamped (earth-)ramps, and battering-rams brought (thus) near (to the walls) ….

“I drove out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female…” (ANE, Pritchard, p. 199)

Isaiah 36:1

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

• The threat from Israel and Syria during Ahaz’s reign, 7:1-17; 8:3-4

• Sargon’s capture of Ashdod, 20:1

• Sennacherib’s first invasion, 36:1

• The siege of Lachish, 36:2

"Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, sat on his nimedu-throne, and passed in review the booty taken from Lachish.” (ANE, Pritchard, 201)

(Siege of Lachish)

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

• The threat from Israel and Syria during Ahaz’s reign, 7:1-17; 8:3-4

• Sargon’s capture of Ashdod, 20:1

• Sennacherib’s first invasion, 36:1

• The siege of Lachish, 36:2

• The fall of Samaria, 36:19

B.C.

Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Tiglath- pileser III

Shal- manezer

Sargon II Sennach.Kings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

Fall of S

amaria

, 709ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN

THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

Isa. 36:19, “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?”

“Property of Sargon… king of Assyria… conqueror of Samaria and of the entire (country of) Israel…” (ANE, Pritchard, 195)

ISAIAH’S PREDICTIVE PROPHECIES, 13:1, 19; 45:1, 13

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

Prophecies concerning nations

Prophecies concerning nations

“Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus….he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free…” (Isa. 45: 1,13)

“...Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom...All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusa- lem...” (Ezra 1:1-2)

Prophecies concerning nations

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Dating the Isaiah Scroll

Zurich carbon dating at 1-σ level: 201-93 BC

Tucson carbon datingat 1-σ level: 341-325 or 202-114 BC

Zurich carbon dating at 2-σ level: 351-296 or 230-48 BC

Tucson carbon datingat 2-σ level: 351-295 or 230-53 BC

(The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance for Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity, by James C. VanderKam and Peter Flint, p. 32)

(Years B.C.)

Carbon Dating

English Script of the 17th Century

Paleography:

“Among Semitic paleographers in Great Britain, Dr. S.A. Birnbaum, of the London School of Oriental and African Studies, occupies a position second to none....His verdict on the date of...the complete Isaiah scroll (Isaiah A) between 175 and 150 B.C.” (F.F. Bruce, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 42-43)

Paleography:

Dating the Isaiah Scroll

(Years B.C.)

Paleography

(Years B.C.)

Probable Date of the Isaiah Scroll

LXX

(Years B.C.)

Probable Date of the Book of Isaiah

(Years B.C.)

Fall o

f Bab

ylon; r

ise

of Cyr

us

ISAIAH’S PREDICTIVE PROPHECIES, 9:6, 7; 53:1ff

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

Why the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is not the Nation of Israel:

• He is portrayed in detailed features as a human personality. Could Israel have been personified in poetic language lacking any hint of allegory? (cf. Gal. 4:21-24).

• He is an innocent sufferer (vs. 9, 12). Was Israel an innocent sufferer? (v. 8)

• “For the transgression of my people was he stricken” (v. 8). If the servant is the nation, how could he be stricken for Israel?

• He is a voluntary sufferer (vs. 9, 12). Was Israel a voluntary sufferer?

•His suffering is redemptive and spiritual in nature ( vs. 5, 11). Can this be said of Israel?

• His suffering is vicarious, that is, substitutionary (vs. 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12). Has Israel suffered to redeem other nations (52:15)?

• His suffering ends in death (vs. 8, 10, 12). Have the sufferings of Israel ended in death?

Why the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is not the Nation of Israel:"Judaism does not even

claim to be the response to these hopes. It has no Messiah to offer, no Suffering Servant that can gather to Himself the things predicated of the Servant in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah...” (H.H. Rowley, The Unity of the Bible, p. 118)

The Suffering of the “Suffering Servant” and the Suffering of Jesus

Isaiah 53 Jesus

With his stripes we are healed (v. 5)

By whose stripes ye were healed (1 Pet. 2:24)

He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied (v. 11)

He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2)

The Suffering of the “Suffering Servant” and the Suffering of Jesus

Isaiah 53 Jesus

As a lamb that is led to the slaughter (v. 7)

...the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29) Philip... beginning from this Scripture, preached unto him Jesus (Acts 8:35)

He shall bear their iniquities….He poured out his soul unto death (vs. 11-12)

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins (Matt. 26:28)

The Suffering of the “Suffering Servant” and the Suffering of Jesus

Isaiah 53 Jesus

Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin (v. 10)

The Son of man came…to give his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28)

He bare the sin of many (v. 12); He shall bear their iniquities (v. 11)

Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree (1 Pet. 2:24)

THE KINGS OF ISAIAH’S DAY

ISAIAH’S RECORD OF PALESTINE IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.

ISAIAH’S PREDICTIVE PROPHECIES

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

B.C.

Uzziah (790-739)

Jotham (750-735)

Ahaz (732-715)

Hezekiah (715-686)

Jeroboam II (793-753)

Menahem (752-742)

Pekah (742-732)

Hoshea

Tiglath- pileser III

Shal- manezer

Sargon II SennacheribKings of Assyria

Kings of Judah

Kings of Israel

Fall of S

amaria

, 722

Sennacherib

inva

des Judah, 701The Times of Isaiah