Editing Isaiah (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Isaiah.jpg|thumb|left|[[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian]] [[icon]] of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century ([[iconostasis]] of [[Transfiguration of Jesus|Transfiguration]] Church, [[Kizhi]] monastery, [[Karelia]], [[Russia]])]]
The first verse of the Book of Isaiah states that Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of [[Uzziah]] (or Azariah), [[Jotham]], [[Ahaz]], and [[Hezekiah]], the kings of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]].<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|1:1|HE}}</ref> Uzziah's reign was 52 years in the middle of the 8th century BC, and Isaiah must have begun his ministry a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the [[740s BC]]. He may have been contemporary for some years with [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]]. Thus, Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as 64 years.<ref name="Easton1897">{{EBD|title=Isaiah|inline=yes}}</ref>

According to some modern interpretations, Isaiah's wife was called "the prophetess",<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'', {{bibleverse|Isaiah|8:3|HE}}</ref> either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like [[Deborah]]<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|Judges|4:4|HE}}</ref> and [[Huldah]],<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|Kings|22:14–20|HE}}</ref> or simply because she was the "wife of the prophet".<ref name="Easton1897"/><ref>Coogan, Michael D. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament'', Oxford University Press, 2009, p.273.</ref> They had two sons, naming the elder [[List of minor Hebrew Bible figures, L–Z#Shearjashub|Shear-Jashub]], meaning "A remnant shall return",<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|Isaiah|7:3|HE}}</ref> and the younger [[Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz]], meaning, "Quickly to spoils, plunder speedily."<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|Isaiah|8:3|HE}}</ref>

[[File:Isaiahwindow.jpg|thumb|Isaiah receives his vision of the {{LORD}}'s house. A [[stained glass]] window at [[St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church]] in Charleston, South Carolina.]]
Soon after this, [[Shalmaneser V]] determined to subdue the northern Kingdom of Israel, taking over and destroying [[Samaria]] and beginning the [[Assyrian captivity]]. So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was untouched by the Assyrian power. But when Hezekiah gained the throne, he was encouraged to rebel "against the king of Assyria",<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:7|HE}}</ref> and entered into an alliance with the king of [[Egypt]].<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|30:2–4|HE}}</ref> The king of Assyria threatened the king of Judah, and at length invaded the land. [[Sennacherib's campaign in the Levant]] brought his powerful army into Judah. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted to the Assyrians.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:14–16|HE}}</ref> But after a brief interval, war broke out again. Again Sennacherib led an army into Judah, one detachment of which threatened Jerusalem.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|36:2–22|HE}}; {{bibleverse-nb||Isaiah|37:8|HE}}</ref> Isaiah on that occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians,<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse-nb||Isaiah|37:1–7|HE}}</ref> whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, which he "spread before [[Yahweh|the {{LORD}}]]".<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|37:14|HE}}</ref><ref name="Easton1897"/>

{{blockquote|Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus said GOD, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed, concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria—  
this is the word that GOD has spoken concerning him:
Fair Maiden Zion despises you,
She mocks at you;
Fair Jerusalem shakes
Her head at you. 
Whom have you blasphemed and reviled?
Against whom made loud your voice
And haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!<ref>{{cite web |title=Isaiah 37:21-23 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.37.21-23?lang=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>}}

According to the account in [[2 Kings]] 19 (and its derivative account in [[2 Chronicles]] 32) an angel of God fell on the Assyrian army and 185,000 of its men were killed in one night. "Like [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] in Greece, Sennacherib never recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made no more expeditions against either Judea or Egypt."<ref name="Easton1897"/><ref>[[Archibald Henry Sayce|Sayce, Archibald Henry]], ''The Ancient Empires of the East''. Macmillan, 1884, p. 134.</ref>

The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful. Isaiah probably lived to its close, and possibly into the reign of [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]]. The time and manner of his death are not specified in either the [[Bible]] or other primary sources.<ref name="Easton1897"/> The [[Talmud]] says that he suffered martyrdom by being [[death by sawing|sawn in two]] under the orders of Manasseh.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yevamot 49b:8 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Yevamot.49b.8?lang=en |website=www.sefaria.org|quote= Isaiah said to himself: I know him, i.e., Manasseh, that he will not accept whatever explanation that I will say to him to resolve my prophecies with the words of the Torah. And even if I say it to him, I will make him into an intentional transgressor since he will kill me anyway. Therefore, in order to escape, he uttered a divine name and was swallowed within a cedar tree. Manasseh's servants brought the cedar tree and sawed through it in order to kill him. When the saw reached to where his mouth was, Isaiah died. He died specifically at this point due to that which he said: "In the midst of a people of unclean lips, I dwell" (Isaiah 6:5). He was punished for referring to the Jewish people in a derogatory manner.
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The book of Isaiah, along with the book of Jeremiah, is distinctive in the Hebrew bible for its direct portrayal of the "wrath of the {{LORD}}" as presented, for example, in Isaiah 9:19 stating "Through the wrath of [[Tetragrammaton|the {{LORD}}]] [[Tzevaot|of hosts]] is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire."<ref>Isaiah 9:19.</ref>