The data we have about Isaiah’s life are few. His father’s name was Amos, but there is no reason to identify him with the prophet of Tekoa. He must have been born around 760 B.C., in the 8th century B.C. The place of his birth, although we do not know for sure, seems to be Jerusalem, an important fact because the future prophet will grow up in the midst of religious traditions that will condition his message.
While still quite young, he received his prophetic vocation, “in the year of the death of King Uzziah” (6:1), probably in 740/739 B.C., when he was about twenty years old. He must have married around that time. We do not know the name of his wife, whom on one occasion he simply calls “the prophetess” (8:3). From this, some deduce that she was a true prophetess, like Julda; others believe that she received the title because she was married to the prophet.
At least two sons were born of this marriage, to whom Isaiah gave symbolic names related to his prophetic mission: Shear Yashub (“A remnant will return”) and Maher Shalal Hash Baz (“Quick to plunder, quick to spoil”). We do not even know the date of his death, although it was probably after 701 BC.
The prophet’s vocation
Although it is not frequent to find the narration of how the prophets have been called by the Lord, in this case, we do have it, and moreover, it is quite developed in his book (Is 6:1-13). The story can be divided into three parts:
- Vision (1-5)
Purification (6-7)
Mission (8-13) - Let us look at each of them in detail, for which I invite you to read the biblical text of each part and then read the proposed commentary:
Initial vision (1-5)
This part is dominated by the visual element, so it is easy to imagine the scene taking place in the famous temple of Solomon, the temple of Jerusalem. We contemplate a grandiose vision of the majesty and sovereignty of God of whom “the border of his robe fills the temple”, which is drawn with three contrasts:
The first, with King Uzziah already dead; from the mortal king he passes to the immortal king. The second, with the seraphim, who are described at length, with their six wings, of which each pair has a function and which cry out the holiness of God: “Holy, holy, holy”. The third is the prophet, who feels impure before the Lord. With these three elements, we have three binomials that underline the sovereignty of God: life-death, invisibility-visibility, holiness-impurity. This sublime majesty is synthesized in that typical title of the book of Isaiah, “the Holy One”. It should be remembered that, in the history of religions, “Holiness” expresses the infinite separation of God from the world and the mundane, that quality that makes him appear at the same time as “tremendum et fascinans”: tremendous, which provokes fear because of God’s grandeur; and fascinating, attractive and seductive.
Along with this sense of “holiness”, we have that of moral holiness, which entails the absence, the distancing from sin. The first aspect coincides with the way Isaiah presents God; the second with the prophet’s feeling and his realization of the sinful reality of the people.
The literary elements used by Isaiah in this first part are typical of theophanies (trembling, voice, all-pervading smoke) and show great skill in achieving an atmosphere totally penetrated by God. Of Isaiah we cannot say that he “did not know God”; however, at this moment he has a new and distinct experience of the Lord.
Purification (6-7)
This section is dominated by action, with the scene now centered on the prophet. Following Isaiah’s recognition that he is “a man of unclean lips,” a seraph purifies his lips, as a symbol of purification of the whole person. The seraphim touches a part to express the purification of his whole being. Hence the text states that “your guilt is gone, your sin is forgiven”. This scene prepares Isaiah to be chosen by God.
Mission (8-13)
The verses again direct our attention to the divine court and are marked by hearing. The prophet will be called to a difficult mission. To this end, the Lord asks: “Whom shall I send, who will go on our behalf? In response, Isaiah offers himself without knowing what he is offering himself for or where he will be sent: “Here I am, send me”. It is the absolute availability to God’s service: his answer is not “I go”, but “send me”. It must be emphasized that the prophet will not go on his own; he recognizes that he needs to be sent by God.
Prophetic activity
We find the prophet’s activity developed in chapters 1-39 of the book that bears his name. Let us remember that the rest of the work corresponds to later prophets of whom we will speak later. The compilers and editors of the book of Isaiah did not bother to arrange the material chronologically, so reconstructing Isaiah’s prophetic activity is an exciting adventure. Isaiah’s prophecy was long and intense and we can contemplate it in four periods, coinciding in general lines with the reigns in which he lived: that of King Jotham (740-734), Ahaz (734-727), minority (727-715) and the coming of age of King Hezekiah (714-698). The three texts announcing the Messiah (Is 7:10-17; 9:1-6; 11:1-9) that we read in the liturgy during Advent and Christmas should be highlighted in the work, and I invite you to reread them.
The Prophet Isaiah and the New Testament
The prophet Isaiah is the prophet most often referred to in the New Testament. Focusing on the Gospel of Matthew, we will say that, of the ten quotations called fulfillment quotations, with which the evangelist intends to show that in Jesus the prophecies have been fulfilled and that he is the Messiah, half of them are from the prophet Isaiah:
All this happened so that what the Lord had said through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Behold, the Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, which means ‘God-with-us'” (Mt 1:22-23; cf. Is 7:14). So that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, on the way to the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light; to those who dwelt in the land and shadows of death, a light has shone” (Mt 4:14-16: cf. Is 8:23-9:1).
So that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled: “He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Mt 8:17: cf. Is 53:4). Thus was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold my servant, my chosen one, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased. I have put my spirit upon him to proclaim justice to the nations. He shall not cry out, he shall not shout, he shall not cry in the streets. The bruised reed he will not break, the flickering wick he will not quench, until he brings the right to victory; in his name the nations will wait” (Mt 12:17-21; cf. Is 42:1-4). This happened so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Say to the daughter of Zion: ‘Look at your king, who comes to you, humble, riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a muleskin'” (Mt 21:4-5; cf. Is 62:11). Isaiah will be widely read and reread in the early Christian communities.