Isaiah's View Of Authorship

There is much debate as to who the author of Isaiah is. The most common views of authorship1 are:2 (1) one author (Isaiah, son of Amoz);3 (2) two authors;4 or (3) three authors.5 Within each of these possible views comes the difficulty of dating the book. If one holds position one the most likely dating of the book is between 740-690 B.C. For position two the dating ranges from 740-640 B.C. for author one (I Isaiah) and around 500 B.C for author two (II Isaiah). Whereas position three separates chs. 1-39, 40-55, and 56-66 as being written around the dates of 740 B.C., 550 B.C., and no earlier than 500 B.C. accordingly.

In this paper I will assume a one author position. I find the evidence for the one author position linguistically, theologically, and historically justified.

Discovering the background of Isaiah is much simpler. No matter one’s view of authorship, the background is still the same.6 Isaiah lived and was a prophet during the reign of four Judean kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.7 There was overlap in some of these kings’ reigns, which we have evidence for in Isaiah, 2 Kings, and 2 Chron. Isaiah’s prophetic ministry lasted roughly 55 years. He prophesied about three

He is a prophet and will speak on behalf of God. He cannot have impure lips because the divine message delivered through him must not be tainted. The act of Isaiah’s “iniquity” being turned away is quite interesting. “Iniquity” is most appropriately understood as a deliberate perversion of God’s way;12therefore, the angel is acknowledging Isaiah’s and the people of God’s deliberate idolatry, but those “iniquities” have been turned away. They are no longer seen. Additionally, these “sins” have been atoned for. The two verbs are, “co-ordinate perfects, stressing that as soon as the one happened the other happened also.”13 Through the altar and the touching of the glowing stone, forgiveness has been purchased and sins have been wiped