Illustration created for this project.

Isaiah

The great prophet of Judah, who received his commission in the year King Uzziah died, seeing the Lord high and lifted up and answering, 'Here am I; send me.' He counselled kings through the Assyrian crisis, urging Ahaz to trust rather than bargain and standing with Hezekiah when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem. His prophecies gave the church some of its most quoted words — the child called Immanuel, the government upon his shoulder, and the suffering servant despised and rejected, wounded for our transgressions. No prophet is cited more often in the New Testament.

Role: Prophet

Lived: c. 8th century BC

Belonged to: Prophets

Born: Jerusalem

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Archaeology — physical evidence · 1

Life, role & deeds

BibleThe great prophet of Judah who foretold Immanuel and the suffering servant.

Isaiah 7:14; 53:5

↳ Jerusalem

Tamir Zegman — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) ArchaeologyA clay seal impression reading 'Yesha'yahu' was found in 2018 in the Ophel of Jerusalem, right beside one of King Hezekiah — possibly the prophet's own seal, though the reading is debated.

Clay bulla reading 'l'ysh'yh[u]' with 'nvy' beneath, Ophel excavations south of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem (dir. Eilat Mazar, 2009 season); published Eilat Mazar, 'Is This the Prophet Isaiah's Signature?', Biblical Archaeology Review 44:2 (2018) — the reading of 'nvy' as 'prophet' remains disputed.

↳ Jerusalem

Where in scripture

2 Kings 2 Chronicles Isaiah Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans

He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
2 Kings 19:2

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
2 Kings 19:5

Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.
2 Chronicles 26:22

Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.
2 Chronicles 32:20

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 32:32

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.
Isaiah 1:1

This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:1

I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8 — 'Here am I; send me'

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

2 Kings 19:2 2 Kings 19:5 2 Chronicles 26:22 2 Chronicles 32:20 2 Chronicles 32:32 Isaiah 1:1 Isaiah 2:1 Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah 7:3 Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 13:1 Isaiah 20:2 Isaiah 20:3 Isaiah 37:2 Isaiah 38:1 Isaiah 39:3 Isaiah 53:5 Matthew 3:3 Matthew 4:14 Matthew 8:17 Matthew 12:17 Matthew 13:14 Matthew 15:7 Mark 1:2 …and 13 more mentions

Family

In their own words — 61 recorded sayings

“And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing. See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death by the sword.” — 2 Kings 19:6-7

“Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer which you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears. This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you. Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel. You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all…” — 2 Kings 19:20-34

“In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order, for your death is near.” — 2 Kings 20:1

“Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.” — 2 Kings 20:7

“And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said; will the shade go forward ten degrees or back?” — 2 Kings 20:9

“Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon.” — 2 Kings 20:14

“And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Give ear to the word of the Lord. Truly, days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone, says the Lord. And your sons, the offspring of your body, they will take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.” — 2 Kings 20:15-18

“Then I said, The curse is on me, and my fate is destruction; for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.” — Isaiah 6:5

…and 53 more recorded sayings.

Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).