Isaiah: 1 Prophet, 4 Kings

Isaiah 1:1

“A divine poet walked the streets of Jerusalem.

His words rose up over the heads of the people who lived in the Golden City. It was the heyday of King Uzziah, the most praiseworthy and promising of the kings of Judah since the days of Solomon. The city grew and prospered with bustling complacency, and only Isaiah etched out the words that he felt in his heart.

By day, he gazed up at the spiraling towers of the city; by night, heavenly visions spread themselves out before him, and his eyes constantly darted between the two. As the urban skyline spread out around him, his spiritual turmoil intensified within, until it could no longer be contained. That was when prophecy burst out.”

We start traveling today with Isaiah with these words from a fascinating book that reflects on the prophet’s legacy: Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness, by Yoel Bin Nun and Benny Lau.  These two very different thinkers from the Israeli Religious Zionist world, one of them my older brother, are writing in 21st century Jerusalem and interpret Isaiah’s words and meaning then - and now. There’s much there to wrestle with.

But first, who’s Isaiah and why do his words matter?

Isaiah, son of Amotz, lived in 8th Century BCE Jerusalem, and the prophecies that populate his book span sixty years of pivotal history and dramatic shifts including the kingdom’s eventual fall and exile.

The traditional view is that all 66 chapters of Isaiah were written by him, possibly in two periods between 740 BC and 686 BC, separated by approximately 15 years. Many scholars believe  that chapters 1–39 originated with the historical prophet, interspersed with prose commentaries written in the time of King Josiah 100 years later, and that the remainder of the book dates from immediately before and immediately after the end of the exile in Babylon, almost two centuries after the time of the historical prophet. The later chapters may represent the work of an ongoing school of prophets who wrote in accordance with his prophetic style.

Isaiah is a political critic, a cultural thinker, a public poet who addresses the ills of society, sometimes popular, and often not. He is of the elites - likely of the royal family and close to the court. He’s an insider - but the ultimate outsider too.

Having read through the complex narratives of the Books of Kings, we go back in time, traveling with Isaiah to the streets of Jerusalem, narrating through his eyes and astounding words, what the demise of Judah tells us today about our personal and collective responses to reality - about the ways society falls short of its aspirations.

We’ll focus on the poetry, but it makes all the more sense when connected to the political reality that he relates to, along with the mythic and cultural underpinnings of the context he’s working in. 

The book begins with historical context: 

חֲזוֹן֙ יְשַֽׁעְיָ֣הוּ בֶן־אָמ֔וֹץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָזָ֔ה עַל־יְהוּדָ֖ה וִירֽוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם בִּימֵ֨י עֻזִּיָּ֧הוּ יוֹתָ֛ם אָחָ֥ז יְחִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ מַלְכֵ֥י יְהוּדָֽה׃

The prophecies of Isaiah son of Amotz, who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Yotam, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isaiah 1:1

Uzzia is the leper-king, 10th in the line of Judah, who ruled for 53 years from a leper colony as his son Yotam, co-regent, rules in his stead and then becomes king for 16 years. Assyria becomes the local superpower during their days, and it’s the next king, Yotam’s son Ahaz who bows down to Assyria with the famous line 'I am your slave and son." Ahaz brings Assyrian religious culture to Jerusalem, and hands over the kingdom to his son Hezekiah, who mounts a religious reform and prepares Jerusalem for its last chapter.

Isaiah lives through these dramatic years.

His first chapter is not an introduction but an overture -seen as a later reflection, wrapping up this period with either a future vision or a posthumous reflection on Jerusalem’s destruction.

Isaiah doesn’t blame God. He calls on the people to reflect on how their very human wrongs generated the downfall of their civilization. One of the chapter’s climactic moments is his echoing of the tirade of a tired YHWH, fed up with empty gestures and meaningless worship. Instead of trampling the divine courtyards of the temple with insincere hearts and bloody hands, people should:

לִמְד֥וּ הֵיטֵ֛ב דִּרְשׁ֥וּ מִשְׁפָּ֖ט אַשְּׁר֣וּ חָמ֑וֹץ שִׁפְט֣וּ יָת֔וֹם רִ֖יבוּ אַלְמָנָֽה׃    

Learn to do good.

Devote yourselves to justice;

Aid the wronged.

Uphold the rights of the orphan;

Defend the cause of the widow. 

Isaiah 1:17

So what does Isaiah say to us today? 

Benny Lau writes: 

“In its historical context, the prophetic call penetrates deeply, conveying the depth and complexity of the reality that faced the rulers who were being challenged by the prophet. Once these dilemmas are understood, and the protests and warnings of the prophet are heard, there is no escaping the subsequent questions that arise in our own world in the twenty-first century. Our purpose is to transform the reading of the Bible into a living, relevant foundation for living, relevant dialogue..

..For decades, he hovered around the royal palace in Jerusalem, a political thinker who sought to undermine what he perceived as problematic governmental inclinations...his words are rousing, tumultuous, daring and explicit, exhibiting no fear or restraint towards the government or the wealthy sectors of society. 

The events of that period and the prophet’s struggles during that time connect his prophecies to our generation as we struggle to fashion Jewish society upon the land of our forefathers.”

Benny Lau brings a uniquely Israeli perspective to his reading - as he, living in Jerusalem, hears Isaiah’s words framing the contemporary challenges of Jewish sovereignty.

For many of us, worldwide, Isaiah's words speak to universal and humane themes of justice and equity.  Even in translation - and the Hebrew is astounding - Isaiah still speaks.

For the next few months, leading into the month of Elul, ready for reflection and renewal of spirit, we’ll be listening.

Image: Raphael’s Isaiah, 1512, Rome

Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections.

Become a free or paid subscriber and join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible. Enjoy daily posts, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. 2022-2025.

#Isaiah #ProphetIsaiah #ישעיהו #BookofIsaiah #Prophets #Neviim #Hebrewbible  #Tanach #929  #labshul #belowthebiblebelt929 #postpatriarchy #prophecy #politicalprophecy  #protestpoetry #KingdomofJudah #Jerusalem #hope