Isaiah ישעיהו
The book of the prophet who joined merciless rebuke to the strongest promises of comfort.
Yeshayahu prophesied under four kings of Judah, including Chizkiyahu, and was, by tradition, of royal blood. His book opens by accusing people who bring sacrifices punctiliously: "what are your many offerings to Me… your hands are full of blood". He does not ask to abolish worship but to restore its meaning: "learn to do good, seek justice, defend the orphan".
The book contains the vision of the seraphim and "holy, holy, holy", which entered the Kedusha; the prophecy of swords beaten into ploughshares; the fall of Assyria and the rescue of Jerusalem.
Its second half is sustained consolation: "comfort, comfort My people", "the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light", the figure of the suffering servant. These chapters are read on the seven Sabbaths after the ninth of Av.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Yeshayahu 1–66 — the book itself: the rebukes and the consolations
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Yevamot 49b — the death of the prophet under Menasheh; “a people of unclean lips”
- Megillah 10b — “and it was in the days of Achaz” — the discussion of the book’s opening
- Bava Batra 15a — the book was written down by Chizkiyahu and his company
Basis: tradition.