There are a number of approaches to biblical study, but one that has fallen out of general practice today is the study of the books of the bible as literature.
Let me explain what I mean by that, by way of example. Let’s pick a modern document – say, the United States Constitution – and ask the following questions:
- Who wrote it?
- Who was the document’s intended audience?
- What literary devices did they use to communicate their important themes?
- What literary influences does the document have?
We can answer those questions fairly easily, because we have a lot of source material for those answers – even if some of them aren’t contained in the Constitution itself (such as what literary influences it has). But, can we answer similar questions about the book of Isaiah, for instance?
Let’s at least make the attempt. First, by asking who wrote the book of Isaiah, and what do we know about Isaiah the prophet?
According to Jewish tradition, Isaiah’s father Amoz (Isa. 1:1) was the brother of King Amaziah (2 Ki. 14:1-20). Whether that’s true or not, Isaiah had easy access to the king of Judah (Isa. 7:3; 37:1-7; etc). He apparently lived in Jerusalem.
We also know that Isaiah had disciples (Isa. 8:16). Therefore, he was engaged in teaching. Decades later, we’re told that Huldah the prophetess lived in Jerusalem, “in the college” (2 Ki. 22:14) during the time of King Josiah. So it seems as if, whether Isaiah himself founded that college, he was very likely one of its teachers.
We’re told that Isaiah had three sons: Shear-Jashub (Isa. 7:3), Immanuel (Isa. 7:14), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isa. 8:3). In addition, we know that Isaiah had a very young wife, who is described in Isaiah 7:14 as a “virgin.” In Hebrew, the word is “almah” which refers to a young girl who is sexually mature, but generally not yet married or newly married (that is, before the marriage is consummated). Isaiah’s wife would’ve been around 15 years old when he married her, according to the traditions of that time.
It’s unclear whether Isaiah was actually married yet, when he gave this prophecy to King Ahaz. It’s possible that he wasn’t yet married, but was courting a young maiden. Either way, it’s highly unusual to be telling a king that you’re going to get your young wife, or even wife-to-be, pregnant!
Interestingly enough, that would mean that Isaiah’s first son Shear-Jashub wasn’t by the same woman. Perhaps his first wife had already died.
Eleven years later, we have a similar prophecy given regarding the conception and birth of a second promised child, and at this time, Isaiah’s wife is described as “the prophetess” (Isa. 8:3). Between the time that Isaiah married his second wife, and the time that Isaiah gave this prophecy, either his wife received a prophetic anointing during that time, or she was schooled in the same prophetic teaching that Isaiah was teaching his disciples.
Next, we have a very clear statement in Isaiah 49:1 that tells us that the writer of this part of Isaiah was “known from his mother’s womb.” That description fits either Immanuel or Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Biblical scholars have noted linguistic and stylistic differences between Isaiah 1-33 and 34-66, and have used these linguistic and stylistic differences to justify a hypothesis which claims that the latter part of the book of Isaiah was written long after Isaiah’s time. Instead, it makes much more sense to presume that one of Isaiah’s children wrote at least some of the latter half of Isaiah, if not all of it.
Enough about Isaiah and his background. What about the book’s intended audience?
Isaiah’s series of visions concern “Judah and Jerusalem” (Isa. 1:1). In other words, he wasn’t targeting northern Israel. In addition, his visions accuse the religious and political leadership of various sins. Therefore, his intended audience wasn’t necessarily the general public, but that same religious and political leadership.
Think Franklin Graham going to Congress and giving a prophetic condemnation. It’s about like that. And probably not very well-received, either.
Nevertheless, because of Isaiah’s high position – because he had the ear of the king, he was certainly well-placed, politically and socially – he couldn’t easily be “canceled,” to borrow a modern term. Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear that his message resonated with very much of the earlier political and religious leadership.
By the time King Hezekiah is on the throne however, circumstances appear to have changed. Not only was Hezekiah communicating with Isaiah on multiple occasions, but Hezekiah sent specific political and religious leaders to see Isaiah (Isa. 37:2). Imho, more of the political and religious leadership was open to Isaiah’s prophetic messages by this point in time, because much of what he had prophesied had come to pass.
Now, we can learn quite a bit by looking at the literary devices used in Isaiah, and the literary influences on Isaiah.
One of the stranger literary devices is called “oracles concerning foreign nations.” In Isaiah 13-23, as well as in many other parts of the bible, we find a series of prophetic oracles directed at various Gentile nations – mainly those surrounding Israel. Why?
The common belief of pagan nations was that their god was stronger than another nation’s god, if they defeated that nation in battle. Then they would take the idol of that other nation’s god, and parade it through their streets as a “captured” god. However…what Isaiah explained about northern Israel is that GOD HAD DECREED that they would be exiled. In other words, it wasn’t because another nation’s god was stronger. God was allowing Israel’s defeat and exile. Why? Because of their sins.
Think about that for a second. If the ONLY reason that God was allowing another nation to defeat and conquer Israel, was because of Israel’s sins…why would God even be concerned with other nations?
Think about it this way. If the Assyrian is God’s hand of judgment against Israel and against Judah, then how can the Assyrian NOT be God’s hand of judgment against the other Gentile nations surrounding Israel and Judah? It has to be, right?
But, God never covenanted with these other lands, and never held them accountable for keeping specific commandments that they broke. Therefore, the ONLY thing that God can hold them accountable for is in their dealings with Israel.
The oracles concerning foreign nations don’t always mention what sin or sins against Israel that God is holding them accountable for, so you’ll need to look elsewhere in the Scriptures to see what exactly those other nations did. For instance, Isaiah 15-16 describe God’s judgment upon Moab, but nowhere in those verses do we see what Moab actually did to deserve that judgment. We have to look at passages like Numbers 22-24 and Deuteronomy 23:1-4 to see what their sin was. God postponed judgment on Moab, but never forgot what they did.
Now, in Isaiah 13-23, you’ll see mention of various nations that had sinned against Israel in different ways that we can easily learn about…but what about Babylon? What did they do?
Babylon is an unusual case, because there was never a time during the nation of Israel’s existence that Babylon ever did anything against them. In fact, the only other mention of Babylon before this point in time is Genesis 11, in the tower of Babel incident. Even here, there’s no obvious sin against God’s people.
So…what gives? What did Babylon ever do, that merited such a condemnation?
I won’t get into this subject extensively in this article, but I will say this. Babylon (or rather its forerunner, Sumer) shows up right in Genesis 1-3, but in a way that’s not commonly recognized. It was the serpent that tricked Eve into “eating” the forbidden fruit.
That means that Isaiah was not only familiar with the true meaning of the biblical Creation story, but he integrated this understanding into the book of Isaiah. If we don’t understand Creation, we can’t fully appreciate the book of Isaiah.
Now, as a highly literate prophet who interfaced with the king, Isaiah had good reason to know quite a bit about the surrounding world – hence his knowledge of the nations mentioned in Isaiah 13-23. He also had a good understanding of pagan religious beliefs and practices – as many of those practices are condemned in the book of Isaiah.
How did Isaiah learn about these things? Was it just hearsay?
Remember, there was no TV news broadcast in Isaiah’s day! There weren’t journalists going here and there, reporting on current events. Travelers and traders brought news of distant events, such as news of Sennacherib being assassinated in his own land (Isa. 37:38). They also brought tales of other nations, such as the fact that Midian was known for its camels. Or Sheba was known for its gold and incense. (Isa. 60:6)
Even taking that into account, it would take access to either highly placed political sources, or foreign literature, or both, for Isaiah to have had as broad an understanding as he had. In any case, that means in order to have a good understanding of Isaiah, we ALSO need to study at least something of the history and practices of those other surrounding nations. Otherwise we’ll miss a great many of the nuances of his message.
I could go on, but this should give you a good, basic overview of how to do proper literary analysis of a biblical book like Isaiah. There are other literary influences, of course (the Exodus is one good example; see Isa. 52:11-12 and cf. Ex. 14:19-20). There are even other pagan literary influences (the description of Leviathan the constellation in Isaiah 27:1 is a good example). Hopefully though, this will serve as a good introduction to the subject.