Yeshayahu (Isaiah), biblical book. Orthodoxy Who is Isaiah in the Bible

Ancient sacred historians left little information about the personal, not public, life of the prophet Isaiah. From the book of the prophet himself it is known that he was the son of Amoz. The identity of his father, Amotz, remains completely unknown. The apocryphal work "The Rise of Isaiah" identified Isaiah's father with the Jewish prophet Amos.

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Clement of Alexandria shared the same opinion. But church teachers familiar with the Hebrew text of the Bible rejected this opinion. Talmudists assigned royal origin to Amotz and Isaiah and considered the former the brother of King Amaziah. The kinship of Isaiah with the royal house, according to some scholars (not entirely fair), explains the closeness of the prophet to the kings Ahaz and Hezekiah. Most modern theologians, due to the lack of accurate historical information, refrain from determining the identity of Amotz.

Just as the title of the father of the prophet Isaiah is unknown, the life of the prophet before his call to prophetic service also remains unknown. There are no Jewish legends about her. Based on the “medical knowledge of Isaiah,” many theologians believe that he was educated in a prophetic school, where medicine was supposedly taught. History does not confirm either the teaching of Isaiah in a prophetic school, much less the medical nature of teaching in prophetic schools. Even the total number of years of the prophet’s life before his calling remains unknown. What is known historically is that Isaiah was called by the Lord to his great ministry in the year of the death of King Uzziah of Judah, which is generally agreed to be 758 BC. The prophetic ministry of Isaiah, according to the testimony of his book, was contemporary with the reign of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (from approximately 758 to 698 BC).

During Isaiah's public ministry, little information has been preserved about his private personal life. Undoubtedly, he led a family life: he had a wife and children (Isaiah 7:3; 8:3) and lived in Jerusalem. Like other prophets, Isaiah had disciples. A prophetic school probably gathered around him (8:16; 50:4). Living outside the royal palace. Isaiah was intimately familiar with the life of the court. He compiled the biography of kings Uzziah and Hezekiah and kept a chronicle of the kings of Judah and Israel. He often came to Ahaz and Hezekiah and, perhaps, was the latter’s teacher. In any case, he was a constant adviser to King Hezekiah.

Due to his constant participation in public and even court life, Isaiah had to wear ordinary secular clothing. Exceptions were made only by divine command. Just what information about the home life of the prophet Isaiah can be obtained from biblical books. This lack of information reveals the biblical historians' view of the significance of home life for Isaiah's ministry. Sacred historians and the prophet Isaiah himself thought that his great ministry did not depend in the least on his private life. Isaiah himself looked at home life as an aid to public service: “Here I am and the children whom the Lord has given me. We are signs and signs to Israel." What was Isaiah's public ministry?

Rafael Santi. Prophet Isaiah

The content of the prophetic speeches preserved in the book of the prophet Isaiah makes us think that Isaiah began his public prophetic ministry soon after his call to this ministry. At least, if not under Uzziah, then under Jotham, Isaiah made accusatory speeches, which are found in chapters 2-3 of his book. But apart from these speeches, there is no positive information left about the activities of the prophet Isaiah under Jotham. The prophet Isaiah describes in more detail his activities during the reign of Ahaz.

During the Syrian-Israelite invasion, in the first year of the reign of Ahaz (739 BC), the prophet Isaiah received a command from the Lord to go with his son to the road “to the field of the Whitener - where the watercourse of the Upper Pond begins,” near Jerusalem , and reinforce the cowardly king. The Prophet Isaiah predicted here to Ahaz that the Syrian-Israeli invasion was not dangerous for Judah and the royal house. The Prophet compared the kingdoms of Syria and Israel to charred, harmless brands. Isaiah consoled Ahaz and the royal house of David with a prophecy about Emmanuel. But at the same time, Isaiah threatened Ahaz and the Jews with their then allies - the Assyrians. To assure the king and the people that the prophecy would be fulfilled, Isaiah gave symbolic names to his children. He named one son “Magher-Shalal-Khash-Baz”, predicting a formidable Assyrian invasion. He named his other son “Shear-Yashuv”, predicting the small remnant of the Jewish people and their turning to God.

Know, O peoples, and tremble,
listen, distant lands!
Prepare for battle, tremble,
prepare for battle, tremble!
Consult, but your plans will collapse,
come to an agreement - nothing will work out,
for God is with us!

They will tell you: “Seek advice from the spirits, from the dead, from those who whisper and mutter. After all, everyone asks his gods - for the sake of the living, he asks the dead for instructions and testimony.” They will certainly tell you so. But there is no power in such words.

Under Ahaz's successor, Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah also took an important part in the public life of the Jewish people. At the beginning of Hezekiah's reign, the prophet Isaiah openly rebelled against his planned alliance with Egypt. According to the prophet, he could bring the Jews not benefit and help, but shame and dishonor - he should bring the wrath of Assyria upon Judea.

- Woe to the disobedient sons!
- says the LORD. -
They fulfill plans that are not of Me,
they make alliances not inspired by My spirit.
So they add sin to sin!
They are going to Egypt
without asking Me for advice:
they want to take refuge under the protection of the pharaoh,
find refuge under the shadow of Egypt.
Such protection will only bring them shame,
such a refuge is only a disgrace!
The nobles have already arrived in Tanis,
The envoys are already in Hanes.
But they will all be put to shame
for this people will not be able to help them,
will not be able to help or support;
Only shame and dishonor await them!

Instead of such alliances, the prophet advised the Jews to strengthen themselves with faith and hope in YHWH, the creator of Israel.

But you did not turn your gaze to the One who predetermined all this, you did not direct your gaze to the One who conceived this in ancient times!

When the Assyrian troops approached Azoth, Isaiah received a command from the Lord to walk naked and barefoot for three years, in commemoration of the fact that the Egyptians and Ethiopians would be led naked and barefoot into Assyrian captivity and would disgrace the Jews who hoped for an alliance with them.

In the year when the general sent by Sargon, king of Assyria, approached Ashdod, besieged the city and took it, in that year the LORD said to Isaiah the son of Amoz: “Take off the sackcloth that is on your hips, and take off the sandals from your feet.” Isaiah did just that - he began to walk naked and barefoot.

And the LORD said:

- The fact that My servant Isaiah walks naked and barefoot for three years is a sign and sign about Egypt and Kush. So the king of Assyria will drive away the captives in Egypt and those captured in Kush, young men and old men, naked and barefoot, with bare loins, to the shame of Egypt! Those who looked with hope at Kush and admired Egypt will be horrified and disgraced..

The prophet's prediction about the Assyrian invasion came true. In the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, laid siege. The pious Hezekiah sent to ask Isaiah about the outcome of the siege, and he himself fell in prayer before God. Isaiah consoled Hezekiah with a prediction about the retreat of the Assyrian troops and their miraculous defeat. Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled: 185,000 people from the Assyrian army fell by the hand of an Angel. Soon after saving Jerusalem from the Assyrians, Hezekiah himself fell ill.

The prophet Isaiah received a command from the Lord to tell Hezekiah that his death was inevitable and that he must dispose of his inheritance. But with humility and tearful prayer, Hezekiah softened the wrath of God, and through the prophet Isaiah received a revelation that his illness would safely pass and he would reign for another 15 years. The fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy was guaranteed by a miracle with the sun: according to his prediction, the sun's shadow returned 10 steps along the steps, probably the sundial of Ahaz. Isaiah applied a layer of figs to the sore spot, and the king was healed.

The miraculous return of the sun's shadow was noticed outside Palestine. The Babylonian king, Merodach-Baladan, having learned about the reason for this wonderful event, sent his ambassadors to congratulate Hezekiah on his successful recovery. In joy of recovery and honor, Hezekiah showed the embassy the wealth of his royal treasury. After the embassy left, Isaiah, in his prophetic speech, revealed to Hezekiah the future political relationship of Judah and Babylon. He predicted that the treasures shown by Hezekiah would be carried away to Babylon, the future sons and grandsons of the king would serve at the Babylonian court, although Hezekiah himself would not live to see this sad time.

And then Isaiah said to Hezekiah:

“Hear the word of the LORD of Hosts: The days will come when everything that is in your palace, everything that your ancestors have collected until now, will be taken to Babylon, and nothing will remain here,” says the LORD. “And some of your own sons that will be born to you will be captured and become eunuchs in the court of the king of Babylon.”

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah:

- The word of the LORD that you gave me is good news. He thought: “This means that peace and security will last during my lifetime.”

The Old Testament canonical and non-canonical books describing the life of the prophet Isaiah end with a mention of this event. They are silent about events in his subsequent ministry under Hezekiah; they are also silent about the death of the prophet. In later Jewish works there is a detailed description of the death of the prophet Isaiah. It was repeatedly mentioned in the Mishnah that Rabbi ben Azai found a scroll in which the question of marriage, controversial among Jews, was resolved. This news in the gemara is supplemented by the remark that the same scroll also contained information about the death of the prophet Isaiah.

According to the legend of this mysterious scroll (a copy of which, of course, has not been found), Manasseh ordered the death of Isaiah for the following blasphemies: the law says that no one can see the Lord and remain alive, and Isaiah says that he saw the Lord of hosts; the law says that no one can approach God to call on Him, but Isaiah ordered to seek and call on God, because He is not far away, etc. When the messengers from the king appeared to arrest Isaiah, he called on the name of God, and was miraculously absorbed by the cedar tree. The king's servants sawed the tree, and when they reached its root, the spirit of Isaiah departed (from the body).

The same, with a variation, is reported by the targum published by Assemani. When Isaiah was running away from the servants of Manasseh, who were pursuing him for his accusatory speeches, the dry tree split and accepted the prophet into its hollow. The king's servants cut the tree and found traces of the prophet's blood on it. In the apocryphal work “The Rise of Isaiah,” the death of the prophet is freed from a legendary, miraculous setting. It tells us that Isaiah, at the command of Manasseh, was sawn apart with a wooden saw. Theologians saw an indication of the martyrdom of Isaiah in the Epistle to the Hebrews in the words: “they were sawn apart.” This is how Justin the philosopher, Jerome, and Ambrose understand these words. Therefore, the Catholic Church celebrates the martyrdom of Isaiah on July 6th. Gesenius suspected the authenticity of the story about the martyrdom of Isaiah under Manasseh on the grounds that Josephus, in the story of the martyrs who suffered under Manasseh, does not mention Isaiah. The Orthodox Church does not honor the martyrdom of Isaiah, and therefore it is not necessary for us to follow the ancient legend.

Based on Isaiah's testimony about the death of Sennacherib, which, by all accounts, happened during the reign of Manasseh, one can think that the prophet Isaiah died under Manasseh (c. 696 BC). Perhaps Isaiah died peacefully, not as a martyr, and therefore was not mentioned by Josephus.

Troparion of the prophet Isaiah, voice 2:

The memory of Thy Prophet Isaiah, O Lord, is celebrated, / thus we pray to Thee: / save our souls.

Kontakion of the Prophet Isaiah, voice 2:

The gift of prophecy is received, O prophet-martyr, Isaiah the Preacher of God, / you explained to everyone the incarnation of the Lord, / exclaiming in a loud voice at the end: / behold, the Virgin will receive with child.

Literature:

1. P. A. Yungerov. The life of the prophet Isaiah and the contemporary political state of the pagan and Jewish kingdoms

Prophet Isaiah and his book.

Kontakion, Chapter 2: The gift of prophecy is received, prophet-martyr, Isaiah, preacher of God, you explained to everyone the incarnation of the Lord, exclaiming in a loud voice at the end: behold, the Virgin will receive with child.

“Isaiah” translated means the salvation of the Lord. That. the name of this great prophet is a symbol of the salvation awaiting God’s chosen ones.

According to legend, the prophet Isaiah came from a royal family: his father, Amos (Is. 1:1), may have been the brother of the Jewish king Amaziah. Isaiah was born around 760 in Jerusalem, where he lived and preached. The Prophet, according to his own testimony, had a wife and children. His wife was a prophetess (8:3). The names of the children symbolically foreshadowed the judgment of God that was coming to the kingdoms of Judah and Israel: Shearasuv - “the remnant will return” (7:3) and Mager-shelal-hash-baz - “quick robbery” or “quick prey” (8:3).

Isaiah began his prophetic activity when he was about 20 years old, in the year of the death of King Uzziah, i.e. sometime in 759 BC. (according to another dating – 740). The last time he appears as an active figure is around 701.
The Prophet gathered young people around him and created a school that existed for more than 200 years. This school gradually grew into a new religious movement in Jerusalem called "The Poor of the Lord." The participants in the movement were indeed poor people, but in this case the word “poor” was used in its biblical meaning - morally pure and loving God.

Tradition says that the prophet Isaiah died as a martyr under King Manasseh, fleeing from whose persecution, the prophet hid in a cedar trunk and was sawed down along with the tree with a wooden saw, which is indirectly indicated, for example, by the prophet Jeremiah (2:30) and the apostle Paul (Heb. .11:37).
Call to ministry.

One day, still very young, Isaiah was present in the temple at a divine service; before his eyes was the courtyard of the priests and the sanctuary. Suddenly he saw that the temple was moving apart and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies was disappearing before his spiritual eyes. Next, the Prophet saw the Lord, “sitting on a high and exalted throne,” standing as if between heaven and earth; the edges of God's royal vestments filled the temple. Around the Lord “stood seraphim, each of whom had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their legs, with two they flew. And they cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts...”.

Saint Isaiah was horrified and exclaimed in fear:
-Woe is me! I'm dead! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Then one of the seraphim flew to him with a burning coal, taken with tongs from the altar, and touched the prophet’s lips with the words:

Behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is taken away from you, and your sin is cleansed.
Immediately Isaiah heard the mysterious voice of Jehovah:

Whom should I send? And who will go for Us?

Filled with sacred confidence, Saint Isaiah expressed his desire to accept the responsibility and heavy duty of being a preacher of the will of God for the Jewish people:

Here I am, send me.

The Lord did not reject the offer of Saint Isaiah:
Go and tell this people: You will hear with your ears and will not understand, and with your eyes you will see and will not see. For the heart of this people has become hardened...

Isaiah asked how long the people would remain in such coarseness:

Until the cities are desolate and without inhabitants...until this land is completely desolate (Isa. 6:1-11).

The vision ended and the Spirit of God rested on the holy prophet.
The fact that Isaiah was called by the Lord of Hosts Himself in such a clear and terrible vision, and even in very early youth, testifies to his pious life. In addition, he reveals a deep knowledge of the sacred books of his people, which means he has absorbed this knowledge since childhood. Therefore, the Lord chose this man for a special mission and generously gifted him with the gift of speech and miracles, because he was worthy of it.

Isaiah himself, by virtue of his daring faith and vision of the Lord of Hosts, always remembered that it was God who called him to serve. Therefore, he always showed devoted obedience and unconditional trust in God, was always free from human fear, placing all his trust in the Creator. He was not afraid to loudly denounce the wicked policies of Ahaz (ch. 7), priests, prophets and people (ch. 2, 3, 5, 28), to condemn Hezekiah’s policies (ch. 30-32) and even predict the death of the king (ch. 38 ). Because the truth of God was for him above all fear.

Book of the holy prophet Isaiah.

His prophecy begins with words against Judah (Isa. 1:1). For, according to the words of Peter, “the time is coming for judgment to begin from the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17), because those closest to us grieve the most when they sin against us.

And in Ezekiel, the Lord, commanding to punish those who have sinned, says: “Begin from my sanctified ones” (Ezek. 9:6). Therefore, Isaiah began from the country chosen by God, and from the city in which there was a sanctuary, announcing to them the disasters awaiting them.

Secondly, he talks about Babylon, then - about the land of Moab, then - about Damascus, fifthly - about Egypt, then - about the desert, then - about Idumea, then - about the wilds of Zion, then - about Tire and then - about quadrupeds. This is followed by incidents that happened in the 40th year of Hezekiah’s reign. After this there are prophecies that do not have any inscription and announce disasters to Jerusalem and Judea, the fate of those who are scattered, their return after the execution of judgment, predictions about Christ, scattered throughout every prophecy, because with every true legend there is something mysterious associated" (St. Basil the Great. Interpretation of the book of the prophet Isaiah).

First part (Ch. 1-39) is predominantly accusatory. Whom and for what does the prophet denounce?

The mighty of this world and all the people for their vices (especially during the time of the wicked king Ahaz):

Ingratitude to God, idolatry (2:20, 17:8,30:22,31:7)

Unbelief in Divine Revelation (29:9)

External fulfillment of the Law and simultaneous immoral behavior (1:10-17)

Dishonesty towards neighbors, lack of love, charity, mercy, especially on the part of rulers (1:16,5:22-23,10:1)

Condemnation of the policy of intercourse with pagan powers (8:6,30:1,31:1).

The conviction is followed by a prediction of God's judgment through the pagans: the devastation of the earth, the expulsion of the Jews (6:11, 5:13,17:9), the capture of Jerusalem (2:12, 3:8,16; 22:5,30:13,32 :13,19), the imminent fall of Samaria (chap. 28), the Babylonian captivity (39:5-8).

But even in this part, full of accusations and menacing omens, the prophet found a place for consoling notes: he reminds the people that “God is with us” (8:10) and promises that “the burden will be removed from your shoulders” (10:27), and “the Lord will establish Zion” (14:32), and “Assur will fall” (31:8), etc. But for all this to happen, the people must turn to their God: “The Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill... he will cover Jerusalem, protect and deliver, spare and save. Turn to Him from whom you have fallen away, O children of Israel!” (31:4-5).

Departments of the first part:

1) chapters 1-6 – introduction; 7-12 – Israel’s attitude towards Assur under Ahaz and the outcome of friendship with Assyria;

2) prophecies for foreign nations: Babylon (chap. 13-14:23), Assur, Philistines, Moab, Syria, Ethiopia, Egypt (14:28-30), again about Babylon, as well as about Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem ( Ch.21-22), Dash (Ch.23). The prophet also speaks about the final judgment of the world (24-27), the resurrection of the dead and salvation;

3) the relationship of Israel with Assur under Hezekiah (28-33): in this section, the speeches are arranged chronologically and are united by the main theme - the salvation of Israel depends only on the Lord;

4) chapters 34-35: about God’s judgment over earth and heaven,
about the salvation of Israel, the return from captivity;

5) chapters 36-39 – events described in 2 Kings 18:13-20; 19.

Second part (chapters 40-66) contains the prophet's consoling speeches to the people in view of the coming Babylonian captivity. It consists of three sections of 9 chapters, united by a single theme: they tell about the era of redemption of Israel and humanity, beginning with the liberation of Israel from Babylonian captivity and extending to the Last Judgment.

Departments of the second part:

1) chapters 40-48: liberation from Babylonian captivity, the culprit of which is Cyrus; as well as moral liberation from sin through the Messiah.

2) chapters 49-57: Messiah, His suffering.

3) chapters 58-66: glorification of the Messiah.

Features of the prophetic contemplation of Isaiah.
- the present and the future for him represent a single, continuously developing whole, without any temporal distinctions, the prophet quickly turns his gaze from the present to the future

Clarity of Messianic prophecies (Nativity of Christ from the Virgin in Chapter 7, suffering and death of the Savior - Chapter 53

Exact time definitions (16:14, 37:30,38:5)

Rich language, images, persuasiveness.

All these and other merits of Isaiah’s prophetic speeches gave reason for interpreters of all times to praise him as a “great prophet” (Sir.48:25, Eusebius of Caesarea), “the most divine” (Blessed Theodoret), “the most insightful and wisest of the prophets” (Isidore Pelusiot ), “Old Testament evangelist and apostle” (Blessed Augustine, St. Cyril of Alexandria).

In defense authenticity the book of the prophet Isaiah is the main argument: his book is recognized as a work by the Holy Scriptures (Sir.48:25-28, Luke 4:17-22, Matthew 15:7-9, Luke 22:37, Acts 8:28,28 :25, Rom.9:27).

In addition, the following facts can be contrasted with the point of view about the inauthenticity of the book, about the non-belonging of some of its parts to the prophet Isaiah:

Same tone of speech throughout the book: Isaiah speaks boldly - Rom.10:20

Presence of repeated images (vineyard, desert)

The single idea of the entire book is that Zion will be saved by the power of God, not by man.

Gradual revelation of the troubles awaiting the Jews and future redemption

Sirach also knew the book of Isaiah as an integral work, which is part of the Old Testament canon (i.e. 200 years before the birth of Christ - Sir.48:22-25).

Translations.

Jewish Masoretic

Translation of the Seventy

Peshito – similar to the translation of the Seventy

The Vulgate is similar to the Masoretic text.

Interpretations.

The book of the holy prophet Isaiah was interpreted by St. Ephraim the Syrian (according to the text of Peshito), St. Basil the Great (Chapters 1-16), St. John Chrysostom (Greek text - only chapters 1-8, Latin and Armenian translations - all chapters), bl. Jerome (based on Hebrew and Greek texts), St. Cyril of Alexandria (according to the translation of the Seventy, Blessed Theodoret.

Russian works devoted to this book:

Ep. Peter. Explanation of the book of the holy prophet Isaiah in Russian translation, extracted from various interpreters
-Yakimov. Interpretation of the book of the prophet Isaiah

Vlastov. Prophet Isaiah.

Yungerov's articles in the journal Pravosla
a good interlocutor."

The era of the prophet Isaiah.

The life of the greatest of the prophets was closely connected with historical events. In those days Assyria devastated the kingdom of Israel, reached the highest degree of prosperity under Hezekiah and finally destroyed the kingdom of Israel, then subjugated Judah, and took Manasseh into captivity. But in 630, Media and Babylon captured Assyria and turned it into a Median province.

Egypt was an ally of the Jews, but under Isaiah he was already weakened by age and internal strife, and also weakened by the wars with Assyria.

Syrian kingdom constantly fought with Assyria. In 732, Syria was turned into an Assyrian province.

Babylon under the prophet Isaiah he became a vassal of Assyria.

Israel and Judea were in constant hostility.

Violence and cruelty reigned in Israel, political anarchy (2 Kings 15:8-28), which led it to internal disintegration (which was prophesied by Hosea, a contemporary of Isaiah). Before the fall of Samaria in 722, the kingdom of Israel was also the subject of Isaiah's prophetic speeches (28:1-4)

Isaiah began his prophetic activity in the year of the death of the Jewish King Uzziah around 759 or, according to another chronology, 740 BC. The last time he appears as an active figure is around 701. Uzziah was a pious king, under him life was good in Judea, she won victories over the Philistines, Arabs and other peoples.

He will inherit King Jotham (2 Kings 15:32-38, “Par. 26:23), his son, who ruled for 16 years (4 years independently - 740-736 [Lopukhin]).

Like his father, Jotham was very pious, the country prospered economically and was independent. But already during his reign the people began to turn away from the Law of God, therefore Isaiah already speaks here about punishment (chapter 6). At that time, the people became proud of the successes of their country’s foreign policy, attributing them to their own account, forgetting to thank the Lord, and morals fell.

The following chapters of the book of the prophet Isaiah belong to this period: 2-5. Isaiah speaks here about the problems of social injustice (3:16), about forgetting God. The motive for punishment sounds. But not because Isaiah wants Jerusalem to be destroyed, but in order to call for repentance.

After the death of Jotham, he became king of Judah Ahaz , Israeli by birth, pagan by heart. During his reign, Judah achieved state power, the Ammonites and Philistines paid tribute to it. Enormous wealth had accumulated in the country, which the wicked Ahaz put to unworthy use.

The king decided to turn Jerusalem into something like the capitals of the pagan states of Phenicia and Assyria:

He introduced the worship of the sun, moon, and heavenly bodies (2 Kings 23:5),

In the house of God they placed an idol of Astarte (goddess of debauchery),

“Houses of harlots” appeared in the city (2 Kings 23:6-7),

At the entrance to the temple, in the rooms where sacred vessels were previously kept, white horses were now kept, dedicated to the solar god,

In place of the altar of burnt offerings they put a new one, made according to the Assyrian model (2 Kings 16:14-15),

“High places”—places for making sacrifices—spread throughout Jerusalem and other cities,

In the valley of Ginnom (under the walls of Jerusalem) they placed Moloch, an idol in whose arms children were burned. Ahaz himself sacrificed one of his sons to Molech (2 Kings 16:3, 2 Chronicles 28:3).

For all these atrocities, the Lord allowed Judah to be devastated by the king of Israel, Pekah, and the king of Syria, Rezin (2 Chron. 18:19).

And then, in such a difficult moment of testing, the prophet Isaiah tries to encourage Ahaz, assuring that God will not abandon him, calls for a “policy of faith”: “watch and be calm... let not your heart become sad... Ask yourself a sign from the Lord... and Ahaz said: I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord” (7:4.11-12). Ahaz did not believe God and preferred to rely on the powers that be: he entered into an alliance with Tiglath-pileser 2, to whom he gave all the Jewish treasures, even the temple ones. Then, to please his newly-made allies, Ahaz takes a drawing of the Assyrian altar, which was erected in place of the altar of burnt offerings. As a reward for such humility of Ahaz, Assyria ravaged Syria and part of Palestine, but so far only imposed tribute on Judea. Ahaz, having robbed the temple, closed its doors, and the service stopped.

IN Hezekiah , its next king, Judah found a caring, God-fearing ruler. He restored the veneration of Jehovah, in which he was helped by the students of the school of the prophet Isaiah: idols were removed from the temple and worship was restored (2 Chron. 29: 3-36), the “high places” were destroyed, even Hezekiah destroyed the copper serpent, which Moses had made (Num. .21:9) and who then stood in the middle of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:4).

In those same days, a change of rulers occurred in Assyria: Sargon died and was succeeded by Sennacherib. Taking advantage of the time of change, the peoples subordinate to Assyria, including King Hezekiah, raised a series of uprisings. The Assyrian king brutally suppressed the rebels: 46 Jewish cities were taken and plundered, and the enemy besieged the capital Jerusalem. Famine began in the city. In the end, Hezekiah decided to surrender and the siege was lifted. But soon the city gates were closed again. Hezekiah, together with the prophet Isaiah, offered a prayer to God (2 Kings 19:15-19 and 2 Chronicles 32:20).

And the Lord answered (2 Kings 19:21-22, 28-31). And “the angel of the Lord went and smote 185 thousand in the Assyrian camp (2 Kings 19:35), and the king of Assyria returned in shame to his land” (2 Chron. 32:21). For some time there was peace in Judea (2 Chron. 19:22-23).

Another misfortune befell Hezekiah, he fell ill, and Isaiah told him to prepare for death. But in Old Testament times, the afterlife seemed like darkness, and besides, Hezekiah did not yet have an heir. The king prayed (2 Kings 20:3) and the Lord had mercy. Through his prophet he conveyed to Hezekiah that “I have heard your prayer... I will heal... I will add 15 years to your days... I will save this city from the hand of the Assyrian king (2 Kings 20:5-6). Hezekiah was grateful to the Lord and filled with pious intentions: “...I will spend all the years of my life quietly...” (Is. 38:11-15,17).

But the Lord sent him another test, “in order to reveal everything that was in his heart”: the Babylonian king (whose country, one of the few at that time, was independent of Assyria) heard about Hezekiah’s miraculous healing. Under the guise of congratulating him on his recovery, he sent an embassy to Judea, the real purpose of which was to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with Hezekiah. Hezekiah was flattered by the visit of such a vast state and, out of vanity, showed the guests all his treasures. He quickly forgot about the omnipotence of God and put his trust in people and himself. After the departure of the ambassadors, the prophet Isaiah predicted the loss of all treasures and the Babylonian captivity. Hezekiah repented (2 Kings 20:13-19, 2 Chronicles 32:31, Isa.39). The Lord forgave him and granted him to live the rest of his days in peace (2 Kings 20:21).
During the time of King Hezekiah, the following chapters of the book of the prophet Isaiah occur: 22, 28-33, 36-39, 40-66, as well as prophecies about foreign nations: chapters 15,16,18-20, 21:11-17, 23).

Messianic prophecies of Isaiah.

Prefaced by the coming of the Forerunner (Is. 40:33), the Messiah, descending in humanity from the line of Jesse (11:1), will be born of a husbandless Virgin (17:4) and will be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit (11:2) and bear names indicating on His Divine dignity (9:6).

The humble and meek Servant of God... called by Him to proclaim the truth to the nations, the Messiah “will not break a bruised reed or quench the smoking flax,” will establish His kingdom on earth (9:1-4). “Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid... The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord...” (11:6-9).

But the coming of the kingdom must be preceded by the humiliation, suffering and death of the Messiah for the sins of the people: “Lord,” exclaims the prophet, as if standing at the Cross of the Crucified Savior, “who believed what he heard from us... For He rose up before Him like an offspring and like a sprout from dry ground ; There is no form or greatness in Him; and we saw Him... He was despised and we thought nothing of Him.” Whereas “He took upon Himself our infirmities, bore our illnesses, and we thought that He was struck, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities... by His stripes we were healed... He suffered voluntarily... for the crime of the people He suffered execution. He was assigned a coffin with the villains, but He was buried with a rich man..."

Next to this image of the suffering Messiah, majestic in His immeasurable humility, the prophet depicted the Messiah, the Founder of the Church, glorified for His suffering: “It pleased the Lord to strike Him and He gave Him over to torment; when His soul brings a sacrifice of propitiation, He will see a long-lasting descendant... through the knowledge of it He, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will have the spoil with the mighty, because He gave His soul to death and was counted among the evildoers, while He bore the sin of many and became an intercessor for the criminals” (Isaiah 53:1- 12).

The name Isaiah in Hebrew means “salvation of Yahweh.”Jesus, the son of Sirach, in his praise of “glorious men” brings such praise to the prophet Isaiah (Sirach 48:25 - 26).The prophet Isaiah was the son of Amoz. Blessed Augustine (“On the City of God,” book XVIII, chapter 27) and Clement of Alexandria (“Stromata,” book 1) believed that the father of Isaiah was the prophet Amos from among the twelve. But both the origin of the prophet Amos and the depiction of his name in the original text do not allow him to be considered the father of Isaiah: “But this is not the same Amos who is among the 12 lesser prophets, for the pronunciation of their names is not the same (in the Hebrew reading of them) and the meaning they are not the same thing. It should be noted that among the prophets, some indicate their fathers, while others do not. Perhaps the prophets, who were descended from humble parents, kept silent about their fathers” (St. Basil the Great).

Isaiah stands out among the first generation of prophet-writers. Isaiah belonged to an aristocratic family close to the court. He was born around 765 in Jerusalem and spent his entire life in this city. As a young man, he hears on the porch of the Jerusalem Temple the fiery sermons of Amos, the brilliant, divinely inspired examples of oratory filled with courage. He is captivated by the lyrical power of his speech, the sophistication of the outline of his thoughts and the melody of the words that easily form in his mouth into a whimsical pattern. Isaiah will take a lot from Amos: he will take his intransigence, add to it the elusive fragility of Hosea and give his style unprecedented sophistication. The Lord called him to ministry in his youth; a time when the Assyrian Empire began to expand its borders westward, threatening Israel, which Isaiah announced as God's warning. The earliest event in his life - the call to prophecy - is described in the 6th chapter of the book of Isaiah. It happened around 740. The vision that made him a prophet (in the Temple in Jerusalem) is described in the first person narrative. According to this description, Isaiah saw God and from meeting him was filled with divine glory and holiness. He began to painfully realize that God needed a messenger to the people of Israel, and although considering himself unworthy of such an honor, he offered himself to serve God: “Here am I, send me,” and was sent to proclaim the Divine word. That was not easy; he had to condemn his own people and watch the country collapse. Isaiah understood that as he carried the word of God to the people, he would encounter distrust along the way, and that he must be strong in spirit in order to withstand such attitudes. God's vision became a sudden, firm and lifelong decision.

“Isaiah represents a type of fiery religious genius and at the same time a sober, realistic political figure, who with his word, his influence was decisive in the fate of Judea” (Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov). The southern kingdom at that time was smaller and weaker than Ephraim. It faced a choice: either accept the inevitable domination of the great power of Assyria, or enter into an alliance against it. The coalition was led by the kings of Syria and Ephraim. The young king of Jerusalem, Ahaz, initially chose a reasonable path and tried to stay away from military-political conspiracies. But the heads of the coalition decided to punish him for his adopted position of neutrality; their troops moved to Jerusalem (2 Kings 16; 2 Chron. 28). At this time, the prophet Isaiah first appeared before the king and promised him a sign from God. Ahaz must rely not on the force of arms, but on the help of God. The Lord grants salvation to the faithful. However, Ahaz showed cowardice and took a fatal step: he called on the Assyrians for help. Tiglath-pileser III used this pretext and invaded Syria. He defeated the Syrian troops and occupied Galilee. As a result, Judea itself became completely dependent on Assyria. For political reasons, Ahaz began to introduce pagan customs and make sacrifices to the gods.

During these years, the main theme of Isaiah's preaching is the unfaithfulness of the people and their leaders to God. Even before the war with the Ephraim-Syria coalition, he spoke about the impending catastrophe that would befall the country in the event of betrayal of God. He wrote down his prophecies and gave the scrolls to his disciples for safekeeping. Isaiah had followers early. It was they who saved the teacher’s writings for the future. In 722, after a long siege, Samaria fell. According to Ahab's census, Samaria, not counting foreigners, had 7 thousand inhabitants. And a hundred and fifty years later, in 720, Sargon of Assyria (according to his inscription) deported 27,290 people from Samaria. However, it is not clear whether this figure refers to the captive residents of Samaria alone or its entire surrounding area. But one thing is known, the end of the Northern, Israeli, kingdom as an independent state came quite quickly. The Southern Kingdom lasted noticeably longer than the Northern Kingdom. It also did not escape the Assyrian invasions of 732, 720 and 701, but these invasions were not as fatal for it as for Israel. The state retained its independence, and VII The century was for him a time of relative stability and active construction. But the beginning of the independent existence of the kingdom was by no means calm: after the invasion of the pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty, Shoshenq I , who plundered Jerusalem and broke through far to the north, virtually constant confrontation with Israel and a chain of local wars followed. So, the only center of revealed faith was now little Judea. The prophet Isaiah placed his hope in that “holy remnant” who would be converted and saved on the Day of the Lord. Then, at the end of the reign of Ahaz, he uttered his second messianic prophecy (9:2 - 7) about the birth of the Child from the line of David. In 715, Ahaz's son Hezekiah ascended the throne. The pious king brought Isaiah close to him and often used his advice. The Prophet inspired him to reform the cult, which cleansed temple worship from the remnants of paganism (2 Kings 18:1 - 8).

After the death of the Assyrian king Sargon (705), the kings subordinate to him began to again prepare for war against the empire. Egypt, the second great power and rival of Assyria, was also interested in this. Hezekiah, despite the protests of the prophet Isaiah, entered into this dangerous game. At his court, Prince Shevna gained great influence, who pushed the king to war, assuring him that a united coalition with the help of Egypt would defeat Assyria, especially since the king of Babylon, Marduk-apluiddin, began military operations against it. In the end, Hezekiah agreed to lead the fight, gathering the kingdoms and principalities of Syria-Palestine under his banner. Meanwhile, the new king of Assyria, Sennacherib, was preparing for a retaliatory strike. He carried out a punitive expedition to Babylon and moved west. In 701 he occupied Judea and besieged Jerusalem. The 2nd book of Kings tells about this campaign briefly (18:13 – 16). The further narrative (18:17 – 19:37) refers to Sennacherib’s second campaign against Jerusalem (about 688). Hezekiah paid off with a huge indemnity. Part of its territory was taken away. The country plunged into mourning. Etc. Isaiah took this moment to call the people to repentance. His main accusatory speeches date back to this period (Chapter 1). Through the prayer of the prophet, the king was healed of a fatal illness. Now he obeyed his mentor in everything.

Ten years later, Sennacherib decided to finally eradicate the centers of possible uprisings. He invaded Babylon (689), and Assyrian soldiers razed the ancient capital of the East to the ground. Then came the hour of Judah. Having occupied Lachish, Sennacherib sent troops from there to besiege Jerusalem (Isa. 36:2 - 37:37). This time Hezekiah was innocent in the eyes of the prophet Isaiah. The prophet sent disciples to the king to encourage him: the enemy will not enter the holy city. In vain did the Assyrian commander “Rabshak” negotiate for surrender, in vain did Sennacherib boast that he had defeated all the gods and would defeat Yahweh, Hezekiah held on with the courage of despair. Pharaoh tried to help Jerusalem, but his army was defeated. All that remained was to trust in God. The prophet's prediction came true. The Assyrians suddenly lifted the siege and left Judea. In Isa. 37:36 we read: “And the angel of the Lord went out and smote one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. And they got up in the morning, and behold, all the bodies were dead.” Josephus points out that a “deadly plague” broke out in the Assyrian camp, and the Greek historian Herodotus (II, 141) believes that Sennacherib’s army was attacked by a horde of mice (a symbol of the plague). This last period of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah dates back to his third messianic prophecy about the “Branch from the root of Jesse” (11:1 – 10). The exact date of the prophet's death is unknown. According to later legends, he outlived King Hezekiah and died as a martyr in the days of Manasseh, the persecutor of the prophets. The memory of St. Isaiah is celebrated by the Church on May 9.

The legend of the martyrdom of the prophet Isaiah was already known to Christian writers of the first centuries (Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Epiphanius, Blessed Jerome). The text of the apocrypha was first published in Oxford by Lawrence (1819) in Ethiopic. Greek and Latin translations also survive. According to most biblical scholars, the apocrypha arose in the Jewish environment of the 1st – 2nd centuries AD. and was subsequently subjected to Christian indoctrination. It has no historical value, but it gives an idea of the legends that developed in ancient times around the personality of the great prophet. The apocrypha tells how, in the days of Manasseh, the king's servants captured Isaiah and tortured him, forcing him to recant the prophecies he had uttered. Because Isaiah remained hard, he was tortured and sawed in half with a wooden saw. Dying in agony, the prophet “did not scream or cry,” we read in the apocrypha, “for his mouth spoke with the Holy Spirit.”

See: Blessed Augustine of Hippo. About the City of God. – Minsk: Harvest, M.: AST, 2000.

See: Clement of Alexandria. Stromata. / Fathers and teachers of the Church of the 3rd century. Anthology. Comp. hierome Hilarion (Alfeev). Volume 1. – M., 1996.

Quote By: Olesnitsky A. A. St. Petersburg, 1894, 11+224 pp. / - 1 electron, disk (CD-ROM). P. 91.

Shuraki A. Everyday life of the people of the Bible / A. Shuraki; lane A. E. Vinnik. – M.: Young Guard, Palimpsest, 2004. P. 202 – 203.

World Encyclopedia: Mythology / Ch. ed. M. V. Adamchik; scientific ed. V. V. Adamchik. – Minsk: Modern writer, 2004. P. 363.

II. / A. Men. – M., 2000. / A. Men. – / A. Men // Symbol. –2000. – No. 43 (September).

Merpert N. Ya Essays on the archeology of biblical countries. / N. Ya. Merpert. – M.: Biblical and Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew, 2000. P. 285.

Merpert N. Ya Essays on the archeology of biblical countries. / N. Ya. Merpert. – M.: Biblical and Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew, 2000. P. 290.

See: Review of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. / Comp. A. Kherzogersky. M.: Sretensky Monastery, 1998. S. 14 – 58; Men A. Experience of a course in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Old Testament. T. II. / A. Men. – M., 2000. § 4. Isaiah is the prophet of holiness and messiahship; Men A. About the biblical prophets. / A. Men. – Riga: Christianos III, 1994. pp. 89 – 118; Men A. Isaiah. / A. Men // Symbol. –2000. – No. 43 (September).

Olesnitsky A. A.Guiding information about the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments from the works of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church. St. Petersburg, 1894, 11+224 pp. / Electron, text, graph, sound. Dan. and application program (546 MB).M.: Publishing house. KB MDA and the Seraphim Foundation, 2005.- 1 electron, disk (CD-ROM). P. 92.

Men A. Experience of a course in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Old Testament. T. II. / A. Men. – M., 2000. § 4. Isaiah is the prophet of holiness and messiahship.; Men A. Bibliological dictionary. T. I. / A. Men. – M.: Alexander Men Foundation, 2002. P. 79.

Isaiah (Isaiah, Hebrew - Yeshayahu- “Salvation sent by (God) Yahweh,” Yeshayahu the son of Amotz) - one of the great biblical prophets, coming from a noble Jewish priestly family, was born in Jerusalem around 765 BC. e. He prophesied in Hebrew. Isaiah is notable primarily for its prophecies about the Messiah.

Biography

His prophetic ministry began at the age of 20 with a vision of God on a high and exalted throne; the edges of his robe filled the entire temple, angels flew around Him and cried to each other: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory."

The prophet Isaiah began prophesying in 747 BC. e., during the time of King Uzziah. The beginning of Isaiah's prophecies occurred during the reign of kings Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

Isaiah's life ended as a martyr during the reign of King Manasseh of Judah, known for his violations of the Torah and persecution of the prophets.

Biblical tradition says that the Jews departed from God when idolatry spread throughout the kingdom of Judah. The ancient Hebrews had to contend with constant raids and attacks from the neighboring Kingdom of Israel and Syria. In order to secure the kingdom of Judah from the invasion of the Syrians, the kings of Judah entered into an alliance with the Assyrian king, imposing a heavy tribute burden on the Jews.

Miracles

According to legend, during the reign of Hezekiah, Judah was attacked by the Assyrian king Sennacherib. But through the prayer of Hezekiah, the enemy army was destroyed.
However, Hezekiah himself became seriously ill and was healed by God through the prayer of the prophet Isaiah.
He returned the shadow ten steps back, giving a sign to King Hezekiah that he would recover (2 Kings 20:8-11).

Prophecies

Isaiah’s famous phrase about the Kingdom of Heaven: “They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4).
Isaiah denounces hypocrisy when a person honors God with his tongue but not with his heart (Isaiah 29:13).
Isaiah speaks of the impossibility of replacing God with a man-made image of a deity (Isaiah 40:12-31):

Denies the possibility of comprehending the mind of God: “His mind is unsearchable” (Is. 40:28).
Isaiah defends the idea that every nation is worthy of the authority that is over it, calling the Persian king Cyrus the Lord's anointed (Isaiah 45:1).
Isaiah advocates the idea of predestination. “The ancient decrees are true” (Is. 25:1), but emphasizes that the fate of each person depends on himself and is determined by his actions: “If you want and obey, you will eat the blessings of the earth; But if you deny and persist, the sword will devour you: for the mouth of the Lord speaks” (Isaiah 1:19).
Damascus will be destroyed (Isa. 17:1).
The book of the prophet Isaiah contains one of the first descriptions of the Heavenly Jerusalem - a symbol of the coming Kingdom of God - shown to Isaiah in a vision.

Messianic prophecies

In the eyes of Christians, Isaiah's multiple prophecies about the coming Messiah are of particular value. The following prophecies are considered as prophecies about the Messiah:

about the birth of the Messiah: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14), “for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
about ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, for the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach release to the captives and the opening of prison to the prisoners” (Isa. 61:1).

Prophecy about Egypt

"Prophecy about Egypt. - Behold, the Lord will sit on a light cloud and come to Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will shake at His presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt within him. I will arm the Egyptians against the Egyptians; and brother will fight against brother and against each other, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will fail in it, and I will destroy its counsel, and they will resort to idols and to sorcerers, and to those who call forth the dead, and to fortune-tellers. “And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of a cruel ruler,” and a cruel king will rule over them. Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 19:1-4).

Prophecy about Israel (Jewish people)

Isaiah condemned the Jews for their lawlessness and prophesied to them that most of them would be rejected by God, and their place would be taken by the believing pagan peoples of Egypt and Assyria (now Iraq). “The Egyptians will serve the Lord together with the Assyrians” (Isa. 19:23).

Part of the prophecy is seen as prophecy about the restoration of the state of Israel:

“Fear not, for I am with you; From the east I will bring your descendants and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the North: “Give it back”; and to the south: “do not hold back”; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, formed and formed” (Isaiah 43:5-7).
“Who has heard such a thing? who has seen anything like this? did the country arise in one day? Was a people born at one time, like Zion, as soon as she began to suffer from childbirth, she gave birth to her sons? (Isa. 66:8)

In Islam

Although Isaiah is not mentioned by name in the Koran, Muslim sources call him a prophet.

[Heb. , ], Old Testament prophet (comm. May 9), according to tradition, the author of the book named after him (see Isaiah the prophet book). Genus. in Jerusalem approx. 765 BC

Biblical and apocryphal legends about I.

Service time

I.'s vision in the temple, when the Lord called him to serve, according to the prophet himself, occurred in the year of the death of King Uzziah (Isa. 6. 1). I. preached, as follows from the testimony of the Book of Prophets. Isaiah (Isaiah 6.1; 7.1-9; 14.28; 20.1; 36-39), during the reign of the Judah kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1.1). When translating the 1st year of Uzziah's death (the year of the prophet's calling) indicated in Isaiah 6. into modern chronology, the time of the prophet's ministry (due to discrepancies in the data on the reign of the kings of Israel and Judah in the 3rd and 4th books of Kings) falls on the period from 747/6 to 735/4 BC (more likely between 740/39 and 735/4) (Kaiser O. Jesaja/Jesajabuch // TRE. 1987. Bd. 16. S. 636-658).

In the 7th chapter. The book says that the prophet came out to preach during the so-called. Syrian-Ephraimite war. The course and goals of this war remain largely unknown, since reports about it mainly reflect the theological understanding of these events (2 Kings 15. 37; Isa 7; 2 Kings 16; 2 Chr. 28; Isa 8; Hos. 5. 8 - 7. 16). Assyrian the power in these years strived for world domination. Egypt, trying to stop its advance, drew the states of Syria and Palestine into the fight against it. I. was a consistent opponent of Judea's participation in this struggle and called on the kings to focus on religious and social transformations. When Damascus and Samaria went to war against Jerusalem to force it to join the Anti-Assir. coalition, I. spoke before King Ahaz (735-715) the 1st messianic prophecy (Is 7; c. 734). But Ahaz, instead of relying on God's help, as the prophet advised, entered into an alliance with the Assyrians, who besieged Damascus and invaded Galilee. After the war, the Kingdom of Judah fell under the rule of Assyria, the Northern Kingdom lost a significant part of its territory, was reduced to the borders of the tribe of Ephraim, Damascus was also destroyed. The war did not end until the conquest of Damascus by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 (see also in Art. Israel Ancient). Around this time, I. wrote down the 2nd messianic prophecy - about a miraculous Child who will bring peace to earth (Isa. 9. 2-7). Since in Isaiah 28.1-4 the conquest of Samaria was predicted, which fell after a 4-year siege by the soldiers of Shalmaneser V (723/2), I. had to continue serving from 732 to 722. In Isaiah 20.1 -6 refers to the word of the Lord to I. in connection with the anti-Assyrian uprising in Ashdod against Sargon II, who sent a military leader to suppress the rebellion in 713-711.

After the fall of Samaria, the tribe of Ephraim ceased to exist as an independent kingdom; the events of sacred history are concentrated in Judea, which is under the control of Assyria. At the court of the pious king Hezekiah (715-687), I.'s influence increased.

In 705, the Assyrian king Sargon II died and power passed to Sennacherib (705-681). Sennacherib's campaign against Judah, predicted in Isaiah 36-37, deprived Hezekiah of the opportunity to support the South Syrian uprising of 703-701. against Assyria. The embassy of the Babylonian king Merodach Baladan mentioned in Isa 39. 1-8 is dated either 713-711, or, less likely, 703 (Kaiser. Jesaja/Jesajabuch // TRE. 1987. Bd. 16. S. 636) .

The party of “princes”, led by the courtier Sevna, sought to weaken I.’s influence at court. Ethiopian. King Shabaka, who ruled in Egypt (XXV (Nubian) dynasty), was alarmed by Hezekiah’s peaceful policy and managed to incite the “princes” to war against Assyria. Having learned about this, I. went out into the street, pretending to be a captive slave. He predicted the inevitable collapse of all political conspiracies. But in the end Sevna managed to achieve his goal.

Sennacherib easily dealt with his opponents and besieged Jerusalem (701). Hezekiah was able to escape only by paying a huge indemnity. Perhaps at this time the prophet delivered the famous accusatory speech that opens his book (Isa. 1. 2-3). The repentant Hezekiah fell seriously ill, but was healed through the prayer of the prophet.

In the 2nd siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians (2 Kings 18.17; Isaiah 36.1-2), Hezekiah was innocent, so I. did not denounce him, but predicted defeat for the conquerors. This happened approx. 690 Only a miracle saved the city. The king and the prophet died after these events. Tradition claims that I. lived to see the reign of the wicked Manasseh (696-641) and suffered martyrdom. I. probably wrote down the 3rd messianic prophecy (Isaiah 11:1-9) shortly before his death.

About the life of the prophet

Very little is known from his book. It has become commonplace in tradition to identify his father with the prophet. Amos, but modern. Most researchers see no reason for this. From the fact that the Jerusalem high priest Uriah could have been a witness to I.’s symbolic action (Isa. 8.2; 4 Kings 16.10), they conclude that I. belonged to the Jerusalem aristocracy. According to Isaiah 7.1-9, I. had access to the king, Hezekiah turned to him at the dangerous moment of the siege of Jerusalem in 701 (2 Kings 19.1-5; cf. Isa. 37.1-4) and was healed through the prayer of the prophet (2 Kings 20.7; Isa. 38.21). Some researchers draw a conclusion about the very close connection of the prophet with the royal court on the basis of indications about the presence of the Philistines (Isa. 14.32a) and Ethiopians. traders (Isa. 18.2) in Jerusalem, as well as about the Jewish embassy to Egypt (Is. 30.1-2, 7; 31.1).

Before 732, I. had two sons, to whom the prophet gave the symbolic names Shear-yasuv (“the remnant that will return” - Isaiah 7.3) and Mager-shelal-khash-baz (“the robbery hastens, the spoil hastens” - Isaiah 8.3), apparently predicting the decline of the power of the Jewish people with the first name, and the conquest of Damascus and Israel by the Assyrian king with the second. Mother Mager-shelal-hash-baza in Isaiah 8.3 is also called a prophetess.

According to Isaiah 8.1-2 and 30.8, Isa knew how to write, which presupposes receiving appropriate education (“wisdom”; cf. Isaiah 14.24-27; 17.12-17; 28.23-29). The text of Isaiah 18.1-2 and 30.4 testifies to the prophet’s knowledge of other peoples and their lands.

Martyrdom

After completing Assyrian. crisis of 701, the book of the prophet says nothing more about his ministry. A later legend reports that I. suffered martyrdom under King Manasseh, who ascended the throne in 696.

The Christian apocrypha “The Ascension of Isaiah” (see “Isaiah the Prophet Ascension”) contains a short story about the persecution and execution of Isaiah by King Manasseh. After the works of C. F. A. Dillmann (Dillmann A., ed. Ascensio Isaiae, aethiopice et latine. Lipsiae, 1877) and R. Charles (Charles R. H., ed. The Ascension of Isaiah: Transl. from the Ethiopic Version, which , together with the New Greek Fragment, the Latin Versions and the Latin Transl. of the Slavonic, is here Published in Full. L., 1900 (cf. also: Knibb M. A. Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah // The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha / Ed. J. H. Charlesworth (Garden City (N.Y.), 1985. Vol. 2. P. 143-149) researchers consider this story as the original Jewish document, easily distinguished from its modern one. context (cf.: Charles R. H. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the OT in English. Oxf., 1913. Vol. 2. P. 155-162; Caquot A. Martyre d "Isaïe // La Bible: Écrits intertestamentaires / Éd. A . Dupont-Sommer, M. Philonenko. P., 1987. P. 1017-1033).

The apocrypha says how, in the presence of King Hezekiah and young Manasseh, I. predicts his martyrdom during the reign of the latter. When Manasseh comes to power, the prophet flees to Bethlehem and then to a mountain in the desert. The place where he was hiding is revealed to the king by the false prophet Belkira (sometimes in tradition the name is conveyed differently: Belial, Belkhira, etc. - see the article “Isaiah the Prophet Ascension”), who accuses I. of treason (the prophet predicted troubles for Jerusalem , comparing it with Sodom (cf.: Isa. 1. 7-10)) and in blasphemy (contradicted Moses himself, claiming that he saw God, but remained alive (cf.: Ex. 33. 20; Is. 6. 5)). Manasseh ordered I. to be put in prison and sawed through with a wooden saw. I. accepts martyrdom. In addition to setting out the circumstances of the prophet’s death, the apocrypha tells of I.’s ascension to heaven and his receipt of revelation (see “Isaiah the Prophet’s Ascension”). The martyrdom of I. is also known from the apocrypha “Biographies of the Prophets” (Vitae prophetarum. 1. 1).

Early Christ. the authors were familiar with this tradition. In the NT it is perhaps reflected already in Hebrews 11. 37. The martyr speaks about the death of I. Justin Philosopher (Iust. Martyr. Dial. 120. 5), mentions Tertullian (Tertull. Adv. gnost. 8. 3), who sees in the prophet, who did not stop preaching even during a terrible execution, an example of patience (Idem. De patient. 14. 1; cf.: Asc. Is. 5. 14). According to Origen (Orig. In Is. 1.5), the Jews put I. to a terrible execution because, in their opinion, he had deviated from the law. Commodian (III century) believes that King Manasseh or the Jewish people are to blame for the death of the prophet (Commod. Carmen apol. 221. 513-514) (Lactantius also believes - Lact. Div. inst. IV 11. 12). Potamy, ep. Lisbon (IV century AD), compiled, based on the apocrypha, “Treatise on the Martyrdom of the Prophet. Isaiah" (PL. 8. Col. 1415-1416; CCSL. 69. P. 197-203). Prudentius emphasizes that the life and martyrdom of the prophet is an example for Christians (Prudent. Perist. 5.524, 529). For St. Hilary of Pictavia (Hilar. Pict. Contr. Const. 4 // SC. 334. P. 174) and St. Ambrose of Milan (Ambros. Mediol. In Luc. 9. 25; cf.: Idem. In Ps. 118. 3) is an example of courage. Blzh. Jerome, who apparently knew the apocrypha, trusts the Jewish tradition (traditio certissima; cf.: Hieron. In Is. XV 57. 1-2): I. predicted his martyrdom from Manasseh (Ibidem) and was executed, because that he compared the Jews with the princes of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah and claimed that he saw God (Ibid. I 1. 10; Idem. Ep. 18A, 13; cf.: Asc. Is. 1. 9; 3. 8-10). Blzh also speaks about I.’s martyrdom under Manasseh. Theodoret of Cyrus (Theodoret. Quaest. in Regn. IV. 54).

K. V. Neklyudov

Veneration I.

In the Christian tradition

The oldest mention of the burial place of I. is contained in the Burdigal itinerary of 333, according to which the tomb of the prophet was located in the Jehoshaphat (Kedron) Valley: “Not far from here, as if by throwing a stone, there are two monuments of wondrous beauty, in one, which is actually hewn from of one stone, Isaiah the prophet was laid, in the other Hezekiah, king of the Jews" (Itinerarium Burdigalense // CCSL. 175. P. 17-18 (Russian translation: Bordeaux Traveler 333 // PPS. 1882. Vol. 1. Issue 2(2), p. 30). Currently, these tombs are associated with the names of the prophet. Zechariah and Absalom. This news complements the information contained in the writings about the Old Testament prophets, which are attributed to St. Epiphanius of Cyprus and smch. Dorotheus of Tyre, - “On the life and death of the prophets” (De prophetarum vita et obitu - CPG, N 3777-3778; in 2 editions) and “The Lives of the Prophets” (Prophetarum vitae - BHG, N 1586), which says that I. , sawn into 2 parts by King Manasseh, was buried under an oak tree at the source of En-Rogel (on the south-eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, slightly south of the junction of the Valley of Hinnom with Kidron), and then his body was reburied in gratitude for the miracle of the prophet bringing water to Siloam not far from this source, near the royal tombs and behind the graves of the clergy (south of Jerusalem) (Vitae prophetarum. Lpz., 1907. R. 8-9, 40-43, 60-61). This information was included in the “Easter Chronicle” (Chron. Pasch. Vol. 1. P. 290-292), in Byzantium. Synaksari (Synaxarion of the K-Polish ts., late 10th century - SynCP. Col. 665-667; Minology of Emperor Vasily II, late 10th - early 11th century - PG. 117. Col. 444) and in the secondary version of the “Greek Legend” by I. (Paris. gr. 1534, XI-XII centuries), where they follow the main part, which is an abbreviated reworking of the apocryphal “Ascension of the Prophet Isaiah” (BHG, N 958).

Arm. author VII - beginning VIII century Anastas Vardapet mentions the Noravank monastery, which “is located near the tomb of the prophet Isaiah, in the same direction as the Mount of Olives” ( Ter-Mkrtichyan L. Kh. Armenian sources about Palestine V-XVIII centuries. M., 1991. P. 94).

Nevertheless, there were other legends about I.’s grave, recorded by pilgrims. Thus, Antoninus from Placentia (70s of the 6th century) indicates “the place where Isaiah was cut with a saw and rests” near Eleutheropolis (Anon. Placent. Itinerarium. 32 // CCSL; 175. P. 145 (Russian translation. : Traveler of Anonymous from Placentia, late 6th century / Ed., translated and explained by: I. V. Pomyalovsky // PPS. 1895. T. 13. Issue 3 (39), p. 41)). It is not known at what time and under what circumstances the relics of I. ended up in Paneas (Caesarea Philippi), from where they came to the middle. V century were moved to K-pol, to the center. St. Lawrence. The transfer of I.’s relics to K-pol took place, according to the “Historical Synopsis” of Georgy Kedrin, in the 35th year of the reign of the emperor. Theodosius II the Younger (Cedrenus. Сomp. hist. Vol. 1. P. 600), i.e. in 442/3. In the “Chronicle” of George Amartol, this event refers to the reign of the emperor. Marcian (Georg. Mon. Chron. // PG. 110. Col. 756). In contrast to the chronicles, “Description of Constantinople” by Pseudo-Codinus reports the transfer of relics not from Paneada, but from Jerusalem (Patria CP. T. 2. R. 241). This source attributes the construction of Polish churches to St. Lawrence and prophet Isaiah to the spouses Marcian (450-457) and Pulcheria (450-453) (Ibid. R. 241). “Anonymous Mercati” calls these churches standing together and says that in the church. prophet Isaiah “inside the altar lies half of his body” (Description of the K-field shrines in a 12th-century Latin manuscript / Translated by L. K. Maciel Sanchez // The miraculous icon in Byzantium and Other Rus'. M., 1996. P. 451). Anthony of Novgorod c. 1200 reports that the relics of the prophet were in the church dedicated to him under the throne (“it lies under the table” - Book of the Pilgrim. P. 28). Here miracles occurred from the relics of I. (BHG, N 958f). As Byzantinists noted, this shrine was revered in various strata of society (K A. e. a. Isaiah // ODB. Vol. 2. P. 1013): among those healed, the protospafarians Michael and Constantine, the noble lady Eupraxia, mon. George, the money changer Nikolai, the winegrower Konstantin, the fisherman John. Descriptions of 19 healings are included in the Minology for May Bodl. Baroc. 240, XII century. (Delehaye H. Synaxarium et Miracula S. Isaiae prophetae // AnBoll. 1924. Vol. 42. P. 257-265). People came to the relics of I. from the provinces (for example, from Thrace and Paphlagonia). A feature of the short synaxaric lives is the erroneous name of I. uncle of King Manasseh (SynCP. Col. 665; PG. 117. Col. 444). The Imperial Minology contains Praise of I., attributed to St. John Chrysostom (BHG, N 958g). The oldest of the hagiographical works in Latin. language dedicated to I. , is compiled by Potamius, ep. Lisbon, in mid. IV century based on the apocryphal “Ascension of the Prophet Isaiah” “Treatise on the Martyrdom of the Prophet Isaiah” (PL. 8. Col. 1415-1416; CCSL. 69. P. 197-203).

Part of the honest chapter of I. is kept in the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos; According to information collected by Bollandists, particles of I.’s relics were in the cathedral in Brindisi, in the c. St. Gereon in Cologne, in the monastery of Santo Stefano and c. San Giovanni in Monte in Bologna.

I.'s memory was celebrated in Byzantium on May 9. On this day, according to the Typicon of the Great Church. (Mateos. Typicon. T. 1. P. 284) and the Synaxarion of the K-Polish ts. (SynCP. Col. 667), a solemn service in honor of the prophet was performed in the church. St. Lawrence. In Greek In the verse Synaxarion the memory of I. is also celebrated on January 25. indicating the location of his relics - “near St. Lawrence" (SynCP. Col. 423). Apparently, this date is associated either with the transfer of I.’s relics from the Holy Land to K-pol, or with the day of the consecration of the church built in the capital in honor of the prophet. In cargo. calendars of the 5th-8th centuries, focused on the ancient Jerusalem Typikon of the Holy Sepulchre, celebrations in honor of I. are much more common. They took place in different churches of Jerusalem: May 5 - the memory of I. together with Saints Mina and Foka in the church. Vmch. Mine built by Vassa, close to the emperor. Evdokia (after 444) (Kekelidze. Canonar. P. 112; Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. P. 64; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 8); May 9 - memory of I. together with St. John the Baptist, with the apostles Peter, Paul, John the Theologian, Philip, Thomas and other saints in the church. Disciples on the Mount of Olives, built by the Equals. Elena (Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. R. 65; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 10); June 3 - memory of St. John the Baptist, I., martyrs Julian, Timothy, Maurus (Mauriana) and others in the c. martyr Juliana on Olivet, built by Flavia c. 454/5 (Kekelidze. Canonar. P. 115; Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. P. 70; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 13); June 16 - discovery or position of I.’s relics in the c. Vmch. Mines (Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. P. 73; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 16); June 17 - the memory of the prophets I. and Amos in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. R. 73); July 6 - memory of I. in one of the churches built by Melania (the Elder or the Younger) on Olivet (Kekelidze. Canonary. P. 119; Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. R. 77; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P . 20); July 21 - the memory of the prophets Jeremiah and I. in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. R. 80); August 25 - position of the relics of I., the memory of the prophets Zechariah, Daniel and the 3 Babylonian youths in the temple built by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Juvenal (422-458) (Ibid. P. 86; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 30); September 22 - position of the relics of the apostles Peter, Paul, I., memory of saints George, Thirs, Phocas in the c. St. Hesychia, Rev. Jerusalem (5th century) (Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. R. 91); October 2 - memory of the apostles Peter, Paul, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, prophets I., Zechariah, martyr. Panteleimon and other martyrs in the church. Vmch. Procopius, apparently built in the 6th century. south of Jerusalem (Ibid. P. 94; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 41); October 15 - memory of St. John the Baptist, prophets I., Ezekiel and Daniel, 3 Babylonian youths, Joseph the Beautiful in c. martyr Juliana, built by Flavia (Kekelidze. Canonar. P. 138; Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. P. 97; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 44); October 30 or 31 - memory of I. and Saints Mina and Phocas in c. Vmch. Mina built by Vassa (Kekelidze. Canonar. P. 141; Garitte. Calendrier Palestino-Georgien. P. 101; Tarchnischvili. Grande Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 48); November 14 - memory of St. John the Baptist, I., martyr. Bacchus, the archangels Michael and Gabriel in a church built by a certain Affonius near Gethsemane (Kekelidze. Canonary. P. 142).

I. Lat. is commemorated on one of the above dates - July 6th. Martyrology of Bede the Venerable 8th century. (PL. 94. Col. 967) and after it the Roman Martyrology of the 16th century. (MartRom. Comment. P. 272), as well as Armenian. Synaxarion IX-X centuries. (Conybeare F. C. Rituale Armenorum. Oxf., 1905. P. 526). In Armenian Synaxaire Ter-Israel commemorates I. under 2 dates: May 9 and July 6 (Le Synaxaire arménien de Ter Israël / Éd. G. Bayan. P., 1930. P. 427. (PO; T. 21. Fasc. 4 ); Ibid. R., 1929. P. 674-675. (PO; T. 21. Fasc. 5)). In modern Arm. calendar, the main celebration in honor of I. takes place on Thursday after the Transfiguration of the Lord (movable holiday).

In the Orthodox calendar. communities of Khorezm at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, preserved as part of the op. “Chronology of ancient peoples” (or “Monuments of past generations”) Muslims. encyclopedist al-Biruni (973-1048), the memory of I., in addition to May 9, is also indicated on August 16. together with the memory of the prophets Jeremiah, Zechariah and Ezekiel (Martyrologes et ménologes orientaux / Éd., trad. R. Griveau. P., 1914. P. 307, 310. (PO; T. 10. Fasc. 4)).

In Copto-Arab. Synaxar and Minology, the memory of I. is celebrated on Tut 6 (Sept. 3) (SynAlex. Vol. 1. P. 234-235; Les Ménologes des Évangéliaires coptes-arabes / Éd. F. Nau. P., 1913. P. 187. (PO; T. 10. Fasc. 2)), in Syro-Jacobite Minologies - September 3. and May 9 (Un Martyrologe et douze Ménologes syriaques / Éd. F. Nau. P., 1912. P. 85, 121. (PO; T. 10. Fasc. 1)). Among the Maronites in the handwritten calendar of the 17th century. joint memory of I. and the prophet. Ezekiel is listed under April 3. (Martyrologes et ménologes orientaux. P., 1914. P. 351. (PO; T. 10. Fasc. 4)).

Lit.: ActaSS. Iul. T. 2. P. 250-252; Sergius (Spassky). Monthsword. T. 2. P. 136; T. 3. P. 172-173; Spadafora F. Isaia, profeta: Culto // BiblSS. T. 7. Col. 939-940; Janin. Églises et monastères. P. 139-140; Meinardus O. F. A. A Study of the Relics of Saints of the Greek Orthodox Church // Oriens Chr. 1970. Bd. 54. S. 194; Conti M. The Life and Works of Potamius of Lisbon: A Biographical and Literary Study with English Transl. and a Complete Comment. on the Extant Works of Potamius. Turnhout, 1998; Adkin N. Potamius of Lisbon, “De Martyrio Isaiae Prophetae” 1: “Periugerum fidiculae” // Euphrosyne. N. S. Olisipone, 2000. Vol. 28. P. 369-373; idem. Potamius of Lisbon, “De Martyrio Isaiae Prophetae” Again // Helmantica. Salamanca, 2005. Vol. 56. P. 99-103; Verheyden J. The Greek Legend of the Ascension of Isaiah // Philomathestatos: Studies in Greek and Byzantine Texts Presented to J. Noret for his 65th Birthday / Ed. B. Janssens e. a. Leuven etc., 2004. P. 671-700. (OLA; 137).

O.V.L.

In the Slavic tradition

Slav. translation of what was partially lost into Greek. a version of the apocrypha “The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah” was sometimes included in the collections of people on May 9 (the day of remembrance of the prophet), for example: in the Assumption collection of the 12th century. (GIM. Usp. No. 4), in Dragolov collection of con. XIII century (NBS. No. 651), in the polemical collection of the 14th century. (Ath. Chil. Slav. N 474. Fol. 380-384), in Serb. Thursday-Minea for Dec.-Jan. with additions from the 16th century. (GIM. Khlud. No. 195. L. 348-352; ed.: Ivanov J. Bogomilski books and legends. Sofia, 1925. P. 131-164), in Serbian. Thursday-Mineaia on Dec.-Aug. XIV century (Zagreb. HAZU Archive. IIIc22. P. 257-260r), etc.

Based on the “Vision of the Prophet Isaiah”, “The Vision of the Prophet Daniel” and Pseudo-Methodius in Bulgaria, probably in the 70s. XI century an original historical-apocalyptic “Tale of the Prophet Isaiah” was compiled, the plot of which was based on a description of the battle between the Bulgarians and the Byzantines (Kaimakamova M. Bulgarskaya medieval history writer. Sofia, 1990. P. 27, 48-49; Tapkova-Zaimova V., Miltenova A. Historical-apocalyptic book of Byzantium and the Middle Ages. Bulgaria. Sofia, 1996. pp. 139-160). It has been preserved for several years. lists, eldest - XV century. (Collection of the Nikolyats Monastery. No. 52). In the 2nd half. XIII century in Bulgaria the op. “The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah about the Last Times,” which reflects foreign policy events in the country in the 1st half. XIII century and a negative assessment of the rapprochement of Byzantium and Rus' (Nikolov A. From the Byzantine historical topic: “Bulgari - skiti”, “Slavs - skiti” // Bulgarian in the Northern Black Sea Coast: Research and materials. Vel. Tarnovo, 2000. Vol. 7 248. Bel. 74).

M. M. Rozinskaya

In Rabbinic Judaism

The Old Testament tradition connects I. with the family of King David: the father of I. Amos (Isa. 1. 1), identified here with the prophet, was the brother of King Amaziah (cf.: Babylonian Talmud. Sotah 10b; Megilla. 10b), and I. became father-in-law King Hezekiah (cf.: Babylonian Talmud. Berakhot. 10a). Compilers of midrashim often extol I.'s authority in relation to other prophets: he uttered more prophecies than other prophets (Pesikta Rabbati. 33.3); all the prophets received prophecies from other prophets (cf. Numbers 11.25; 2 Kings 2.15), only I. - from the “mouth of the Most High,” as stated in Isaiah 61.1 (Vayikra Rabba. 10.2). This superiority of I. is associated with the vision in the temple (the tradition is partially preserved by Blessed Jerome (Hieron. In Is. III 6. 5; cf.: Ginzberg L. Die Haggada bei den Kirchenvätern: Der Kommentar des Hieronymus zu Jesaja // Jewish Studies in Memory of G. A. Kohut. N. Y., 1935. P. 284). Thus, everything that was revealed to the prophet Ezekiel was also seen by I., but the latter reports only part of what was revealed to him in the temple by the Lord (Babylonian Talmud. Chagiga. 13b).

In the Talmud and midrashim, I. is sometimes compared with Moses. Both are considered “the greatest prophets of Israel” (Midrash Devarim Rabbah. 2.4). Without rejecting the priority of the Sinai revelation and the Torah (cf., for example: Shemot Rabba. 42. 8; Devarim Rabba. 8), various traditions value I. so highly because they connect him precisely with this revelation. An example of I.'s preaching is sometimes used to substantiate the opinion that everything that the prophets once preached was already given at Sinai (Midrash Tanchum: Yitro. 11 with reference to Deut. 29. 15; cf.: Montefiore C. G., Loewe H. A Rabbinic Anthology. L., 1938. P. LXVIII). If in the apocrypha “The Ascension of the Prophet Isaiah” I.’s opponents reproach him for claiming greater authority than Moses (Asc. Is. 3.8-9), then one of the midrashim says that Manasseh ordered the execution of Isaiah ., because I. “spoke to God, like Moses, face to face” (Pesikta Rabbati. 4. 3; cf.: Jerusalem Talmud. Sanhedrin. X 2. 28c).

The tradition supporting information about the martyrdom of the prophet is also recorded in the Talmud. The Prophet was accused of contradicting the law of Moses (Babylonian Talmud. Yevamot. 49b). I. tried to hide. At the prayer of the prophet, the cedar miraculously hides him, but the tree is sawed down, and the prophet dies (cf. also: Babylonian Talmud. Sanhedrin. 103b). The Jerusalem Talmud talks about this in more detail. The treatise Sanhedrin (X 2.28c) clarifies that the words about Manasseh shedding “innocent blood” (2 Kings 21.16) are an indication of the martyrdom of I. The early stage of development of the tradition can be reflected in one of the glosses in the Targum of Jonathan to Isa 66. 1 (Grelot P. Deux tosephtas targoumiques inédites sur Is. 66 // RB. 1972. Vol. 79. P. 525-527, 532-535): Hidden in a tree, I. was sawn through with an iron saw.

K. V. Neklyudov

In the Muslim tradition

I. (Arabic: Shaya/Ashaya) is not mentioned in the Koran, however, when interpreting the 4th verse of the XVII sura of the Muslims. exegetes turned to his image. In the so-called the stories of the prophets, in particular those of at-Tabari (d. 923), set out the main stages of I.’s prophetic activity: the prediction of the death of King Zedekiah (biblical Hezekiah), the prophecy of the extension of the king’s life during the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, a warning about the punishment of the Israelis, who retreated from God after the death of the king, and the subsequent murder of I. I.’s death is described in accordance with Jewish tradition: fleeing from his fellow tribesmen, I. hid inside a tree, but Shaitan (Satan) showed them the edge of his clothes, and they sawed I. along with the tree.

In Islam, I. acts as a prophet who foreshadowed the coming of Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad. This trend (while maintaining the historical framework of the narrative) is observed already in the 1st century. Hijra (a work probably belonging to Wahb ibn Munabbih from Yemen; D é clais J.-L. Un récit musulman sur Isaïe. P., 2001) and is preserved in modern times. polemical literature (for example, in the work of At-Tahavi Muhammad Izzat Ismail. “Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Torah, Gospel and Koran.” [Cairo], 1972 (in Arabic)).

S. A. Moiseeva

Lit.: Bukharev A. M. Holy Prophet. Isaiah: A Sketch of His Time, Prophetic Ministry and Book. M., 1864; Yungerov P. A. Life of the Prophet. Isaiah and modern watered him. the state of the pagan and Jewish kingdoms // PS. 1885. Part 2. No. 7. P. 381-408; Vlastov G.K. Priest. chronicle of the first times of the world and humanity. St. Petersburg, 1898. T. 5: Prophet Isaiah: Introduction and interpretation. 2 hours; Mikhail (Luzin), bishop. Biblical Science. Tula, 1901. Book: Holy Prophet. Isaiah and the book of his prophecies; Leclercq H. Isaïe // DACL. 1926. Fasc. 74/75. Col. 1577-1582; Gaster M., Heller B. Beiträge zur vergleichenden Sagen- und Märchenkunde: Der Prophet Jesajas und der Baum // Monatsschrift f. Geschichte u. Wiss. d. Judentums. Breslau, 1936. Bd. 80. S. 32-52, 127-128; Hoenerbach W. Isaias bei Tabar // Alttestamentliche Studien: Fr. Notscher zum 60. Geburtstage / Hrsg. H. Junker, J. Botterweck. Bonn, 1950. S. 98-119; Rad G., von. Théologie des AT. Münch., 1960, 19848. Bd. 2: Die Theologie der prophetischen Überlieferungen Israels; Childs B. S. Isaiah and the Assyrian Crisis. L., 1967; Becker J. Isaias: Der Prophet u. sein Buch. Stuttg., 1968; Dietrich W. Jesaja u. die Politic. Münch., 1976; Spieckermann H. Juda unter Assur in der Sargonidenzeit. Gott., 1982; Bickert R. König Ahas u. der Prophet Jesaja: Ein Beitrag zum Problem des syr.-ephraimitischen Krieges // ZAW. 1987. Bd. 99. N 3. S. 361-384; Koch K. Die Profeten. Stuttg., 19872. Bd. 1: Assyrische Zeit; Rippin A. Sha(?)lsquo;ya // EI. Vol. 9. P. 382-383; idem. Isaiah // Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an. Leiden, 2002. Vol. 2. P. 562-563.

Hymnography

In the ancient Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th-8th centuries, preserved in cargo. translation, I.’s memory is noted repeatedly. I. is mentioned independently on June 16 and July 6 (Tarchnischvili. Grand Lectionnaire. T. 2. P. 16, 20); The liturgical sequence includes the common prokeimenon and alleluia for the prophet, readings: Isa 6. 1-10, Rom 10. 1-13, Luke 4. 14-22 (on July 6 another Gospel is assigned - Matthew 23. 23-33). I.’s memory is also celebrated on May 5 and 9, June 3, Aug. 25, Oct. 2, 15, and 31. (Ibid. P. 8-10, 13, 30, 44, 48) together with the memories of the apostles, John the Baptist and other Old Testament prophets, martyr. Mines; these days, the reading of Isaiah 6.1-10 is assigned at the liturgy.

In the Typikon of the Great Church. IX-XI centuries (Mateos. Typicon. T. 1. P. 284) I.’s memory is celebrated on May 9 without a liturgical ceremony.

In the Studian-Alexievsky Typikon of 1034, the memory of I. is not noted, but in the handwritten glory. Menaiah of the studio tradition (for example, GIM Syn. No. 166, XI-XII centuries; see: Gorsky, Nevostruev. Description. Dept. 3. T. 2. P. 61) On May 9, the service of I. and martyr is contained. Christopher; a general canon is assigned to the saints, and 4 stichera, kontakion and sedalanov are also dedicated to saints. A similar liturgical sequence (with the exception of kontakion) is assigned to I. in the Evergetid Typikon of the 2nd half. XI century (Dmitrievsky. Description. T. 1. P. 453). The Messinian Typicon of 1131 (Arranz. Typicon. P. 151) indicates the dismissal troparion of I.

In one of the early surviving editions of the Jerusalem Charter (Sinait. gr. 1094, XII-XIII centuries (Lossky. Typicon. P. 214)) I. is assigned a dismissal troparion of the 4th tone ῾Η σεπτὴ τοῦ προφήτου σου παν ήγυρις̇ (). In the first printed Greek. The Typikon of 1545 indicates the same troparion of I. as in the Messinian Typikon, as well as the kontakion of I. Τῆς προφητείας τὸ χάρισμα̇ (). According to the first printed Moscow Typikon of 1610, on May 9 the service of I. and martyr. Christopher is sung at Compline, since on the same day an all-night vigil is celebrated in honor of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra; I. are assigned the same troparion and kontakion as in the first printed Greek. Typicone. Similar instructions are contained in the pre-Nikon printed Typicons of 1633 and 1641. In the revised edition of the Typicon of 1682 and subsequent editions on May 9, the service of I. and martyr. Christopher began to be placed “under the number”; the troparion and kontakion of I. remained unchanged.

The follow-up of I., contained in modern. liturgical books, includes: troparion of dismissal of the 2nd tone Τοῦ Προφήτου σου ῾Ησαΐου τὴν μνήμην Κύριε̇ (); kontakion of the 2nd voice: Τῆς προφητείας τὸ χάρισμα̇ () with ikos; canon (common to I. and martyr Christopher) by Theophan without the acrostic 4th tone, irmos: ῎Αισομαί σοι Κύριε̇ (), beginning: Θώτισόν με Κύριε (); stichera-podnov cycle; sedalens (different in Greek and Slavic Menaions).

According to manuscripts, I.'s chants have been preserved, but were not included in modern times. liturgical books: 2 stichera-similar (RNB. Sof. No. 202. L. 41 volume - 42 volume, 11th century - see: Novgorod service Menaion for May, 11th century: (Putyatin Menaion): Text, research ., indexes / Responsible editor: V. M. Markov. Izhevsk, 2003. P. 342), additional ikos (Amphilochius. Kondakariy. P. 183).

E. E. Makarov

Iconography

One of the earliest images of I. - on the mosaic c. San Vitale in Ravenna (546-547), where he is represented as an old man in white robes, with thick gray hair, long locks falling on his shoulders, with a scroll in his hands, with a golden halo. On the mosaic of the catholicon of the VMC monastery. Catherine on Sinai (550-565) I. is depicted in the medallion as a young prophet with a cap of short black curly hair and a bushy beard. Images of the prophets I. and David flank the scene “Healing of two blind men in Jericho” in the Sinope Gospel (Paris. Suppl. gr. 1286. Fol. 29, 6th century); the text on the scroll (Is 35.5), which I. is holding, comments on the scene from the NT. He is shown as young, beardless, wearing a white chiton with a clave on his sleeve and a yellowish-ochre himation. On the miniatures from the Rossano Codex (Archbishop's Museum in Rossano, 6th century), built according to a similar scheme (i.e. on them, as on the miniatures from the Sinope Gospel, the texts on the scrolls in the hands of the prophets are an allusion to the one presented on the same leaf of the New Testament scene), he is twice depicted as young, with brown hair and a very short beard (Fol. 1, 2) and twice as gray-haired, with curly hair and a short curly beard (Fol. 3v, 5).

In later monuments, I. is presented as an old man with long, usually wavy hair, hanging down to his shoulders in strands, with a wide beard tapering downward, wearing a chiton and himation. Often in Byzantine works. art, I.’s tunic has a clav sewn on it, which indicates his noble origin. In Russian In monuments I. was depicted with dark hair touched with gray. The right hand of the prophet is in front of the chest in a nominal blessing or raised upward, as on the mosaic of the dome of Emmanuel in the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice (late 12th century). The attribute of I., according to the iconographic originals, is a spoon, which is found quite rarely on icons (for example, on the icon “Our Lady with the Prophets” of the 1st half of the 15th century from the Accademia Gallery in Venice). However, its more popular attribute is tongs with burning coal, which is associated with the vision of I. Thus, on the icon “Our Lady of Kykkotissa, with the prophets and chosen saints” (1st half of the 12th century, monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine on Sinai) There is a large depiction of a seraphim holding out pincers with burning coal to I. Dr. examples of this iconography are a miniature from the Christian topography of Cosmas Indikoplov (Vat. gr. 699. Fol. 72v, last quarter of the 9th century); icon "Prophet" Isaiah" from the prophetic row of the iconostasis of the Nativity Cathedral of the Novgorod Anthony Monastery (mid-16th century, NGOMZ); folding icon “Praise of the Mother of God” (c. 1471, GMMC).

In the temple decoration, the image of I. is placed among the images of other prophets in the upper zones of the temple: in the dome (in the painting of the church of the monastery of Our Lady of Periveleptus in Mystras, Greece, 2nd half of the 14th century), in the light drum (on the mosaics: Church of Santa Maria del Ammiraglio (Martorana) in Palermo, Sicily, 1146-1151, Church of Panagia Parigoritissa in Arta, about 1290, Monastery of Our Lady of Pammakaristos (Fethiye Jami) in K-pol, about 1315; frescoes: the Church of the Righteous Joachim and Anna (Kraleva) of the Studenica Monastery, Serbia, 1314, the Church of St. Nikita near Skopje (created before 1316 and renewed in 1483-1484), the Church of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates on the Stream in Vel. Novgorod, 1378), on girth arches (in the painting of the Church of the Nativity of Christ on the Red Field near Vel. Novgorod, 90s of the 14th century), in lunettes (on the mosaic of the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, 546-547) . In the lower part of the nave wall - on the mosaic of the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice - together with the prophets David, Solomon and Ezekiel on the sides of the image of the Mother of God, 1st floor. XIII century I. is usually presented in pairs with the prophet. Jeremiah (for example, in the church of San Vitale).

Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Mosaic c. Panagia Parigoritissa in Arta, Greece. OK. 1290

Full-figure images of I., as a rule, illustrate the Song of I. in the Psalms (for example, in the Paris Psalter of the ca. mid-10th century - Paris. gr. 139. Fol. 435v; in the Bristol Psalter of ca. 1000 - Lond. Brit. Lib. Add. 40731. Fol. 252; in the Psalter, created before 1074 or in the 80s of the 11th century - NLR. Greek. No. 214. Sheet 311 vol.; in the NT with Psalms 30-40- x years of the XIV century - State Historical Museum, Greek No. 407. 504 vol.). Image of I. together with the prophet. David or prophet Ezekiel was included in compositions serving as illustrations to the introductory texts of the Gospels in such manuscripts as the Four Gospels from the Palatine Library in Parma (Parma. Palat. 5. Fol. 5, ca. 1100) and from the National Library of St. Mark in Venice (Marc. gr. Z 540 (=557). Fol. 11v, 2nd quarter of the 12th century). The miniature with the Ascension scene on the frontispiece of the Homilies of Jacob Kokkinovath (Vat. gr. 1162. Fol. 2v and Paris. gr. 1208. Fol. 3v, 2nd quarter of the 12th century) also contains images of the prophets David and I. with scrolls in his hands; text on the scroll I. - Isa 63. 1.

Prophet Isaiah in prayer, with the personifications of Night and Dawn. Miniature from the Paris Psalter. X century (Paris. gr. 139. Fol. 435v)

The image of I. appears in the earliest prophetic ranks of Russian high iconostases: for example, from the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (“Prophets Solomon and Isaiah”, 1425-1427, SPGIACHMZ); from the Transfiguration Cathedral in Kashin (the so-called Kashin rite; “Prophecy Isaiah”, mid-15th century, Russian Museum); from the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillov Belozersky Monastery (“Prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jonah”, c. 1497, Russian Museum); from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of Ferapontov Monastery (“Prophets Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah”, ca. 1502, KBMZ); from St. Sophia Cathedral Vel. Novgorod (“Prophecy Isaiah”, 1509, NGOMZ); from c. in honor of the Miracle of Arch. Michael in the Khoneh Chudov Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin (“Prophecy Isaiah”, 1626-1628, GMMK). I. is always depicted close to the center.

I. is represented on icons of different iconography together with the Mother of God and Child and prophets, for example. on the icons “Praise of the Mother of God” (mid-16th century, State Russian Museum), “It is worthy to eat” (mid-16th century, State Historical Museum), etc.

Bolshakov. The original is iconographic. P. 11). In the original of G.D. Filimonov, on May 9, it is said about I.: “... in the likeness of old and gray, with braid and hair like Elijah the prophet, prophetic vestments, outer sankir, azure underneath, a scroll in his hand, and in it is written: “Behold, The virgin will conceive in her womb and give birth to a Son, and they will call the name Emmanuel: as we say, God is with us” (Filimonov. Iconographic original. P. 339). In Greek iconographic original - Erminia by Hierom. Dionysius Furnoagrafiot (c. 1730-1733) - I. is mentioned several times. once. The part “How the Old Testament is Portrayed” describes the scenes “The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah” and “The Prophet Isaiah cut with a saw” (Herminia DF. Part 2. § 105-106. P. 549); in the paragraph about St. the prophets, about their appearance and about the prophecies, he is described as “an old man with a long beard, who says: hear the sky, and teach the earth what the Lord has spoken” (Ibid. § 132. No. 6. P. 562). In the part “How the New Testament is depicted” it is said about it in the chapters “How the feasts of the Theotokos are depicted”: “Isaiah holds a spoon and says on the charter: I have destined the coal-bearing spoon to be Thee, the Pure One, and the Throne of the King” (Ibid. Part 3. Chapter 5. No. 10. P. 557) - and “How the suffering of the martyrs is depicted every month of the whole year”: “The old man was sawed with a wooden saw” (Ibid. Chapter 22. P. 417).

Lit.: Mango C. Materials for the Study of the Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul. Wash., 1962. P. 58-59. (DOS; 8); Gravgaard A.-M. Inscriptions of OT Prophecies in Byzant. Churches: A Cat. Copenhagen, 1979. P. 69-70; Lazarev V.N. About the painting of Sophia of Novgorod // He. Byzantine. and Old Russian art: Sat. Art. M., 1978. S. 142, 144; aka. History of Byzantium. painting. M., 1986. P. 161; Galavaris G. The Illustrations of the Prefaces in Byzantine Gospels. W., 1979; Malkov Yu. G. Frescoes c. Christmas “on the field” in Novgorod and their “prophetic order” // Ancient Novgorod. M., 1983. S. 271-294; Popovich L. D. Compositional and Theological Concepts in Four Prophets Cycles in Churches Selected from the Period of King Milutin (1282-1321) // Cyrillomethodianum. Thessal., 1984/1985. T. 8/9. P. 288; eadem. Hitherto Unidentified Prophets from Nova Pavlica // Ibid. P. 28-29; Lowden J. Illuminated Prophet Books: A Study of Byzant. Manuscripts of the Major and Minor Prophets. Univ. Park (Penn.); L., 1988; Lelekova O.V. Iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery 1497: Research. and restoration. M., 1988; Pogrebnyak N., prot. Prophets: Iconography and hymnography // Moscow. EV. 2004. No. 11/12. pp. 116-134; Lifshits L. I., Sarabyanov V. D., Tsarevskaya T. Yu. Monumental painting of Novgorod: con. XI - 1st quarter XII century St. Petersburg, 2004. pp. 304-305.

I. A. Zhuravleva, I. A. Oretskaya

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