Isaiah

Isaiah prophesied in Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1) — roughly the second half of the 8th century BCE. The book ascribed to him spans 66 chapters and has been read in Christian tradition as containing some of the most striking messianic prophecies (notably Isaiah 7:14; 9:6–7; 52:13–53:12). A major question in modern biblical scholarship is the unity of the book: the "one Isaiah" view of traditional Jewish and Christian interpretation contrasts with the widely-held modern critical position that chapters 40–66 reflect exilic and post-exilic compositions (often called Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah). The Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran (1QIsaᵃ, c. 2nd century BCE) contains the entire book in a single scroll and is the oldest substantially complete Hebrew biblical manuscript known; it is a key piece of evidence in textual discussions. This page surfaces both the traditional and critical positions without resolving the authorship question.