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Isaiah son of Amoz

Isaiah son of Amoz towers among the giants of classical biblical prophecy -- repeatedly challenging the nation and its leaders with the ethical and religious will of God, and providing instructions and visions of moral renewal and universal peace. In such ways, he both dramatizes the engagement of a prophet with the social and political events of his times and expresses an impassioned concern for a life governed by covenantal values.

For Isaiah, deceit and dissembling, like moral blindness and greed, corrupt the religious spirit and are anathema to God. The ancient covenant is thus no abstract teaching, but a concrete challenge for rectitude and justice in daily life. Intensely alive in the troubled times of Judah in the late eighth century B.C.E., Isaiah's words and deeds have became a model for a life of prophetic witness to divine demands.

Isaiah's prophetic career was enmeshed in the political and cultural turmoil of the times. According to the superscription to the book, this career spanned the last half century of the eighth century B.C.E. ‑- including all or part of the reigns of the following Judean kings:

(1) Uzziah (769­ -733)
(2) Jotham (758‑743)
(3) Ahaz (743‑727)
(4) Hezekiah (727‑698)

According to the date provided in Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah experienced an awesome vision of the Lord in the year that King Uzziah died (733). Read the complete article by Michael Fishbane, the Nathan Cummings professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago, at -- http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Prophets/Latter_Prophets/Isaiah.shtml?p=1


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