Old Testament · Prophecy · book 23 of 66 · 2 min read
The book of Isaiah
Sixty-six chapters that change addressee halfway through — warning before the exile, and then comfort spoken to people already in it.
“but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 66
- Author
- Isaiah of Jerusalem, with later material widely attributed to other hands
- Written
- Eighth century BC onward, reaching final form after the exile
- Written for
- Judah before the catastrophe, and exiles inside it
- Themes
- judgement, comfort, the servant, new creation
What it is about
Isaiah is the longest and most quoted prophetic book, and it reads as two or three books joined. Chapters 1 to 39 address Jerusalem before the Babylonian conquest, in the eighth century, largely in warning. From chapter 40 the audience has changed: the exile has happened, and the tone turns to comfort.
That shift is why most scholars see more than one author, and why the book's second half contains its most-loved passages — the comfort chapter, the eagles' wings, the servant songs that the New Testament reads as pointing to Jesus.
It is also the Old Testament book quoted most often in the New. Whatever its composition, the early church read it as the interpretive key to what had happened to them.
Where to start
Chapter 40, which is where the second half begins and where almost everything people know from Isaiah is located.
The chapters worth knowing
- Isaiah 6 — The call vision in the temple, and the coal taken from the altar.
- Isaiah 40 — Comfort my people — where the book turns from warning to consolation.
- Isaiah 53 — The fourth servant song, quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament passage.
What people get wrong about it
That 40:31 promises energy. The three images descend — flying, running, walking — and the climax is walking without fainting, which is a promise about endurance rather than about power.
From this book
- Isaiah 41:10, and what it promisesThe most-read verse on the world's largest Bible app, four years out of six. Who it was spoken to, what the promise covers, and what it does not.
- Isaiah 40:31, and why the images get smallerMount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. The list descends, and the least impressive item is the one it is building toward.
- Bible verses about strengthTen passages on strength from the World English Bible, with a note on each — including the two that describe strength arriving through weakness rather than instead of it.
Questions
How many chapters are in Isaiah?
Sixty-six. Chapters 1 to 39 address Judah before the exile; from 40 onward the audience is people already exiled, which is why the tone changes so sharply.
Did one person write Isaiah?
Traditionally yes. Most modern scholarship sees at least two hands and often three, based on the change of historical setting at chapter 40 and differences in language.