Commentary on Isaiah: From The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary

By Willem A. VanGemeren

Comprehensive, accessible, and fully illustrated--this commentary on Isaiah is a must-have resource.

You want a deeper understanding of the Scriptures, but the notes in your study Bible don't give you enough depth or insight. This commentary was created with you in mind.

Each volume of The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary is a nontechnical, section-by-section commentary on one book or section of the Bible that provides reliable and readable interpretations of the Scriptures from leading evangelical scholars. This information-packed commentary will help you gain a deeper understanding of the Bible in your own personal study or in preparation for teaching. It tackles problematic questions, calls attention to the spiritual and personal aspects of the biblical message, and brings out important points of biblical theology, making it invaluable to anyone seeking to get the most out of their Bible study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781493424573

Willem A. VanGemeren

Willem VanGemeren (PhD, University of Wisconsin) is professor of Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of a number of books, including Interpreting the Prophetic Word (Zondervan) and a commentary on Psalms in the Expositor's Bible Commentary series (Zondervan).

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© 2012 by Baker Publishing Group

Published by Baker Books

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Ebook short created 2019

Previously published in The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary edited by Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill in 2012

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ISBN 978-1-4934-2457-3

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Unless otherwise indicated, photos, illustrations, and maps are copyright © Baker Photo Archive.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Abbreviations

Introduction

Commentary

1. Prophecies against Judah (1:1–12:6)

A. Judgment and Comfort: Part One (1:1–2:5)

B. Judgment and Comfort: Part Two (2:6–4:6)

C. Judgment (5:1–30)

D. Isaiah’s Call (6:1–13)

E. Crisis in Perspective (7:1–8:22)

F. The Messiah (9:1–7)

G. The Wrath of God (9:8–10:34)

H. The Branch from Jesse (11:1–16)

I. Songs of Praise (12:1–6)

2. Oracles against the Nations (13:1–23:18)

A. Babylon (13:1–14:23)

B. Assyria (14:24–27)

C. Philistia (14:28–32)

D. Moab (15:1–16:14)

E. Damascus and Israel (17:1–14)

F. Cush (18:1–7)

G. Egypt (19:1–20:6)

H. Babylon, Edom, and Arabia (21:1–17)

I. Jerusalem (22:1–25)

J. Tyre (23:1–18)

3. The Apocalypse of Isaiah (24:1–27:13)

A. God’s Judgment (24:1–23)

B. The Redemption of God’s People (25:1–26:6)

C. A Prayer for God’s People (26:7–21)

D. Deliverance of Israel (27:1–13)

4. Oracles of Woe (28:1–33:24)

A. Ephraim (28:1–29)

B. Ariel (29:1–24)

C. Foreign Alliances (30:1–33)

D. Judgment and Hope (31:1–32:20)

E. Distress and Help (33:1–24)

5. Cataclysmic Judgment (34:1–17)

6. The Day of God’s Glory (35:1–10)

7. Hezekiah (36:1–39:8)

A. Challenge and Deliverance (36:1–37:38)

B. Hezekiah’s Illness (38:1–22)

C. Envoys from Babylon (39:1–8)

8. The Beginning of Restoration (40:1–48:22)

A. Prologue (40:1–11)

B. Disputations (40:12–31)

C. Deliverance (41:1–44:23)

D. Yahweh’s Sovereignty (44:24–47:15)

E. Proclamation of Restoration (48:1–22)

9. Reconciliation and Restoration (49:1–55:13)

A. The Servant of the Lord (49:1–13)

B. Zion’s Surprise (49:14–21)

C. Israel’s Restoration (49:22–26)

D. Sin and Obedience (50:1–11)

E. Everlasting Salvation (51:1–52:12)

F. The Suffering Servant (52:13–53:12)

G. The New Covenant (54:1–17)

H. Assurance (55:1–13)

10. The Glory and Responsibility of Zion (56:1–66:24)

A. Response to Redemption (56:1–8)

B. Unfaithful Leaders (56:9–57:2)

C. Unfaithful People (57:3–13a)

D. The Future of God’s People (57:13b–21)

E. True Religion (58:1–14)

F. Responsibility (59:1–21)

G. The Glory of Zion (60:1–62:12)

H. The Day of Vengeance (63:1–6)

I. A Prayer for God’s People (63:7–64:12)

J. God’s Response (65:1–25)

K. Judgment and Restoration (66:1–24)

Time Lines

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Abbreviations

Isaiah

Willem A. VanGemeren

Introduction

Isaiah the Prophet

Little is known about the prophet Isaiah other than that he loved Jerusalem, freely associated with Judah’s kings, was married, and had two children. The name Isaiah means Yahweh is salvation. His name and the names of his sons—Shear-Jashub (a remnant will return; see NIV note for 7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (quickly to the plunder, swift to the spoil; see NIV note for 8:1)—were symbolic to the nation (8:18). These three names capture the essence of the book: (1) Yahweh is the source of salvation; (2) Yahweh will spare a remnant for himself; and (3) Yahweh’s judgment is certain to come.

The prophet’s relationship to the royal house of David has been a subject of speculation. The prophet moved easily into and out of the palace and had access to the king. He was respected by Ahaz and Hezekiah. Though this relationship does not prove that Isaiah was of royal lineage, it is clear that he held a respected position in the court. The tradition of Isaiah’s royal lineage cannot, however, be demonstrated. Isaiah was, nevertheless, very familiar with court protocol and life in Jerusalem. He was respected in the court of Jerusalem even when he criticized the ruling classes.

Isaiah’s father, Amoz, is not to be identified with the prophet Amos, who ministered a generation earlier in the northern kingdom. The spelling of these two names is different both in Hebrew and in English. Isaiah was a highly educated man who lived mainly in Jerusalem. He ministered to God’s people roughly from 742 to 700 BC in an era of great political tumult.

What little is known about Isaiah’s death is derived from extrabiblical sources. There are several traditions that, when taken together, strongly suggest Isaiah may have suffered martyrdom under Manasseh, who succeeded Hezekiah.

Isaiah was a son of Jerusalem. The book is full of Isaiah’s love and concern for the city. He believed the city was representative of the people as a whole.

[Copyright © Baker Photo Archive. Courtesy of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. ]

Clearly Isaiah was well acquainted with the city of Jerusalem, the temple (1:11–15), the ways of the rich, and the suffering of the poor. Because of his love for Jerusalem, he never delights in the messages of doom to the city and her inhabitants. He pictures the city as a shelter in a vineyard (1:8), and he gratefully speaks about God’s mercy and desire to call a remnant who will return to Jerusalem after the exile and share in the joy God has prepared for the city and her population:

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy. (65:18)

Even though it is nowhere clearly stated where Isaiah was born and raised, all indications point to a man who knew the city of Jerusalem, walked in it, and loved it as the city God had chosen in which to establish his name and glory.

Historical Context

The beginning of Isaiah’s ministry can be dated by the reference to Uzziah’s death (ca. 740 BC) in 6:1. Under Uzziah, Judah gained remarkable economic achievements (2 Chron. 26:6–15) and made an attempt to reassert herself as a political power. Following Uzziah’s death, Judah would be cast into the midst of a stream of international developments that would leave her a vassal state of the Assyrian Empire. During his ministry, Isaiah witnessed the fall of Aram (Syria) and Israel as well as the desolation of Judah by the Assyrians.

Succeeding Uzziah, Jotham (750–732 BC) ruled a nation that was materially strong but corrupt in her values and apostate in her adherence to Yahweh. Hosea and Amos had condemned the excesses of wealth and injustice in the north, and Isaiah brought the same condemnation against the southern kingdom. Jotham died in peace while the Assyrian fist was being raised toward Aram, Israel, and Judah. Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul in 2 Kings 15:19) subjugated cities lying on the route from Nineveh to Damascus. When Jotham died, the handwriting was on the wall.

A king who plays a more prominent role in the book of Isaiah is Ahaz. He ruled over Judah from 732 to 716 BC. Though Ahaz was not the kind of man to seek a prophet’s counsel, God sent him a word of encouragement through Isaiah (chap. 7).

A painting of the prophet Isaiah by Duccio di Buoninsegna (AD 1308–11) [Copyright © The Yorck Project / Wikimedia.]

Second Chronicles enumerates a list of objectionable practices instituted by Ahaz and explains the idolatrous practices and the reason for Ahaz’s international troubles (28:2–8). The book of Isaiah presents Ahaz as a man imprudent in political affairs. The alliance of Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, was intended to create a buffer against the expansionist drive of Assyria. In order to accomplish this, the allied kings needed Ahaz to join their confederacy. When he refused, Rezin and Pekah marched against Ahaz, intending to dethrone him and to set up a king in Ahaz’s place who would be sympathetic to their political scheming (2 Kings 16:5; Isa. 7:6). Ahaz was greatly disturbed about the Syro-Ephraimite