Case For the Unity of Isaiah

I. Jewish tradition.

1. In fact, there is no record of anyone denying Isaiah's authorship of chapters 40-66 in the Old Testament period
2. The book of Ecclesiasticus (a non-canonical book written in the early second century B.C.) writes:
   • "By the Spirit of might he (Isaiah) saw the last things, and comforted those who mourned in Zion (a reference to Isaiah 61:3)." (Ecclesiasticus 48:24)
3. Josephus: Antiquities XI, 3-6 --i. 1-2

II. The name of the "Deutero-Isaiah" was not preserved

A most formidable difficulty is presented to the Deutero-Isaiah theory by the fact that the author's name was not preserved. It is quite inconceivable that his name should have been forgotten had he been some individual other than the eighth-century Isaiah himself. By the admission of the dissectionist critics themselves, no sublimer passages of prophecy are to be found in the entire Old Testament than are contained in Isaiah II. It is commonly conceded that the author of these passages must be regarded as the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets. How could it have come about that such a preeminent genius should have diminished so rapidly in stature that by the third century B.C. when the Septuagint was translated, his name should have been completely forgotten? (Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 356).

III. The style of writing in the period of the Exile differs too greatly from that of Isaiah 40-66

1. The writing of Isaiah 40-66 is a pure form of Hebrew
2. Jewish writings from Babylon during the Exile (such as the books of Ezra and Nehemiah) show evidence of:
   1. Babylonian words mixed with the Hebrew
   2. Aramaic influence

IV. The issue of headings

1. Isaiah's name appears in the headings of chapters 2, 7, 13, 20, 38, 39.
2. The heading in 1:1 is sufficient to cover the entire book
3. "The absence of a heading at the beginning of chapters 40 and 56 is particularly significant" (Grogan, 10).

V. The Dead Sea Scrolls

1. The "Saint Mark scroll" (1Q Isaa) -- c. 150 B.C.
2. The "Hebrew University Scroll" (1Q Isab)

VI. The testimony of the New Testament

1. This alone settles the matter for the true Christian:

New Testament Passage Way the Quotation was Introduced Passage from Isaiah Source Quoted

New Testament Passage	Way the Quotation was Introduced	Passage from Isaiah	Source Quoted
Mt. 3:3	the prophet Isaiah	40:3	II
Mt. 8:7	Isaiah the prophet	53:4	II (III)
Mt. 12:17	Isaiah the prophet	42:1	II
Mt. 13:14	the prophecy of Isaiah	6:9-10	I
Mt. 15:7	Isaiah prophesied	29:13	I
Mk. 1:2	in Isaiah the prophet	40:3	II
Mk. 7:6	Isaiah prophesied	29:13	I
Luke 4:17	in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet	53:1	II (III)
John 1:23	the prophet Isaiah	40:3	II
John 12:38	Isaiah the prophet	40:3	II
John 12:39	Isaiah said again	6:9-10	I
John 12:41	Isaiah said-saw-spake	53:1; 6:9-10	I, II
Acts 8:28	reading Isaiah the prophet	53:7-8	II (III)
Acts 8:30	reading the prophet Isaiah	53:7-8	II (III)
Acts 28:25	Well spake the Holy Ghost through Isaiah the prophet	6:9-10	I
Rom. 9:27	Isaiah cries	10:22-23	I
Rom. 9:29	As Isaiah said before	1:9	I
Rom. 10:16	Isaiah says	53:1	II (III)
Rom. 10:20	Isaiah becomes bold and says	65:1	III

Source: Edward Young, Introduction to the Old Testament.

VII. An understanding of the theology of God that Isaiah presents

An understanding of God's unique knowledge of the future: "the end from the beginning."

1. What kind of knowledge does God have and reveal according to Isaiah?

1. Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? `I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.'" (Isaiah 41:4)
2. "Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob. 22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. (Isaiah 41:21-23).
3. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. (Isaiah 44:7, NKJV).
4. Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, `My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' (Isaiah 46:10).
5. "I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze, 5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, `My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.' 6 "You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them. 7 They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, `Of course I knew them.' (Isaiah 48:3-7).

"His is not a late anonymous writing picked up and attached to the earlier book by accident. Nor is his work a pious fraud claiming the authority of the great old prophet Isaiah. He claims to predict the future because he gives the word of a God who differs from the idols of the heathen (Isa 41:22; 42:9; 44:7-9; 45:4; 46:10; 48:3-6…). Cyrus himself is pictured as coming in answer to prediction, and the poem predicting his work is a climax and crescendo of prophecy. That the alternatives left by such studies are that these chapters in Isaiah are the words of a cheat and a liar, is too much to allow." (R.L. Harris, "Isaiah," ZPEB)

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