Arguments made in support of
the tradition include the following. (1) The opening verse attributes
the work to “Isaiah the son of Amoz” (1:1). This passage appears to be a
heading, not merely for the book’s opening chapter or section, but for the
entire canonical work, as indicated by the reference to Israel’s prophetic gift
of “seeing” extending over the reigns of several kings of Judah. (2)
There are no oracles in the book attributed to a prophet other than Isaiah, nor
has history preserved any alternative tradition to suggest that oracles uttered
by other prophets have been added to the collection of prophecies preserved in
Isaiah’s name. (3) The book presents Isaiah, not only as a prophet who
spoke to his own generation in the eighty century B.C., but also as one who
foretold events in the sixth century B.C., such as the Babylonian Exile of Judah
(39:6) and the fall of Babylon itself (13:1-22). Assuming the possibility of
predictive prophet, these internal claims of the book are consistent with its
contents, parts of which deal with the eighth century (chaps. 1-39), and parts
of which deal with the sixth and fifth centuries (chaps. 40-66). (4) It
is increasingly recognized among scholars that the Book of Isaiah is a unified
literary work. A clear indication of this is the recurrence of images and
expressions that stretch across the entire book from beginning to end. For instance,
(a) the Lord is called “the Holy One of Israel” throughout the book in early
chapters as well as later ones (1:4; 10:20; 17:7; 41:14; 43:3; 54:5; 60:9); (b)
the eschatological visions of the book consistently focus on Zion, the Lord’s
holy mountain, as the place where Isael and all nations will assemble for
worship (2:2-3; 11:9; 25:6-9; 56:7-8; 65:25; 66:20); (c) the way of salvation
for God’s people reappears throughout the book as a highway that runs through
the wilderness (11:16; 19:23; 35:8; 40:3; 62:10); and (d) the Lord’s holy “arm”,
signifying his saving power, is an image distributed across all parts of the
book (30:32; 33:2; 40:10; 48:14; 59:16; 63:12). Such consistency of language and
imagery is readily explained—and even to be expected—if a single prophet stands
behind the entire work. And since ancient sources are unanimous in crediting
the book to a single prophet, Isaiah of Jerusalem, modern-day proponents insist
that the tradition of Isaianic authorship remains a defensible position on
internal grounds. (“Introduction to Isaiah,” in The Ignatius Catholic Study
Bible, ed. Scott Hahn and Curtis J. Mitch [San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
2024], 1163)
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