Isaiahישעיהו

740 BCE – 700 BCE · Jerusalembiblical

Description

Isaiah was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.

Born	8th century BC
Died	7th century BC
Venerated in	Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baháʼí Faith, Rastafari
Feast	May 9, Thursday after the Feast of the Transfiguration (Armenian Apostolic Church)
Major works	Book of Isaiah

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Topic	Summary
Biography	The first verse of the Book of Isaiah states that Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah.
In Judaism	In addition to Isaiah’s origination in Judaism’s Hebrew Bible Book of Isaiah, references to the Israelite prophet in Jewish rabbinic literature contain various expansions, elaborations, and inferences.
In Christianity	The Ascension of Isaiah, a pseudepigraphical Christian text dated to sometime between the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 3rd, gives a detailed story of Isaiah confronting an evil false prophet and ending with Isaiah being martyred – none of which is attested in the original Biblical account.
In Islam	Isaiah (Arabic: إِشَعْيَاء, romanized: Ishaʿyāʾ) is not mentioned by name in the Quran or the Hadith, but appears frequently as a prophet in Muslim sources such as the qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ and various tafsirs.
Archaeology	In February 2018, archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced that she and her team had discovered a small seal impression which reads "[belonging] to Isaiah nvy" (could be reconstructed and read as "[belonging] to Isaiah the prophet") during the Ophel excavations, just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Key prophetic utterances and visions attributed to Isaiah, with sources.

Prophecy / vision	Source
A virgin conceives and bears a son, Immanuel	Isa 7:14
A child is born; the Prince of Peace on David's throne forever	Isa 9:6-7
A shoot from the stump of Jesse; the Spirit of YHWH rests on him	Isa 11:1-2
The Servant bears the sins of many and makes intercession	Isa 53:11-12
New heavens and a new earth; the former not remembered	Isa 65:17