When was the Book of Isaiah written?

Answer 1

Most Jews and Christians have accepted that Isaiah is the author of the book bearing his name, for a variety of reasons ranging from traditional acceptance of his authorship , the lack of mention of another author in ancient or other texts, and the greater number of similarities than differences between the two books. The writing date is placed in the eighth century BC.

Answer

The Dead Sea Scrolls have effectively put an end to the arguments regarding the splitting up of Isaiah since in 100BC, over 500 years earlier than previous manuscript evidence, an entire Isaiah scroll was found - not split up in any way. However, the old presuppositional arguments first used in the 19th century still are used by some since it is too inconvenient to allow The Bible to be true and correct as written, even though the actual evidence points that way. Arguments which split up Isaiah are effectively arguments from silence, as well as arguments against the unanimous and actual evidence in favor of unity and the earlier date in the eighth century BC under the relevant Kings of Israel.

One of the major reasons for placing the later section of Isaiah into a later period is a specific belief that predictive prophecy is impossible. Thus all of the predictions concerning Cyrus and the Babylonian captivity are placed into a later period, even though there is no indication in the text itself that this is necessary.

In fact, for this approach to be carried through consistently, it would have to be necessary to assert that when Isaiah was writing about the Messiah, Jesus Christ, in passages such as chapter 53, that this portion of Isaiah was therefore written in Jesus time. Such is of course preposterous.

Those who hold the deutero-Isaiah theory state that a period of one and a half centuries has been omitted and that the book recommenced then (obviously with a different author). One of the problems with this assertion is that the historical section which deals with Hezekiah particularly ends in the end of chapter 39. The rest of the book is predictive prophecy with no historical narratives whatever. It is not at all correct to suggest or assert that this is anything other than an assumption based on a presupposition as the text itself is clearly prophetic and not historical and contrasts sharply with the historical narrative that goes before.

There are no indications anywhere in the book of Isaiah that any long periods of time have been omitted. The preface in 1:1 indicates the Kings under which Isaiah prophesied. This gives a definite historical time-frame in which the book in its entirety would have been written. That the second portion of the book changes its focus from judgment to prophecy, especially comfort and consolation, says nothing about any necessity of postulating a later authorship.

Summary:

Isaiah's long ministry went from 740 to 680 BC and his prophecies were undoubtedly from this period. There is no valid reason to doubt the authenticity of the entire work, or even of any part of it, nor is there any valid evidence that it was written by more than one author.

Counter Argument

I first commented on the comments page but had to add something here for the sincerely inquisitive reader. Truth is difficult to nail down especially when dealing with texts that are thousands of years old. The entire Old Testament has come together from various parchments and tablets and scrolls from different sources, and even the final order it appears in today in our bibles has no consensus amongst scholars.

It is well documented that the various translations and interpretations of so much ancient text is bound to be riddled with errors, coming sometimes through non original translations, but also some documents have simply been edited and amended to suit the leaders of the time.

Most of the views expressed in the above article would fall under what is regarded as the "traditional view".

The Book of Isaiah, as it now appears in our Old Testament, contains far more detail than can be attributed to the prophet Isaiah alone. As a whole, the book is a rather large collection of writings that when scrutinized appear to have been produced by a number of different authors, some of whom were separated by relatively long periods of time. Old Testament scholars have long recognized that Chapters 1--39 constitute a unit that is quite separate and distinct from Chapters 40--66.

Generally, Chapters 1--39 are attributed to the prophet Isaiah. These chapters deal primarily with Judah and Jerusalem at a time when the city was still standing and when the southern kingdom was threatened with invasion by the Assyrians. The group of chapters beginning with Chapter 40 appears to have been written from the point of view of conditions that prevailed more than a century later. In fact, the author indicates very clearly that the Babylonian captivity has existed for a long time, yet this came after Isaiah. He believes that the punishment is nearly complete; the time is close at hand when the captives will return to their homeland and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, which has long been in ruins. But Jerusalem was destroyed some considerable time after Isaiah's death.

Putting it in context there was a political purpose in making scriptural pronouncements to try and return the Jews to their homeland. There is only a few references to Zion in verses 1-39, but Zion is referred time and again after verse 40. The motivation to retain the Jewish identity and community was very strong as it it was bound to be, and the agenda for verses 40-66 is writ large.

A careful reading of each of these two groups of chapters reveals that the prophet Isaiah did not write all of the first thirty nine chapters, nor did one person write all that is contained in Chapters 40--66. Ample evidence indicates the work of several different authors. The editors who assembled the entire collection of manuscripts probably placed them all under the name of Isaiah because they were quite certain of those materials that belonged to him, and putting them all together indicated their location in the sacred writings rather than precise authorship of each part. It also lent a great deal of authority to the verses as the Jews, the majority of whom would be relatively illiterate, would nevertheless have known of the famous prophet Isaiah. In fact, much of what was written in Jeremiah followed in the tradition of Isaiah 1-39.

The present Book of Isaiah is a compilation and had two, and probably three main authors. First Isaiah, signing as Isaiah son of Amoz, wrote during the eighth century BCE, regarding things that he saw during the reigns of Kings Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. Second Isaiah wrote more than a hundred years later, during the Babylonian Exile. Third Isaiah wrote of events after the Return from Exile.

Jewish answer:

According to our tradition, Isaiah (who was an Israelite prophet) wrote the entire book which bears his name, in the first half of the sixth century BCE.

Another answer

Late 8th century BCE

Answer 2

The Book of Isaiah was a composite work by three authors or sources now known as I Isaiah, II Isaiah and III Isaiah, whose lives and experiences were separated by many decades.
Isaiah 1:1 introduces the book as the work of Isaiah, son of Amoz, who lived in the reigns of the Judahite kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He did not claim to have lived during the Babylonian Exile, and in fact such a claim which would have spanned a ministry of more than 200 years. Because there were three authors of the book, this Isaiah is generally referred to as I Isaiah or First Isaiah. This contribution was probably written early in the seventh century BCE.

The Book of Isaiah omits the 150 year period from Hezekiah to the fall of Jerusalem and recommences with the Babylonian Exile. The anonymous author of this work is generally referred to as Second Isaiah, and wrote Isaiah chapters 40-55 in the middle of thesixth century BCE.

Another anonymous source, now known as Third Isaiah, or Trito-Isaiah, wrote the final chapters shortly after the Return from Exile.

Answer 3

The Book of Isaiah, like the rest of the Hebrew Bible (O.T.) is a Jewish work and was preserved, taught and handed down by the Jewish people. It is they who have the inside information concerning the lives of the Prophets. According to our tradition, Isaiah (who was an Israelite prophet) wrote the entire book which bears his name, in the first half of the sixth century BCE. No physical evidence to contradict this has ever been found. On the contrary, complete texts of Isaiah which have been found, go back as far as 2100 years ago. See also:

Debunking the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

How many Isaiahs?

Archaeology

Answer 4

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