- Isaiah in rabbinic literature
Isaiah inrabbinic literature .Ancestry
According to the ancient rabbis, Isaiah was a descendant of Judah and Tamar (
Sotah 10b). His father was a prophet and the brother of King Amaziah (Talmud tractate Megillah 15a). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ]Isaiah chosen as a prophet
While Isaiah, says the
Midrash , was walking up and down in his study he heard God saying, "Whom shall I send ?" [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Then Isaiah said, "Here am I; send me!" [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Thereupon God said to him," My children are trouble-some and sensitive; if thou art ready to be insulted and even beaten by them, thou mayest accept My message; if not, thou wouldst better renounce it" (Lev. R. x.). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Isaiah accepted the mission, and was the most forbearing, as well as the most ardent patriot, among the Prophets, always defending Israel and imploring forgiveness for its sins. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] He was therefore distinguished from all other prophets in that he received his communications directly from God and not through an intermediary (ib.). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] When Isaiah said, "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (vi. 5) he was rebuked by God for speaking in such terms of His people (Canticles Rabba 1.6). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ]His greatness
In the order of greatness Isaiah is placed immediately after
Moses by the Rabbis; in some respects Isaiah surpasses evenMoses , for he reduced the commandments to six: honesty in dealing; sincerity in speech; refusal of illicit gain; absence of corruption; aversion for bloody deeds; contempt for evil (Mak. 24a). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Later he reduced the six to two-justice and charity (ib.). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] The chief merit of Isaiah's prophecies is their consoling character, for whileMoses said, "Thou shalt perish in the midst of the nation," [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Isaiah announced deliverance. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Ezekiel's consoling addresses compared with Isaiah's are as the utterances of a villager to the speech of a courtier (Ḥag. 14a). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Therefore consolation is awaiting him who sees Isaiah in a dream (Ber. 57b). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ]Death of Isaiah
It is related in the
Talmud that RabbiSimeon ben Azzai found in Jerusalem an account wherein it was written thatKing Manasseh killed Isaiah. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] King Manasseh said to Isaiah, "Moses, thy master, said, 'There shall no man see God and live' [Ex. xxxiii. 20, Hebr.] ; [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] but thou hast said, 'I saw the Lord seated upon his throne'" (Isa. vi. 1, Hebr.); [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] and went on to point out other contradictions—as between Deut. iv. 7 and Isa. lv. 6; between Ex. xxxiii. 26 and II Kings xx. 6. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] Isaiah thought: "I know that he will not accept my explanations; why should I increase his guilt?" [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] He then uttered the Unpronounceable Name, a cedar-tree opened, and Isaiah disappeared within it. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] ThenKing Manasseh ordered the cedar to be sawn asunder, and when the saw reached his mouth Isaiah died; thus was he punished for having said, "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (Yeb. 49b). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] A somewhat different version of this legend is given in the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhedrin x.). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] According to that version Isaiah, fearingKing Manasseh , hid himself in a cedar-tree, but his presence was betrayed by the fringes of his garment, andKing Manasseh caused the tree to be sawn in half. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] A passage of the Targum to Isaiah quoted by Jolowicz ("Die Himmelfahrt und Vision des Prophets Jesajas"," p. 8) states that when Isaiah fled from his pursuers and took refuge in the tree, and the tree was sawn in half, the prophet's blood spurted forth. [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ] From Talmudical circles the legend of Isaiah's martyrdom was transmitted to the Arabs ("Ta'rikh," ed. De Goeje, i. 644). [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=261&letter=I&search=isaiah#1 JewishEncyclopedia.com - ISAIAH ] ]Notes
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