Isaiah in Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. Yesh'yahu, i.e., "the salvation of Jehovah"). (1.)
The son
of Amoz (Isa. 1:1; 2:1), who was apparently a man of
humble
rank. His wife was called "the prophetess" (8:3),
either because
she was endowed with the prophetic gift, like
Deborah (Judg.
4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), or simply
because she was
the wife of "the prophet" (Isa. 38:1). He had two
sons, who bore
symbolical names.
He exercised the functions of his office during the
reigns of
Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
(1:1). Uzziah
reigned fifty-two years (B.C. 810-759), and Isaiah
must have
begun his career a few years before Uzziah's death,
probably
B.C. 762. He lived till the fourteenth year of
Hezekiah, and in
all likelihood outlived that monarch (who died B.C.
698), and
may have been contemporary for some years with
Manasseh. Thus
Isaiah may have prophesied for the long period of at
least
sixty-four years.
His first call to the prophetical office is not
recorded. A
second call came to him "in the year that King
Uzziah died"
(Isa. 6:1). He exercised his ministry in a spirit of
uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to
all that bore
on the interests of religion. He conceals nothing
and keeps
nothing back from fear of man. He was also noted for
his
spirituality and for his deep-toned reverence toward
"the holy
One of Israel."...
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