Prophet Old Testament

Prophet Isaiah

Also known as Isaias

The great prophet of Judah, of royal lineage, who in vision beheld the glory of God and foretold with surpassing clearness the coming of the Messiah and the Virgin birth; by tradition he was sawn asunder in his old age.

Feast Day

May 9

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Commemorated as

The Holy Prophet Isaiah

Life

Isaiah is among the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, ministering in the Kingdom of Judah in the eighth century before Christ. He prophesied across the reigns of several kings of Judah and is remembered above all for the clarity with which he foretold the coming of the Messiah, including the prophecy of a virgin who would conceive and bear a son. The Church commemorates him on May 9.

By tradition he was of royal lineage; Jewish sources reckon him a descendant of Judah and relate his father Amoz to the royal house. He was married, and the prophetic books name two sons whose symbolic names — meaning "a remnant shall return" and "quick to the spoil" — themselves carried his message to the people of Judah.

His prophecies and the great book that bears his name made him a central witness, in Christian reading, to the incarnation, suffering, and resurrection of Christ, so that he is often called the Old Testament evangelist. By ancient tradition he was put to death in his old age, sawn asunder under King Manasseh.

In his own words Read Hide

Here am I; send me.

Isaiah, 6:8 · King James Version (PD)

Timeline 4 moments Read Hide

8th century BC Prophetic ministry in Judah Isaiah prophesied in the Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, a ministry tradition reckons at some sixty years; the synaxarion extends it into the reign of Manasseh.
8th century BC The vision in the temple His calling is marked by a vision in which he beheld the Lord enthroned in glory, attended by six-winged Seraphim crying "Holy, Holy, Holy"; a Seraph touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar and commissioned him to call the people to repentance.
Reign of Hezekiah Counsel during the Assyrian crisis Isaiah served as counselor to King Hezekiah when Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah, urging the king to stand firm; tradition relates that the prophet's intercession added fifteen years to Hezekiah's life.
Reign of Manasseh Martyrdom By tradition Isaiah was put to death in his old age under King Manasseh, sawn asunder with a wooden saw.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

The evangelist among the prophets

Isaiah is distinguished among the prophets by the breadth and clarity of his messianic prophecy. Christian tradition reads in his book the foretelling of the virgin birth ("Behold, a virgin shall conceive"), the suffering and rejection of the Messiah, the calling of the nations, and the establishment of a universal Church — themes so explicit that he is honored as a kind of evangelist before the Gospel.

The great book that bears his name opens with the vision of God enthroned amid the Seraphim, an image that has entered the worship of the Church. Its language of comfort, repentance, and redemption has shaped Christian reading of the prophets, and passages of it are appointed for the great feasts of the Lord and the Theotokos.

Death and veneration

By an ancient tradition preserved in Jewish and Christian sources alike, Isaiah was martyred in his old age, sawn in two under King Manasseh, who had turned from the faith of his fathers. The image of the prophet "sawn asunder" became a fixed part of his memory in the Church.

His relics are reported to have been translated to Constantinople, and portions are venerated on Mount Athos. He is commemorated in the Orthodox calendar on May 9.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints