How many parts of Isaiah are there?

Answer 1

Religious Opinions

Answer 1

Jewish tradition has always been that the entire book of Isaiah was written by the one and only prophet by that name.

Answer 2

There is a dissenting religious opinion that the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah were written by one prophet and the remaining chapters of that book were written by a second entirely different prophet. Both of these prophets would be named Isaiah, but be entirely different individuals.

Scholarly Opinions

Answer 1

Scholarly analysis shows that there are three different Isaiahs in the Book of Isaiah. The first, occupying chapters 1-39, is termed Proto-Isaiah and is the words of the 8th-century BCE prophet with 7th-century BCE expansions. The second is called Deutero-Isaiah and occupies chapters 40-55. Deutero-Isaiah is believed to be the work of a 6th-century BCE author writing near the end of the Babylonian captivity. The third, finishing the book with chapter 56-66 is named Trito-Isaiah and is believed to have composed the poetry in Jerusalem shortly after the return from exile and may have even been only an aggregator of others' poetry.

Answer 2

The Book of Isaiah was written by just one prophet, by that name. Non-traditional theories claiming more than one author of the Book of Isaiah are based upon zero physical evidence. The Septuagint and the Dead Sea scrolls (and all other ancient sources) include the complete text of Isaiah, refuting the "Deutero Isaiah" theory.

Answer 3

The Book of Isaiah was written by just one prophet, by that name. Non-traditional theories claiming more than one author of the Book of Isaiah are based upon zero physical evidence. The Septuagint and the Dead Sea scrolls (and all other ancient sources) include the complete text of Isaiah, refuting the "Deutero Isaiah" theory.See:

One Isaiah (a Christian post)

Refuting the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

The authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Archaeology

Answer 4

There was only one prophet Isaiah - Isaiah, son of Amoz, who wrote of events during the reigns of the Judahite kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

Where the confusion comes in is that the Book of Isaiah, in the form it comes down to us, was added to by two further authors who lived long after Isaiah's death. Since we do not know the names of these anonymous authors, scholars usually refer to them as Second Isaiah (or II Isaiah) for Isaiah chapters 40-55, and as Third Isaiah (or III Isaiah) for Isaiah chapters 55-66.

Answer 5

There was only one Old Testament prophet called Isaiah - Isaiah, son of Amoz, who wrote of the things he saw during the reign of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. However, there were two anonymous writers who contributed additions to the Book of Isaiah, one during the Babylonian Exile more than one hundred years after the time of Isaiah, and one who wrote after the Return from Exile. At first, it seems they were separate books but by the time the Septuagint was written, in about the second century BCE, they had clearly been incorporated into one Book of Isaiah.

The fact that the Book of Isaiah now covers the periods of the Babylonian Exile and the Return is evidence enough of the further two authors, now known for convenience as II Isaiah and III Isaiah, given that these events occurred long after the death of First Isaiah. Further proof that the later material was not written by Isaiah, son of Amoz, as prophecies is in his opening address (verse 1:1) which tells us what period he would write about and therefore excludes any prophecies or future events.

Answer 6

The Book of Isaiah was written by just one prophet, by that name. Non-traditional theories claiming more than one author of the Book of Isaiah are based upon zero physical evidence. The Septuagint and the Dead Sea scrolls (and all other ancient sources) include the complete text of Isaiah, refuting the "Deutero Isaiah" theory.See:

One Isaiah (a Christian post)

Refuting the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

The authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Archaeology

Answer 7

The Book of Isaiah was written by just one prophet, by that name. Non-traditional theories claiming more than one author of the Book of Isaiah are based upon zero physical evidence and are refuted by the fact that the Septuagint and the Dead Sea scrolls (and all other ancient sources) include the complete text of Isaiah.See also the Related Links.

Link: One Isaiah (a Christian post)

Link: Refuting the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

Link: The authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Link: Archaeology

Answer 8

Quite a lot - lots of people call their children "Isaiah" (after the prophet in the Old Testament).