Don Parry describes some of the issues regarding the authorship of Isaiah.
- Type
- Book
- Hearsay
- DirectSecondary
- Reference
Donald Parry, "Questions and Responses," Search Diligently the Word of Isaiah (Provo: Religious Studies Center, BYU) 199-205
- Scribe/Publisher
- BYU Religious Studies Center
- People
- John W. Welch, A. J. Rosenberg, Victor L. Ludlow, J. Alec Motyer, John N. Oswalt, John Kennedy, Gary E. Schnittjer, Letitia D. Jeffreys, Kent P. Jackson, Charles C. Torrey, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Aaron Kaminka, John Gee, LeGrande Davies, Donald W. Parry, J. J. Lias, Martin Anstey, James E. Talmage, Rachel Margalioth, Sidney B. Sperry, B. H. Roberts, Edward J. Young
- Audience
- Reading Public, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
PDF- Transcription
Question. What about Isaiah multiple-authorship theories?
Answer. Many diverse opinions and hypotheses exist regarding the authorship of the book of Isaiah, leading prominent biblical scholars throughout the world to disagree regarding its authorship. Because of the diverse opinions and many publications that deal with the multiple-authorship theories, I cannot fully review them in this brief Question and Response section of the book. For those who wish to conduct in-depth studies, I propose that they review the literature.
The current major convictions and theories regarding the authorship of Isaiah include the following: (1) One author-Isaiah, the son of Amoz. (2) Two authors; this theory holds that the book of Isaiah was authored by two individuals. Scholars refer to them as "First Isaiah," who allegedly wrote chapters 1-39, and "Second Isaiah" (also called "Deutero-Isaiah"), who purportedly composed Isaiah 40-66. (3) Three authors; according to this theory, Isaiah was written by three different authors. These are referred to as "First Isaiah" (chapters 1-39), "Second Isaiah" (chapters 40-55), and "Third Isaiah" (also called "Trito-Isaiah," chapters 56-66). (4) Many authors (perhaps dozens). Yehuda T. Radday states, "And so, chaps. 40-66 have now become split into numerous, some say seventy, rather disconnected pieces." John McKenzie writes, "Most of the book of Isaiah does not come from the Prophet Isaiah... The book is a compendium of many types of prophecy from diverse periods." (5) Constant scribal intervention-that is, continuous editing from many scribes. Gary E. Schnittjer explains that many scholars "approach the book as though it was under constant scribal intervention from Isaiah's own day until well into the Persian Empire."
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Question. Some biblical scholars claim that virtually all scholars now agree that Isaiah was written by various authors and that the matter is closed. Is that claim correct?
Answer. There are in fact dozens of Biblical scholars who have argued for the unity of the book of Isaiah.
- Citations in Mormonr Qnas
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