Bible Study on Isaiah 1, verse 1, Isaiah the son of Amoz

 

Isaiah 1:1 ¶  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

In most of history people did not use surnames like ours often based on location of our ancestry, the work that an ancestor performed, or some other identifier but refer to their name and the son of so-and-so.

The internal title of Isaiah is further refined in 2:1;

Isaiah 2:1 ¶  The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Here also are listed kings that Isaiah prophesied under. Here are examples of passages referring to him in 2Kings and 2Chronicles. He features prominently in interactions with King Hezekiah.

2Kings 19:2  And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz…20  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

2Kings 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

2Chronicles 26:22  Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

2Chronicles 32:20  And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven…32  Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

On one level the context will be Judah and Jerusalem. On another level he looks forward to Christ’s first and then second advent. Then, finally, Isaiah reaches out into eternity.