Isaiah, Prince of Prophets

It is hoped that this book will serve as a study guide to the Book of Isaiah. As such it does not seek to supply all the material one should study, but only the background information one needs if he is to use the commentaries helpfully.

Chapters six through nine were originally written as part of a doctoral dissertation on the thorny problem of the unity and authorship of Isaiah. The position taken on this issue does not agree with the majority of scholars today, but is supported by a historical review of the literature, and by the argument that the philosophical presuppositions of a scholar deeply colors his view of the evidence. In the dissertation, this study of the problem was accompanied by a commentary on the whole Book of Isaiah, in which the internal evidence for unity and authorship of the Book is displayed. This commentary, in a less thoroughly documented form, is in print in Volume III of The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969).

The remainder of the book is based on class notes used in teaching a course on Isaiah at Gulf Coast Bible College. The questions of eager students have helped to shape the material. My prayer is that it will be useful to many more students of the Word.