Editing Isaiah (section)

==In rabbinic literature==
[[File:Antonio Balestra - Prophet Isaiah.jpg|thumb|Painting of Isaiah by [[Antonio Balestra]]]]
Allusions in [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[rabbinic literature]] to Isaiah contain various expansions, elaborations and inferences that go beyond what is presented in the text of the Bible.

===Origin and calling===
According to the ancient rabbis, Isaiah was a descendant of [[Judah (Biblical figure)|Judah]] and [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]],<ref>[[Sotah]] 10b</ref> and his father [[Amoz]] was the brother of [[Amaziah of Judah|King Amaziah]].<ref>[[Talmud]] tractate [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]] 15a</ref>

While Isaiah, says the [[Midrash]], was walking up and down in his study he heard [[Names of God in Judaism|God]] saying "Whom shall I send?" Then Isaiah said "Here am I; send me!" Thereupon God said to him," My children are troublesome and sensitive; if you are ready to be insulted and even beaten by them, you may accept My message; if not, you would better renounce it".<ref>[[Leviticus Rabbah]] 10</ref> Isaiah accepted the mission, and was the most forbearing, as well as the most patriotic, among the prophets, always defending Israel and imploring forgiveness for its sins. When Isaiah said "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips",<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|6:5|HE}}</ref> he was rebuked by God for speaking in such terms of His people.<ref>[[Shir haShirim Rabbah]] 1:6</ref>

Further accounts state that Isaiah was actually the maternal grandfather of [[Manasseh of Judah|King Manasseh]],<ref>{{cite web |year=1906 |title="Hezekiah". ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7668-hezekiah |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> which would make [[Hephzibah|Queen Consort Hephzibah]] from [[2 Kings 21]]:1 his daughter and [[Hezekiah|King Hezekiah]] his son-in-law. Hephzibah's name (lit. 'my delight (is) in her') was used as a symbolic name for [[Zion]] following its restoration to the favor of [[Yahweh]] in [[Isaiah 62#Verse 4|Isaiah 62]].<ref>BibleGateway.com, All the Women of the Bible, [http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Hephzibah Hephzibah]. Accessed 2014-04-01.</ref>

===His death===
It is related in the [[Talmud]] that Rabbi [[Simeon ben Azzai]] found in Jerusalem an account wherein it was written that [[Manasseh of Judah|King Manasseh]] killed Isaiah. King Manasseh said to Isaiah "Moses, your master, said 'No man may see God and live';<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Exodus|33:20|HE}}</ref> but you have said 'I saw the Lord seated upon his throne'";<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|6:1|HE}}</ref> and went on to point out other contradictions—as between Deuteronomy<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|4:7|HE}}</ref> and Isaiah 40;<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Isaiah|40:6|HE}}</ref> between Exodus 33<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse||Exodus|33:23|HE}}</ref> and 2 Kings<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|Kings|20:6|HE}}</ref> Isaiah thought: "I know that he will not accept my explanations; why should I increase his guilt?" He then uttered the [[tetragrammaton]], a cedar-tree opened, and Isaiah disappeared within it. King Manasseh ordered the cedar to be sawn asunder, and when the saw reached his mouth Isaiah died; thus was he punished for having said "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips".<ref>[[Yeb.|Yevamot]] 49b</ref>

A somewhat different version of this legend is given in the [[Jerusalem Talmud]].<ref>Yerushalmi, [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] 10</ref> According to that version Isaiah, fearing King Manasseh, hid himself in a cedar-tree, but his presence was betrayed by the [[zizith|fringes of his garment]], and King Manasseh caused the tree to be sawn in half. A passage of the [[Targum]] to Isaiah quoted by Jolowicz<ref>"''Die Himmelfahrt und Vision des Prophets Jesajas''," p. 8</ref> states that when Isaiah fled from his pursuers and took refuge in the tree, and the tree was sawn in half, the prophet's blood spurted forth. The legend of Isaiah's martyrdom spread to the Arabs<ref>"Ta'rikh," ed. De Goeje, i. 644</ref> and to the Christians as, for example, [[Athanasius]] the [[bishop of Alexandria]] ({{circa}} 318) wrote, "Isaiah was sawn asunder".<ref>{{cite book |author=Athanasius |title=On the Incarnation |year=2018 |publisher=GLH Publishing |isbn=978-1-948648-24-0 |page=59}}</ref>