Editing Isaiah (section)

===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>