Isaiah 1:1-2

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 1:1 This first part of the Book presents Isaiah himself and his message, although some sections are clearly from a later date, such as chapters 24–27; 34–35, which are often called “the Isaiah apocalypses.” But the oracles in the collection do not follow a strict chronological order.
   In the midst of political upheaval, Isaiah proclaimed the greatness of God, the “Holy One of Israel,” who governs the world. He opposed King Ahaz, who nonetheless called on Assyria for help and came under its control; he opposed Hezekiah, who wanted to defy Assyria by allying himself with Egypt. Such insecure and shifting alliances could do nothing to change the fate of the people of God; the nation would, however, be safe if it learned to emphasize above all else its covenant with God, in which justice was a supreme value. Judah should have found within itself the courage for a moral renewal. Yet the people of the covenant remain strong thanks above all to their faith.
2. Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah: thus begins the book; Isaiah in fact remains an unparalleled seer in the history of humanity. The title, “Vision,” applies above all to the first twelve chapters. Nothing, whether the powers of this world, or external events, or domestic intrigues, can turn the prophet’s gaze from the holiness of God, before whom everything else disappears. In this entire body of oracles, we can distinguish several collections: oracles uttered in the most diverse circumstances during fifty years of prophetic ministry from the last days of Uzziah (740 B.C.) to the death of Hezekiah (687 B.C.).
   The first five chapters perhaps correspond most closely to the beginning of Isaiah’s activity; the remainder belong to the course of the Syro-Ephraimite war against Judah in 732 B.C. It is true that some of the verses look more to the northern kingdom (9:7) and to Assyria (10:5), but on the whole, the oracles are addressed to the people of Judah. The “Book of Immanuel” that begins in chapter 6 is doubtless the jewel of Isaiah’s work and has won him the title of supreme prophetic foreteller of the coming of Jesus. The Advent liturgy draws upon these chapters.
3. Isaiah 1:2 Isaiah must denounce decadence and open the eyes of those who no longer want to see. He first takes on himself the suffering involved in the fate of his country by remaining in solidarity with the very people whom he accuses and even severely indicts.