Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ISAIAH, ASCENSION OF

An apocryphal work whose title is derived from the second part of the book, chs. 6–11. Chs. 1–5 are known as the Martyrdom of Isaiah. The book has a complex compositional history dating from the 2nd century b.c.e. to the 4th century c.e. The oldest part of the text (1:1–3:12 and 5:1-16) dates to the Maccabean period and tells the story of the death of the 8th-century prophet Isaiah at the hand of Manasseh. The Christian interpolation of the martyrdom (3:13–4:22) tells of Isaiah’s vision of the ultimate victory of the Messiah and his army over the reign of evil and the second coming of the Lord. This interpolation served to make the text even more relevant to those who died as martyrs in the early Church.

The second half of the text, chs. 6–11, is the story of the ascension of Isaiah and is clearly a Christian work. During the 20th year of the reign of Hezekiah Isaiah receives a vision in which he journeys through the seven heavens, seeing the glory of the Lord praised in each successive heaven. Upon reaching the seventh heaven, he sees the Messiah, commissioned by God, descend from the heavens to earth. Isaiah then witnesses the miraculous birth and observes the infancy, life, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Messiah, who then ascends to the seventh heaven. The Ascension of Isaiah ends with Manasseh becoming the servant of Satan and “destroyed”; thus, ultimate victory is through the Messiah.

The book expresses themes such as faith during persecution, demonology, prophecy, the corruption of the Church, the trinity, and the Incarnation. While some have tried to connect this document to the Qumran sect, no copies have been found there. It is clear from the presence of both Jewish and Christian texts in the same composite that there was a struggle between differing groups. With an emphasis on demonology and Satan as the cause of Manasseh’s evil ways, the editors of the final version make it clear that they believed that Satan was behind the other group.

Bibliography. M. A. Knibb, “Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah,” OTP 2:143-76.

Marc A. Jolley

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ISAIAH, ASCENSION OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)