Judah under Jotham and Ahaz (Chs. 2-12). 

        Though as has been indicated in the outline structure of the book, there is a break between chs. 6 and 7, and the two resultant sections are complete in themselves, yet they form a larger whole. Chs. 2-6 come mainly from the time of Jotham, and depict the increasing hardening of Judah until there is no hope; chs. 7-12 are mainly from the time of Ahaz, and give the bitter fruit of the hardening.

        We start with a picture of God’s ideal (2:2-5), possibly a quotation from an earlier prophet quoted also by Micah (cf. Micah 4:1-5), which immediately changes to the grim reality (2:6 — 4:1). It should be noted that here, as else­where in the prophecy, present, future and final punishment all flow together under the general conception of the Day of the Lord (see p. 20f), although the expression strictly applies only to the final ushering in of the kingdom of God. The purifi­cation and final glory, which are the gracious result of the inevitable divine punishment, are pictured in 4:2-6. The vintage song (5:1-7) is both a condemnation of Judah’s un­natural sin and an indication of Isaiah’s difficulties. Unable to capture the ear of his wearied hearers otherwise, he goes round as a wandering minstrel at some vintage festival; note how cleverly the barbed point of the song is hidden until the very end. Six woes (5:8-24) then indicate some of the “wild grapes” of the vineyard. Hard on their heels follow the Assyrians, the instruments of God’s wrath (5:25-30); when originally spoken this passage stood probably after 10:4. Finally, Judah’s hardness is explained by the story of Isaiah’s call in ch. 6.

        The second section begins with the rejection of the prophet’s message and Jehovah’s help by Ahaz and “the house of David” (7:13) in favour of an appeal to Assyria (7:1-25J. This is approved by the people (8:1-8). The prophet is denounced as a traitor, and turns his back on the people to devote himself to his disciples, who become a pattern for the remnant (8:9 — 9:1). A picture of the coming Messiah gives a gleam of light in the spiritual gloom (9:2-7). There follows an oracle of judgment on Israel and Judah (9:8-10:4 and add 5:25-30), and several on Assyria, threatening God’s judgment when her work for Him has been done. The section closes with two Messianic chs. (11 and 12), which end with the fulfilment of 2:2-5.