Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary

Tyndale Old Testament Commentary

by J. Alec Motyer, D.J. Wiseman (Editor)

The book of Isaiah is perhaps the most compelling of all Old Testament prophecy. No other prophet rivals Isaiah's brilliance of style, powerful imagery and clear vision of the messianic hope.Isaiah's prophetic ministry begins with his temple vision and "I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send?'" Through a series of oracles Isaiah calls Israel and the nations to turn to the Lord, for judgment is coming. He announces that redemption is found in the Davidic Servant alone. Finally, in the "day of vengeance and the year of redemption" the Anointed Conqueror will punish rebellious peoples, comfort the contrite and reestablish the glory of Zion.J. Alec Motyer, author of the unparalleled one-volume commentary The Prophecy of Isaiah, now provides the long-awaited final volume in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series. Unlike many Isaiah commentators who divide the book between chapters 1-39 and 40-66, Motyer instead identifies three messianic the King (Isaiah 1-37), the Servant (Isaiah 38-55), and the Anointed Conqueror (Isaiah 56-66). This volume provides Motyer's lucid exposition on these three portraits, examining Isaiah with insightful and probing passage-by-passage commentary.All who study the text of Isaiah will find here expert scholarship and solid footing for unraveling difficult issues of exegesis and interpretation.

Genres: Reference, Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Christianity, Nonfiction

408 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 1999

About the author

J. Alec Motyer (M.A., B.D., D.D.) was formerly principal of Trinity College in Bristol, England. He has extensive experience in parish ministry and is well known as a Bible expositor. He is author of The Prophecy of Isaiah, and he is Old Testament editor of IVP's commentary series, The Bible Speaks Today. He has written several volumes in that series.

Reviews

[Jason Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, brief commentary on Isaiah. Motyer keeps the big picture in view while also giving helpful insights on each passage.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong condensed commentary. It manages to be easily readable and not overly academic. It gives helpful insight into the ancient context and Hebrew without disecting every single word. Like most commentaries it spends most of its time staring at trees and leaves and doesn't help you see the forest of the whole book.

I'd recommend it for one of your lighter commentaries. It is a good compromise between the insanely long technical commentaries and a light overview one.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some strong moments, but like many commentaries it was too focused on this word and that. I would much prefer more space spent on interpretation in context, analyzing the flow of the book, and application.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Really good, helpful commentary. It covers all the details I hoped it would and provides a stair-step approach that addresses overarching sections, passages, and then descends down to words and phrases. And, it doesn't delve too deep into scholarship.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually record a reference book on Goodreads, but I worked through this one slowly and with great profit. The biggest plus for me is the way the author highlights the literary form and structure of the various divisions, dividing sections according to the logic of the original language.

The first major section of Isaiah has the most historical markers, and it was very helpful to get the biblical and secular parallel history explanations. Isaiah is still overwhelming beautiful to me, but after 50 years of reading it annually, many parts are now better connecting into the amazing whole.

Throughout, there is a good balance between big picture perspective and detail that fleshes out the overarching themes. Pastoral application points out current relevance; however, it is given with a light touch and not distracting from the exegetical flow of the prophecy.

A commentary does just that. But the beauty and revelatory power flows through the primary source itself. A commentary helps us understand the poetry and its meaning, but it can’t substitute for the reading and hearing the Word. I’m grateful for the assistance of Dr. Motyer’s work.

[Tung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exactly what it advertises itself to be: a commentary on the Old Testament book of Isaiah. And it does what a good commentary should do: provide historical context, lay out the basic structure, provide insight into all major themes, highlight important words, tie verses to other relevant verses in Scripture, and walk through the book nearly verse-by-verse. Motyer checks all of these boxes. I found the commentary especially useful in breaking down the literary devices used by Isaiah. There were a few areas that were either too in the weeds or too repetitive, but given a book as long and as symbolic as Isaiah, it is understandable. Overall, an incredibly useful commentary for anyone teaching a class on Isaiah, or digging into Isaiah as a personal study.

[Michael Schwander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent commentary. I read all of the background portion of this commentary along with significant portions of the exegesis and interpretation sections for an exegetical research paper I did for my graduate level Old Testament class at Midwestern. I now own the commentary through Logos. I will definitely be returning again!

[Pamela Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book bought to replace a uni text book . It's not that exciting but what commentary is. But it had good insights into a sermon I was writing on the theme we were looking at. I don't often end up in the Hebrew Bible for sermons but I was given the text and it was good to read more on it.

[S. Paterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Now to read Rutherford’s ;-)

[Sally Preece · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent commentary. I used it in conjunction with an ESV version of Isaiah and Isaiah by the Day (also by Motyer).

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is something of a condensed version of a longer and more complex commentary by a superb scholar with the good and bad that this implies. Dr. Motyer is clearly a good writer with an amazing grasp of his subject. In some ways, this feels like the capstone of a lifetime study. Sometimes however the book is much more like an in-depth word study than an introductory commentary. The intro is fine though brief as it sets the stage for the lion's share of the volume which is commentary. This signals a work that requires attention and sometimes re-reading. To be worth the effort, the thoughts and explanations need to be educational and even at times inspiring and Dr. Motyer does this well. Especially in the later chapters that are more prophetic, the commentary really shines. Worth the effort

[Ben Zornes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motyer's commentary on Isaiah was marvelous. Commentaries, at least in some circles, often carry a negative connotation. And, to be fair, there are some commentaries out there that fit the caricature of a stale & lifeless outline of the mere words of Scripture.
Motyer, however, overwhelmingly soars with an aim to exalt the heart of the text of Isaiah: a coming King, a promised Servant, an Anointed One. He was indeed very exact and thorough in his overview of this wonderful section of Scripture, but he was rarely needlessly tedious, and overall was profound, useful and best of all Christ-centered.

One quote to whet your appetite for more:
"The particular value of the doctrine of God the Creator is, of course, that it brings all that is true about God to bear on this world. Consider, then, the absurdity of losing faith in One who, in relation to the earth, is all-powerful, all-wise, dominant, wit no god to challenge, check or rival Him, King of kings, sovereignly in charge of His world down to the smallest detail so that everything is in its place, nothing overlooked, nothing lost."

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay, so I didn't read ALL of it, but I read enough to recognize that this is a good reference for anyone who is studying the book of Isaiah. The introduction is solid, and the major sections each have their own introductions followed by detailed explanations of each paragraph in the text. I'll be sure to refer to it every time I am working in Isaiah, and I would recommend it to anyone else who wants to do a little more in depth study as well. Motyer pulls out nuances from the original language that do not translate well into English, for example he points out many significant conclusions based on the singular and plural, masculine and feminine forms of "you".

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not the commentary I was hoping for, but I still gave it 4 stars because it wasn't the commentary's fault. I had wanted a more devotional commentary that I could read alongside reading the Isaiah. This one was pretty terse and seemed better suited as a reference guide than as a book to read from start to finish. Still, the commentary seemed sound and was helpful in explaining things. A few things were beautifully stated and there are a number of stars and a good amount of underlining in my copy. It is based on the NIV which I think is what the series editor requested of him, but he is not shy about telling why the NIV's translation is not the best in particular places.

[Jeff Noble]

Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) by J. A. Motyer/ Alec Motyer (?)

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite short commentary on Isaiah. I generally like everything by Motyer.

[Pam Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good shorter academic commentary on Isaiah; doesn't use Hebrew.