or the Prophecy of ISAIAH, a canonical book of the Old Testament. Isaiah is the first of the four greater prophets; the other three being Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. This prophet was of royal blood, his father Amos being brother to Azariah king of Judah. The five first chapters of his prophecy relate to the reign of Uzziah; the vision in the fifth chapter happened in the time of Jotham; the next chapters to the fifteenth, include his prophecies under the reign of Ahab; and those that were made under the reigns of Hezekiah and Manasseh, are related in the next chapters to the end. Isaiah foretold the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon by Cyrus, one hundred years before it came to pass. But the most remarkable of his predictions are those concerning the Messiah, which describe not only his descent, but all the remarkable circumstances of his life and death. The style of this prophet is noble, nervous, sublime, and florid, which he acquired by converse with men of the greatest abilities and eloquence: Grotius calls him the Demosthenes of the Hebrews. However, the profoundness of his thoughts, the loftiness of his expressions and the extent of his prophecy, render him one of the most difficult of all the prophets; and the commentaries that have been hitherto written on his prophecy fall short of a full explication of it. Bishop Lowth's new translation, &c., published in 1778, throws considerable light on the composition and meaning of Isaiah.