[1] On the question of the Isaianic origin of the prophecy, ix. 1-6,
and the companion passage, xi. 1-8, see Cheyne _Introd. to the Book
of Isaiah_, 1895, pp. 44, 45 and 62-66. Cf., however, J. Skinner
"Isaiah i.-xxxix." in _Cambridge Bible_.
ISAIAH, ASCENSION OF, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament. The
_Ascension of Isaiah_ is a composite work of very great interest. In its
present form it is probably not older than the latter half of the 2nd
century of our era. Its various constituents, however, and of these
there were three--the _Martyrdom of Isaiah_, the _Testament of Hezekiah_
and the _Vision of Isaiah_--circulated independently as early as the 1st
century. The first of these was of Jewish origin, and is of less
interest than the other two, which were the work of Christian writers.
The _Vision of Isaiah_ is important for the knowledge it affords us of
1st-century beliefs in certain circles as to the doctrines of the
Trinity, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Seven Heavens, &c. The
long lost _Testament of Hezekiah_, which is, in the opinion of R. H.
Charles, to be identified with iii. 13b-iv. 18, of our present work, is
unquestionably of great value owing to the insight it gives us into the
history of the Christian Church at the close of the 1st century. Its
descriptions of the worldliness and lawlessness which prevailed among
the elders and pastors, i.e. the bishops and priests, of the wide-spread
covetousness and vainglory as well as the growing heresies among
Christians generally, agree with similar accounts in 2 Peter, 2 Timothy
and Clement of Rome.
_Various Titles._--Origen in his commentary on Matt. xiii. 57
(Lommatzsch iii. 4, 9) calls it _Apocryph of Isaiah_--[Greek:
Apokryphon Hesaiou], Epiphanius (_Haer._ xl. 2) terms it the
_Ascension of Isaiah_--[Greek: to anabatikon Hesaiou], and similarly
Jerome--_Ascensio Isaiae_. It was also known as the _Vision of Isaiah_
and finally as the _Testament of Hezekiah_ (see Charles, _The
Ascension of Isaiah_, pp. xii.-xv.).
_The Greek Original and the Versions._--The book was written in Greek,
though not improbably the middle portion, the _Testament of Hezekiah_,
was originally composed in Semitic. The Greek in its original form,
which we may denote by G, is lost. It has, however, been in part
preserved to us in two of its recensions, G^1 and G^2. From G^1 the
Ethiopic Version and the first Latin Version (consisting of ii.
14-iii. 13, vii. 1-19) were translated, and of this recension the
actual Greek has survived in a multitude of phrases in the _Greek
Legend_. G^2 denotes the Greek text from which the Slavonic and the
second Latin Version (consisting of vi.-xi.) were translated. Of this
recension ii. 4-iv. 2 have been discovered by Grenfell and Hunt.[1]
For complete details see Charles, _op. cit._ pp. xviii.-xxxiii.; also
Flemming in Hennecke's _NTliche Apok_.
_Latin Version._--The first Latin Version (L^1) is fragmentary (=ii.
14-iii. 13, vii. 1-19). It was discovered and edited by Mai in 1828
(Script. _vet. nova collectio_ III. ii. 238), and reprinted by
Dillmann in his edition of 1877, and subsequently in a more correct
form by Charles in his edition of 1900. The second version (L^2), which
consists of vi.-xi., was first printed at Venice in 1522, by Gieseler
in 1832, Dillmann in 1877 and Charles in 1900.
_Ethiopic Version._--There are three MSS. This version is on the whole
a faithful reproduction of G^1. These were used by Dillmann and
subsequently by Charles in their editions.
_Different Elements in the Book._--The compositeness of this work is
universally recognized. Dillmann's analysis is as follows, (i.)
_Martyrdom of Isaiah_, of Jewish origin; ii. 1-iii. 12, v. 2-14. (ii.)
The _Vision of Isaiah_, of Christian origin, vi. 1-xi. 1, 23-40.
(iii.) The above two constituents were put together by a Christian
writer, who prefixed i. 1, 2, 4b-13 and appended xi. 42, 43. (iv.)
Finally a later Christian editor incorporated the two sections iii.
13-v. 1 and xi. 2-22, and added i. 3, 4a, v. 15, 16, xi. 41.
This analysis has on the whole been accepted by Harnack, Schurer,
Deane and Beer. These scholars have been influenced by Gebhardt's
statement that in the _Greek Legend_ there is not a trace of iii.
13-v. 1, xi. 2-22, and that accordingly these sections were absent
from the text when the _Greek Legend_ was composed. But this statement
is wrong, for at least five phrases or clauses in the _Greek Legend_
are derived from the sections in question. Hence R. H. Charles has
examined (_op. cit._ pp. xxxviii.-xlvii.) the problem _de novo_, and
arrived at the following conclusions. The book is highly composite,
and arbitrariness and disorder are found in every section. There are
three original documents at its base, (i.) The _Martyrdom of Isaiah_ =
i. 1, 2a, 6b-13a, ii. 1-8, 10-iii. 12, v. 1b-14. This is but an
imperfect survival of the original work. Part of the original work
omitted by the final editor of our book is preserved in the _Opus
imperfectum_, which goes back _not to our text, but to the original
Martyrdom_, (ii.) The _Testament of Hezekiah_ = iii. 13b-iv. 18. This
work is mutilated and without beginning or end. (iii.) The _Vision of
Isaiah_ = vi.-xi. 1-40. The archetype of this section existed
independently in Greek; for the second Latin and the Slavonic Versions
presuppose an independent circulation of their Greek archetype in
western and Slavonic countries. This archetype differs in many
respects from the form in which it was republished by the editor of
the entire work.
We may, in short, put this complex matter as follows: The conditions
of the problem are sufficiently satisfied by supposing a single
editor, who had three works at his disposal, the _Martyrdom of
Isaiah_, of Jewish origin, and the _Testament of Hezekiah_ and the
_Vision of Isaiah_, of Christian origin. These he reduced or enlarged
as it suited his purpose, and put them together as they stand in our
text. Some of the editorial additions are obvious, as i. 2b-6a, 13a,
ii. 9, iii. 13a, iv. 1a, 19-v. 1a, 15, 16, xi. 41-43.
_Dates of the Various Constituents of the Ascension._--(a) The
_Martyrdom_ is quoted by the _Opus Imperfectum_, Ambrose, Jerome,
Origen, Tertullian and by Justin Martyr. It was probably known to the
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Thus we are brought back to the
1st century A.D. if the last reference is trustworthy. And this is no
doubt the right date, for works written by Jews in the 2nd century
would not be likely to become current in the Christian Church. (b) The
_Testament of Hezekiah_ was written between A.D. 88-100. The grounds
for this date will be found in Charles, _op. cit._ pp. lxxi.-lxxii.
and 30-31. (c) The _Vision of Isaiah_. The later recension of this
Vision was used by Jerome, and a more primitive form of the text by
the Archontici according to Epiphanius. It is still earlier attested
by the _Actus Petri Vercellenses_. Since the Protevangel of James was
apparently acquainted with it, and likewise Ignatius (_ad. Ephes._
xix.), the composition of the primitive form of the Vision goes back
to the close of the 1st century.
The work of combining and editing these three independent writings may
go back to early in the 3rd or even to the 2nd century.
LITERATURE.--_Editions of the Ethiopic Text_: Laurence, _Ascensio
Isaiae vatis_ (1819); Dillmann, _Ascensio Isaiae Aethiopice et Latine,
cum prolegomenis, adnotationibus criticis et exegeticis, additis
versionum Latinarum reliquiis edita_ (1877); Charles, _Ascension of
Isaiah, translated from the Ethiopic Version, which, together with the
new Greek Fragment, the Latin Versions and the Latin translation of
the Slavonic, is here published in full, edited with Introduction,
Notes and Indices_ (1900); Flemming, in Hennecke's _NTliche Apok._
292-305; _NTliche Apok.-Handbuch_, 323-331. This translation is made
from Charles's text, and his analysis of the text is in the main
accepted by this scholar. _Translations_: In addition to the
translations given in the preceding editions, Basset, _Les Apocryphes
ethiopiens_, iii. "L'Ascension d'Isaie" (1894); Beer, _Apok. und
Pseud._ (1900) ii. 124-127. The latter is a German rendering of
ii.-iii. 1-12, v. 2-14, of Dillmann's text. _Critical Inquiries_:
Stokes, art. "Isaiah, Ascension of," in Smith's _Dict. of Christian
Biography_ (1882), iii. 298-301; Robinson, "The Ascension of Isaiah"
in Hastings' _Bible Dict._ ii. 499-501. For complete bibliography see
Schurer,[3] _Gesch. des jud. Volks_, iii. 280-285; Charles, _op. cit._
(R. H. C.)