The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: The Hebrew words rendered vision and saw come from the same root. Many languages will find it redundant to say The vision … which he saw, though in Hebrew it is a common way of expressing emphasis. This title suggests that the prophet’s message as a whole came to him as a vision, but the only part actually described as a vision is Revised Standard Version. Obadiah and Nahum are other examples of books that are called a “vision.” In other prophetic books the title simply says the prophet “saw,” which probably means “had insight into” (for example, Amos). It is best then to regard the noun vision and the verb saw as more general in meaning. Perhaps we can think of them as technical terms for how prophetic messages came to the prophet. This explains why Good News Translation translates “This book contains the messages about Judah and Jerusalem which God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz.” In Good News Translation the content of what is seen is brought into focus, as well as the active role of God. We may render the sense well by saying “The vision of Isaiah … [which he had] concerning…,” “This is what Isaiah … saw…,” or “Isaiah son of Amoz’s insights into….” Some languages will prefer to link the name of the prophet more closely to the verb “see”; for example, the New International Version (New International Version) has “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah … saw.” Another possibility is “This book has what God showed Isaiah….” This restructuring is acceptable even though it changes the impact of the first words of the book slightly. What the translator should not do is translate vision as “dream,” because these two are certainly very different.
The name Isaiah means “Yahweh [or, the LORD] saves.” Isaiah’s father was Amoz. He should not be confused with the prophet Amos. We know nothing further about Amoz, except that he is Isaiah’s father.
The names Judah and Jerusalem refer respectively to the southern kingdom of God’s people and to its capital, but more specifically they refer to the entire population of the kingdom and its main city. Although there are some issues in the text of Isaiah which probably also apply to the northern kingdom of Israel in the eighth century B.C., the phrase Judah and Jerusalem narrows Isaiah’s vision to the southern kingdom of Judah.
In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: This phrase indicates the time during which Isaiah received the messages. For the phrase in the days of, the translation should not give the impression that the events occurred in an imaginary or fairy tale-like past (compare “Once upon a time…” in English), but that they occurred in real life, long ago. Expressions such as “in the time of” and “when” are possibilities. Uzziah ruled Judah from 787 to 736 B.C. From 6.1 we know that Isaiah’s call to the prophetic ministry came in the year Uzziah died. Jotham was co-regent at the time of Uzziah from 756 to 741. Ahaz reigned from 741 to 736 as a co-regent, and then was the sole ruler from 736 to 715. Hezekiah was the ruler from 715 to 687. Despite problems with the precise dating of these kings, we can state that Isaiah’s ministry covered the last half of the eighth century B.C., roughly 750-700 B.C. Of course, translators should avoid giving the impression that all four kings ruled at the same time. If this were to be a problem, they might translate “when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah succeeded each other as kings of Judah” or “when Uzziah, and Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, each at his own time.”
One issue that translators need to consider is the fact that some of the kings’ names differ slightly within the biblical records. For example, Uzziah was also known as Azariah (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation chooses to avoid any possible confusion by adopting the more common form of names for persons and places throughout the Bible. If translators decide to follow this principle, Good News Translation would be a good model to follow. If footnotes are used in the translation, then the varying forms of names as they appear in the Hebrew text can be used. Where the Hebrew text happens to use the less common form of a name, then a footnote can indicate the more common form.
Translators probably have dealt with the term kings in earlier work. They should try to use a term that best conveys the idea of a male ruler of a nation, who normally belongs to the same dynasty or family as the previous ruler. If no precise term is available, a more general one such as “master” or “chief” may be the best option. Translators should try to avoid using the same name that is used for “Lord” or “LORD.”
A translation could reflect that this verse is a title to the book by leaving out a verb. A translation model that does this is:
• Isaiah son of Amoz’s vision concerning the people of Judah and Jerusalem during the reigns of its kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .