Isaiah

Isaiah is an Old Testament book of prophecies, promises, and warnings. W.E. Vine's commentary seeks to unfold the message of Isaiah and also "to bring to bear upon the lives of believers the practical effects of the book." Rich in history and promise, Isaiah contains messages of woe to the nations around Judah and to Judah itself. But it also pictures the restoration of the righteous and includes the servant songs that are a picture of Jesus Christ. Although Vine does not dwell on critical questions, he indicates his belief in the unity of the authorship of Isaiah and his commentaries on the prophetic sections is marked by a futurist element. "W.E. Vine has concentrated on the moral and spiritual lessons of Isaiah," wrote F.F. Bruce, "and presented them in a way which will prove very helpful to the general reader."

Isaiah, the longest prophetic book in the Old Testament and the prophetic book most quoted in the New Testament, is a book of prophecies, promises, and warnings. W.E. Vine's commentary seeks to unfold the message of Isaiah and also "to bring to bear upon the lives of believers the practical effects of the book of Isaiah." Isaiah is a book rich in history and promise. It is a book of judgment and includes messages of woe to nations around Judah—Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and Tyre, for instance—and a warning of judgment on Judah itself. But it's also a book of promise of the restoration of the righteous and includes the servant songs that are a picture of Jesus Christ. F.F. Bruce commented that "the most valuable feature of W.E. Vine's exposition is the way in which, at the end of each section, its moral and spiritual lessons are summed up and applied in a practical way to the conditions of the people of God today. Although W.E. Vine does not dwell on critical questions surrounding Isaiah, he indicates his belief in the unity of the authorship of the book and lists sixteen features common to both its earlier and later parts. His interpretation of the prophetic sections is marked by a futurist element. For example, the tenth chapter of Isaiah refers not only to the Assyrian monarch reigning at the time, but also, he says, "relates to the future time of 'the Day of the Lord.'" "Omitting critical and historical questions," says F.F. Bruce, "the author has concentrated on the moral and spiritual lessons of Isaiah, and presented them in a way which will prove very helpful to the general reader."

W. E. Vine is considered one of the world's foremost Greek and biblical scholars. His Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words has been a bestselling classic, popular with generations of Bible scholars and students. Yet he wrote much more than the famous dictionary. His timeless biblical commentaries were marked by careful exegetical word study and expository insight. W.E. Vine worked for Echoes of Service, an organization that supported missionaries around the world. At one time, he kept six secretaries busy corresponding with more than 1,000 missionaries. "Mr. Vine shows," said F.F. Bruce, "how great a service can be rendered to the Church by well-balanced, all-around scholarship when it is combined with reverent submission to the Word of God and spiritual insight into its meaning. . . . The Scriptures' chief function is to bear witness of Christ, and the chief end of their study is to increase our inward knowledge of Him. . . . Mr. Vine, in all his study and writing, would not be content with any aim lower than this for himself and his readers alike."