Isaiah, son of Amoz, was a Hebrew prophet in Judah from approximately 740 to 701 B.C., whose ministry spanned the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His name means “Jehovah is salvation.” He prophesied against idolatry and called Israel back to the worship of the Lord. Tradition holds that he was killed under Manasseh, by some accounts “sawn asunder.”
His prophecies range from the immediate geopolitical events of his day to the coming of the Messiah, addressing the fate of nations such as Assyria and Babylon along with the house of Israel and the Gentiles. He is identified as the son of Amoz, who saw the word concerning Judah and Jerusalem (2 Nephi 12:1). His prophecies on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the gathering of Israel run through the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Nephite record alike.
Nephi read Isaiah’s writings to his people to persuade them to believe in their Redeemer, likening all scripture to their own situation (1 Nephi 19:23). Large portions of Isaiah were copied into the Nephite record, both quoted directly and paraphrased and applied to Nephite concerns (1 Nephi 20-21; 2 Nephi 7-8, 12-24; Mosiah 14). Nephi acknowledged that Isaiah’s words were hard for his people to understand, and stated that they are plain to those “filled with the spirit of prophecy” (2 Nephi 25:4).
When the resurrected Jesus Christ taught in the Promised Land, He commanded the people to “search these things diligently,” saying that Isaiah spoke concerning all the house of Israel and the Gentiles, and that all he spoke “have been and shall be” (3 Nephi 23:1-3).