The Family of Isaiah the Prophet

Isaiah (Hebrew: יְשַׁעְיָהוּ, Yesha'yahu), meaning "The LORD is Salvation," is one of the greatest prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The son of Amoz, Isaiah ministered in the Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah — approximately 740 to 700 BC.

Isaiah's call to ministry is recorded in one of Scripture's most dramatic passages. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord seated upon a throne, high and lifted up, with seraphim crying "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts." After a seraph touched his lips with a burning coal to cleanse his sin, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send?" His famous reply — "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8) — has echoed through millennia as a model of willing obedience.

Isaiah's wife is identified in Scripture only as הַנְּבִיאָה (ha-neviah), "the Prophetess" (Isaiah 8:3). Her personal name is not recorded. She is counted among only five women given the title of prophetess in the Hebrew Bible, alongside Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Noadiah. Whether the title indicates her own prophetic gift or is an honorific for being the wife of a prophet has been debated by scholars for centuries.

What makes Isaiah's family unique is that his children's names were not merely personal — they were living prophecies, signs given by God to the nation of Judah.

Shear-Jashub (שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב), "A Remnant Shall Return," carried a dual message. It warned of coming devastation — much of the nation would indeed be swept away. Yet embedded in the name was a seed of hope: a remnant would survive and return to the Lord. God instructed Isaiah to take Shear-Jashub with him when delivering his message to King Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3), making the boy a walking sermon.

Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז), "Quick to the Plunder, Swift to the Spoil," is the longest personal name in the Bible at 18 characters in Hebrew. God commanded Isaiah to write this name on a large scroll and then name his second son accordingly. The prophecy: before the child could say "my father" or "my mother," the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria would be carried away by the king of Assyria (Isaiah 8:3–4).