The Theory of Three Isaiah's

Some scholars argue that the last proposed section of the book is the assembled work of various authors. While a historical period of Isaiah's ministry lay under the shadow of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, chapters 40 to 55 seemed to presuppose a situation of Babylonian power and Jewish captivity. Some might see this as a kin to delivering prophecies about the fall of communist Russia around the time of the American Civil War and the Pax Britannica. Even if we believe in predictive prophecy, there is still the tricky question of what sort of sense such prophecies would make to their first-hearers.