Isaiah (8th century BC)
Filed under the name Isaiah · June 12, 2026
Isaiah is one of the major prophets from the Hebrew Bible, and his writings are still considered some of the most influential religious texts that exist, quoted across multiple faiths centuries and centuries after they were first written down. I didn't grow up with a ton of direct exposure to that specific tradition, my own family's background is Muslim, but there's something about prophetic writing in general, this insistence on speaking hard truths to people who'd rather not hear them, that crosses over pretty cleanly no matter which religious tradition you're coming from. My grandmother has quoted plenty of scripture at me over the years, different book entirely, same basic instinct: don't just accept things as they are if they're wrong, say something, even when it's not popular. Isaiah's writings apparently did exactly that, unpopular truths delivered anyway, and getting remembered as one of history's most significant texts for it says something about how much staying power that kind of honesty actually has.