John N. Oswalt is Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of nine books, including The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39 (1986) and The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 (1998) in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament, and The Bible among the Myths (2009).

Growing out of the work that the author did in preparing two major commentaries on Isaiah, these essays range from comprehensive to specific, and from popular to scholarly. They first appeared in biblical dictionaries, scholarly journals, and popular periodicals. Gathered here for the first time, they display in various ways how the author sees the various parts of Isaiah functioning together to give a coherent message to the church. The opening chapters lay out Oswalt's understanding of the overall message of the book of Isaiah. Subsequent chapters consider such themes as holiness and righteousness as they function in that larger structure. The concluding chapters look at selected sections of Isaiah in more detail, noting how those specific messages contribute to the overall whole.