In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord “As this vision,” says Bishop Lowth, “seems to contain a solemn designation of Isaiah to the prophetical office, it is by most interpreters thought to be the first in order of his prophecies. But this perhaps may not be so: for Isaiah is said, in the general title of his prophecies, to have prophesied in the time of Uzziah, whose acts, first and last, he wrote, (2 Chronicles 26:22,) and the phrase, in the year when Uzziah died, probably means, after the death of Uzziah; as the same phrase, (Isaiah 14:28,) means, after the death of Ahaz. Not that Isaiah's prophecies are placed in exact order of time: Chapter s 2., 3., 4., 5. seem, by internal marks, to be antecedent to chapter 1.; they suit the time of Uzziah, or the former part of Jotham's reign: whereas, chapter 1. can hardly be earlier than the last years of Jotham: see note on Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 2:1. This might be a new designation of the whole course of God's dispensations in regard to his people, and the fates of the nation; which are even now still depending, and will not be fully accomplished till the final restoration of Israel.”
I saw the Lord In a vision or ecstasy. The place of this vision is supposed to be the temple, from which the particular scenery of it is taken. The Divine Majesty is represented as seated upon a throne, high and lifted up Probably above the ark in the most holy place, where the glory appeared above the cherubim, surrounded by his attendant ministers. “The veil, separating the most holy place from the holy, or the outermost part of the temple, is supposed to be taken away, for the prophet, to whom the whole is exhibited, is manifestly placed by the altar of burnt-offering, at the entrance of the temple, (compare Ezekiel 43:5-6,) which was filled with the train of the robe, the spreading and overflowing of the divine glory. The Lord upon the throne, according to St. John, (John 12:41,) was Christ, and the vision related to his future kingdom; when the veil of separation was to be removed, and the whole earth was to be filled with the glory of God, revealed to all mankind. It respects, indeed, primarily the prophet's own time, and the obduration of the Jews of that age, and their punishment by the Babylonish captivity; but extends, in its full latitude, to the age of the Messiah, and the blindness of the Jews to the gospel; the desolation of their country by the Romans, and their being rejected by God; that, nevertheless, a holy seed, a remnant, should be preserved, and that the nation should sprout out and flourish again from the old stock. Bishop Lowth.