The substantial arguments against seeing Yishayahu as a single work are valid and compelling, completely independent of discussions to do with the prophet's status and abilities.
A fundamental difference of opinion exists between the secular, critical view of Tanakh, and the religious view. If a person believes that the Tanakh possesses sanctity and that the prophet receives his messages from God through prophecy and Divine inspiration, then he will obviously regard as illegitimate the view that a prophet is simply an eloquent and insightful member of the general population with no real ability to discern the future. Such a position represents a denial of the whole concept of prophecy, regardless of one's position on the question of whether Sefer Yishayahu is a single work or two separate ones brought together. It was this, then, that caused the great controversy concerning the existence of a second prophet prophesying the prophecies from chapter 40 of Yishyahu and onwards.
However, the substantial arguments that we have cited against seeing Yishayahu as a single work are valid and compelling, completely independently of discussions to do with the prophet's status and abilities. As we have seen, they are based on the content of the prophecy itself, and on simple, clear proofs from the style and structure of the text, as well as the conspicuous absence of any mention of Yishayahu himself from chapter 40 onwards. There is no doubt that these considerations were borne in mind by Ibn Ezra, too, when he wrote his commentary to chapter 40 of Sefer Yishayahu. In any event, we can discuss the matter without trespassing into the territory of fundamental Jewish beliefs. The positing of the existence of two separate prophets is certainly compatible with a religious world-view that is willing to address the text itself.
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Edited by the HaTanakh Site team