>A distinctive feature of prophetic preaching by Isaiah and his near-contemporaries is that the cause of political success or failure was to be found in the moral condition of Israelite society. Its prominence in the earlier material in the book places Isaiah firmly in the first wave of political and social protest in eighth century B.C.E. Israel and Judah. The connections are not made explicitly since unfortunately these early dissidents (Amos, Hosen, Micah, Isaiah) never refer to one another by name, though at one point Isaiah may be alluding obliquely to Amos ("YHVH sent a message against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel" 9:7[8]). Isaiah's debt to Amos is nevertheless not difficult to detect. It can be seen in his criticism of the state cult (Isa 1:10-17 cf. Amos 5:21-24) and the popular but misguided enthusiasm for it (Isa 29:13 cf. Amos 4:5), **his denunciation of members of the socioeconomic and political elite and their wives (Isa 3:16-4:1 cf. Amos 4:1-3), and even more clearly when he denounces the exploitation of the poor, needy, and disinherited, widows, orphans, and other *personae miserae*[^2] by the ruling class (Isa 5:8-13 cf. Amos 6:1-7). In this respect neither Amos nor Isaiah is content with moral generalizations. They target (for example) the manipulation and corruption of the judicial system and the acceptance of bribes (Isa 1:23; 5:23; 10:1-2; 33:15; Amos 2:7-8; 5:10), "joining house to house, field to field" (Isa 5:8) – in other words, the sequestration and enclosure of peasant holdings and the formation of *latifundia*[^1] exploited by absentee owners living in Samaria and Jerusalem (cf. Amos 5:11; 7:1; Mic 2:2)**. In these and similar respects the relevant sections of Isaiah read like an application to Judah of Amos's threats directed at the sister-kingdom to the north. [...] > **These common features point to a gradually coalescing tradition of protest, both conservative and radical, originating with these "demagogues and pamphleteers" (Max Weber) in the eighth century B.C.E. and conducted on behalf of the casualties of an encroaching state system-dispossessed and impoverished-peasants, widows, orphans, day laborers, and the like.** [...] [^1]: Wikipedia: A *latifundium* (Latin: latus, "spacious", and fundus, "farm", "estate") was originally the term used by ancient Romans for great landed estates specialising in agriculture destined for sale: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were characteristic of Magna Graecia and Sicily, Egypt, Northwest Africa and Hispania Baetica. **The *latifundia* were the closest approximation to industrialised agriculture in antiquity, and their economics depended upon slavery.** [^2]: LSD Law: **Definition:** *Persona miserabilis* is a Latin term that means "miserable person". It refers to a literary character who is pitiable, wretched, and suffering. This character is often used to evoke sympathy and compassion from the reader or audience.