Isaiah 53
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| Isaiah 53 "The Suffering Servant" (KJV)
52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal 52:14As many were astonied at thee; 52:15So shall he sprinkle many nations; 1Who hath believed our report? 2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, 5But he [was] wounded 6All we like sheep have gone astray; 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, 8He was taken from prison and from judgment: 10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; 11He shall see of the travail of his soul, 12Therefore will I divide him [a portion] |
Isaiah 53, taken from the Book of Isaiah, is the last of the four Songs of the Suffering Servant, and tells the story of "The Suffering Servant". The passage is famous for its interpretation by many Christians to be prophesy of the coming of Jesus, being written over 700 years before his birth. This interpretation is strongly rejected by Jewish theologians, most of whom believe the servant to be the nation of Israel.[1][2] Many Christians view the entire chapter, and particularly this passage to refer to the suffering Jesus faced as well as the absolution of sins believed to be made possible by his death.[3]
- 5But he was pierced for our transgressions,
- he was crushed for our iniquities;
- the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
- and by his wounds we are healed.
The passage actually begins with Isaiah 52:13, because the original Hebrew had no chapters. Jewish and Christian scholars both agree that 52:13 is the natural beginning of the chapter, however.[4] The speaker from 52:13 to the chapter's end is God himself, whereas beginning with 53:1 it is considered to be Isaiah speaking, or more broadly the Jewish people. This is due to the use of the word "our" instead of "my" or any other possessive pronoun. The speaker switches again to the Lord in verse 11, when the servant is referred to as "my" servant. [5]
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[edit] Isaiah 53 in the New Testament
Probably the first known claim of Isaiah 53 to be a prophecy of Jesus comes from the Book of Acts, in which its author, Luke, describes a scene in which God commands Philip the Apostle to approach an Ethiopian eunuch who is sitting in a chariot, reading aloud to himself from the Book of Isaiah. The man explains that he does not understand what he is reading, (Isaiah 53), and Philip explains to him that it is Jesus to whom the passage refers. "And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."[6]
[edit] Israel theory
Citing a number of Biblical verses that refer to Israel as the "servant", many of them from the Book of Isaiah,[7] many scholars, particularly Jewish Scholars, have argued that the "servant" in question is actually the nation of Israel.[1] Scholars also argue that verse 10 is inconsistent with the actual life of Jesus. The verse states that the servant will live a long life and have many children, which, when taken literally, contradicts the short, childless life of Jesus.[1]
- 10he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days
The reason that the Servant is referred to in the third person is not readily known, but it is speculated that it is written from the point of view of Gentile nations amazed at Israel's restoration, or that it is mere figurative language.[8][1] Supporters of this theory argue that the reason for the use of past tense is based on the differences between Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. Chapters 40-55 of Isaiah are referred to as "Deutero-Isaiah" because the themes and language are different from the rest of the book, leading liberal scholars to believe it was written by another author. Deutero-Isaiah differs from Proto-Isaiah in that it refers to Israel as already restored, which could account for the past-tense of the passage.[1]
According to many Christian missionaries today, most ancient Jewish scholars believed that Isaiah 53 referred to the Messiah, and it was not until the 10th century that another view was offered.[9][10] In stark contrast to this opinion is the following statement in Contra Celsus of the Christian church father Origen about these passages, written in the year 248:
- Now I remember that, on one occasion, at a disputation held with certain Jews, who were reckoned wise men, I quoted these prophecies; to which my Jewish opponent replied, that these predictions bore reference to the whole people, regarded as one individual, and as being in a state of dispersion and suffering, in order that many proselytes might be gained, on account of the dispersion of the Jews among numerous heathen nations. [11]
Many Christian missionaries today cite the Babylonian Talmud as the "earliest indisputable, firsthand evidence of a rabbinic interpretation of Isaiah 53 which takes the servant as the Messiah, and attributes suffering to him"[12] The passage of talmud referenced is Sanhedrin 98b which Jews do not view as an interpretation of Isaiah 53 even though a passage is cited in a conversation about the messiah's name. [13]
[edit] Arguments for and against the "nation of Israel" theory
Christians argue that the "servant" could not have been the nation of Israel because of scriptural contradictions that would arise. Primarily, the servant is described as "innocent and guiltless," but Isaiah 1:4 declares the nation of Israel to be "...a people laden with iniquity. A brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters!"[14], along with countless other verses that declare Israel's iniquity including Isaiah 64:6. Many Jews see no contradiction and view the servant as those of Israel who remain innocent and guiltless at times when the nation is a whole is laden with iniquity.
In addition, Christians argue that if the "servant" were Israel, verse 10 ("It pleased the LORD to bruise him") would thereby be illogical because it entails God enjoying the sufferings of His elect people, whereas the suffering of Jesus would ultimately mean an absolution of sin and victory for mankind.[14] It has also been argued that the nation of Israel, even through all of its suffering and torment can not have "atoned" for the sins of mankind because they were not guiltless.[14] Christian theologians also point out that the verse 10 is not to be taken literally, where the "children" referred to are the Church, and the "long life" refers to the Resurrection.[14] Most Jews equate the phrase "It pleased..." with the concept of divine kingship. All royal acts in an absolute kingdom take place at the pleasure of a king, regardless of whether they bring the king joy or not.
Christians argue that technically, it is reasonable to argue that the Suffering Servant is indeed "Israel," but it is not the nation of Israel to whom the name "Israel" is referring to. In Isaiah 49:3 KJV, the LORD states, "Thou art My servant, O' Israel, in whom I will be glorified." This may lead some to conclude that this particular verse is referring to the nation of Israel, but shortly thereafter, the scripture reveals that this servant called "Israel" would be responsible "to bring Jacob again to Him (the LORD), though Israel be not gathered..." (Isa. 49:5), and the LORD declares that the servant called "Israel" should be "My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel..." Furthermore, the LORD states, "...I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isa. 49:6). Some Jews view this text as refering to the righteous among Israel bringing all of Israel back to Him, after which the entire nation would serve as an example for other nations to follow. Isaiah also states that "He was cut off out of the land of the living..." (Isaiah 53:8). This would be incorrect if it was the Nation of Israel[citation needed] because Jeremiah 31:35-36 states: "Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night...If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." Therefore, Israel cannot die.[citation needed]
As the scripture states, the servant called "Israel" is responsible for raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the preserved of Israel; therefore, to many Christians, the servant called "Israel" in Isaiah 49 could not possibly be the nation of Israel itself, for the nation of Israel could not possibly raise (i.e., resurrect) nor gather itself. Some Jews believe that a portion of Israel raised and gathered itself with the formation of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Many Christians believe it is the Messiah who is called "Israel," just as he is called "David" elsewhere (cf. Ezek. 34:23-24, 37:24), who is responsible for raising Jacob and gathering Israel upon his second coming (Dan. 7:13; Isa. 27:13; 1 Thes. 4:14-17; 1 Cor. 15:52-55; Matt. 24:29-31). Many Jews believe that the Messiah will will gather Israel together the first and only time he comes.(See Jewish Messiah.)
[edit] Debate about Isaiah 53 in Jewish/Christian relations and their consequences
[edit] Before 1000
The earliest known example of a Jew and a Christian debating the meaning of Isaiah 53 is the example from 248 cited by Origen stated above. The discourse between Origen and his Jewish counterpart does not seem to have had any consequences for either party. This was not the case for the majority of centuries that have passed since that time. In Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:24, written in the 700s, a debate about a much less controversial topic results in the arrest of the Jew engaging in the debate [15]
[edit] 1000–1500
In 1263 at the Disputation of Barcelona, Nahmanides expressed the Jewish viewpoint of Isaiah 53 and other matters regarding Christian belief about Jesus's role in Hebrew Scripture. The disputation was awarded in his favor, and as a result the Dominican Order compelled him to flee from his home country for the remainder of his life. Passages of Talmud were also censored. In a number of other disputations, debate about this passage resulted in forced conversions, deportations, and the burning of Jewish religious texts.[16]
[edit] Modern era
The use of Isaiah 53 in debates between Jews and Christians still often occurs in the context of Christian missionary work among Jews, and the topic is a source of frequent discussion that is often repetitive and heated. Some devout Christians view the use of the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 in prostlytization efforts as an act of love. A common view among Jews today is that, while the persecutions of the middle ages that resulted from disputations are in the past, Jews still suffer under the threat that their children will be drawn into Christian sects that engage in active prostlytization. Many Jews view the suffering of their people that often results from Jewish/Christian debate about this particular passage as a historical verification of their interpretation of the passage itself.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e Jewish viewpoint #1. Jews for Judaism. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
- ^ Messianic Jews' viewpoint #3. Truthnet.org: The Messiah. Retrieved on March 14, 2007.
- ^ Christian viewpoint 2. grebeweb. Retrieved on July 6, 2006.
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/4229/isaih.html
- ^ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/m.sion/shul53-3.htm
- ^ Acts 8:34-35
- ^ Isaiah 41:8-9, Isaiah 44:1, [Isaiah 44:21, and Isaiah 49:3
- ^ as in Isaiah 52:15
- ^ http://www.amfi.org/ABOUTWHOM.htm
- ^ E. W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. 2 of 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1956), 260-342.
- ^ Origen, Contra Celsum, Book 1.Chapter 55 [[1]]
- ^ Sydney H. T. Page, “The Suffering Servant Between The Testaments,” New Testament Studies, 31 (1985): 491-492.
- ^ Sanhedrin 98b http://www.come-and-hear.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_98.html See footnotes 29 and 31 in the reference URL
- ^ a b c d Christian viewpoint 1]. Chaim. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
- ^ Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:24 translated by Christopher P. Benton "In Search of Kohelet" http://www.maqom.com/journal/paper9.pdf p 13)
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=386&letter=D
