Dear Dean,
I am so glad
that you are curious about and interested in knowing what I learn from my
school regarding “Isaiah’s Servant.” I
am writing this letter to tell you what this servant is and does based on the
Hebrew Bible and the course materials I have from my class.
The book of
Isaiah is compiled by at least three prophets. It is divided into three
sections. The first part (chapters 1-39) is attributed to Isaiah the prophet in
the latter half of the eighth century; the second part or Second Isaiah
(chapters 40-55) consists of sayings by a prophet near the end of the exile;
the last part (chapters 56-66) was contributed by one or more prophets in the
postexilic period. (Stanley, 433). However, I am going to focus on the second part where we will be looking at
the “servant” in question.
In this
Isaiah, we see that there are four servant songs or poems in this second part
of Isaiah as follows: 1. Justice
brought to the nations by God’s chosen (42:1-6);
2. God’s servant as light to nations (49:1-6); 3. God’s servant exposed to
being physically abused (50:4-9); 4. The suffering servant of God (53).
According to
Bandstra, the servant here is an enigmatic figure, and nobody has an exact way
of interpreting this figure. Therefore, we have different interpretations of
Isaiah’s servant. Some suggest that the servant implies Israel, God’s chosen
people; some say it represents a group of people that could be the people of Judah
or Christians; some go further to interpret it as the promised Messiah Jesus
Christ; others guess it could be an actual individual that fits the frame of the story, and we know that prophets
in Israel were called servants by the Lord, for instance, “my servant” or “the
servant of the Lord” (Bandstra, 350-351).
In my
opinion, I believe the servant in Isaiah 40-55 is Israel itself. If God called
Jacob (Israel) his servant, he owned him and thus owned Jacob’s offspring, the
nation of Israel. Then calling Israel as a nation God’s servant is
understandable. There is nothing wrong with this. When the Lord calls Jacob,
Israel as in “listen to me, O
Jacob, and Israel, whom I called”
(48:12) or similar quotes from Isaiah 44:1, 21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3, he doesn’t mean Jacob son of Isaac,
but his offspring since Jacob is already dead or no longer exists; thus, it
must be the people of Israel. The Lord’s servant is Israel as a nation for
sure. In the first poem, Israel as the servant of the Lord is supposed to bring
justice to the nations. In the second poem, Israel is called by God to be a
light to the world. The third poem describes how the servant was physically
abused during his mission. The fourth poem, it has been observed as the
suffering servant of the Lord in the third person, "For he was cut off from the land
of the living; because of the transgression of My people, He was
stricken..." (53:8). Rabbi Tovia Singer points out it is spoken of in the
third person plural לָמוֹ (lamo) indicating that the servant is surely a
nation rather than just a person (Singer, Who is God’s Suffering
Servant? The Rabbinic Interpretation of Isaiah 53).
I agree with the prevailing rabbinic
interpretation of Second Isaiah’s servant ascribed to the nation of Israel. In
Isaiah 53, the suffering servant silently endured the unimaginable infliction
at the hands of the gentile nations. Even the prominent and influent church
father Origen in 248 B.C.E. also acknowledged that Isaiah 53 referred to the whole
Jewish people recognized as one individual. According to Rabbi Tovia Singer, this
point of view is supported by most Jewish and some Christian commentators (Singer, Who is God’s Suffering
Servant? The Rabbinic Interpretation of Isaiah 53).
In his book, Stanley argues that all
the prophecies of God’s judgment and promise of the return of exilic people to
the land of Judah serve his purpose that other nations would recognize Yahweh
as the God of Israel and only true God of the universe. Israel serves as God’s servant
for the sake of the nations as in the covenant made between Yahweh and Abraham
the first forefather of Israel (Genesis 17:1-8). Later, Israel also came into the
Mosaic law covenant with the Lord, in which they will be cursed or bless
(humiliated or glorified). In Second Isaiah, it is believed that the exile took
place as a penalty for the sin of his servant Israel (42:21-25; 43:22-28;
47:6-7; 50:1-2). But Yahweh puts an end to their punishment because his plan or
intention for them not to be harmed or destroyed but to prosper and be exalted
for his own glory. Like the prophet Jeremiah, Isaiah has a prophetic message of
bad news (judgment of doom) as well as good news (promise of hope) for the
people of Judah. Second Isaiah presents that Yahweh controls all the nations,
not just Israel his servant. He has his servant lead other nations to recognize
Yahweh as the one true God of the universe. His servant has to go through all
the suffering to carry his mission. Yahweh has the power and authority to
maneuver kings and armies to fulfill his plan (40:21-24; 41:2-4, 25) as he
sends Babylonian armies to invade Judah and then brings them down by the hand of
Cyrus the Persian king (43:14; 44:28 – 45:7; 47:1-15; 48:14, 20). He wants his
chosen people as a faithful servant to share with other nations about him so they
will come to acknowledge Yahweh as well. In the same manner, the exiles (still
as his servant) are supposed to speak with confidence to other nations about
the goodness and greatness of their God instead of fearfulness because of their
minority. If they obey to serve for Yahweh purpose, through their punishment, salvation
will come to the nations (Stanley, 462-464).
Dean, I think it is enough for now
concerning the subject of Isaiah’s Servant, and hope you might have sufficient understanding
and knowledge of who that servant is. Please refer to all the quotes and
citations of sources for your further study later. I also hope you enjoy
reading my long letter. Thank you very much for your interest and patience.
Blessings,
Daniel
* Bibliography:
Harper Collins. The Study Bible. Harper New York, NY: Collins Publishing,2006.
Stanley, Christopher. The Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Approach. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2009.
Singer, Tovia. Who is God’s Suffering Servant? The Rabbinic Interpretation of Isaiah 53. https://outreachjudaism.org/gods-suffering-servant-isaiah-53/
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI think you capture the importance of the Servant metaphor in penultimate paragraph. The faithful remnant of Israel (whether that be the entire nation or a subset), who continues to hold out their faith in Yahweh, is the light to the gentiles who point the way to salvation. I often think of the word "vindication" in negative connotations, but certainly here the vindication of the suffering of the Servant is positive: through it others learn to acknowledge Yahweh. It is certainly a message of hope, but what a huge responsibility!
Jeff
Great job addressing the key points of the Suffering Servant image. I especially like the emphasis on Yahweh's use of the people's suffering and re-connection with Yahweh as an example to the nations. This was a new understanding for me as I learned about the prophet Second Isaiah this week.
ReplyDelete