Travis Pickell Precept Paper Isaiah 52:13-53:12 The fourth servant song in Deutero-Isaiah has long been a battleground of theological and historical interpretation. The lack of specificity regarding the identity of the servant and the identity of the group that is speaking throughout most of Isaiah 53 has prompted an abundance of speculation in biblical scholarship. This paper will analyze the literary structure and progression of Isaiah 52:13-53:12, paying particular attention to implications regarding the identities of the servant and the group for whom the servant suffered. The fourth servant song is divided into five sections, based on speaker and subject matter. The first verses of the servant song are YHWH s words (52:13-15). YHWH is the only one to use the phrase my servant in the book of Isaiah (see 20:3, 22:20, 42:19, 49:6) so it is a clear indication that YHWH is the speaker in 52:13. YHWH describes the servant as one who has astonished and will startle many nations despite his marred appearance (52:14-15). The servant has already suffered and has yet to be exalted. When the servant is exalted the kings will see and contemplate what they have not yet heard or known. The language is intentionally vague as this point, drawing the reader deeper into the song to find out what they will see and contemplate. As noted by North and Holladay, the implied speaker of the subsequent passage (53:1-3) is the nations (or at least their kings). There is symmetry between 52:15b (seeing hearing) and 53:1 (hearing seeing). 1 The language of 53:8 further supports the hypothesis that the speakers of the middle sections of the poem are the kings. One 1 North, 150; Holladay, 151
might ask whether the kings would speak after their mouths had been shut (52:15a) but their response is based on the new revelation of verse 15b. They go on to describe the servant s lowly background (53:2a), unpleasant appearance (53:2b), and low social status (53:3). These facts are hardly new but are meant to defend the previous ignorance of the nations. The new understanding of the nations is revealed in the next section (53:4-6). Although the nations had thought the servant stricken down by God, they now see that he was stricken down in their place. It was not the servant s own transgressions he was bearing, but those of all the nations. Not only has the suffering of the servant averted affliction for the nations, but it actually makes [them] whole (53:5). This wholeness is also translated peace (ESV) and comes from the word shalom, which connotes right, harmonious relationships with God, with others, and with creation. Somehow, the suffering of the servant has brought about the shalom of the nations. The next section (53:7-11b) elaborates on the nature of the servant s suffering and future exaltation. This section reveals that the servant suffered willingly, and did not protest (53:7). One learns that the servant was taken away unjustly ( by a perversion of justice ) and that he was killed undeservedly (53:8-9) 2. The nations then affirm YHWH s sovereignty in the suffering of the servant and liken the servant s death to an offering for sin (53:10). Here the new revelation is proclaimed: though his life is made a sin offering, the servant will indeed prolong his days. These verses seem to indicate a return to life, or a resurrection. It is well noted, however, that the doctrine of resurrection would not become common in Judaism for hundreds of years. Yet, metaphorical 2 North, 149 North argues convincingly that even if the death of the servant is allegorical, one must first understand it literally (much like reading Pilgrim s Progress)
resurrection was not without precedent in the scriptures. Ezekiel 37 describes a metaphorical resurrection of the Israelites from the death of exile, and it is this sort of resurrection that may be implied. 3 YHWH then responds to the nations (53:11b-12), declaring that the servant would indeed make many righteous and bear their iniquities. However, because the servant has suffered what he did not deserve, YHWH promises to bless him. This is a cosmic act of redemption of the part of YHWH toward his servant. 4 The end of the fourth servant song begs for an and they all lived happily ever after. The nations have received shalom (53:5), the servant has suffered but will also be redeemed (53:12), and the will of YHWH will prosper (53:10). The reader may notice that this paper has yet to make a judgment on the identity of the servant. Many hypotheses have been suggested: an individual (Hezekiah, Jeremiah, an anonymous historical figure, perhaps the prophet himself), a community (the Israelites as a whole or a remnant within Israel), or a future messianic figure (a Davidic king, or Jesus). Within the context of Deutero-Isaiah, the simplest suggestion is that the servant is Israel or a remnant within Israel. The collective use of the term servant referring to Israel does not occur in Isaiah until after chapter 40, and it occurs at least 30 times in Isaiah 40-66. 5 However, this hypothesis is not without difficulties. For example, while in Isaiah 49:3 YHWH states You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified, in Isaiah 49:6 YHWH goes on to say It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel. This raises confusion as 3 Anderson, 453 4 For God as Redeemer see Anderson, 438 5 Kim, 251-255
to whether the servant could be the remnant of Israel if the servant s mission is to save the remnant of Israel. However, if the servant is a representative, or faithful embodiment, 6 of true Israel, he may have a mission through which YHWH will redeem Israel herself and the nations (49:6). This is not to say that corporate Israel is not also YHWH s servant, called to suffer. According to Childs, the servant in Second Isaiah remains inseparable from Israel. It is through the successful fulfillment of Israel s calling that the suffering servant becomes YHWH s agent of redemption to Israel and the nations. There is much good news (40:9) in Deutero-Isaiah. Primarily, the good news to the captives in Babylon was that their suffering was soon to be over, that they had already suffered double for all their sins (40:2), that they would soon participate in a new exodus (43:16) and return to Israel (43:5-6). And yet, when the captives did finally return to Israel, life did not quite look like the picture of universal shalom and new creation that they had heard from Isaiah. It was as if Deutero-Isaiah proclaimed the message that willing suffering for others can be a powerful shalom-enacting vocation, yet the exiled Israelites were simply satisfied with returning to the Promised Land. This deeper theological matrix has many implications for those who want to understand the early church s conception of the mission of Jesus. Jesus is the one who eventually picks up on the vocation of the ideal Israelite modeled by the suffering servant. 7 Jesus is not to be understood as the exact fulfillment of a clairvoyant Deutero-Isaiah but as analogous to the suffering servant by his very nature. 8 6 Childs, 385 7 Holladay, 159; North, 218 8 Childs, 423
Works Cited Anderson, Bernhard W., Steven Bishop and Judith H. Newman. Understanding the Old Testament: Fifth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Childs, Brevard S. Isaiah. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. Holladay, William L. Isaiah: Scroll of a Prophetic Heritage. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978. Kim, Hyun Chul Paul. Ambiguity, Tension, and Multiplicity in Deutero-Isaiah. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2003. North, Christopher R. The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah: An Historical and Critical Study. London: Oxford University Press, 1948.