The Suffering Servant In Isaiah 53

The one prooftext in the Christian arsenal that they are most confident will turn any Jew to Christianity is the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The prophet speaks of someone called the Lord’s "servant," one who is characterized as one who suffers.

The reality is that this passage can indeed be construed as messianic, but it does not speak of the Messiah, as Christians want it to be. Indeed, if you go into Christian chat rooms, you’ll find people with handles like "Servant" and "Isaiah53." This chapter is speaking about the nation of Israel. The fact of the matter is, some Christians agree with the Jews about the subject of Isaiah 53, as we shall see in Part III.

Numerous times throughout the Book of Isaiah the servant is called by name. The following is a sampling:

Isaiah 41:8 But thou, Israel, [art] my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. [9] [Thou] whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou [art] my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. (KJV)

[44:1] Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: [2] Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. (KJV)

[44:21] Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou [art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. (KJV)

[45:4] For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. (KJV)

[49:3] And said unto me, Thou [art] my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (KJV)

The chapter divisions did not exist until about four hundred years ago. Therefore, it’s important to examine this chapter in its context, and not just cut off the page, all by itself.

Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. [2] Shake thyself from the dust; arise, [and] sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. [3] For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. [4] For thus saith the Lord G-D, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. [5] Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] blasphemed. [6] Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that day that I [am] he that doth speak: behold, [it is] I. [7] How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy G-d reigneth! [8] Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. [9] Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. [10] The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G-d. [11] Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. [12] For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the G-d of Israel [will be] your reward. [13] Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. [14] As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: [15] So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for [that] which had not been told them shall they see; and [that] which they had not heard shall they consider. (KJV)

Take this chapter all by itself, and it's fairly obvious that it speaks of Zion, of the nation of Israel. This portion of scripture sets the stage for chapter 53.

Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of G-d, and afflicted. [5] But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (KJV)

Now, according to Christians, the topic of Isaiah 52 is temporarily suspended from the nation of Israel to then speak exclusively about the Messiah. Before we get into the in-depth issues of mistranslation, there are a couple of things that need to be addressed.

1) This chapter of Isaiah makes no mention of the Messiah himself. We know how to identify the future king, because he's called the king, the branch of Jesse, or is referred to as David himself. The reason why Christians cling to this chapter so dearly as proof that the Messiah is to suffer is because it is one of those very few places where they can attempt to do so. The actual breadth of Messianic prophecy is quite exhaustive, and you don't find the notion of a king suffering in them, but you have this chapter, which can be twisted to that end.

2) There is a great deal of circular reasoning involved here. People start with Jesus being the Messiah, Jesus suffered, Isaiah 53 is about one who suffers, so Isaiah 53 must be about the Messiah!

Now, a breakdown of the verses themselves, in Part II that follows, or skip to Part III.