Does the Targum
say Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah?
CLAIM: The oldest Jewish commentary on Isaiah, the Targum Jonathan teaches that the suffering servant of
Isaiah 53 is the Messiah.
In almost every missionary
book or article that brings Rabbinic sources to try
and prove their arguments, the Targum of Yonason Ben Uzziel is mentioned
as a ‘proof’ that the ancient Rabbis believed that the suffering servant of
Isaiah 53 was the Moshiach Ben Dovid,
the King Messiah. Most sources just quote a single verse from it. Here is an
example from an Internet article by Victor Buksbazen:
‘From the earliest
days, Isaiah 53 was interpreted by Jews as applying to the Messiah. Thus,
Jonathan ben Uziel of the
first century, in his Targum (an Aramaic translation
of the Hebrew Bible) paraphrases Isaiah 53: "My servant, the Messiah, will
be great, who was bruised for our sins."’[1]
It should be noted that the
author has fabricated part of this passage. The words: “who was bruised for our
sins" do not appear in the original Targum in
any place as we can see from the translation that will be discussed in detail
below.
There are few sources that
deal with the Targum in full. Those that do, while
they claim that this Targum is a support for the idea
that Isaiah 53’s suffering servant is the Messiah, they will at the same time
attack the author of the Targum for ‘completely
twisting’ the text, or making a ’virtual rewrite’. If the issue were not so
serious, it would be laughable.
Here are some quotes from
Dr. Michael Brown’s latest work that shows what I mean:[2]
“So,
for example the Targum interprets the passage with
reference to the Messiah – as warring, victorious king, even to the point of completely
twisting the meaning of key verses”[3]
“Targum Jonathan interprets Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (which for
simplicity in this discussion, we will simply call Isaiah 53) with reference to
the Messiah, despite the fact that the Targum virtually
rewrites the entire passage, changing the verses that speak clearly of the
servant’s sufferings so that they speak instead of the suffering of the
nations.”[4]
It should be noted that the
second quote above has an error. The suffering (as we shall see) is not “of the
nations” but of a single nation. It is the suffering of the Jewish people in
exile. In another of his works we find:[5]
“Note that the Targum Jonathan, the Targum to
the prophetic books, applied this section directly to the Messiah (“my servant
the Messiah”) but changed the text in a number of key points, thereby
effectively removing all references to the Messiah’s suffering. How odd
it is that the Targum recognized that the servant of
the Lord spoken of in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 was actually the Messiah – a
fundamental position of the New Testament – and yet found it necessary to
radically alter the meaning of the text to make it into a statement of the
Messiah’s military prowess and his victory over the nations. It would have been more logical to attempt to
argue that the text did not refer to the Messiah at all!” [6]
Why do they have to go through
such contortions? Why not just accept that the Targum
has another opinion? Why not just admit that the Targum
does not help their cause? The reason is simple. The traditional church
believed in a theology of Replacement of Israel by the church. This was not a
good tactic to convince Jews to willingly convert. It failed for hundreds of
years. Over the last few decades, the missionaries ‘got it.’ The overwhelming
majority of Jews don’t want to stop being Jews. So the missionaries needed to
say that the church does NOT replace the Jewish people.
This creates a problem.
Historical Christianity and Historical Judaism are NOT the same, or even
similar on many fundamental theological points.
They need to show that the Jews weren’t so wrong, and that we can find
‘roots’ for Christianity in ancient Judaism. If they are there, then they can
claim the Rabbis just made a wrong turn along the way.
But for that to work, there
still needs to be some leftover traces of the ‘true’ theology by the Rabbis, in
addition to their new mistakes. The further back, the closer to the truth. Rashi, Maimonides and all the
later Rabbis got rid of the ancient beliefs. So the Targum
and other sources have to have ‘hints’ showing that the ancient Jews, before
the Rabbis ruined it, had beliefs that were consistent with Christianity. Whether it is with regards to Isaiah 53, or the Unity of G-d, or
many of the other critical theological issues. Rabbinic works need to be
examined to find indicators of the existence of this pre-Rabbinic ‘Biblical’
Judaism that believed similarly to the early Christians. THEN, they can
claim that someone of Jewish background can become a Christian, and still be a
Jew, since he has not abandoned the ancient Jewish beliefs. It was the RABBIS
who have abandoned the ancient Jewish beliefs.
This explains the anger and
exasperation that we see in the words of Dr. Brown and others when they discuss
the full text of the Targum. We shall see that, in
fact, the theology that comes out of the Targum is EXACTLY
what later Rabbis, like Rashi, and Maimonides would write with regards to the Messiah and the
subject of Isaiah 53.
The first issue we need to examine is what type of a
commentary this Targum is. We shall see that this is
a key issue to understanding the Targum, and also
Jewish eschatology. Targum literal means
‘translation’, but not all Targums are the same. In
my article “What is Midrash” I discuss the nature and content of Midrashic commentary. There I brought some sources that
explain this method of interpretation. Dr. Michael Brown in his work ‘Answering
Jewish Objections to Jesus’[7]
states:
“Talmudic citations are not meant to be
precise interpretations of the biblical text but are often based on free
association and wordplays.”
In his “Introduction to the Talmud” by Moses Mielziner[8] he
states:
“Where the Midrash does not concern legal enactments and provisions,
but merely inquires into the meaning and significance of the laws or where it
only uses the words of Scripture as a vehicle to convey a moral teaching
or a religious instruction and consolation, it is called a ‘Midrash
Agadah’ Interpretation of the Agadah,
homiletical interpretation.”
In essence a Midrash is NOT
a translation or literal commentary, but a pedagogical style of teaching
theological concepts that is not strictly dependant on the text it is using.
The well-known scholarly translation of the Targumic Messianic texts, by Samson H. Levey, ‘The Messiah: An Aramaic
Interpretation; The Messianic Exegesis of the Targum”
says with regards to the Targum on Isaiah 53:[9]
“This is an excellent example of Targumic paraphrase at its best. It is not a translation,
nor is it loose meaningless commentary, but a reworking of the text to yield
what the Targumist desires it to give forth.”
This is almost exactly what appears in the quote from
Mielziner above. From this we see that the Targum is a Midrashic commentary,
and not a literal one. The Targum is not strictly
telling us what the verses say, but what Judaism teaches. It is painting for us
a picture of the end-times and Jewish eschatology.
This is something that the more knowledgeable
missionaries KNOW, even if they are reluctant to admit it in a clear way
in their books. This actually came up in an email dialogue with Dr. Michael
Brown that involved a number of subjects including the Targum
to Isaiah 53. In an email sent to me
Now that we recognize that
this is a Midrashic comment, we need to try and
understand what the Targum is trying to teach us. In
it we see a picture painted for us. It is of the end-times. (See my article “Who
is Moshiach Ben Yosef”
for some texts dealing with this period, especially the passage of Isaiah 11
which gives some background on the Targumic
references to the Messiah.) The Christian missionary scholar Dr. Louis Goldberg
in his pamphlet ‘A Jewish Christian response’[11]
summarizes what appears in the Targum.[12]
He states that 'all the verses which relate to exaltation were applied to a
(sic) personal Messiah, while the remainder of the passage relating to
suffering was applied to the nation'. So the Targum
is teaching us two points: The Messiah will be an exalted character, and the
Jewish people suffered in exile. Sounds pretty much like what we find in
traditional Jewish commentaries.
Let’s look at the Targum and compare it to a translation of the original
passage. It will be easy to notice that this is not a translation at all. It is
not a simple explanation of the verses. It is a Midrash,
in the style we have just explored. The translation from the JPS is bold
letters. The translation of the Targum is by Driver
and Neubauer[13]
as that is the one that is usually quoted from by the missionaries.
52:13
Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall
be very high.
52:13. Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be
high, and increase, and be exceeding strong:
52:14
According as many were appalled at thee—so marred was his visage unlike that of
a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men—
52:14. as the house of
52:15 So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their
mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see,
and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.
52:15. so will he scatter many peoples; at him kings shall
be silent, and put their hands upon their mouth, because that which was not
told them have they seen, and that which
they had not heard they have observed.
53:1 ‘Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD
been revealed?
53:1. Who hath believed this our
glad tidings? and the strength of the mighty arm of
the Lord, upon whom as thus hath it been revealed?
53:2 For he
shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground; he had no
form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should
delight in him.
53:2. The righteous will grow up before him, yeah, like
blooming shoots, and like a tree which sends forth its roots to streams of water
will they increase - a holy generation in the land that was in need of him; his
countenance no profane countenance, and the terror at him not the terror at an
ordinary man; his complexion shall be a holy complexion, and all who see him
will look wistfully upon him.
53:3 He was
despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and
as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:3. Then he will become despised, and will cut off the
glory of all the kingdoms; they will be prostrate and mourning, like a man of
pains and like one destined for sicknesses; and as though the presence of the Shekhinah had been withdrawn from us, they will be
despised, and esteemed not.
53:4 Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried;
whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:4. Then for our sins he will pray, and our iniquities
will for his sake be forgiven, although we were accounted stricken, smitten
from before the Lord, and afflicted.
53:5 But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was
crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon
him, and with his stripes we were healed.
53:5. But he will build up the Holy Place, which has been
polluted for our sins, and delivered to the enemy for our iniquities; and by
his instruction peace shall be increased upon us, and by devotion to his words,
our sins will be forgiven us.
53:6 All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.
53:6. All we like sheep had been
scattered, we had each wandered off on his own way; but it was the Lord's good
pleasure to forgive the sins of all of us for his sake.
53:7 He was
oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that
is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea,
he opened not his mouth.
53:7. He prayed, and he was answered, and ere even he had
opened his mouth he was accepted; the mighty of the peoples he will deliver up
like a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before her shearers; there
shall be none before him opening his mouth or saying a word
53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his
generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke
was due.
53:8. Out of chastisements and punishment he will bring our
captives near; the wondrous things done to us in his days who
shall be able to tell? For he will cause the dominion of the Gentiles to pass
away from the land of Israel and transfer to them the sins which my people have
committed.
53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich
his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth.’
53:9. He will deliver the wicked into Gehinnom,
and those that are rich in possessions into the death of utter destruction, in
order that those who commit sin may not be established, nor speak deceits with
their mouth.
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by
disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, that he might
see his seed, prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper
by his hand:
53:10. But it is the Lord's good pleasure to try and to
purify the remnant of his people, so as to cleanse their souls from sin; these
shall look on the Kingdom of their Messiah, their sons and their daughters
shall be multiplied, they shall prolong their days, and those who perform the
Law of the Lord shall prosper in his good pleasure.
53:11 Of the travail of
his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did
justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear.
53:11. From the subjection of the nations he will deliver
their souls, they shall look upon the punishment of those that hate them, and
be satisfied with the spoil of their kings; by his wisdom he will hold the
guiltless free from guilt, in order to bring many into subjection to the law;
and for their sins he will intercede.
53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion
among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he
bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
53:12. Then will I divide for him the spoil of many peoples,
and the possessions of strong cities shall he divide as prey, because he
delivered up his soul to death, and made the rebellious subject to the Law: he
shall intercede for many sins, and the rebellious for his sake shall be
forgiven
We can see clearly from the
above that the Targum is not a translation, nor can
it be called ‘commentary’ in the usual sense of the word. If we look in the
commentaries of the Rambam (Maimonides)
where he discusses the Messiah, his time, and his role we see most if not all
of what appears in this Targum about the Messiah.
In his commentary to the Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1 he states:
“The twelfth
principle… We believe the Messiah will be greater than any other king or ruler
who has ever lived.”
“The Messiah will
be a very great king, whose government will be in
“The main benefit
of the Messianic Age will be that we will no longer be under the subjugation of
foreign governments who prevent us from keeping all the commandments.”
In his Mishnah
Torah in the Laws of Kings Chapter 11 we have more:
11:1. “The Messiah
will be a king who will restore the
11:4. We may assume
that a person is the Messiah if he fulfills the following conditions: He must
be a ruler, from the house of David, immersed in Torah and its commandments
like David his ancestor. He must also follow both the written and the Oral
Torah, lead all Jews back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of its laws,
and fight G-d’s battles. If one fulfills these
conditions then we may assume he is the Messiah. If he does this successfully,
and then rebuilds the
There is nothing especially
surprising here for anyone familiar with the beliefs of Historical Judaism.
What is interesting is that so much of the Jewish beliefs are explicitly
mentioned in the Targum to Isaiah 53. (I would also
note that some of the Biblical quotes from my article on Moshiach ben Yosef indicate
many of the things that the Rambam says.)
I want to examine text of
the Targum and explain what he is saying and point
out where the Targum’s words agree with the Rambam about the messianic period. This will be in stark
contrast to Christian theology about the Messiah, which is conspicuously absent
from the Targum.
I will be discussing each sentence of the Targum.
I have made a few modifications of the translation based on the translation of Levey, and the wording of the original where the text used
above gives a nuance that is not there in the original.
52:13
Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall
be very high.
52:13. Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be
high, and increase, and be exceeding strong:
Here the
servant is the Messiah. The Targum is almost the
exact same wording as the Hebrew, except that he mentions the Messiah. We see that
the Messiah will be of an exalted character, something that the Rambam emphasizes in his commentary to the Mishnah. “The Messiah will be a very great king, whose
government will be in
52:14
According as many were appalled at thee—so marred was his visage unlike that of
a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men—
52:14. as the house of
Here the
servant is
52:15 So shall he startle many nations, kings shall shut their
mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them shall they see,
and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.
52:15. so will he scatter many peoples; at him kings shall
be silent, and put their hands upon their mouth, because that which was not
told them have they seen, and that which
they had not heard they have observed.
The servant
is the Messiah again. We see how the Messiah will be victorious in war against
all enemies. This reflects what the Rambam wrote in
his commentary to the Mishnah: “Whoever rises up
against him will be destroyed by G-d and given over into his hand.”
53:1 ‘Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD
been revealed?
53:1. Who hath believed this our
glad tidings? and the strength of the mighty arm of HaShem, upon whom hath it been revealed?
This seems
to be similar to what the Rambam stated: “His
great righteousness and the wonders that he will bring about will cause all
peoples to make peace with him and all the lands will serve him.”
53:2 For he
shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground; he had no
form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should
delight in him.
53:2. The righteous will grow up before him, yeah, like
blooming shoots, and like a tree which sends forth its roots to streams of
water; will they increase - a holy generations (lit. holy children) in the land
that was in need of him; his countenance no profane countenance, and the terror
at him not the terror of a simple person; his complexion shall be a holy
complexion, and all who see him will look (stare) upon him.
The servant
in this verse is the righteous of
53:3 He was
despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and
as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:3. Then he will despise, and will cut off the glory of
all the kingdoms; they will be weakened and mourning, like a man of pains and
like one prepared for sicknesses; and as though the presence of the Shekhinah had been withdrawn, they will be despised, and
esteemed not.
It seems
that the servant here is the NATIONS, an interesting twist in his
interpretation. This seems to be a continuation of 52:15 where we see that the
nations who have caused the suffering to
53:4 Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried;
whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:4. Then for our sins he will
pray, and our iniquities will for his sake be silenced, and we were accounted
stricken, smitten from before HaShem, and afflicted.
The
servant’s role here is applied to BOTH the Messiah and
53:5 But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was
crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon
him, and with his stripes we were healed.
53:5. But he will build up the
The servant here is the Messiah. We see described the
‘job’ of the Messiah. It is almost exactly what the Rambam
has stated: Book of Kings 11:4. We may
assume that a person is the Messiah if he fulfills the following conditions: He
must be a ruler, from the house of David, immersed in Torah and its
commandments like David his ancestor. He must also follow both the written and
the Oral Torah, lead all Jews back to the Torah, strengthen the observance of
its laws, and fight G-d’s battles. If one fulfills
these conditions then we may assume he is the Messiah. If he does this
successfully, and then rebuilds the
53:6 All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all.
53:6. All we like sheep had been scattered, we were exiled,
each wandered off on his own way; but it was HaShem’s
will to forsake the sins of all of us for his sake.
Here we see
53:7 He was
oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that
is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea,
he opened not his mouth.
53:7. He prayed, and he was answered, and ere even he had opened
his mouth he was accepted; the mighty of the peoples he will deliver up like a
sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before her shearers; there shall be
none before him opening his mouth or saying a word
The servant
here is again the nations. As to the role of the Messiah in this verse the Rambam says: “Whoever rises up against him will be
destroyed by G-d and given over into his hand.”
53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his
generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke
was due.
53:8. Out of suffering and punishment he will bring our
exiles; the wondrous things done to us in his days who
shall be able to tell? For he will cause the dominion of the Gentiles to pass
away from the land of Israel and transfer to them the sins which my people have
committed.
The servant here is
53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich
his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth.’
53:9. He will deliver the wicked into Gehinnom,
and those that are rich in possessions, that were forced from us, into the
death of utter destruction, in order that those who commit sin may not prevail,
nor speak deceits with their mouth.
The servant
here is the nations. This is a continuation of the previous verse of the
victory over the gentiles.
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by
disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, that he might
see his seed, prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper
by his hand:
53:10. But it is HaShem's will to
purify and to cause suffering to the remnant of his people, so as to cleanse
their souls from sin; these shall look on the Kingdom of their Messiah, their
sons and their daughters shall be multiplied, they shall prolong their days,
and those who perform the Law of HaShem shall prosper
by His Will.
The servant
here is
53:11 Of the travail of
his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did
justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear.
53:11. From the subjection of the
nations he will deliver their souls, they shall look upon the punishment of
those that hate them, and be satisfied with the spoil of their kings; by his wisdom
he will hold cause merit to the meritorious, in order to bring many into
service to the law; and for their sins he will intercede.
The servant
here is both
53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion
among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he
bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
53:12. Then will I divide for him the spoil of many peoples,
and the possessions of strong cities shall he divide as spoils, because he was
willing to suffer martyrdom, and made the rebellious subject to the Law: he
shall intercede for the sins of many, and the sins of the rebellious for his
sake shall be forsaken
The servant here is the
Messiah. A repetition of what was said above in 53:5 and 53:11.
The best expression of the
claim of the missionaries is in a recent work by Dr. Brown. Here is what Dr.
Brown says:
“Interestingly,
the national interpretation is not found once in the Talmuds,
the Targums, or the midrashim (in other words, not once in all the
classical, foundational, authoritative Jewish writings). [15]
We have seen that this is
just not true. In the Targum numerous references are
made to a ‘national interpretation’ of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
Verses like 52:14, 53:4,8 and 10 all discuss the
suffering of
But there is a problem. As
we have said, this is a Midrashic commentary. It is
theology and not exegesis. We see that the theology of the Targum
and that of Historical Judaism are in agreement. The question is can we discern
who the Targum believes is the subject of Isaiah 53?
I think that we can. I think that we have a few pieces of information that
tells us that in the time of the Targum they
understood the simple meaning of Isaiah 53 is that the suffering servant is
referring to
The first fact is based on a
simple question: Why is Moshiach ben
Yosef not mentioned in this passage of the Targum? In a few others places[16]
the Targum mentions Moshiach
ben Yosef. Had the Targum wanted to indicate that Isaiah 53 related to the
idea of a suffering Messiah figure, then it would have been natural for him to
include mention of Moshiach ben
Yosef. By excluding mention of Moshiach
ben Yosef in Isaiah 53 the Targum shows that he excludes the idea of a single person
for the subject of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, especially the Messiah.
Secondly, all sources,
Christian and Jewish; acknowledge that the subject of Isaiah 53 is a servant
who suffers. As we saw from Dr. Goldberg, and from our examination of the Targum itself, the person suffering is
These two points give us
strong proof and confidence that, just like the theology the Targum teaches with regards to Isaiah 53 is what Historical
Judaism believes, so the identification of the servant as
[1] http://www.thebookwurm.com/isaiah53.htm: “Isaiah Fifty-Three: Of Whom Does The
Prophet Speak?”
[2] “Answers to Jewish Objections to Jesus”, Volume 3.
[3] Page 49
[4] Page 51
[5] “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus”, Volume 2.
[6] Page 307 in note 390.
[7] Vol. II page 225.
[8] Page 118.
[9] Page 66.
[10] It is interesting that an admission that the Targum is Midrashic and castigating it for distorting would appear to be a contradiction. I am unable to explain away that contradiction. It seems to bring into question the ability of these people to deal with objective scholarship.
[11] This is a response to the counter missionary book by Gerald Sigel.
[12] Page 4.
[13] Page 5-6 in “The Suffering Servant of Isaiah, According to the Jewish Interpreters” by Samuel R. Driver and Adolf Neubauer Originally published in 1877 and off copyright, (reprinted 1999 Wipf and Stock Publishers)
[14] In a few places they translate this word as forgiven instead of the more correct: forsaken. In the Targum to Psalm 22:1 a form of this word is used to mean forsaken there.
[15] Volume 3 of ‘Answers to Jewish Objections to Jesus’ page 41.
[16] Exodus 40:11 and Song of Songs 4:5; 7:4.