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January 15, 2023 |
| Isaiah 53 | ||
For at least 1700 years, Isaiah 53 was understood to be a prophecy about the Messiah. From Isaiah's time (700 BC) into the Middle Ages, it was most commonly interpreted that way. Even the Jewish sage Maimonides (Rambam) in the 1100's AD understood it that way, although he didn't accept that Jesus was the Messiah the verses described.
But others did not. Rashi in the 1000's AD did not. Hillel, who died about the time Jesus was born, understood it to have been fulfilled in Hezekiah's time. That's the way with prophecy interpretation.
But things began to change. Christianity began to flourish after 313 AD when it was made legal in the Roman Empire. Christianity's claims about Jesus, the Bible, and the Jews started to be a problem for Jews.
When the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, Judaism struggled on for a long time trying to figure out what it was without a temple. That direction coalesced as Rabbinic Judaism, which became mainstream in the 500's AD. It was a Judaism that found replacements for sacrifices and patches for feast days.
In the Middle Ages (500 AD - 1400 AD), Jews felt it necessary to deal with the claims by Christians that Yeshua was HaMashiach, the Messiah. If this was true, then the Jews had killed their own Messiah. The Christians quoted many prophetic passages in the Old Testament to support that. Isaiah 53, in particular, very clearly described his life, his role, and the changes he would bring.
Instead of admitting it and accepting that they had killed their Messiah, the Jewish elite began discouraging the reading of Isaiah 53 by Jews, and they came up with a new interpretation of Isaiah 53.
The result is that it is no longer read in most synagogues. The only time it is read is when the "correct" understanding of the chapter will be taught.
You might think that this wouldn't work because Jews would read that chapter in their normal daily reading, but it does work. Jews, like Catholics, don't read the Bible much but rely on other sources. For Jews this is mostly their favorite rabbis.
In this study we will look at the modern Jewish view of Isaiah 53. We'll also look at the text of Isaiah 53 and embellish it by including the New Testament authors who quoted Isaiah 53, and by including the Rambam's view.
In summary, the modern Jewish view is that "Isaiah 53 is about Israel as a people, not about a man." This means that they see themselves as having suffered much for the world. It's certainly true that they have suffered much at the hands of the world, but this seems like an attempted manipulation to obtain sympathy.
This is their view of the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53. Following that is their statement that Jews need to have the "correct" understanding before reading Isaiah 53.
Even if we interpret the chapter as the Christians do (forgetting for a minute the mistranslations and distortions of context which will be noted below), the most that could be said is this: Isaiah 53 is about someone who dies for the sins of others. People may have seen Jesus die, but did anyone see him die as an atonement for the sins of others? Of course not; this is simply the meaning which the New Testament gives to his death."
some additional study will be helpful before you 'tackle' Isaiah 53." - Jews For Judaism (https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/isaiah-53-a-jewish-perspective/)
The name of this group appears to be a play on the name of the group "Jews For Jesus."
I've summarized some bullet points from their page on Isaiah 53. As I said before they see the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 as the Jewish people
Overall, their analysis is dishonest. They are translating the text to get a desired result. They are also contradicted by the Jewish sages who understood this chapter to be messianic.
Different parts of Isaiah 35 are quoted in the New Testament, and there are so many quotes from that chapter, which is only 12 verses long, that the quotes are, effectively, a New Testament commentary on it. So we will work from those quotes.
Also the Rambam has some valuable insights in certain places. Both of these sources are used below.
The Isaiah 53 Prophecy Begins in Chapter 52.
13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were astonished at you, my people, So His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.
15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand. (Isaiah 52:13-15)
While I take pains to preach the Good News, not where the name of the Messiah is invoked, lest I build on an unusual foundation. 21 But just as it is written: "Those who had not been told about him shall see him, and those who have not heard shall be convinced." 22 Because of this I was hindered many times when I would have come to you. (Romans 15:20-22 quoting Isaiah 52:15)
Paul sees himself fulfilling that part of the Isaiah 53 prophecy. As an apostle to the Gentiles, he did not preach where the Messiah was already known, among the Jews. Their weird understanding of the Messiah would have been hard to build on. He carried the message to those who had not heard. Even so the Jews heard of his teachings and hindered him wherever they could.
1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. (Isaiah 53:1-2)
And whereas he did all these miracles before them, they did not trust in him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled, which says, "My Lord, who is believing our report and to whom is the arm of the lord Yahweh revealed?" 39 Therefore they were not able to believe (John 12:37-39 quoting Isaiah 53:1)
But not all have submitted to the message of the Gospel, as Isaiah said, "My Lord, who believes our report?" 17 Therefore faith is from the hearing ear, and the hearing ear is from the word of God. (Romans 10:16-17 quoting Isaiah 53:1)
The Messiah is not a person concerning whom it may be predicted that he will be the son of so and so, or of the family of so and so. On the contrary, he will be unknown before his coming, but he will prove by means of miracles and wonders that he is the true Messiah. In allusion to his mysterious lineage, God says: Behold a man whose name is the Shoot, and who shall shoot up [Zech. 6:12]. Similarly Isaiah, referring to his arrival, implies that neither his father nor mother, nor his kith and kin will be known, for he will grow, by his favor, like a sapling, like a root out of arid ground [Isa. 53:2]." (The Rambam, Letter to Yemen)
The Rambam is putting together different pieces of scripture to get a bigger picture, just as we do. Here he understands that Jesus will not come from a significant or identifiable person or family. In doing so the Rambam establishes Isaiah 53 as a description of the Messiah (as also parts of Zechariah).
They (the kings) will neither defame nor calumniate him, for the miracles he will perform will frighten them into complete silence. Isaiah refers to the submission of the kings to him in the verse: Kings shall be silenced because of him [Isa. 52:15]." (The Rambam, Letter to Yemen)
The Rambam is beginning to make a mistake here. The Jews could see the Messiah in prophecy both as a Suffering Servant and a Conquering King. The Jews did not realize the Suffering Servant and Conquering King would be distant events in time - and they still don't. This was likely due to not recognizing that the Messiah would be God. They expected a man with the lifetime of a man.
If a king will arise from the House of David who occupies himself with the study of the Torah and the performance of the Mitzvos like David his ancestor, in accordance with the Written Law and the Oral Law; and if he will compel all of Israel to follow (the Torah) and strengthen its observance; and if he will fight the wars of G-d; then he is assumed to be the Messiah. If he does these things and is successful, and he builds the Temple on its place, and gathers in the exiles of Israel, then he is definitely the Messiah." (The Rambam, Mishnah Torah 11:4)
The Rambam continues along this erroneous line of thinking: the Messiah would be a man. Therefore he sees the Messiah as a man who needs to study the Torah and will. He isn't expecting the God who passed the Torah to Moses. He also expects the Messiah to follow the Oral Law, which is a body of extra-Biblical writings that Jews believe were given to Moses alongside the Written Torah at Mount Sinai. These all appear to be the products of men, and there is no reason to believe otherwise. Every good Jew studies them, so naturally the Rambam believes the Messiah will do so as well.
My yellow highlights above are ideas that come from the Suffering Servant verses. The blue highlights come from the Conquering King verses. This shows how the Rambam expects the Messiah to do both in his lifetime.
If he did not succeed to this extent or he was killed, then we know that he is certainly not the one promised by the Torah. He is like all the kings of the house of David who were honorable and upright who died. G-d did not cause him to arise except to test the people, as it says, "Some of the wise will stumble, in order to purify them until the end, because it is not yet the time." [Daniel 11:35]" - The Rambam, Mishnah Torah 11:4
The Rambam is plainly aware of Jesus and Christians, and these words are targeted toward us. Without mentioning it, he dismisses the idea that the Messiah would be God, and judges Jesus as a man who needs to accomplish all of this in one lifetime. His judgment is that Jesus died without accomplishing all of these things; therefore he was not the Messiah.
Then he takes it a step further by saying that Jesus was a false Messiah whom God sent as a test for the Jews, and some Jews were deceived by him. The Rambam says that Daniel said it would be so, but he takes the verse out of its context. This is a complete translation of the verse.
And some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure until the time of the end, because it is still to come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:35)
The verse talks about people who fall in order to be purified. Jews who left Judaism and never returned could not be said to have been purified. They certainly never lived until the "time of the end."
In summary, the Rambam says Isaiah 53 is messianic and correctly understands many things about who the Messiah will be, but he says Jesus wasn't the Messiah.
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3-4)
As a translation note, grief could be translated as "pains"; sorrows could be translated as "sickness."
This verse is one where we see the Suffering Servant described, in this case as a man of sorrows.
The highlighted words form a chiasm, with the yellow highlights marking the outer level and the blue highlights marking an inner level. This is given in order to lead us to a point in the inner level text, which appears to be "we did not esteem Him," which was the problem and continues to be.
But when it was evening, they brought many demon-possessed before him, and he cast their demons out with a word, and all those who had become ill, and he healed them. 17 So that would be fulfilled which was said by Isaiah the Prophet, who said: "He will take our pains and he will bear our sicknesses." (Matthew 8:16-17 quoting Isaiah 53:4))
Mathew talks about Jesus casting out demons and healing illnesses, then he quotes Isaiah. This shows that he understands Isaiah to be speaking about physical things or, at the least, about physical things as well as spiritual things.
Mathew uses the words "pains" and "sicknesses" in his quote of Isaiah. I showed above that some translations of Isaiah are using "griefs" and "sorrows," but that the words could also be translated as Matthew has done. This shows that "pains" and "sickness" are the correct translation or, at least, also a correct translation. Therefore Isaiah is speaking about physical healings or, at least, physical and spiritual healings.
This is a problem with Hebrew and Aramaic. Their words often have a breadth of meaning that English words do not.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
There is a question the Jews should have asked before Jesus' time: "How can scourging one person cause another person to be healed?" There is no way that whipping one person will help another person, let alone a bunch of people. But in Jewish society, there was something that worked that way. The imagery points to the sacrificial system, where a sacrifice was made so that a person could be healed of iniquity (sin). But where in the Bible did God ever say that a man could be sacrificed for sin - nowhere. Only the sacrifices that God had specified could be that sacrifice. And where did God say that the iniquities of many people could "fall on" one sacrifice that would heal them all - nowhere. Therefore the Messiah would have to be someone chosen by God as a sacrifice for the many. They missed that.
And he took all of our sins and lifted them in his body to the cross, for as we are dead to sin, we shall live in his righteousness, for by his scars you have been healed. 25 For you had gone astray like sheep, and you have returned now to the shepherd and the caregiver of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25 quoting Isaiah 53:5-6)
Unlike the previous New Testament quotes, Peter also uses Isaiah 53 to encourage believers. He says they were strays, but now they are under the care of a good shepherd.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? (Isaiah 53:7-8)
But the section of Scripture he read had this in it: "He was led as a lamb for sacrifice and as a ewe before its shearer is silent, also in this way he opened not his mouth. 33 He was led in his humility from imprisonment and from judgment and who will narrate his time? For his life is taken from the Earth." (Acts 8:32-33 quoting Isaiah 53:7-8)
The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53 and was confused by it, saying, "About whom did the Prophet say this, about himself or about another man?" Phillip was led by the Spirit to make contact and explain it.
His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in [at] His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
"assigned" - the Jews intended for him to die [go to the grave] as a wicked man among other wicked men. That isn't what happened.
The translation says "in his death." This makes it sound like he shared a grave with a rich man, just as he had died with wicked men. But he was actually put on the cross with wicked men, but by the time of his death, there was only one wicked man. Another valid translation of "in his death" is "at his death," which gives a clearer meaning.
The verse doesn't specifically say he would be in the grave of a rich man. It only hints that his grave was not with the wicked. It was a rich man who took his body off the cross and carried it away. So the prophecy is saying that he was put on a cross with wicked men and was with a rich man as his body was carried away.
For you are called to this, for even the Messiah died for our sake and left us this example, that you would walk in his steps, 22 He who did no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth; (1 Pet 2:22 quoting Isaiah 53:9)
Peter is using Isaiah's words about the Messiah as a standard for each of us to walk toward.
But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)
In Judaism the guilt offerings are for:
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
He was "numbered" or "counted" as though he was a sinner (transgressor, lawbreaker). This doesn't mean someone was counting. It only means that he was considered to be one of them. If someone had been keeping a tally, his checkmark would have been under "Transgressors."
The verse says he was "poured out." To Jews this had a clear meaning as a reference to a drink offering. One of the sacrifices people could make was to get one of their favorite drinks and pour it on the ground, instead of drinking it. We'll come back to this.
I mentioned an earlier phrase in this chapter that only makes sense if the Messiah is God. Here we see another. What person can:
The Messiah couldn't be a priest because he was from the tribe of Judah, so who else could do this?
And they crucified two robbers with him, one at his right, and one at his left. 28 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "He was numbered with wicked men." (Mark 15:27-28 quoting Isaiah 53:12)
He said to them, "From this hour, whoever has a money bag should take it and thus also a wallet, and whoever lacks a sword, let him sell his tunic and buy a sword for himself. 37 For this also that is written must be fulfilled in me, 'He was numbered with the evil doers', for all that concerns me shall be fulfilled." 38 And they were saying to him, 'Our Lord, behold, here are two swords.' He said to them, 'They are enough.' (Luke 22:36-38 quoting Isaiah 53:12)
In the Luke passage, Jesus is saying, "I will be treated as an evil person, and that will fall on my disciples."
"Therefore, I will divide a portion to him with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty." If Jesus is God, does the idea of reward have any meaning? Is it not rather the Jewish people - who righteously bore the sins of the world and yet remained faithful to God (Ps. 44) - who will be rewarded, and this in the manner described more fully in Isaiah chapters 52 and 54? (Jews For Judaism https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/isaiah-53-a-jewish-perspective/)
A Yiddish word comes to mind: Chutzpah (Having a lot of audacity, nerve, gall). If the Jews have been righteous all this time, why were they driven out of the land for nearly 2,000 years, and why do they have no temple? The previous time they were driven out of the land and the temple was destroyed, it was because they had rejected God. That lasted 70 years. What did they do this time? Their comment here is the answer, and they are still doing it.
Isaiah 53 tells us a lot about who Jesus would be, what he would do, and what his end would be. Here are a few of those that I have selected.
How did the Jews of Jesus miss this prophecy? Despite many hints to the contrary, they had turned to a belief in one God and therefore rejected the idea that the person described could be God. After Christianity became a force they could not ignore, some of them decided this prophecy must be talking about their sufferings. That has now become the majority view. To make sure the chapter doesn't become a problem, it is suppressed.