The Verses in Isaiah 53 All Agree Upon
At first glance, the account of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 looks like an account of a suffering individual, because of the language employed in it that uses characteristics acquainted with man. But a closer examination shows that much of the translation is misappropriated, because it was taken out of context. In the preceding article “The Servant in Isaiah 53: Collective figure of Israel or an Individual”, we defended the view that it is crucial for the correct understanding of Chapter 53 of Isaiah to read it in its proper context and to identify who is the speaking one in it. Besides the context, there is one more thing to consider, namely, the way the book is written. Yeshayahu’s standing as a prophet is second only to that of Mosheh. All other prophets received their prophetic visions via intermediators, while Yeshayahu received his directly from the Eternal. Even more, the prophecies in his book are composed in complex poetic language, using obscure words and imagery, and often regarded as the paradigm for poetic Hebrew.
It now remains for us to explain and conclude another phase of this problem, which arises from the fact that there are several Scriptural passages in which the identity of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 is misappropriated. This being the case, it becomes our duty to explain these passages, since so many people are confused regarding them. We will now turn to continue what we commenced to explain in the previous article, as we would like to posit another way to look at Isaiah 53, specifically in reference to the sufferings of the servant. The matter will become clear once we understand who is the speaking one in the chapter. We will first remove all the difficulties, and at the end we will offer more knowledge to the studious reader for edification. We do not ask the reader to substitute our judgment for his/her own but to consider what we intend to say in the following.
We argued in the above mentioned article that in verses 1 through 9 the “suffering servant” is the collective body of Israel and that the nations of the world are speaking in them commencing in the end of Chapter 52 exclaiming, “Who would have believed our report”, and then their report follows in verses 1 through 9 of Chapter 53 in repentance from the sins committed against the Jews confessing their transgressions against them. The nations thus admit their guilt against the servant of YHVH. This became fulfilled in 2000, when Pope John Paul II, the head of the Vatican, officially came in Jerusalem and asked forgiveness for what the Catholic Church had done to the Jews.
Then, from verses 10 through 12 of Isaiah 53 the Eternal resumes speaking, for it is unbefitting the nations to speak in first person, saying: “My righteous servant makes the many righteous” (verse 11), after the manner of Isaiah 52:13: “My servant shall deal wisely”, and specifically: “I will give the many as his portion, etc.” (verse 12), particularly expressed in the statement: “My servant makes the many righteous, it is their punishment that he bears”, which explains how the servant would make humanity righteous by his knowledge. Verse 11 further states that the servant will have understanding that will enable him to know how to reconcile the peoples with the Eternal. These are the verses 1 through 12 of Isaiah 53 all agree upon, namely, they are Messianic; the Eternal and the nations of the world are speaking of the Messianic age. We will note here that the prophet does not say, “My servant Israel”, as he explicitly has done this in Isaiah 44:1-2, Isaiah 44:21, and Isaiah 45:4, but “My servant”, as in Isaiah 52:13 and Isaiah 53:11. At the end of this study, we will understand why.
For the sake of objectivity, in the articles “Who is the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53?” Part 1 and Part 2, we took the other side of the argument taking in consideration the view that the speaking one in Isaiah 53:1-9 is the nation of Israel. According to this view, the nation of Israel is repenting for the suffering they have caused to the servant. But we also argued that if this is the case, what is the purpose of saying in Chapter 52, “Who has believed our report, etc.” and what report the nations are perplexed about. With having all things considered, we came to the conclusion that the division of the whole passage that commenced in Chapter 52 verse 13 and ends in Chapter 53 verse 12 was artificial, inappropriate, and unfaithful to the Hebrew text. It is worth noting that the division of these chapters in the manner in which they are divided in the translations is foreign to the Hebrew Scripture and traditions. Such a division is meant only to contribute to serve certain purposes in the Christology. But it was not done in a manner that matches the content of these passages, as they originally appear in the Hebrew scrolls. Had there been no division of what appears to be one account, there would have been no room for ambiguity and division of opinions, as we witness them today. Here is the place to remind the studious reader that the scroll of Isaiah was written as one text uninterrupted by chapters and verses, as it so for all other scrolls in the Hebrew Scripture.
With that being said, it will be beneficial for the reader to ascertain what we have said in the forementioned articles before proceeding with this study here. We now turn to the verses in Isaiah 53 all agree upon, which read, (literal translation by the present author),
And the Eternal desired to crush him by disease. If his soul laid an offering for guilt, he shall see offspring and shall prolong his days. And the desire of the Eternal in his hand shall advance.
From anguish of his soul he shall see, he shall be satisfied.
By his knowledge, My righteous servant shall make the many righteous, and their intentional sin he shall bear.
Therefore, I will divide [him] with the many, and with the multitude he shall divide the spoil.
Because he who poured out his soul to death and was numbered among the sinners,
And he bore the guilt of the many and made intercession for sinners.” (Isa 53:10-12)
After the confession and repentance of the world leaders, which began in Isaiah 52:13 and continued to Isaiah 53:9, the Eternal resumes speaking in verse 10 with the desire to afflict His servant with sickness or illness [of some sort]. Literally, verse 10 reads, as follows “And the Eternal desired to crush him by disease [Hebrew, חָלָה chalah]”, as this Hebrew word is found in Genesis 48:1: “See, you father is sick”. And if his soul (that is to say, he himself) has laid an offering for guilt, he shall see offspring (literally, “seed”), and his days shall be prolonged. And thus, the desire of YHVH shall be fulfilled. In other words, if the servant would accept guilt upon himself by his own free will and view his suffering as atonement for the sins of the multitudes of nations and thus bears their iniquities, he would enjoy descendants and his life prolonged.
The plain meaning of verse 10 which is conveyed to the reader is therefore this: the servant will have a normal human life. He will bring sin-offering for himself, like everybody else. And this will be the desire of the Supreme One. If the servant in Isaiah 53 is an individual, who suffered for the forgiveness of sins of many, the careful reader will then notice that this sharply contrasts to a disagreement with the Christology, namely, the servant must have had a normal human life, and the most controversial of all is: as a human being he was able to sin. We find also that the Eternal has chosen to afflict His anointed one with sickness, not with death. And if his soul makes itself restitution, that is to say, the Messiah makes a guilt-offering for forgiveness of sins, he will have children and through them his life will thus be prolonged. The word אָשָׁם asham used in verse 10 is an expression of ransom that one gives to the one against whom he has sinned, in order to free himself from faults.
So, what is the matter we are addressing here? If Isaiah 53 is seen through Christological lenses and taken out of the original context, undoubtedly the suffering servant will be perceived as an individual, i.e., the Messiah. But inevitably, then he also has to be seen as a human being who is able to sin, to propagate, and have a normal human life. Yet, Isaiah 53 plainly describes, when read in context, that the suffering servant is not an individual but a collective body of the nation of Israel. Just as the prophet does not refer to a specific girl, when he speaks of the “daughter of Zion” in Isa 52:2, so too, the servant of the Eternal is meant to symbolize the entire nation, and not an individual. The prophet uses specific characteristics of a man to describe this individual’s role and works in the world at large. Therefore, this servant is a personification of the entire nation, and according to the Jewish tradition, this nation is Israel.
The studious reader knows that most of the Book of Isaiah is written in a poetical form, which unlike the standard prose, challenges the reader. This makes the Book of Isaiah not an easy book to understand, especially when certain verses have been taken out of context. How then do we understand the collective representation of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53?
We will resort to Rabbi Ibn Ezra who comments on Isaiah 53:10 thus: “He and his children will enjoy the salvation, which the Lord will grant them. This refers to that generation which will return to God, that is, to the law of God, in the days of Messiah”. The days of the Messiah Rabbi Ibn Ezra refers to are the days of the last [seventh] millennium of this world. And the servant is the nation of Israel that will continue to exist from a generation to a generation expressed in the words, “He shall prolong his [the servant’s] days”.
Another interpretation of the first verse is: the Lord desired to humble him until he was afflicted with illness. And if the servant would accept guilt upon himself and view his suffering as atonement for his and/or others’ sins, he would see descendants, and his life will be prolonged through them, and thus the plan of the Lord would succeed. We took the liberty here to interpret the statement, “If his soul laid an offering for guilt”, as an atonement meant for his and/or others’ sins, because no reason for this offering is specified in the verse. For comparison, see Ezekiel 46:1-18, wherein Mashiach is said that he will bring sin offerings in the Third Temple, and will have sons.
Insight: The last nine chapters of Ezekiel deal with the building of the Third Temple by Mashiach and reestablishing the Temple sacrifices and the Millennial Kingdom. The vision of the Temple commences with a description of the courts and their gates (Ezekiel 40:5-47). It then turns to the description of the temple-house, with the porch and buildings (Ezekiel 40:48-41:26), and proceeds to define the size of the Temple (Ezekiel 42). It closes with the consecration of the Temple (Eze 43:1-12). Ezekiel 44 lays out the work of the prince, who is the Messiah, the Levites and priests in relation to the new Sanctuary. The laws of holiday sacrifices are described in Ezekiel 45–46. Ezekiel 47-48 describes the blessing of the Land and its division among the tribes of Israel. We now return to our studies.
As we will see at the end of this study, there is much to it than what the plain reading of the text depicts, as we will show to the reader that there is layered background in this prophecy.
Verse 11 continues by saying that from his pain the servant will see misfortune, and he will be satisfied but through troubles. In other words, through his suffering, and by his knowledge and free will, he will justify many righteous ones among the nations by bearing their iniquities, and thus the servant will experience goodness and he will be satisfied. This raises difficulty: “Through his knowledge My righteous servant makes many righteous, and He bears their iniquities”. How the servant’s knowledge makes people righteous, if he is an individual? Should we not have not expected to read, “through his death My servant makes many righteous, and he bears their iniquities”?
Ibn Ezra elegantly interprets verse 11 saying that Israel will sympathize with the heathen nations in their misfortunes, which have come upon them for their many sins, even though they do not sympathize with Israel in his afflictions. He also provides an alternative interpretation of this difficult verse, namely, that Israel will pray to God for the other nations, and thus take away their sins. Ibn Ezra holds the latter explanation, because of what follows in the next verse 12: “and with [his] transgressors he was counted”, i.e., he suffered torments as if he had sinned, and thus he bore the sin of the many, and “he made intersession for [his] transgressors” through his sufferings, and thus goodness came to the world through the servant.
How does the servant fulfills the words (verses 10 through 12) of the One who has made him go through the suffering? Verses 1 through 9 are explained bellow:
“Who would have believed our report … he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him” [So will the nations say to one another: “Who would have believed what we have done to the Jews? The Jews in exile are often depicted as ugly possessing unattractive face features and wearing weird garments, no one wants to associate with].
“Despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and knowing sickness, and as one from whom the face is hidden, being despised, and we did not consider him” [In the host countries, specifically the countries under the Islam, the Jews have been unwelcome. Formally, they have some rights, as second class citizens, until those rights are revoked and the atrocities begin. Even if the Jews convert to the official religion of their hosts, they are still under distrust and subject to harassment].
“He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we reckoned Him smitten, stricken by God, and afflicted” [The Jews have born the pains not because of their low state, as the Gentiles had thought, but because they were chastised with pains so that all the nations be atoned for with Israel’s suffering. The illness that should rightfully have come upon the Gentiles, the Jews bore. They thought that the Jews were hated by their God, but they were not so, but they bore the pain because of the Gentiles’ transgressions. Wrongfully thinking that their God has punished them for their sins the Jews have committed against Him, the Gentiles recognize that they were the source of the persecution that had befallen the Jews].
“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” [The chastisement was inflicted upon the Jews for the purpose of prolonging the Gentiles’ time to come to repentance. The heathens would enjoy happiness and prosperity until the time of judgement comes. Then there will be a time of trouble. The Gentiles here admit that the sufferings the Jews have endured in their midst should have been on them, not on the Jews. And when they saw the distress and hurt the Jews had endured, they were healed in repentance].
“We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And the Eternal has laid on him the crookedness of us all” [All those who oppressed the Jews were brainwashed in hatred, and they all sinned against the God of the Jews. Now, they realized that the sins of the oppressors were laid on the oppressed ones. At last they acknowledge the truth that it was an error to think the Jes were smitten of God, as it was predicted, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies” (Jer. 16:14)].
“He was oppressed and afflicted, but he did not open his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, but he did not open his mouth” [This is the case with every Jew in exile, when he is insulted, he dares not fight back. The heathen nations oppress the Jews without cause; they have neither deserved such ill-treatment, by any wrong act. When persecuted for merely being Jews, the Jews silently accepted the oppressions as a “norm” of life, as another wave of antisemitism that would come and go. Even when the Jews were rounded up to be sent to the gas chambers, they thought the concentration camps were temporary before they return home].
“By oppression and judgement, he was taken away and with his generation. Who could describe it? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due” [Every nation thinks that the Jews were stricken because of their own sins. The Gentiles exclaim their astonishment that the Jews were sent to prison and murdered for being Jews, not for what they might have done wrong. The Gentiles could not believe that the Jews were murdered for their own sins].
“And he gave his grave to the wicked and to the rich his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth” [The heathen rich nations are meant here. The Jews subjected themselves to be buried according to anything the heathen Gentiles would decree upon him. They subjected themselves to all kinds of death that were decreed upon them, but they did not deny their God to accept idolatry].
Undoubtedly, if these verse are read plainly and in their immediate context of Isaiah 52 and 53, the suffering servant is the nation of Israel. There are too many difficulties in the text, if we relate them to a suffering individual (see again our interpretation of verses 10 and 11).
Israel as the servant
The proof cited by the Eternal of Israel being His servant is first found in Isaiah 41, wherein we read,
But you, Israel, My servant, Ya’akov whom I have chosen, the seed of Avraham My friend. You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth and called you from its uttermost parts, and said to you: “You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away”. (Isa 41:8-9)
Here in Isaiah 41, Yeshayahu the prophet quotes the Eternal speaking to the nations of the world that antagonize Israel (see Isaiah 41:1-7). But instead of hearing whether the nations, with which He has entered in judgement, have any reply to make, the address turns to Israel, upon whom salvation dawns, while the nations are threatened with destruction. The address then turns to Israel as “My servant” whom YHVH had chosen at the time when Avraham, called “My friend”, was chosen. This calling of Avraham was the furthest beginning point of the existence of Israel as the covenant nation, which was pre-existent in him by virtue of calling. And when He called Avraham for service as “My servant” (see Gen 26:24), the nation that would come into existence from him, also received the name “My servant”, as Avraham was called by the same title. This call in the prophecy in the Book of Isaiah towards Israel to return to the position of the servant of the Eternal echoes the intimate relation in which He had placed Himself towards the nation, and Israel towards Himself at Mount Sinai, where they received the Covenant. Then this same theme of Israel being a servant of the Eternal continues in Isa 44:1-2, Isa 44:21, and Isa 45:4, wherein the address to Israel as “My servant” is reiterated in no uncertain terms.
The next chapter of Isaiah reads concerning the servant of the Eternal thus,
Behold My servant, whom I uphold. My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Ruach upon him, he shall make the right to go forth to the nations. (Isa 42:1)
In Isaiah 41:8, “My servant” was rightfully applied to the nation of Israel, which was chosen as the servant the Eternal. But “My servant” here in Isaiah 42:1 and what follows is distinct from the nation of Israel, for this servant has so strong personal features that he cannot be the nation of Israel but an individual. as we argued in the article “The Servant in Isaiah 53: Collective figure of Israel or an Individual”. “My Servant” in Isaiah 42 must therefore be a servant, who is identified in the Aramaic translation (Targum Jonatan), as the Messiah. Isaiah 42 in Targum Jonatan commences thus: Ha avdi meshicha, “Behold, my servant, the Messiah”. With that said, we are coming to Isaiah 49.
The very same person who was introduced by YHVH in Isa 42:1 here seemingly speaks for himself, commencing thus in Isa 49:1-3. We read,
Listen, O isles, to me and hearken, you peoples from far: the Eternal has called me from the womb, from the belly of my mother has He made mention of my name. … And He said to me: “You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified”. (Isa 49:1-3)
Although the speaker here is called “Israel” in verse 3, he must not be regarded as a collective person representing all Israel, because in verse 5, the servant is expressly distinguished from Israel, saying, “who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Ya’akov back to Him, and that Israel be gathered to Him”. Moreover, because what he speaks of himself is expressed in such terms of individuality, that they cannot be understood in a collective sense at all, as we read,
And now says the Eternal that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Ya’akov back to Him, and that Israel be gathered to Him, for I am honorable in the eyes of the Eternal, and my Elohim has become my strength. And He says: “It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Ya’akov, and to restore the offspring of Israel. I will also give you for a light of the nations, that My salvation may be to the end of the earth”. (Isa 49:5-6)
Note the wording in verse 5, “who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Ya’akov back to Him”. The same formula of restoration of the nation of Israel is reinstated in verse 6, “My servant to raise up the tribes of Ya’akov, and to restore the offspring of Israel”. Yet, in verse 3 the servant is explicitly called “Israel”. How do we understand this seeming contradiction, which express two contradictory views on the subject?
As stated above, although the speaker in verse 3 is called “Israel”, and in verses 5 and 6 he is spoken of, namely, regarding his mission to bring the nation of Israel back to the Eternal, he must not be regarded as one and the same with Israel, unless we interpret the above verses as if saying, “The Eternal is saying to His servant to bring himself back to Him”. Since this is against the plain meaning of the text, such an interpretation must be rejected.
So, what sense is there in the verses? The servant of the servant is referred to here; in other words, there are two distinct servants of the Eternal: the servant (individual) of the servant (Israel) is the one who is speaking in Isaiah 49:1-4. He is called to bring Israel back to the Eternal, and because this is too small a thing to do, namely, to bring Israel back from the nations, the servant is also called to become a light to the nations, the same nations that have kept Israel in exile.
Yet, the medieval Tanach commentators Rashi and Ibn Ezra interpret this individual as the prophet himself speaking. If so, we have to regard verse 1 as if Yeshayahu is saying, “He has given me a name to be remembered, Yeshayahu is my name, which name is my mission to prophesy the salvation [yeshuah] of Yah”. It is only with difficulty that we can obtain such a meaning of the text. But if this is the case, then we find a beautiful wordplay in Hebrew, in which the Name of the Creator and salvation appear in both names. The name Yeshayahu has the same meaning as the name Yehoshua, whose short version is Yeshua, namely, “YHVH saves”.
Bible Codes: The suffering Messiah is a part of Israel
Here is the deeper insight.
In the most controversial prophecy of Isaiah 53, there are no fewer than four Bible codes, as they are found in the short passage of only six verse: verses 7 through 12. What is even more astonishing is that they overlap in such unbelievable way that eliminates even the slightest doubt as to their origin and purpose. Let us dive into the hidden depths of the Bible codes.
The Hebrew text of Isaiah 53 reads (the text is from WLC, Westminster Leningrad Codex),
Bible codes in Isaiah 53
The four codes found in these verses are as follows,
Code 1: “Yeshua is my strong name”
Starting with letter mem in the 9th word in verse 11 and counting every 20th letter from left to right spells out Ma’al Yeshua Shmi Oz (in orange). Or, in the context of Isaiah 53:9-12, the prophecy states: “On high Yeshua is my strong name”. The probability that this astonishing combination of Hebrew letters spelling out, “On high Yeshua is my strong name”, would occur by random chance is inconceivable.
Code 2: “Shiloh”
Starting with the 2nd letter shin in the 11th word in verse 9 and counting every 54th letter from right to left spells out שִׁילֹה Shiloh (in green). Shiloh is another name of HaMashiach, the anointed one. The School of Rabbi Shila teaches: “His name is Shiloh, for it is written, ‘until Shiloh come'”, because of what it is said in Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah, nor the ruler’s staff [alternatively, “lawgiver”] from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be”. This alludes to once the crown will be placed on King David, it will never be placed on the head of someone belonging to another tribe, and to Yehudah’s preeminence that will continue until the coming of Shiloh—one of the names for the Messiah, a descendant of David—before whom nations will assemble in the last days. Alternatively, the Midrash construes shiloh as shai lo “tribute to him” following Isa 18:7. But Onkelos renders ad ki yavo shiloh “until Shiloh comes”, literally in Aramaic as “until Shiloh comes [the Moshiach will come, for his is the kingship], and to him shall be an assembly of nations [nations will listen]”.
Code 3: “Miriam”
In Isa 53:10, starting with 3d letter in the 7th word in verse 10 and counting every 6th letter from right to left spells out מִרְיָם Miriam (in yellow): perhaps alluding to Yeshua’s mother in the Appostolic Scripture.
Code 4: “Yochanan”
Starting with yud in the 11th word in verse 10 and counting every 28th letter from left to right spells out יוֹחָנָן Yochanan (in grey): perhaps alluding to Yochanan the forerunner of the Messiah and Yeshua’s cousin.
Let us pause here for a moment and think of the mathematical probability of these astonishingly dense combinations of four codes spelling out, “Shiloh on high, Yeshua is my strong name”, or alternatively: “Tribute to him on high, Yeshua is my strong name”. The correct interpretation, in line with the simple meaning of what is expressed in Isaiah 53, appears to be that the Bible code is stating the latter, which we adopt as our opinion. Either way interpreted the hidden message in Isaiah 53 is indeed very strong and cannot be overlooked. In addition to this code are the codes of his mother’s name Miriam and his cousin’s name Yochanan. The probability that this combination of Bible codes appearing in such a dense area in Isaiah 53 would occur by random chance, moreover in a Messianic prophecy, is incomprehensible!
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