Center For IFO Studies: Isaiah 53 and the Babylonian Exile

Is Isaiah 53 a prediction of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus? Or is it a poetic account of Israel's Babylonian exile, the post-exilic restoration of Jerusalem and the building of the second temple? To find out, let's compare these verses (Is52:13-53:12) with other passages in the exilic literature - some poetic, some prosaic; the former as examples of the sort of lyricism at work in Isaiah's anthropomorphic imagery, and the latter to show how Isaiah 53 fits the historical context of the exile.

First, a brief summary of the central themes permeating the exilic literature:

•God is angry with Israel for the sin of idolatry practiced or condoned by eighth- and seventh-century kings and priests, therefore...

•God punishes Israel with the sixth-century destruction of Jerusalem and the 70-year captivity in Babylon, however...

•God redeems Israel and sends Cyrus to free the captives who return to rebuild the temple and the nation.

These themes are key to understanding Isaiah 53 and many of the prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible.

______________________________

How do we know Isaiah 53 is about Israel in Babylon? Isaiah 52 provides the context:

My people went..into Egypt...and the Assyrian oppressed them... Now what have I here... seeing that my people are taken away... [Is52:4-5]

This refers to the Babylonian exile.

“You who bear the vessels of the Lord” (52:11) refers to the return of the Levites from Babylon with the vessels of the temple which had been relocated to a Babylonian temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

Isaiah 53 is known as one of Isaiah's "servant songs." Who are the singers of the servant songs? Isaiah identifies them in several passages:

In the earlier songs (44:23, 49:13), the singers are the heavens and the earth:

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. [Is44:23]

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. [Is49:13]

Likewise, the verse immediately preceding Isaiah 53 identifies the singer of the forthcoming song as the “waste places of Jerusalem”:

Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. [Is52:9]

Isaiah 54 continues with Jerusalem as the singer, here called “the barren one” and "the desolate one":

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in travail! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord. [Is54:1]

Notice that the singers we've mentioned thus far have not been human (indeed, we haven't mentioned that the “mountains and the hills” break forth into singing in 55:12). The one time Isaiah mentions human singers in these passages, they are the watchmen of Jerusalem celebrating the return of the exiles and the temple vessels from Babylon:

Hark, [Jerusalem's] watchmen lift up their voice, together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. [Is52:8]

There are three singers of Isaiah 53: 1) God, 2) the nations surrounding Israel and 3) "the waste places of Jerusalem" and her watchmen.

We have broken Isaiah 53 into 5 sections. By viewing it as five overlapping chiasms, we see that the changes in narrative fit perfectly with lines of demarcation found in the chiasms, enabling us to identify the narrative voices:

Section 1

52:13-15: God (1st half of 1st chiasm)

53:1-3: the Nations (2nd half of 1st chiasm)

Section 2

53:3-4: Jerusalem (2nd chiasm)

Section 3

53:4-7: Jerusalem (3rd chiasm)

Section 4

53:7-8: Jerusalem (4rd chiasm)

Section 5

53:8-10: Jerusalem (1st half of 5th chiasm)

53:11-12: God (2nd half of 5th chiasm)

A Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him

B his appearance was so marred,

beyond human semblance,

C and his form beyond that

of the sons of men

D so shall he startle many nations;

kings shall shut their mouths

because of him;

for that which has not been told them

they shall see,

E and that which

they have not heard

F they shall understand.

E Who has believed

what we have heard?

D And to whom has the arm

of the Lord been revealed?

C For he grew up before him

like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or comeliness

that we should look at him,

B and no beauty

that we should desire him.

A He was despised and rejected by men;

B a man of sorrows,

C and acquainted with grief;

D and as one from whom

men hide their faces

E he was despised,

D and we esteemed him not.

C Surely he has borne our griefs

B and carried our sorrows;

A yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

B But he was wounded

for our transgressions,

he was bruised for our iniquities;

C upon him was the chastisement

that made us whole,

D and with his stripes we are healed.

C All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned

every one to his own way;

B and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

A He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

B yet he opened not his mouth;

C like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep

that before its shearers is dumb,

B so he opened not his mouth.

A 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, stricken for the transgression of my people?

B they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

C Yet it was the will of the Lord

to bruise him; he has put him to grief;

when he makes his soul

an offering for sin,

D he shall see his offspring,

he shall prolong his days;

E the will of the Lord

shall prosper in his hand;

D he shall see the fruit of the travail

of his soul and be satisfied;

C by his knowledge

shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous;

and he shall bear their iniquities.

B Therefore I will

divide him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil

with the strong;

because he poured out his soul to death

A and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession

for the transgressors.

______________________________

We will now proceed to a comparative examination of the text.

SECTION I (52:15-53:3)

As we open, the narrative voice is that of God:

ISAIAH 52:13a Behold, my servant...

Israel is God's servant:

•Israel, my servant. [Is41:8]

•Jacob my servant. [Is44:1, 44:2, Jer30:10, 46:27, 46:28]

•My servant Israel. [Is44:21, 49:3]

•My servant Jacob. [Ezek28:25, 37:25]

•His servant Jacob. [Is48:20]

•My servant Job (an allegorical representation of Israel) [Job 1:8, 2:3, 42:7-8].

Also the house of David:

•My Servant David [2Kings19:34, Is37:35, Jer33:21-22, 26, Ezek34:23-24, 37:24-25]

•Zerubbabel my servant...I have chosen you [Haggai 2:23]

•My servant the Branch (Zerubbabel) [Zech3:8]

•"We [Zerubbabel and Joshua] are the servants of the God of heaven and earth [Ezra5:11]

•Zerubbabel, the servant of the Lord [1Esdras6:27]

Also Daniel [Dan6:20, 10:17], Jonah [2Kings14:25], and other prophets [2Kings24:2, Ezra9:11, Jer7:25, 25:4, 26:5, 29:19, 35:15, 44:4, Ezek38:17, Dan9:6, 10, Amos3:7, Zech1:6], including Elijah (2Kings9:36, 10:10) and Moses (at least a dozen times between Exodus and Malachi). For the issue at hand, it will suffice to note that Daniel and the exilic prophets (Ezekiel and Jeremiah) are called servants and are therefore an important component of what Isaiah labels "the servant."

ISAIAH 52:13b ...[my servant] shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high.

Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” [Is49:7]

[The nations] shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you. [Is49:22-23]

The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you... Whereas you have been forsaken and hated...I will make you majestic for ever. [Is60:14-15]

At the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth. [Zeph3:20]

ISAIAH 52:14 As many were astonished at him—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men—

[The nations] have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. [Jer33:24]

[God] has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones. [Lam3:4]

[Zion's princes] are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled upon their bones, it has become as dry as wood. [Lam4:8]

When the fire has consumed [the vine] and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything?... Like the wood of the vine...which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [Ezek15:5-6]

ISAIAH 52:15a So shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him;

The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf. [Micah7:16]

ISAIAH 52:15b ...for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand.

I will send survivors to the nations...to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. [Is66:18-19]

This city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. [Jer33:9]

Note: For the next three verses (53:1-53:3), the narrative voice is that of the nations surrounding Israel, witnessing as they are destroyed, taken captive, and liberated from captivity.

ISAIAH 53:1a Who has believed what we have heard?

The kings of the earth did not believe, or any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. [Lam4:12]

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For lo, I am rousing the Chalde′ans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize habitations not their own. [Hab1:5-6]

Thus says the Lord: Ask among the nations, who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing... they burn incense to false gods... Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. [Jer18:13-17]

I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen. “Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every man save his life from the fierce anger of the Lord! Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful at the report heard in the land, when a report comes in one year and afterward a report in another year, and violence is in the land, and ruler is against ruler. [Jer51:44-46]

ISAIAH 53:1b And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations. [Is52:10]

I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I carry you captive among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder because of you, when I brandish my sword before them; they shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall. For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. [Ezek32:9-11]

ISAIAH 53:2a For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;

The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. [Is5:7]

Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit. [Is27:6]

I planted you a choice vine...How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? [Jer2:21]

The Lord once called you, “A green olive tree”...The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil which the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by burning incense to Ba′al. [Jer11:16-17]

Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings." [Jer18:6-11]

I will plant them in this land in faithfulness. [Jer32:41]

ISAIAH 53:2b ...he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house...has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins. [Is64:10-11]

Say to the king and the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.” [Jer13:18]

Like the bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. [Jer24:8-9]

I will make them like vile figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten...and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth... a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them. [Jer29:16-18]

How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the cities has become a vassal. [Lam1:1]

From the daughter of Zion has departed all her majesty. [Lam1:6]

Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and behold my suffering; my maidens and my young men have gone into captivity. [Lam1:17-18]

All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem; “Is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: “We have destroyed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; now we have it; we see it!” The Lord has done what he purposed, has carried out his threat; as he ordained long ago, he has demolished without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you, and exalted the might of your foes. [Lam2:15-17]

How the gold has grown dim...The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are reckoned as earthen pots. [Lam4:1-2]

SECTION II (53:3-4)

ISAIAH 53:3a He was despised

All who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. [Is60:14]

Have you not observed what these people are saying, “the Lord has rejected the two families which he chose”? Thus they have despised my people. [Jer33:24]

Now you have become like [your sister Sodom] - an object of reproach [for] those round about who despise you. [Ezek16:57]

Jerusalem sinned grievously...all who honored her despise her. [Lam1:8]

All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and behold, for I am despised.” [Lam1:12]

You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people. [Malachi 2:8-9]

Hear, O our God, for we are despised. [Neh4:4]

Even young children despise me. [Job19:18]

ISAIAH 53:3b ...and rejected [forsaken] by men;

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” [Is49:14]

The Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit...when she is cast off...For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. [Is54:6-7]

They shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic for ever. [Is60:14-15]

The Lord has rejected them. [Jer6:30]

The Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. [Jer7:29]

Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? [Jer14:19]

Have you not observed what these people are saying, “The Lord has rejected the two families which he chose”? [Jer33:24]

Hast thou utterly rejected us? [Lam5:22]

I am rejected because of my sins. [Prayer of Manasseh1:10]

ISAIAH 53:3c a man of sorrows

The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. [Is51:11]

You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. [Ezek23:33]

ISAIAH 53:3d and acquainted with grief;

The Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit. [Is54:6]

ISAIAH 53:3e and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,

Thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities. [Is64:3]

The Chaldeans are coming in to fight and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall smite in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness. [Jer33:5]

The house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries...I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. [Ezek39:23-24]

ISAIAH 53:3f ...and we esteemed him not.

All of them curse me. [Jer15:10]

They have called you an outcast: “It is Zion, for whom no one cares!” [Jer30:17]

I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations round about you and in the sight of all that pass by. You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you. [Ezek5:14-15]

They shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. [Ezek34:29]

Many nations are assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be profaned, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” [Micah4:11]

SECTION III (53:4-7)

Note: The narrative voice changes here to that of the wastelands of Jerusalem, and remains so from verses 4 through 10.

ISAIAH 53:4a Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

You, O son of man [Ezekiel]...I will lay the punishment of the house of Israel upon you...you shall bear their punishment...and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. [Ezek4:1-6]

You [Ezekiel] shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you may not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel. [Ezek12:6]

ISAIAH 53:4b ...yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God,

I smote him...but he went on backsliding. [Is57:17]

The king of Babylon smote them. [2Kings25:21]

I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who smite. [Ezek7:9]

In vain have I smitten your children, they took no correction. [Jer2:30]

The virgin daughter of my people is smitten with a great wound. [Jer14:17]

Why hast thou smitten us? [Jer14:19]

I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, says the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them, or spare them, or have compassion. [Jer21:6-7]

The Chaldeans are coming in to fight and to fill [the houses of Jerusalem] with the dead bodies of men whom I shall smite in my anger and my wrath. [Jer33:5]

I have begun to smite you, making you desolate because of your sins. [Micah6:13]

You have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels; that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of the peoples. [Micah6:16]

Happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands heal. [Job5:17-18]

ISAIAH 53:4c ...and afflicted.

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. [Is48:11]

The Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. [Is49:13]

Hear this, you who are afflicted...I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors. [Is51:21-23]

O afflicted one...I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. [Is54:11]

The Lord has anointed me [Cyrus] to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the shackles] to those who are bound. [Is61:1]

I also will choose affliction for them [because] they did what was evil in my eyes. [Is66:4]

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them. [Jer19:9]

Judah has gone into exile because of affliction. [Lam1:3]

Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and bitterness all the precious things that were hers from days of old. [Lam1:7]

O Lord, behold my affliction. [Lam1:10]

I [Jeremiah] am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. [Lam3:1]

Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. [Lam3:19-20]

In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have afflicted. [Micah4:6]

ISAIAH 53:5a But he was wounded...

For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded. [Jer8:21]

The virgin daughter of my people is smitten with a great wound. [Jer14:17]

Her wound is incurable; and it has come to Judah, it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. [Micah1:9]

Happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands heal. [Job5:17-18]

ISAIAH 53:5b ...for our transgressions,

The Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray [in the first temple period], shall bear their punishment [in the second temple period]. They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving in the temple; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on the people, to serve them. Because they [pre-exilic Levites] ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they [post-exilic Levites] shall bear their punishment. [Ezek44:10-12]

The roads to Zion...and [Zion] herself suffers bitterly...the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. [Lam1:4-5]

ISAIAH 53:5c ...he was bruised for our iniquities;

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. [Is40:2]

I will repay into their bosom their iniquities and their fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they burned incense upon the mountains and reviled me upon the hills, I will measure into their bosom payment for their former doings. [Is65:6-7]

The Lord...he kindled a fire in Zion, which consumed its foundations...This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. [Lam4:11-13]

The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished, he will keep you in exile no longer. [Lam4:22]

ISAIAH 53:5d ...upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,

The chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom. [Lam4:6]

You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious chastisements. [Ezekiel5:15]

They shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords...I will make you stop playing the harlot...So will I satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you; I will be calm, and will no more be angry.[Ezek16:40-42]

I will come against the wayward people to chastise them; and nations shall be gathered against them when they are chastised for their double iniquity. [Hos10:9-10]

O Lord, thou hast ordained [the Chaldeans] as a judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established them for chastisement. [Hab1:12]

I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the Lord. [Jer23:3-4]

I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation; I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way. [Jer32:37-38]

ISAIAH 53:5e ...and with his stripes/wounds we are healed.

[Jerusalem's] iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. [Is40:2]

Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you, you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. [Is44:21-22]

Go forth from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it forth to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!” [Is48:20]

I will not contend for ever, nor will I always be angry...Because of the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, I smote him, I hid my face and was angry; but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. [Is57:16-18]

Your healing shall spring up speedily. [Is58:8]

I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal...I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob...the city shall be rebuilt...the palace shall stand where it used to be. [Jer30:17-18]

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off; say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock." For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. [Jer31:10-12]

Just as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. [Jer32:42]

I have hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness. Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. [Jer33:5-9]

I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy upon them. [Jer33:26]

They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. [Ezek37:23]

Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. [Hos6:1]

O daughter of Zion...you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. [Micah4:10]

Despise not the chastening of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands heal. [Job5:17-18]

ISAIAH 53:6a All we like sheep have gone astray;

My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray. [Jer50:6]

The people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for want of a shepherd. [Zech10:2]

ISAIAH 53:6b ...we have turned every one to his own way;

The shepherds also have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. [Is56:11]

I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices. [Is65:2]

These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations. [Is66:3]

Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings." But they say, "That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart." [Jer18:11-12]

My people have forgotten me, they burn incense to false gods; they have stumbled in their ways, in the ancient roads, and have gone into bypaths, not the highway. [Jer18:15]

ISAIAH 53:6c and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

For your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was put away. [Is50:1]

Now [High Priest] Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” [Zech3:3-4]

SECTION IV (53:7-8)

ISAIAH 53:7a He was oppressed

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers..." [Is14:3-5]

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh. [Is49:26]

The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you. [Is60:14]

ISAIAH 53:7b ...and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have cast dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. [Lam2:10]

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when he has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. [Lam3:25-30]

ISAIAH 53:7c ...like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

I [Jeremiah] was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. [Jer11:19]

Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations. [Ps44:11]

For thy sake we are slain all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [Ps44:22]

ISAIAH 53:7d ...and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. [Is50:5-6]

Israel as sheep:

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!...You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them. [Jer23:1-4]

Hark, the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the Lord is despoiling their pasture, and the peaceful folds are devastated, because of the fierce anger of the Lord. [Jer25:36-37 ]

Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones....I will restore Israel to his pasture... [Jer50:17, 19]

The house of Israel are my people...and you are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture. [Ezek34:30-31]

ISAIAH 53:8a By oppression and judgment...

Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. [Ezek5:8]

I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. [Ezek5:10]

You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you, when I execute judgments on you. [Ezek5:15]

[I] will judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations. [Ezek7:3, 8]

ISAIAH 53:8b ...he was taken away;

Some of your own sons...shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. [Is39:7]

My people are taken away for nothing. [Is52:5a]

Devout men are taken away. [Is57:1]

The Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. [Lam1:5]

They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I give attention to them, says the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place. [Jer27:22]

SECTION V (53:8-12)

ISAIAH 53:8c ...and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

I [Jeremiah] did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” [Jer11:19]

ISAIAH 53:8d ...stricken for the transgression of my people?

The Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servants the prophets. Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done. [2Kings24:2-3]

ISAIAH 53:9a ...And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,

As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets. [Jer2:26]

The bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs; and they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served...and they shall not be gathered or buried. [Jer8:1-2]

Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.” [Jer13:13-14]

The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slew all the princes of Judah at Riblah. He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. [Jer52:10-11]

Those who feasted on dainties perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple lie on ash heaps. For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom. [Lam4:5-6]

I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. [Ezek21:3]

[Nebuchednezzar] slew...such as were of the greatest dignity, together with their king Jehoiakim, whom he commanded to be thrown before the walls, without any burial...he also took the principal persons in dignity for captives, three thousand in number, and led them away to Babylon; among which was the prophet Ezekiel. [Josephus, Antiquities X.6:3]

ISAIAH 53:9b ...although he had done no violence,

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. [Is50:6]

I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. [Jer11:19]

Is evil a recompense for good? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. [Jer18:20]

He who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. [Jer21:9]

Let him give his cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. [Lam3:30]

ISAIAH 53:9c ...and there was no deceit in his mouth.

I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones...I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. [Zeph3:11-13]

My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. [Job27:4]

ISAIAH 53:10a Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush/bruise him;

Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned...But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you." [Is42:24-43:1]

For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. [Is54:7-8]

They made you desolate, and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people. [Ezek36:3]

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me like a monster. [Jer51:34]

The Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. [Lam1:5]

The Lord flouted all my mighty men in the midst of me; he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter of Judah. [Lam1:15]

ISAIAH 53:10b he has put him to grief;

Sigh therefore, son of man; sigh with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes. [Ezek21:6]

Though he cause grief, [the Lord] will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. [Lam3:31-33]

My eye has grown dim from grief, and all my members are like a shadow. [Job17:7]

ISAIAH 53:10c when he makes himself an offering for sin,

They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord. [Is66:20-21]

They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. [Ezra6:17]

The returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve he-goats; all this was a burnt offering to the Lord. [Ezra8:35]

In the ninth year of the reign of Darius, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month...the priests, and Levites, and the other multitude of the Israelites, offered sacrifices, as the renovation of their former prosperity after their captivity, and because they had now the temple rebuilt, a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve kids of the goats, according to the number of their tribes, and this last for the sins of every tribe. [Josephus, Antiquities XI 4:7]

ISAIAH 53:10d-53:11a ...he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied;

I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. [Is44:3]

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear...For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord. [Is54:1]

Your descendants will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. [Is54:3]

All your sons shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your sons. [Is54:13]

This is my covenant with them, say the Lord: my spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children’s children, says the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. [Is59:21]

Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. [Is61:8]

I will extend prosperity to her like a river. [Is66:12]

I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. [Jer23:3]

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence': Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation; I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. [Jer32:36-40]

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” [Jer33:22]

They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. [Ezek37:25]

The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity. [Haggai2:9]

The house of the great God...is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls; this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. [Ezra5:8]

The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. [Ezra6:14-15]

As we near the end of the chapter, God returns as the narrator:

ISAIAH 53:11b ...by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous;

[God] says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." [Is49:6]

Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. [Is55:5]

The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants...these I will bring to my holy mountain...their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered. [Is56:6-8]

The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land for ever, the shoot of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. [Is60:20-21]

If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, “As the Lord lives,” in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. [Jer4:1-2]

ISAIAH 53:11c ...and he shall bear their iniquities.

Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities. [Lam5:7]

From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as at this day. [Is65:6-8]

ISAIAH 53:12a Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

The abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. [Is60:5]

The coastlands shall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. [Is60:9]

Your gates shall be open continually...that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. [Is60:11]

You [Israel] shall be called the priests of the Lord, men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Instead of your shame you shall have a double portion, instead of dishonor you shall rejoice in your lot; therefore in your land you shall possess a double portion; yours shall be everlasting joy. [Is61:6-7]

I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream. [Is66:12]

[The nations] do not know the thoughts of the Lord, they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered [the exiles] as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples, and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. [Micah4:12-13]

I [Darius] make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. [Ezra6:8-10]

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, King Cyrus ordered the building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem...the cost to be paid from the treasury of Cyrus the king. and that the holy vessels of the house of the Lord, both of gold and of silver, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the house in Jerusalem and carried away to Babylon, should be restored to the house in Jerusalem, to be placed where they had been.” So Darius commanded...those who were appointed as local rulers in Syria and Phoenicia...to permit Zerubbabel, the servant of the Lord and governor of Judea, and the elders of the Jews to build this house of the Lord on its site. “And I [Darius] command that it be built completely, and that full effort be made to help the men who have returned from the captivity of Judea, until the house of the Lord is finished; and that out of the tribute of Coelesyria and Phoenicia a portion be scrupulously given to these men, that is, to Zerubbabel the governor, for sacrifices to the Lord...regularly every year, without quibbling, for daily use as the priests in Jerusalem may indicate, in order that libations may be made to the Most High God for the king and his children.” [1Esdras6:24-31]

ISAIAH 53:12b ...because he poured out his soul to death,

My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. [Lam2:11]

Cry aloud to the Lord! O daughter of Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street. [Lam2:18-19]

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I [Jeremiah] will hope in him.” the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. [Lam3:24-25]

My soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. [Job30:16]

ISAIAH 53:12c ...and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many,

Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities. [Lam5:7]

You, O son of man [Ezekiel]...I will lay the punishment of the house of Israel upon you...you shall bear their punishment...and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. [Ezek4:1-6]

You [Israel] bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations. [Ezek16:58]

ISAIAH 53:12d ...and made intercession for the transgressors.

If you will not listen, my [Jeremiah's] soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive. [Jer13:17]

Woe is me... [Jeremiah], a man of strife and contention to the whole land...all of them curse me. So let it be, O Lord, if I have not entreated thee for their good, if I have not pleaded with thee on behalf of the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress! [Jer15:10-11]

They have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I [Jeremiah] stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them? [Jer18:20]

______________________________

OBJECTIONS AND REBUTTALS

Now let's dive into the first of many objections raised by evangelical apologists.

OBJECTION 1: The servant can't be Israel because an individual servant is mentioned elsewhere in Isaiah's servant songs. This individual is supposed to gather Israel to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. "Well," observed Dr. Michael Brown of One For Israel Ministries, "could Israel lead Israel back to Israel? That doesn't make sense." Ergo, it must refer to a future messiah.

REBUTTAL: The apologists I've seen making this argument never address the fact that Cyrus the Great is mentioned by name in Isaiah 44 (where he is God's "shepherd") and 45 (where he is God's "anointed...for the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen"). It follows, then, that the context of the servant songs is the return of the exiles from Babylon through Cyrus (anointed king of Persia), Governor Zerubbabel (anointed descendent of David), and High Priest Joshua (anointed descendent of Aaron).

"I am the Lord who made all things...who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; who says to the deep, ‘Be dry, I will dry up your rivers’; who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem. ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” Is44:24-28

Cyrus commanded [to] permit the servants of God, the Jews and their rulers [Zerubbabel and Joshua], to build the temple. [Josephus, Antiquities XI 4:6]

"We [Zerubbabel and Joshua] are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. However in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.” [Ezra5:6-13]

OBJECTION 2: Israel suffered for Israel's own sins, and the Servant is suffering for the sins of others. "On the one hand," says the Asbury Bible Commentary, "much of the description [of the suffering servant] would apply to the exilic community, which has been disfigured and disgraced and reckoned as dead (vv.8-9) but which is now exalted and restored. This exiled community had in some measure the role of redemptive suffering. Yet the opening verses of this section (40:1ff.) [the servant songs], and indeed the majority of the book of Isaiah, suggest that the people’s suffering was deserved. It was due to their own iniquities, not someone else’s."

REBUTTAL 1 - Israel was collectively punished for the sins of Manasseh and other wicked and idolatrous kings:

The Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servants the prophets. Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done. 2Kings24:2-4

Note that Manasseh died 38 years before the first captives were taken by Nebuchadnezzar and 52 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. A majority of the exiles weren't born, or old enough to sin at any rate, when Manasseh was alive.

REBUTTAL 2 - The innocent were punished along with the guilty ("I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked" - Ezek21:4). These included the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, as well as children and babies:

Infants and babes faint in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom. [Lam2:12]

Your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street. [Lam2:19]

The tongue of the nursling cleaves to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. [Lam4:4]

Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted shamefully. [Hos2:4-5]

What sin did babies commit?

OBJECTION 3: Isaiah meant spiritual, not biological, offspring.

REBUTTAL: Did Jesus' spiritual offspring prosper? Dr. Brown (cited above) argues that this couldn't be about Israel because they are still suffering throughout history, ignoring or not grasping the fact that Isaiah is writing about the exile and the return from exile, not anything later than that. What's more, the apologists overlook another fact: that Jesus' "spiritual" offspring did not exactly prosper. His teachings were largely abandoned by the church thanks to the preaching of Paul, and the entire early church seems to have met a grizzly end.

So what did Jesus really see at the end of, and after, his own life?

Depending on his vantage point at the time, he saw:

Disciples debating which among them would be "greatest" in the kingdom. (Lk22:24)

Peter doubting his mission. (Mt16:23)

Peter, James & John sleeping on the job (three times) when Jesus ordered them to stand guard. (Mt26:40-45)

Judas betraying him. (Lk22, Jn18)

Peter attacking the high priest's servant. (Jn18:10)

The disciples fleeing as their king is arrested. (Mt26:56)

Peter, swearing an oath, thrice denying him. (Mt26:72, Mk14:71)

Judas hanging himself. (Mt27:5)

Disciples doubting stories of his resurrection. (Lk24:11, Jn20:25)

Disciples casting lots to replace Judas instead of consulting Jesus. (Acts1:26)

Philip welcoming Simon Magus into the church. (Acts8:13)

Peter taking "a sister as a wife." (1Cor9:5)

Paul contradicting his teachings vis-a-vis the Law of Moses.

Disciples being imprisoned, tortured, crucified, beheaded and burned.

A FEW BRIEF OBSERVATIONS:

1. Are Christians "made whole" (Is53:5a)? Count the denominations: Unitarians, Binitarians, Trinitarians, Docetists, Ebionites, proto-Orthodox, Simonians, Nicolaitans, Cerinthians, Menanderists, Saturninians, Basilideans, Marcionites, Valentinians, Marcosians, Encratites, Cataphrygians, Cainites, Sethians, Ophites, Carpocratians, Algoi, Manichaeans, Arians, Nestorians, Paulinists, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Iconoclasts, Cathars, Templars, Anabaptists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Voodooists, Methodists, Baptists, Mennonites, Amish, Quakers, Shakers, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Darbyists, Preterists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Branch Davidians, Mormons, Danites, Spiritualists, Ku Klux Klan, Christian Scientists, Rastafarians, Moonies, Jesus Freaks, Jews for Jesus, Army of God, Christian Identity, Ickeites, Aum Shinrikyo, Eastern Lightning, UFO Christians, and Q-Anon, to name a few.

2. Are Christians "healed" by the stripes of Jesus (Is53:5b)?

•John the Baptist was beheaded

•Judas hanged himself

•Stephen was stoned to death

•James the Just was clubbed to death

•James BarZebedee was put to the sword

•Paul had an infirmity

•Paul left Trophimus "sick in Miletus"

•Timothy suffered "frequent ailments"

•Peter was crucified

•Andrew was crucified

•Matthias was beheaded

•Bartholomew was crucified

•Thomas was impaled with a spear

•Philip was crucified

•Paul was beheaded

•Barnabas was burned alive

•Mark was dragged to death

•Luke was hanged

•John was imprisoned

•Clement was drowned

•Ignatius was torn apart by bears and lions

•Polycarp was burned alive

•Justin Martyr was beheaded

•Christian Jerusalem was twice overthrown

•Christian Europe twice suffered the bubonic plague

•To the degree there was once a nearly unified Church, it has been irreparably divided by the Protestant Reformation

•Churches are perpetually lacking the funds required to spread the Gospel to "every creature."

3. Did Jesus "open not his mouth" (Is53:7)?

•"Remove this cup from me..." (Lk22:42)

•"You betray the son of man with a kiss?" (Lk22:48)

•"Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me?" (Mt26:55, Mk14:48, Lk22:52)

•"I have taught nothing in secret..." (Jn18:20)

•"Why do you ask me [about my teachings]? Ask those who have heard me, what I said to them; they know what I said.” (Jn18:21)

•“Do you say [I'm king of the Jews] of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” (Jn18:34)

•"My kingship is not of this world..." (Jn18:36)

•“You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.” (Jn18:37)

•“You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above" (Jn19:11)

•"Thou sayest [I am king of the Jews]" (Mt27:11, Mk15:2, Lk23:3)

•"You will see the son of man coming with power." (Mt26:64, Mk14:62)

•"They know not what they do..." (Lk23:34)

•"My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mt27:46, Mk15:34)

•"I thirst!" (Jn19:28)

And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Mt27:50)

4. Was Jesus non-violent (Is53:9a)?: Jesus destroyed a herd of swine (Mk5:13), attacked the temple (Jn2:15), instructed his disciples to buy swords (Lk22:36), then stood by as his chief disciple drew a sword and assaulted the servant of the High Priest. (Jn18:10)

5. Was there no deceit in Jesus' mouth (Is53:5b)? Jesus lied to the High Priest of Israel, saying, "I have taught nothing in secret" (Jn18:20), having earlier confided in his disciples, "to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables" (Mk4:11). He lied to his brothers about attending the festival of tabernacles (Jn7:8-10). He denied knowing his own mother and brothers (Mk3:33), he misapplied prophecies to himself (Mt21:5-7, Mk14:62, Lk4:16-21, Lk22:37, Jn5:46), and when the real Elijah didn't show up to anoint him as messiah, he told his disciples that the recently executed John the Baptist (supposedly his cousin) had been the second coming of Elijah (Mt17:12-13).

6. Did Jesus divide a portion with the great or spoil with the strong (Is53:12)? Is he planning to do this upon his return? Who are the great and strong with whom he is sharing his plunder?

Conclusion: Isaiah 53 is about the suffering and redemption of ancient Israel. It has no relation to Jesus of Nazareth or any future messiah.

Sources

Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version, 1957

Asbury Bible Commentary, 1992

Bible, King James Version, 1611

Bible, Jewish Publication Society, 1917

Bible, Revised Standard Version, 1952

Brown, Michael - Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, 2000

Josephus - Antiquities, Translated by William Whiston, 1737

###