Isaiah 53

Defining Isaiah 53…An Arm, a Servant and Who is We?

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A Forbidden Chapter?

The 53rd chapter of Isaiah is one of the key chapters Christians use to convert Jews to Christianity. It is often claimed by Christians that Isaiah 53 is a “forbidden chapter” by the Jews because of of it’s “clear reference to Jesus.” It is in fact, a difficult chapter to understand, even if not taken out of context as Christians attempt to reinterpret it. If a few verses are taken and laid side by side with the New Testament story of the Passion of Christ it seems to make a complete match, especially when Christian translations of Isaiah are used. But there is a problem with this match. Perhaps there is something that even the rabbis of Judaism have missed. Rabbinical commentaries mostly favor the view that the Servant in Isaiah is consistently Israel. But there are problems with this view also.

There are a few key terms in the passage that must be defined. Their context can be shown from other parts of Isaiah, especially in chapter 52 for which the last few verses are an introduction to Isaiah 53. There are other verses on the same subject throughout the Tanakh. Who is the “the Arm of YHVH?” and who is the “Servant”? Who gives the report and who hears it?– and besides that, who is “all of us?”

Who is the Arm of YHVH? Isaiah 51: 9-10 (for Hebrew, click here)

9. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of YHVH; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that has cut Rahab in pieces, and wounded the dragon?” (תַּנִּין) (Also rendered “serpent” in the Tanakh.) 10. “Art Thou not He which dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?”

The Arm of YHVH is the Eternal Himself. Can anyone question who it was that “dried up the sea and opened a path for the people to cross over?” This was/is not a mortal man.

Here are other verses from the Tanakh that refer to the Arm of the L-RD:

Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am YHVH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: (Hebrew)

Exo 15:16 (Hebrew)Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of Thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O YHVH, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

Deu 4:34 (Hebrew) “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out Arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YHVH your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?”

Isa 52:10 (Hebrew) “YHVH hath made bare His Holy Arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Take a look at these verses as well: Deu 11:2, Isa 30:30

After reading what the Bible says, can we make the Arm of YHVH into an entity or person that acts for Him? Does this make sense? The Arm of YHVH cannot be a prophet, nor Moses nor can it refer to a Messiah figure, though the “servant of YHVH” as we are going to see, is human and will be strengthened by this “Arm”. How do I know that the Arm strengthens the Servant.

An arm is the part of the body that executes or acts in a physical sense. To detach the arm from the body, we render it useless! The Arm is not something or someone separate from God Himself. No, not a man; not a prophet; not a messiah; not a human king. The Eternal manifests his will with His Arm.

When we start dissecting the Eternal into parts rather than a whole we get into strange interpretations that take away from the Unity of G-d and this amounts to confusion.

Num 23:19 – “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do?”

So if God is not a man then why do people say that He is a man? Or even part man? Does God need man to do things for Him? Did He need Moses or was Moses blessed to be used as a spokesperson? Did God even need Moses to speak? Didn’t Israel ask Moses to speak to them because they could not bear the voice of YHVH? Exodus 20:19. So the Eternal allowed this as it was all the people could bear.

So mortal men can speak or act under the direction of YHVH, but as tools or vessels, not as a power independent from Him. The effort to fragment the Eternal God and separate Him into pieces is a grievous mistake. That He is “One” is stated clearly in Deuteronomy 6:4– the Shema (שמע).

So as we approach Isaiah 53, we see the first verse speaks of this Arm.

מִ֥י הֶאֱמִ֖ין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ וּזְר֥וֹעַ יְהֹוָ֖ה עַל־מִ֥י נִגְלָֽתָה׃

Isaiah 53:1: “Who would have believed our report? and to whom is the arm of YHVH revealed?”

Again, who is this Arm? The passage mentions the Arm (which is not a man, but the power of God displayed in physical manifestation and this Arm strengthens whom it will). We already discovered who is the “Arm,” but the verse asks for the identity of the one(s) to whom this “Arm” is revealed. That is a BIG difference and to be a bit redundant, the “Arm” is not the one to whom the Arm is being revealed. So to whom is the Arm revealed?

The Isaiah 53 passage addresses the following entities:

  1. Those who are listening to the report (from Chapter 52)
  1. Those who give the report (from Chapter 52)
  2. The “Arm” of YHVH) 53:1
  3. The righteous servant (introduced in chapter 52).
  4. “us all” 53:6: “Us all” seems to be the same group that give the shocking and unbelievable report (Note it is plural-our report–לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ). But who are those who are shocked by this unbelievable report?

Eze 37:21 “…then say to them, Thus says the YHVH Elohim: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.

Isa 52:15:

כֵּ֤ן יַזֶּה֙ גּוֹיִ֣ם רַבִּ֔ים עָלָ֛יו יִקְפְּצ֥וּ מְלָכִ֖ים פִּיהֶ֑ם כִּ֠י אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־סֻפַּ֤ר לָהֶם֙ רָא֔וּ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־שָׁמְע֖וּ הִתְבּוֹנָֽנוּ׃

“so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths: for that which had not been told shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they perceive.”

Those who are shocked by the report are the kings and nations of the world, and what they “perceive” is not the story of someone dying for the sins of the whole world, but that Israel is being restored as a people (nation). And there is an Arm of Deliverance working through a “righteous servant” among them. How can this be? (Perhaps this idea is not apparent at this point, but bear with me!)

Let me run this by you! … If the kings and nations of the world are shocked by “the report,” it is something they are not aware of. For 2000 years the kings and the nations have persecuted the Jews for not accepting the Christian religion. So, they would by no means be shocked to hear what is being revealed if it is about the same theories they have always believed.

And those who give the report may not be the same ones that hear the report. Each person as he perceives the revelation, shares it and those who hear also share. So whom is it that gives the report? Apparently the overwhelming surprise to the nations that Israel is being restored opens the eyes of the world and this happens when the “Arm of YHVH” has been revealed. This is what shocks the world! The Arm that has empowered the “righteous servant” and delivered the people of Israel to return to their land and rise above their enemies. But we must see who this “righteous servant” is in a bit.

To whom does Isaiah 53:6 refer to as “us all”?

כֻּלָּ֙נוּ֙ כַּצֹּ֣אן תָּעִ֔ינוּ אִ֥ישׁ לְדַרְכּ֖וֹ פָּנִ֑ינוּ וַיהֹוָה֙ הִפְגִּ֣יעַ בּ֔וֹ אֵ֖ת עֲוֺ֥ן כֻּלָּֽנוּ׃

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and YHVH has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him.” Who are the “sheep?”

Eze 34:6 “they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.”

1Ki 22:17 “And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And YHVH said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’”

12 “Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the L-RD G-d: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the L-RD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.” To be taken from the graves is to be removed from the COUNTRIES where they have been exiled and returned to the land of Israel!

Jer 50:17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.”

US All–the sheep represent Israel.

The majority of Israel–“us all”– caused the suffering of the righteous servant. So who would that be?

The Eternal willed for the iniquity of Israel to fall on His Righteous Servant. But before we assume that this is some kind of vicarious atonement or that the Righteous Servant is someone who takes the place of the ones who sin, we must remember all that we learned above. The application of Christ to this prophecy is clearly a misfit, as well as his being a bearer of the sins of the whole world. It is about Israel’s disobedience to the covenant for whom the Righteous Servant suffers. He does not suffer for the world but because of those who transgressed the Everlasting Covenant. The Torah was given to Israel, not to the nations. But how is it that he suffers if he is not doing this as an atonement for Israel? We’ll get to that but first, we remember that God never made a covenant with the nations other than the covenant given after the flood in the rainbow promise not to destroy all flesh again by a flood. We remember the covenants with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then Israel at Sinai. There is no covenant of law in the Tanakh for the rest of the world. And why? Because Israel was to teach the world—that is, to be a light to the nations… and this still is not being done…not yet. God gave special instructions in the Torah to those who wanted to join Israel. The stranger or proselyte had to enter into the covenant through the covenant of circumcision and obedience to the Torah including eating of the Passover. Otherwise there was no covenant for them.

“and the YHVH has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him”

Exo 12:48-49: “But if a stranger resides with you and celebrates the Passover to YHVH, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourns among you.”

Num 15:15 “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourns with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as you are, so shall the stranger be before the L-RD. 16 One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourns with you.”

Numbers 15:29 “Ye shall have one law for him that sins through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourns among them.”

Israel had the responsibility to instruct the nations to follow G-d’s ways–we were to be a light to the nations.

Isa 2:3 – “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the L-RD, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the L-RD from Jerusalem.”

Isa 60:3 – “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Why was Israel cut off or exiled?

Isaiah 53:8:

מֵעֹ֤צֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט֙ לֻקָּ֔ח וְאֶת־דּוֹר֖וֹ מִ֣י יְשׂוֹחֵ֑חַ כִּ֤י נִגְזַר֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ חַיִּ֔ים מִפֶּ֥שַׁע עַמִּ֖י נֶ֥גַע לָֽמוֹ׃

“By oppression and false judgment was he taken away; and of his generation who considered? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of (my) people to whom the stroke was due” or more precisely, “was he smitten”.

Where or what is the land of the living? (מֵאֶ֣רֶץ חַיִּ֔ים) Me-eretz Haim—The land of life or living land) Is this not Israel? Did not the righteous prophets suffer right along with the rebellious and were they not exiled as well? The transgression (Pesha) of my people (Ami) caused the righteous to be cut off along with the rest of Israel. Most translations refer to this as the land of the living. They also indicate that somehow this righteous servant is cut off (along with the rest of Israel) from life to go to the grave or Sheol. Certainly in some cases it is the grave, but if we look a little closer, it fits a bit better with the exile which is almost like death, for the land is what connects Israel to the promises and thus the life promised by the Creator. If the prophet or righteous servant is being exiled, he also is being cut off from the land of life-(Israel) a fate worse than death for the sons of the promise. And he is cut off along with the sheep (Israel) with whom he suffers the same fate, not vicariously, but along with them.

What was it that makes the Righteous Servant (or Remnant) suffer?

In verse 8. “…for the transgression of my people (מִפֶּ֥שַׁע עַמִּ֖י) was he smitten,” the translation “for” is used but this is not correct. Biblical Hebrew shows that a “mem” placed as a prefix before a word means “from” or “because of”, not “for”. This means it was the sins of “my people” that hurt the servant. It was not about YHVH making the servant into some kind of atoning sacrifice or whipping boy for the rest of them. The idea that somehow the servant appeases the wrath of God is what often comes to mind through English translations of Isaiah 53. No, and let me repeat: The servant, whether it be a prophet, messiah or just a few righteous people, suffers the same sicknesses, exiles, persecutions and everything else along with those “to whom the stroke was due.” They do not live in a separate world completely protected from all evil.

The righteous servant of the Eternal suffers because of the sins of Israel who were exiled as a result of their sins. These are the people to whom the stroke (punishment) was due. The question looms today, why are the majority of the Jews not in the land of Israel? Why are they still scattered to the nations? Originally because of their continued idolatry and seeking after the sins of the nations. And shamefully, it has not been about Israel being a witness to the nations, though that would have been ideal. And the continued exile shows the consequence for involvement in idolatry and for bowing to the rule of the nations in preference to their Deliverer YHVH.

Here are some corroborating verses about Israel being exiled:

Isa 2:6 – “Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.”

Deu 28:25 – “YHVH shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Jer 15:4 – “And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

Isa 5:13- “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.”

And the “cutting off” of the righteous servant, what is that about?

As we saw above, this appears to be speaking of death and the grave (Sheol) where no man is living, but I think there is something deeper here.

Perhaps the “righteous servant” refers to a righteous “remnant” that hold fast to the covenant of the Eternal even amidst their mistaken brethren? It is not, in my opinion, a single person, though it at times could refer to a prophet or messiah figure who will be strengthened by the “Arm of YHVH” to do great things for Israel, and in the view of an End Time application, this seems viable.

Again, the remnant suffer right along with those whose sins have brought the exile and punishment. Some died with them in the terrible persecution of the inquisitions of the dark ages and in the holocaust of the 20th century. Others suffered under derision and betrayal and shame by our own people.

I would like to explore a little more in reference to the symbolism of death and the grave? Check out this passage:

Eze 37:11-14: “Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says YHVH Elohim: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am YHVH, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am YHVH; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the YHVH.” Here the exile is equated with death and the places of exile with the grave.

Can it be possible that the verses about death in Isaiah 53 has nothing to do with a righteous person dying for, or even because of the sins of Israel? At times this has been the case, but could it be that being taken away captive along with the rest of the Jewish people was/is a fate worse than death and the countries became their prisons and symbolized death to the Jews? When we see the promises of Israel being gathered back from the nations, it becomes even clearer.

Eze 28:25 “Thus says YHVH Elohim: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob.”

Eze 36:24 “I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.

Look again at this section from Eze 37 which I quoted above:

Do we need more evidence for this idea that death and the grave refer to the exile and the countries in which the people of Israel are trapped? If we look at Isaiah 52, which sets the context for 53, we see…

Isaiah 52:1-3: “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Yerushalayim, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Yerushalayim: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says YHVH, You were sold for nought; and you shall be redeemed without money.”

Here Isaiah sets the stage for what he says in Isaiah 53. The deliverance of the chosen people from their captivity and the cleansing of Jerusalem from those who do not belong there.

Isaiah 52:5: “And now what do I have here?” declares YHVH. “For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,” declares YHVH. “And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.”

52:9-12: “Break forth into joy, sing together, O waste places of Yerushalayim: for YHVH has comforted his people, he has redeemed Yerushalayim: YHVH has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing: go out of the midst of her; be clean, you that bear the vessels of YHVH. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for YHVH will go before you; and the God of Yisrael will be your rearguard.”

Here we see the Arm of YHVH acting to deliver His people from the places where they have been exiled. But then the chapter goes into who the Servant is in order to set the foundation for what follows in chapter 53.

Here is a list of the rest of the references for “my servant” in the book of Isaiah. As an author, Isaiah must show what he is referring to.

Isa 20:3: My servant Isaiah

Isa 22:20: My servant Eliakim

Isa 37:35: My servant David

Isa 41:8, Isa 44:1: My servant Jacob/Israel whom I have chosen

Isa 44:2: Jacob, My servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen (Jeshurun יְשֻׁרוּן) means upright one, which ties into the righteous remnant).

Isa 44:21: Jacob and Israel, My servant

Isa 45:4: My servant Jacob and Israel, My chosen

Isa 49:3: My servant Israel

Isa 41:9 “you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”;”

Isa 42:1, 19: “1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. … 19 Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of YHVH?”

Isa 43:10 “10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the YHVH, “and my servant whom I have chosen…”

Isa 49:6 “he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.””

Isa 52:13 “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.”

The references to My servant in Isaiah seem to change in the latter part of the book to a special servant or maybe a righteous remnant who are empowered by the Arm of YHVH. Note above in chapter 49:6, the servant is commanded to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring them back from the exile. In chapter 42, we see the servant empowered by the “spirit” of YHVH:

Isa 42:1-8: “1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coast lands wait for his law. 5 Thus says God, YHVH, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 “I am YHVH; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am YHVH; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

The Servant not only brings the exiles home, he brings justice to the nations and establishes law and order. We certainly need that now!

In chapter 49 we see parallel information for the righteous remnant or messiah of Isaiah 53.

5. “And now, says YHVH that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Yacov back to him, that Yisrael should be gathered to him, and I was honored in the eyes of YHVH, and my God was my strength.”

6. “And he said, It is too slight a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Yacov, and to restore the preserved of Yisrael: I will also give thee for a light to the nations, that my salvation may be to the end of the earth.”

7. “Thus says YHVH, the Redeemer of Yisrael, his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall prostrate themselves, because of YHVH who is faithful, and the Holy One of Yisrael, who has chosen thee.”

8. “Thus says YHVH, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, and to assign desolate inheritances to their owners.”
9. “That thou mayst say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be on all high places.”

Why is God pleased to crush or bruise the righteous servant?

In other words, why does it seem that God is happy with the death or affliction of the righteous? Is there something about this affliction that purifies them or those around them?

וַיהֹוָ֞ה חָפֵ֤ץ דַּכְּאוֹ֙ הֶחֱלִ֔י אִם־תָּשִׂ֤ים אָשָׁם֙ נַפְשׁ֔וֹ יִרְאֶ֥ה זֶ֖רַע יַאֲרִ֣יךְ יָמִ֑ים וְחֵ֥פֶץ יְהֹוָ֖ה בְּיָד֥וֹ יִצְלָֽח׃

Isa 53:10: “But it pleased YHVH to crush him by disease: if his soul shall consider it a recompense for guilt, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the purpose of YHVH shall prosper in his hand.” (we do not find the phrase “crush him by disease” (דַּכְּאוֹ֙ הֶחֱלִ֔י) in most Christian translations. I wonder why?)

This same verse in the KJV has two errors. The words “Sacrifice for sin” is not there in the Hebrew. And secondly, the word for disease or sickness is omitted. This disease (according to Christian translations) is placed upon him for soul guilt: הֶחֱלִ֔י אִם־תָּשִׂ֤ים אָשָׁם֙ נַפְשׁ֔וֹ . The idea in the translations is far from the truth. The servant suffers sickness which is placed upon him like everyone else. Could it be that when the majority falls ill because of their deviance, he also bears the infirmity? Nowhere does it suggest that he is making an atonement for others sins through his suffering.

מֵעֲמַ֤ל נַפְשׁוֹ֙ יִרְאֶ֣ה יִשְׂבָּ֔ע בְּדַעְתּ֗וֹ יַצְדִּ֥יק צַדִּ֛יק עַבְדִּ֖י לָֽרַבִּ֑ים וַעֲוֺנֹתָ֖ם ה֥וּא יִסְבֹּֽל׃

Isa 53:11: “He shall see the travail of his soul, he shall be sated with seeing: by his knowledge did my servant justify the righteous One to the many, and did bear their iniquities.”

The “servant” justifies the Holy Righteous One, which means his life glorifies the Creator, and His Covenant before those with whom he associates. And this even while suffering because of the sins of his generation. What does it mean to bear their sins? It surely does not mean that these righteous ones take on the sins themselves, but to bear with their sins, and to rebuke and chastise where needed. And they do receive the penalty of exile and plague and persecution right along with those whom they associate.

Work of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement

If we look at the High Priest’s work in the Tabernacle we see that Aaron, on the day of Atonement, represented the entire congregation. He represented them in the process of atonement for their transgressions. He, as it were, carried (bore) their sins into the Sanctuary and placed them on the head of the sacrifice which was the instrument for atonement. But Aaron was not the instrument of atonement—He was the appointed servant in this case. What is this sacrifice today? What is the instrument that brings reconciliation between God and man? A broken and contrite spirit? Repentance? Something else? But, I hope we see clearly that the servant does not serve as a substitute for the guilty. He can represent them, help them, suffer along with them, but the Bible is clear that the innocent do not pay for the sins of the guilty…

Eze 18:20: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

לָכֵ֞ן אֲחַלֶּק־ל֣וֹ בָרַבִּ֗ים וְאֶת־עֲצוּמִים֮ יְחַלֵּ֣ק שָׁלָל֒ תַּ֗חַת אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֶעֱרָ֤ה לַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נַפְשׁ֔וֹ וְאֶת־פֹּשְׁעִ֖ים נִמְנָ֑ה וְהוּא֙ חֵטְא־רַבִּ֣ים נָשָׂ֔א וְלַפֹּשְׁעִ֖ים יַפְגִּֽיעַ׃

Isa 53:12: “Surely I will give him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with transgressors; but he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Moses made intercession for Israel and the righteous prophets of all times have done the same. We see Elijah on Mt. Carmel. Aaron stood between the living and the dead to make intercession. And these of the righteous remnant do this for those around them.

In summary, we see the Arm of the Eternal (YHVH), strengthening, by His Spirit, the Servant (Righteous Remnant or Messiah) so that he rises up to deliver Israel from the Exile in all the nations where they have gone, the “us all” of Isaiah 53. My people lost in the Exile, will be, as it were, resurrected from the graves of captivity and returned to the land of Israel where they will, along with the Servant, be delivered, repentant, exalted and when God purifies and restores Jerusalem, they will be there to teach the nations to worship the God of Israel who has delivered them from Exile, a fate worse than death.

May it be soon!

Ariella

If you have questions, please comment. If this was helpful please share on social media and to friends. Likes always help as well. Thanks for taking the time to read. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Challenging Isaiah 53

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Challenging Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 has been a much misunderstood chapter in the Bible. Jews are accused of forbidding the study of it. Christians, for the most part, apply it to Jesus, who by the way does not fit Isaiah’s previous context nor the actual context of chapter 53. Instead of assuming things fit we need to delve deeper. As we dig into this study. I will state up front that my personal belief is that the personage or group represented by Isaiah’s Suffering Servant has not yet been fully revealed.

Arm of YHVH:

The first phrase we come upon in Isaiah 53:1 includes the words “Arm of YHVH”. What is the context of “arm of YHVH (YHVH)” and whom does it protect or do battle?

Let’s have a closer look:

Isa 53:1: To whom has the arm of YHVH been revealed…”

For whom has it been revealed? For Israel, but also this fact is revealed to the nations. (Why else are the kings of the earth shocked in Isaiah 52:13 which begins this prophecy?) And later we must ask, Who is the “servant” in the book of Isaiah? Is it consistently the same figure?

Is 52:9-10: Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for YHVH has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem. YHVH has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

Notice: “all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” (Salvation of the Jewish people, of the restoration of Jerusalem to the seed of Abraham.)

Isa 51:9-11: “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of YHVH; Awake, as in the days of old, The generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, That pierced the dragon? Art thou not it that dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a way

For the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of YHVH shall return, And come with singing unto Zion…” (Here again, mention is made of the arm of YHVH working to rescue Israel and to bring them to Zion.)

Isaiah 30: 26-33:

Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day when YHVH binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. Behold, the name of YHVH comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray. You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of YHVH, to the Rock of Israel. And YHVH will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of YHVH, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that YHVH lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of YHVH, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.”

We have seen several passages that show the Arm of YHVH as working in defense of His people Israel. In the light of these passages, which most of them are end times prophecies in the book of Isaiah, we see that Israel is redeemed, defended, returned to Zion after being separated from the nations. We see the nations being punished and those who are repentant going up to seek the favor of YHVH in Jerusalem. The Arm of YHVH is clearly not defending the nations, rather in defense of Israel, His People.

With that for a foundation, let’s continue our study focusing on the very misunderstood chapter 53 of Isaiah: Notice that Isaiah 52, last part is the foreground for Isaiah 53:1

Isa 52:13 “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness, so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

From a casual reading the above verses appear to speak of one person disfigured and giving his blood for many nations, but let’s read it again; start with verse 9: YHVH has comforted his people, redeemed Jerusalem…And notice this as well: “and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.”

Kings of the Earth

THIS IS CLEARLY NOT SPEAKING OF JESUS because most of the “kings of the earth” are from Christian nations and already know the stories about him. Who then is it that surprises them? The majority of the nations have at least known of Jesus through the mass efforts of evangelization and the work of the Inquisition which uprooted and persecuted those who would not acknowledge him. How is it then that they will understand something new about him for which they will have to shut their mouths? Is it possible that the kings and nations will see someone, some people they have persecuted—the very ones to whom the Arm of Yehovah is now being revealed as their protector?

Sprinkle:

What can it mean that the servant “sprinkles” many nations? The word sprinkle, Hebrew: נָזָה is used in many places in the Torah concerning the sacrificial offerings when blood was sprinkled on the altar or where the priests themselves were sprinkled. Can it mean that the nations will be cleansed of their idolatry and sin by something that the servant does? Or does it mean something else such as where it is used in Isaiah 63?

Isaiah 63:3-4 speaks of YHVH trampling Edom (the nations) because of their hatred of God’s people and their blood being sprinkled upon his garments.

“I have trodden the wine-press alone, and no man from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood was sprinkled upon My garments, and all My clothes were stained. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”

An excellent commentary on the usage of the word Sprinkle נָזָה as used here, is shown by Gerald Sigal in his excellent commentary on Isaiah 53:

“52:15: ‘So shall he startle many nations’ … What is the meaning of the word “nazah”? (Hebrew: נָזָה)

Some Christians maintain that nazah which has the meaning of “sprinkle” carries with it the thought of expiation in verse 15.

  • It is thought the verse portrays the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (that is, spiritually cleanses) the nations. They then claim that this verse refers to the supposed power of Jesus to make “many nations” the beneficiaries of his blood. That is, Jesus was expected “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17) and have their “hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Hebrew 10:22). However, this interpretation is problematic.
  • Both grammatically and in terms of the sacrificial system the correct meaning of verse 15 has no relationship to the priestly sprinkling of atonement blood at all.
  • In every other instance where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is used in conjunction with a preposition (such as “onto,” “upon,” or “before”). This combination does not occur in verse 15.
  • The proper rendering of the verb, nazah, in this verse is not “sprinkle,” but “scatter” in the sense of being startled and confused.
  • It indicates the astonishment of the nations as they scurry about in shock over the turn of events.
  • In sprinkling, one scatters a liquid into innumerable droplets. Similarly, the inhabitants of the nations will be scattered as well.
  • There is no reference here to Jesus spiritually cleansing the nations.”i

We find another passage about Israel’s redemption at the time of the coming messiah in Zechariah:

Zech 8:22-24:“Yea, many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek YHVH of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of YHVH. Thus saith YHVH of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Is there something here also that shows the favor of YHVH returning to Jerusalem and the nations seeking this favor?)

Is the servant the faithful remnant of Israel?

Then…When the nation of Israel is restored to the rightful descendants of Abraham, will it then intercede for the nations? Is this what is meant by the following verses? Isa 66: 15-24 “See, YHVH is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword YHVH will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by YHVH… And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations…They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to YHVH–on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels, says YHVH. They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of YHVH in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites, says YHVH. As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me, declares YHVH, so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me, says YHVH. And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

“Like a root out of dry ground”? Who? What?

Psalms 80:8-10: “O God of hosts, restore us; show Your favor that we may be delivered. You plucked up a vine from Egypt; You expelled nations and planted it. You cleared a place for it; it took deep root and filled the land.”

As we know the land of Israel has become pretty much a dry desert despite the efforts to return it to a productive land and the resulting success. However it currently is not a place to find the abundance of a fully satiated land nor satisfy those who represent “the planting of Yehovah.”

Isa 35: “The arid desert shall be glad, The wilderness shall rejoice. And shall blossom like a rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of the Levanon shall be given to it, the excellency of the Karmel and the Sharon, they shall see the glory of YHVH, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even with a divine recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: the habitation of jackals shall become a pasture for cattle, an enclosure of reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it; and he shall be to them a guide, and fools shall not err in it. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up on it, they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of YHVH shall return, and come to Żion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”ii (We don’t see this yet).

The “root out of dry ground refers to those plucked up from exile, lost in Egypt and other lands, and replanted in Zion. Zion at the moment is dry and infertile spiritually and politically. The land itself is dry and cracked. It is not cultivated to the extent that it will be in the times shown by Isaiah 35, rather the inhabitants do not respect it. They throw their trash everywhere. There is no respect for the holiness of the Land of Promise.

So if the root out of dry ground are the ones taken out of exile, then they are in Yehovah’s hands until the moment when He cleans up the land to receive them. They are protected in the safe-keeping of the Arm of Yehovah.

An Individual?

Now the rest of Isaiah 53 seems to be portrayed as written about an individual and from the majority of commentaries, mostly Chrisitan, the application is portrayed as befitting the suffering of Jesus, yet the question above seems to stand out as lacking a good fit for him. Who is speaking and who are they speaking to? If all the speech given there is done by the kings of the earth and the nations, then the picture cannot be about Jesus. It must be about someone else.

Another thing we must think about…Is Israel as a people ever represented as an individual?

Let’s see some verses.

Exodus 4:22: “And thou shalt say to Pharoah, Thus says YHVH, Yisrael is my son, my firstborn.”

Jer. 31:11: “For YHVH has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”

Isaiah 52 and 54: In these two chapters just before and just after Isaiah 53, we see Zion, Israel represented as a woman, a wife estranged, or barren without children. This leads us to ask, who is the lone figure of Isaiah 53 that is the Redeemer? Still I maintain it is not Jesus as we will see.

Disfigured?

Isaiah 52-53 says that this figure was disfigured beyond recognition (Jesus was apparently mangled in his death, not a permanent condition, according to the Christian story where he is seen coming to save all the Christians (not Israel), in the glory of his kingdom, not in a deformed, unrecognized state). Isaiah says he was afflicted with disease (Isa 53:3) and many commentaries say that the word actually applies to leprosy…But Christians claim that as the spotless lamb, he was not ever touched by illness. A thorough reading referencing to the Hebrew in Isaiah 53: shows that he had to confess his own guilt אָשָׁם to be able to save Israel, but Christianity makes him spotless, without sin.

Also, what do we do with the idea of the barren woman in Isaiah 54 which also is parallel to the barren state of the one who suffers in Isaiah 53:10:

“But YHVH chose to crush him by disease, That, if he made himself an offering for guilt,
He might see offspring and have long life, And that through him YHVH’s purpose might prosper.” 53:10.

So, clearly the promise to him (whoever this is) is that if he does this work, he will see offspring and have long life. Jesus did not live that long and he never saw offspring. (Christians argue that he is coming back to show his long life and that the descendants are those who are baptized and accept him as their king.)

However, this does not jive with the simple reading of the text. We continue with the parallel of the barren and rejected wife in Isaiah 54:1-3:

The barren woman of Isaiah 54:

“Sing, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says YHVH. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess nations, and make desolate cities to be inhabited.”

Can this be the same individual as in Isaiah 53? I believe the person of Isaiah 53 is a messiah figure or the remnant who suffer as the result of Israel’s sins (not as a sacrificial offering). This is a Torah principle, that no one suffers to expiate the sins of anyone else, rather suffers as a result of the sins of the nation. Jesus could not offer his blood to pay for mankind or even the nation of Israel. If this were true then Torah is invalid.

No man can die to pay for the sins of anyone else.

Deut. 24:16: “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”iii

Ezek 18:20: “The person who sins, he alone shall die. A child shall not share the burden of a parent’s guilt, nor shall a parent share the burden of a child’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous shall be accounted to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be accounted to him alone.”iv

I believe that the person or group of Isaiah 53 is yet to be revealed. It is a mystery having to do with the final redemption of Israel and restoration to Torah and it’s rightful place as a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.

In Christianity, Jesus is not portrayed as a savior of the Jews nor a restorer of the nation of the descendants of Abraham, rather, please note that the history of Jesus shows that he actually is thought of as a savior of the nations and in fact, these nations became persecutors of the Jews—people he claimed were his object of salvation, not the other way around. No wonder the Kings of the earth and the Christianized nations will be aghast and unable to speak when they see the Servant of Isaiah 53—that it is not Jesus!

There are several very big problems with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and trying to fit Jesus into the suffering servant picture. Gerald Sigal, in his article published by Jews for Judaism, addresses this problem at length:

“Jesus is the god that never was. Many Christians differentiate between what is called “the two natures of Christ.” It is claimed that Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time, mysteriously interwoven yet separate. Thus, it is said, Jesus could be knowledgeable about some things and ignorant about others. Jesus’ statement that “A slave is not greater than his master, neither one who is sent greater than the one who sent him” refutes consideration of this two nature doctrine. This statement says that a slave is of lower status than his master. Anyone sent on a mission by another person is of inferior status. In the case of Jesus, this would make his supposed supernatural nature inferior to that of God the Father even before becoming incarnate and even if done voluntarily. It would mean that there was a period of time when the co-equality of the triune deity was reduced to a dyad. This state of inequality continues presently in that Jesus supposedly mediates between God the Father and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrew 9:24), but it is God the Father who makes the final judgment not the “mediator.” v

So, with all the twisting of doctrine to make the picture fit, we see even bigger problems: Again from Gerald Sigal:

“Did the author of Hebrews have Isaiah 53 in mind when he said Jesus “learned obedience from the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8)? Why did Jesus have to learn to be obedient if he is God? Whom did he have to obey? Can equals in any triune deity exercise dominance, one over the other? How can God’s servant be none other than one-third of Himself. Those who claim a pre-existent supernatural being was incarnate in the form of Jesus cannot escape the question: Why did this incarnate being have to learn to be obedient through suffering if in both his humanity and divinity he was sinless to begin with and therefore was already obedient to God?” vi

If Jesus was pre-programmed to come and do what he did and to become a sacrifice for sin, then it was no sacrifice because it was not voluntary. God does not demand sacrifice: it must be voluntary on our part:

“Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in; mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required. Psa 40:7 vii

It is pretty clear from many texts in the New Testament that the prophecies of the Tanakh were inserted to make the picture work for Jesus. However the very idea that in Christianity, Jesus is described as the second person of the Trinity, mocks every attempt to make him into a suffering servant.

Has anyone ever thought about the fact that God cannot die, and yet Jesus being “fully God”, died? Someone once asked in a sermon, “If Jesus was God then who was it that died on the cross?” How was this possible? Did the god part of him, somehow step aside to let the human part die? Now we are getting pretty slippery! So if the god part insisted that the human part die, then we have a human sacrifice! And how is that different than all the pagan human sacrifices that took place through the ages?

Either Jesus wasn’t God or any part of God or he was a human being, no more. So in order to make Jesus into a suffering servant the Trinity doctrine would have to be scrapped as well it should be for the Bible says…

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Num 23:19 viii

“HEAR, O ISRAEL: YEHOVAH OUR GOD, YEHOVAH IS ONE.” Keynote of the Jewish Faith, Deut. 6:4 ix

We visited an ancient village in Colombia with the clear view of a mountain where it is told that human sacrifices were done to please the gods of the time. There is a mural in the town of Venicia of a warrior standing and offering his beating heart to the gods. This made me shudder to think of the practice. I know that the same practices were done in Mexico by the Aztecs. The blood of this warrior was then drunk by the priests as an atonement. So Christians use wine at their Eucharist and claim to be drinking the blood of Christ! What is the difference here? In the Aztec and Inca peoples, this sacrifice was demanded in order to have crops and rain, etc. How close do we have to come to pagan human sacrifice in the story of Jesus and the worship of a god/man who dies? Isn’t it one and the same thing?

We obviously need to look somewhere else for the person or group represented by the mysterious “servant” of Isaiah 53. Perhaps nobody really knows who it is until the coming messiah appears? Or could it be, as I have suggested before, the righteous remnant of Israel? At any rate, Jesus does not fit the picture, even with the supposed suffering of a crucifixion. (After all he isn’t the only one who was martyred unjustly! Read Foxes Book of Martyrs.)

There are clues to the personage of the servant illustrated in chapter 53 of Isaiah. If we realize that an author gives clues to his own writings then we must go to the book of Isaiah and examine all the passages that speak of “My servant”. There are 4 Servant Songs written in Isaiah. Notice that the last one starts in chapter 52 and is continued in 53. To find out about the Servant of YHVH and what Isaiah the prophet is saying, study all four songs. (Isaiah 42:1–4; Isaiah 49:1–6; Isaiah 50:4–7; Isaiah 52:13–53:12).

The surface of biblical prophecy has barely been scratched. Once Jesus is laid aside as the conglomeration of paganism that he has come to be, we will be able to look beyond to the real meaning of the prophecies for our time.

ihttps://jewsforjudaism.ca/isaiah-53-who-is-the-servant-by-gerald-sigal/

iihttps://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.35.1-10?ven=The_Koren_Jerusalem_Bible&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

iiihttps://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.24.16?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&vside=The_Koren_Jerusalem_Bible|en&with=Translation%20Open&lang2=en

ivhttps://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.18.20?lang=en

vGerald Sigal, https://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/isaiah-53-jesus-not-suffering-servant-part-2/

viGerald Sigal, ibid

viihttps://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.40.7
ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

viiihttps://biblehub.com/numbers/23-19.htm

ixhttps://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.6.4?ven=The_Holy_Scriptures:_A_New_Translation_(JPS_1917)&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en