Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 to 55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon.
The Fourth Servant Song: Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 makes up the fourth of the "Servant Songs" of the Book of Isaiah, describing a "servant" of God who is abused and looked down upon but eventually vindicated.
Text The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 12 verses, although the pericope begins in Isaiah 52:13. The pericope thus encompasses 15 verses. The passage survives in a number of independent and parallel manuscript traditions in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and others.
Hebrew The standard Hebrew edition that serves as the basis for most modern translations is Codex Leningradensis (1008). Other manuscripts of the Masoretic Text tradition include Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and the Aleppo Codex (10th century).
Fragments containing all or parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are the earliest extant witnesses to the Hebrew text of the chapter: 1QIsa (2nd century BCE.): all verses 1QIsa (1st century BCE): all verses 4QIsab (4Q56): extant verses 11–12 4QIsac (4Q57): extant verses 1–3, 6–8 4QIsad (4Q58): extant verses 8–12 Greek The translation into Koine Greek, known as the Septuagint, was made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). Several passages of the text were included in the New Testament (see New Testament below) and serve as further witnesses to the Greek text in the first century. Origen's Hexapla preserved assorted Greek translations of the text from Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, dating to the second century CE.Fragments of the Hexapla may be found in
Latin Jerome translated his Vulgate from Hebrew manuscripts that were available to him in the 4th century CE. Retroversion of the Latin into Hebrew may recover what his Hebrew manuscripts said at the time. Other Languages Versions of Isaiah 53 exist in many other languages, but they are of limited use for establishing the critical text. The Aramaic Targum Isaiah is often paraphrasing and loose with its translation. Many other early translations (i.e. Ethiopic, Slavonic, etc.), produced by Christians, were dependent upon the Septuagint and are of limited use for recovering the Hebrew.
Parashot
The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.As implemented in the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English. . Isaiah 53 is a part of the Consolations (Isaiah 40–66).
Interpretive options concerning the servant's identity The central interpretive question to be answered for the passage concerns Isaiah's intended referent for the servant. Related questions include the Isaiah 53 servant's relationship with the servant(s) mentioned in the other songs. Three major classes of interpretation have been proposed for the servant of Isaiah 53:
Individual The individual interpretation states that the intended referent for the servant is a single Israelite man. The passage's third-person masculine singular nouns and verbs are cited as evidence for this position. Sometimes, the entire pericope is interpreted concerning an individual, and in other cases, only selected verses are so interpreted. Several individual referents have been proposed:
Jesus Christ (Christianity only; Luke 22:37, Acts 8:32-35, 1 Peter 2:21-22) Rabbi Akiva (Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 5:1) Moses (Sotah 14a) Nachmanides The Jewish Messiah (Targum Jonathan, Sanhedrin 98a–b, Ruth Rabbah 5:6, Midrash Tanhuma Toldot 14, Yalkut Shimoni 476, Midrash Tehillim 2:7, and Maimonides in Iggeret Teiman 13) Jeremiah (Saadia Gaon) A Righteous Israelite Remnant Some interpretations state that the servant is representative of any Israelites who meet a particular standard of righteousness, such that the passage applies to some Israelites and not others. Examples include: Whoever the Lord is pleased with, he crushes with suffering (Berakhot 5a) One who is sick and has a seminal emission (Berakhot 57b)
National This interpretation states that the servant is a metaphor for the entire nation of Israel, as indicated by prior verses in Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 41:8-9, 44:1, 44:21, 49:3). The servant's sufferings are seen as the sufferings of the nation as a whole while in exile. This interpretation first appears with unnamed Jews familiar to Origen in the third century CE (see below), and it subsequently became the majority position within Judaism from the medieval period until today. Sometimes, this view is combined with the "righteous remnant" view (e.g., Rashi on 53:3 and 53:8) Representative commentaries include: Rashi Ibn Ezra Radak
History of interpretation
A wide variety of sources across many centuries include interpretations of the chapter. This section will highlight some of the key interpretive sources organized by date of textual origin.
Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BCE – 1st century CE) The Dead Sea Scrolls include both biblical and non-biblical scrolls that reflect the text and the themes of Isaiah 53.
1QIsaa, the Great Isaiah Scroll
In their article on the interpretation of Isaiah 53 in the pre-Christian period, Martin Hengel and Daniel P. Bailey noted a possible messianic reading in the Great Isaiah Scroll for Isaiah 52:14. They wrote,
Because this reading indicates God anointed the servant "beyond that of any (other) man," it is likely that the scribe who penned the Great Isaiah Scroll interpreted the servant as a messianic figure.
Another variant is present in two Qumran manuscripts and the LXX. Martin and Hengel write, "The most important variant that Scrolls A and B have in common (see also 4QIsad) is the phrase יראה אור ('he will see light') in 53:11, attested also in the LXX."
It is likely that the Qumran community saw Isaiah 52:7 as the beginning of the pericope, and 52:13 starting a subsection within it. Second Temple Judaism scholar Craig Evans notes that 1QIsaa includes a siglum in the margin at 52:7, just as it does in other major breaks of thought. Evans writes, "Although of uncertain meaning, this manuscript feature likely indicates the beginning of a new section." He notes that the Masoretic Text includes a samek (for seder) at the same verse, and a small samek after 52:12. Evans writes, "Accordingly, both the Great Isaiah Scroll of Qumran and the MT appear to view Isaiah 52:7–12 and 52:13–53:12 as two related units, perhaps with 52:7–12 introducing the hymn."
4Q541 Fragment 9 A portion of 4Q541 includes themes about an individual that will atone for his generation, despite his generation being evil and opposing him. Hengel and Bailey reviewed this fragment and others, noting, "As early as 1963, Starcky suspected that these portions of 4Q540 and 541... 'seem to evoke a suffering Messiah in the perspective opened up by the Servant Songs.'"Hengel and Bailey, p. 115. The text of 4Q541 Fragment 9 reads,
11Q13 (11QMelch) 11Q13, also 11QMelch or the Melchizedek document, is a fragmentary manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls (from Cave 11) which mentions Melchizedek as the leader of God's angels in a war in Heaven against the angels of darkness instead of the more familiar Archangel Michael. The text is an apocalyptic commentary on the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25.Gard Granerød, Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times 23, p. 208 2010 "The Melchizedek document from Qumran (11Q13) offers no explicit reference to Psalm 110 or to Genesis 14. That is, its main protagonist, qdc yklm, is not explicitly connected with the only two biblical texts that contain the identical ..."John R. Hinnells. A handbook of ancient religions, 2007, p. 241. "In a fragmentary text from cave 11 at Qumran (11q13 in Vermes 1997: 500–2) the role of Michael as leader of God's angels and destroyer of the angels of darkness is taken over by Melchizedek. The text is a commentary on the Jubilee law ..."James H. Charlesworth. The Dead Sea scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, vol.4, p. 7 – 1994 "Speculation about Melchizedek is attested at Qumran in Melchizedek (11Q13)" The passage includes a quotation of Isaiah 52:7 and a messianic explanation that ties the passage with Daniel 9:25. The scroll reads,
Septuagint (2nd century BCE) The Septuagint (LXX) translation of Isaiah 53, dated to roughly 140 BCE,Hengel and Bailey, p. 119. is a relatively free translation with a complicated relationship with the MT. Emanuel Tov has provided LXX/MT word equivalences for the passage, and verse-by-verse commentaries on the LXX of Isaiah 53 are provided by Jobes and Silva, and Hengel and Bailey.
In the LXX, the verbal aspect and subject of many verbs differ from the MT. In 53:8, the child/servant is "led to death," with the translator seeing lamavet (לַמָּוֶת) rather than lamo (לָֽמֹו). Verses 10–12 shift the narrative toward the "we" in the audience, beseeching the reader to perform a sin offering in order to "cleanse" and "justify" the righteous servant/child who was an innocent sufferer. Hengel and Bailey comment, "Therefore in the MT of verse 10, the Servant himself gives his life as an אָשָׁם or 'guilt offering' (NASB; NIV; cf. NJPS), that is, an atoning sacrifice. By contrast, the Greek conditional sentence ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ ἁμαρτίας in verse 10b requires a 'sin offering' from the members of the congregation who previously went astray and who were guilty in relationship to the Servant, in order that they might receive their share of the salvation promised to the Servant."Hengel and Bailey, pp. 125–126. Despite these differences with the MT, the "vicarious suffering" theme of the MT remains intact, as evidenced by the LXX of verses 4–6:
While the theme of vicarious suffering is strong in the LXX, the translation avoids saying that the servant actually dies. In verse 4, the MT's imagery that could imply death (מֻכֵּה) is lessened to "misfortune/blow" (πληγῇ). Jobes and Silva also note, "This rendering is only one of several examples where the translator clearly avoids statements that attribute the servant's sufferings to God's action." In verse 8, the servant is "led to death," but in verse 9, God saves the servant before his execution by "giving" the wicked and the wealthy unto death instead of the servant. Hengel notes that the tendency to downplay the idea of vicarious suffering continued in Theodotion's Greek translation:
Unlike with 1QIsaa, the identity of the Servant in Isaiah 53 LXX is unclear. F. Hahn concluded without elaboration, "A messianic interpretation cannot be recognized even in the Septuagint version of Isaiah 53."F. Hahn, Christologische Hoheitstitel, 2nd ed., FRLANT 83 (1964), 154 n. 1. Quoted in Hengel and Bailey, p. 136. Hengel disagrees:
New Testament (1st century CE)
The New Testament portrays a consistent and singular interpretation of Isaiah 53 by identifying the suffering servant as Jesus. His experiences of crucifixion and resurrection are portrayed as the fulfillment of the text.
+ New Testament Quotations of Isaiah 53 Isaiah Passage New Testament Quotation Referent , Jesus as the man "lifted up" Evangelists, like Paul, who spread the servant's message to Gentiles , The unbelief of Israel regarding the servant Jesus, the miraculous healer, taking Israel's diseases Jesus as the wounded one who heals others Humanity straying like sheep and brought back through Jesus Jesus Jesus, who committed no sin Jesus, numbered with the transgressors