Does the Prophet Say This About Himself or Someone Else? – Isaiah 53 and the Identification of the Servant

Acts 8 recounts Philip the evangelist’s divine encounter with an Ethiopian official of the court of Candace, who was reading the prophet Isaiah in his chariot as he returned from Jerusalem to Ethiopia:

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.  In his humiliation justice was denied him.  Who can describe his generation?  For his life is taken away from the earth.”

And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 

The interpretive question by the Ethiopian has been a matter of debate, especially between Jewish and Christian interpreters, for some time.  The common interpretation among Jewish interpreters who do not recognize Jesus as Messiah is that the servant of Yahweh who is led like a sheep to slaughter is Israel.  They view this as the straightforward meaning of the text but also see an allegorical meaning that could include the Messiah as he suffers with the rest of his people from the oppression of the Gentiles.

Here is a paraphrase of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 according to Jewish interpretation:

My servant [Israel (and by extension, her anointed one[s] or Messiah[s])] will act wisely before Me and I will make him high and lifted up.  I will exalt him.  Those of you Gentiles who were astonished at how marred the nation of Israel had become due to your oppression will be dumbfounded by his restoration and exaltation.  You will say,

“Who really believes what we are saying about how Yahweh has delivered Israel, the nation with such a small beginning and to which we ascribed no majesty or beauty, but instead despised and rejected him, Israel, and made him suffer sorrow and grief as someone of no value.  But Israel has borne our griefs and sorrows even though we esteemed him to be stricken by God.  Yet Israel was pierced through our transgressions and crushed through our iniquities, and his chastisement by God actually brought peace to us.  We were healed by Israel’s wounds.  We Gentiles have gone astray and Yahweh has laid on Israel the iniquity of us all.  Israel was oppressed by the Gentiles and afflicted, yet did not open his mouth; like a lamb to led to the slaughter is silent, so Israel did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment from the Gentile nations he was taken away and cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of us Gentiles.  And we made Israel’s grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death even though he had done us no violence, nor sought to deceive us.”

Yet is was Yahweh’s will to crush Israel and put him to grief.  When Israel makes an offering for guilt he will see his children and live a long life and the will of Yahweh will prosper in his hand.  Despite the anguish of his soul he will see and be satisfied with what Yahweh has provided and make many, even Gentiles, to be accounted as righteous and will bear their iniquities.  So I, Yahweh, will give him a great reward for being treated as a transgressor who nevertheless was pouring out his soul to death to bear the sin of the nations and make intercession for their forgiveness.

Crucial to this interpretation is the identification of the Servant of Yahweh, the “my servant” of 52:13, as the nation of Israel and the understanding that Israel is identified in the singular, as an individual:

Though the “servant” in Isaiah 53 is not openly identified – these verses merely refer to “My servant” (52:13, 53:11) – the “servant” in each of the previous Servant Songs is plainly and repeatedly identified as the Jewish nation. [http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/Isaiah_53_The_Suffering_Servant.html]

But this is not the plain conclusion to be derived from a study of the Servant of Yahweh in Isaiah.  Isaiah makes several prophecies concerning the Servant of Yahweh.  There is some debate as to which passages are included, but there is general agreement on at least these four:

• Isaiah 42:1-4
• Isaiah 49:1-6
• Isaiah 50:4-9
• Isaiah 52:13-53:12

A look at Isaiah 49:1-6 shows us that indeed Israel, the nation, is identified as the Servant of Yahweh, but then a differentiation is made between the nation and an individual within the nation:

¹ Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.  The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.  ² He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.  ³ And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”  ⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.”

⁵ And now the Lord says,  he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 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.”

It is immediately noticeable in verse 5 that the “me” addressed by Yahweh has been given the responsibility of bringing Jacob or Israel back to Yahweh, and has been given strength to do this.  And in verse 6 Yahweh tells the servant that he will not only raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back Israel, but he will be a light to the Gentiles as well.  We are not told how he will do this until 50:4-9 and 52:13-53:12.

^50:4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.  Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  ⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  ⁶ I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

The servant of the Lord Yahweh will have a wise tongue in order to sustain those who are weary, that is one way he will bring Jacob back, and he will give his back to those who strike, which is further explicated in 52:13-53:12:

^52:13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.  ¹⁴ As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— ¹⁵ so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

^53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  ² For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  ³ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?  ⁹ And 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.  ¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  ¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  ¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;  yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Here it becomes clear that the way the servant will bring Jacob back to Yahweh will be by his sacrificial suffering, his atoning death, followed by his resurrection from the dead to make intercession for them.

So though there is truth in the identification of the Servant of Yahweh as Israel, there is also truth to the identification of the Servant of Yahweh as an individual within Israel in the straightforward understanding of the text.  Would it be possible for the nation of Israel, as a whole, to be the atoning sacrifice for the Gentile nations, as common non-Messianic Jews contend?  Is it really reasonable to interpret the passage this way, of the Gentiles claiming that Israel was bearing their sin via their sufferings, the sufferings imposed by the Gentiles themselves?

The main problem with this interpretation is that it requires Israel, the nation, to be that blameless and spotless sacrifice, like the lamb without blemish, that is not guilty of sin and can therefore take the place of the sinner.  But Israel is decidedly not that blameless sheep.  That is why the singular servant mentioned in 49:5,6 must restore the nation through wise teaching and sacrifice on her behalf, as well as on behalf of all the nations.

A further aid in identifying the Servant of Yahweh in 52:13-53:12 is the statement in 53:8 that the servant is stricken for the transgression of “my people.”  Jewish interpreters argue that in context the “my” must refer to the Gentile nations.  Israel is stricken by the Gentiles for the transgression of the Gentiles, that is, acts as a vicarious sacrifice for the Gentiles.

Israel is typically indicated by the phrase “my people” in Scripture, with some exceptions, and the one calling them that is Yahweh.  There are a couple of places in Exodus where Pharaoh calls the Egyptians “my people” (Exodus 9:27; 12:31).  But in Isaiah, unless this passage in Isaiah 53:8 is the exception, “my people” always refers to Israel as spoken to by Yahweh.

Is it arguable that in Isaiah 53:8, as in Exodus 9:27, that the Gentile kings can be speaking of their peoples as “my people”?  It is, of course, arguable, but not likely.  In the Servant of Yahweh passages particularly, it is always Yahweh who is addressing the servant, not the nations.  And again, this would require that Israel be regarded as the atoning sacrifice for the nations, something that cannot be unless Israel is sinless, which they are not.

Nevertheless, it is argued that a key phrase in Isaiah 53 is further evidence that “my people” refers to the Gentiles as spoken by the Gentile leaders.  The Hebrew preposition, min, it is argued, cannot mean “for the sake of” in verse 6, supporting the idea of vicarious sacrifice:

The verse does not say, “He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities,” which could convey the vicarious suffering ascribed to Jesus. Rather, the proper translation is: “He was wounded because of our transgressions, and crushed because of our iniquities.”  [http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/Isaiah_53_The_Suffering_Servant.html]

But the preposition, though it may not specifically describe vicarious sufferings “for” someone, does not prohibit that view, since suffering on account of or because of someone else’s sin could be done in a vicarious way, and that is exactly the way the Jewish sacrifices were conceived and the language that is clearly being used here:

…upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (v.6)

…the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (v.6)

…his soul makes an offering for guilt (v.10)

…he bore the sin of many (v.12)

Thus the remainder of the prophecy makes it clear what “on account of” or “because of” means.  It definitely means vicarious atonement in line with the common practice and belief behind the sacrifice of animals in Israel’s religious practice.

Besides this, how is it proper to see that somehow Israel has taken the judgment from Yahweh due the nations for their treatment of Israel, as the non-Messianic Jewish commentary suggests:

The nations realize that their lack of proper leadership (“shepherd”) caused them to treat the Jews with disdain. They further acknowledge how punishments that should have befallen the nations were averted through Israel’s suffering. [http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/Isaiah_53_The_Suffering_Servant.html]

All the evidence of Scripture is that the nations did in fact not see judgment averted from them by Israel’s suffering, but were indeed punished for their treatment of Israel (think Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and even Rome).  Much of Isaiah is a prediction of just how God does and will judge Israel’s enemies, not lay their guilt on Israel (Isaiah 13; 14; 21; 43; 47; 48).

So the evidence from the passage and the context of the Old Testament strongly suggests that the correct interpretation of this servant song in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is of that individual servant within Israel whom God particularly calls to bring Israel, and indeed all the nations, back to Himself through his instruction and through his sacrifice of himself as a blameless, vicarious atonement that satisfies the righteous requirements of God on behalf of sinners.

Philip had it right when he interpreted the passage this way for the Ethiopian eunuch.  And so do all subsequent Christian interpreters.