Isaiah 53

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Found this on the www site of Jews for Judaism.  Interesting?
Perhaps more like "blinded in part".

Mike Endsley
mikepp@pop.corcom.com

ISAIAH 53

At JEWS FOR JUDAISM, we frequently encounter questions from Jews who
are involved in or considering Christianity.  Among the questions, one
chapter of our Jewish Scriptures keeps coming up: Isaiah 53.  Wasn't
the Prophet, in fact, referring to Jesus in this chapter?  And didn't
all Jews before the Middle Ages recognize this chapter as "messianic"?
We  hope to assist you in interpreting a chapter which has become a
cornerstone of Christian evangelism to Jews.

	Our Jewish sages teach that "whoever saves a single Jewish soul is
considered as if he had saved an entire world."  How precious is the
Jewish soul!  Though the Bible study which follows is a lengthy one,
we have prepared it in the belief that - as a Jewish soul - you are
worthy of any method which may be required.  We hope that you too will
value your soul highly enough to prayerfully ponder that which
follows.  G-D's truth is not always easy to discern, but we are
possessors of a Divine promise; "you will find Him if you search after
Him with all your heart and all your soul" (Deut. 4:29).  As faithful
Jews have attested for over 3500 years, it's worth the effort.  And
now - on with the search!

A.  PRELIMINARY ISSUES
Before engaging in an examination of Isaiah 53 itself, some
preliminary issues must be considered.  First is the issue of circular
reasoning.  Even if we interpret the chapter as the Christians do
(forgetting for a minute the mistranslations and distortions of
context which will be noted below), the most that could be said is
this: Isaiah 53 is about someone who dies for the sins of others.
People may have seen Jesus die, but did anyone see him die as an
atonement for the sins of others?  Of course not; this is simply the
meaning which the New Testament gives to his death.  Only if you
already accept the New Testament teaching that his death had a
non-visible, spiritual significance can you than go back to Isaiah and
say, "see - the Prophet predicted what I already believe."  Isaiah 53,
then, is in reality no "proof" at all, but rather a contrived
confirmation for someone who has already chosen Christianity.

Second (and consistent with all Jewish teaching at the time), Jesus'
own disciples didn't view Isaiah 53 as a messianic prophecy.  For
example, after Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16), he
is informed that Jesus will be killed (Matt. 16:21).  His response:
"G-D forbid it, lord!  This shall never happen to you" (Matt. 16:22).
See, also, Mk. 9:31-32; Mk. 16:10-11; Jn. 20:9.  Even Jesus didn't see
Isaiah 53 as crucial to his messianic claims - why else did he call
the Jews children of the devil for not believing in him before the
alleged resurrection (Jn. 8:39-47)?  And why did he later request that
G-D "remove this cup from me" (Mk. 14:36) - didn't he know that a
"removal of the cup" would violate the gentile understanding of Isaiah
53?

And third, even if we accept the gentile Christian interpretation of
Isaiah 53, where is it indicated (either in Isaiah 53 or anywhere else
in our Jewish Scriptures) that you must believe in this "Messiah" to
get the benefits?

B.  CONTEXT
Since any portion of Scripture is only understood properly when viewed
in the context of G-D's revelation as a whole, some additional study
will be helpful before you "tackle" Isaiah 53.

Look at the setting in which Isaiah 53 occurs.  Earlier on in Isaiah,
G-D had predicted exile and calamity for the Jewish people.  Chapter
53, however, occurs in the midst of Isaiah's "Messages of
Consolation", which tell of the restoration of Israel to a position of
prominence and a vindication of their status as G-D's chosen people.
In chapter 52, for example, Israel is described as "oppressed without
cause" (v.4) and "taken away" (v.5), yet G-D promises a brighter
future ahead, one in which Israel will again prosper and be redeemed
in the sight of all the nations (v.1-3, 8-12).

Chapter 54 further elaborates upon the redemption which awaits the
nation of Israel.  Following immediately after chapter 53's promise of
a reward for G-D's servant in return for all of its suffering
(53:10-12), chapter 54 describes an unequivocally joyous fate for the
Jewish people.  Speaking clearly of the Jewish people and their
exalted status (even according to all Christian commentaries), chapter
54 ends as follows:  "`This is the heritage of the servants of the
L-rd and their vindication is from Me,' declares the L-rd."

C.  ISAIAH 53

In the original Hebrew texts, there are no chapter divisions, and Jew
and Christian alike agree that chapter 53 is actually a continuation
of the prophecy which begins at 52:13.  Accordingly, our analysis must
begin at that verse.



     52:13     "Behold, My servant will prosper."  Israel in the
singular is called G-D's servant throughout Isaiah, both explicitly
(Isa. 41:8-9; 44:1-2; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3) and implicitly (Isa.
42:19-20; 43:10) - the Messiah is not.  Other references to Israel as
G-D's servant include Jer. 30:10 (note that in Jer. 30:17, the servant
Israel is regarded by the nations as an outcast, forsaken by G-D, as
in Isa. 53:4); Jer. 46:27-28; Ps. 136:22; Lk. 1:54.  ALSO:  Given the
Christian view that Jesus is G-D, is G-D His own servant?

     52:15 - 53:1     "So shall he (the servant) startle many nations,
the kings will stand speechless; For that which had not been told them
they shall see and that which they had not heard shall they ponder.
Who would believe what we have heard?"  Quite clearly, the nations and
their kings will be amazed at what happens to the "servant of the
L-rd," and they will say "who would believe what we have heard?".
52:15 tells us explicitly that it is the nations of the world, the
gentiles, who are doing the talking in Isaiah 53.  See, also, Micah
7:12-17, which speaks of the nations' astonishment when the Jewish
people again blossom in the Messianic age.

    53:1     "And to whom has the arm of the L-rd been revealed?"  In
Isaiah, and throughout our Scriptures, G-D's "arm" refers to the
physical redemption of the Jewish people from the oppression of other
nations (see, e.g., Isa. 52:8-12; Isa. 63:12; Deut. 4:34; Deut. 7:19;
Ps. 44:3).

    53:3     "Despised and rejected of men."  While this is clearly
applicable to Israel (see Isa. 60:15; Ps. 44:13-14), it cannot be
reconciled with the New Testament account of Jesus, a man who was
supposedly "praised by all" (Lk. 4:14-15) and followed by multitudes
(Matt. 4:25), who would later acclaim him as a prophet upon his
triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9-11).  Even as he was taken
to be crucified, a multitude bemoaned his fate (Lk. 23:27).  Jesus had
to be taken by stealth, as the rulers feared "a riot of the people"
(Mk. 14:1-2).

     53:3     "A man of pains and acquainted with disease."  Israel's
adversities are frequently likened to sickness - see, e.g., Isa.
1:5-6; Jer. 10:19; Jer 30:12.

    53:4     "Surely our diseases he carried and our pains he bore."
In Matt. 8:17, this is correctly translated, and said to be literally
(not spiritually) fulfilled in Jesus' healing of the sick, a reading
inconsistent with the Christian mistranslation of 53:4 itself.

     53:4     "Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of G- D
and afflicted."  See Jer. 30:17 - of G-D's servant Israel (30:10), it
is said by the nations, "It is Zion; no one cares for her."

     53:5     "But he was wounded from (NOTE: not for) our
transgressions, he was crushed from (AGAIN: not for) our iniquities."
Whereas the nations had thought the Servant (Israel) was undergoing
Divine retribution for its sins (53:4), they now realize that the
Servant's sufferings stemmed from their actions and sinfulness.  This
theme is further developed throughout our Jewish Scriptures - see,
e.g., Jer. 50:7; Jer. 10:25.  ALSO:  Note that the Messiah "shall not
fail nor be crushed till he has set the right in the earth" (Isa.
42:4).

    53:7     "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not
open his mouth.  Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a
sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his
mouth."  Note that in the prior chapter (Isa. 52), Israel is said to
have been oppressed and taken away without cause (52:4-5).  A similar
theme is developed in Psalm 44, wherein King David speaks of Israel's
faithfulness even in the face of gentile oppression (44:17- 18) and
describes Israel as "sheep to be slaughtered" in the midst of the
unfaithful gentile nations (44:22,11).

     Regarding the claim that Jesus "did not open his mouth"  when
faced with oppression and affliction, see Matt. 27:46, Jn. 18:23,
36-37.

    53:8     "From dominion and judgement he was taken away."  Note
the correct translation of the Hebrew.  The Christians are forced to
mistranslate, since - by Jesus' own testimony - he never had any
rights to rulership or judgement, at least not on the "first coming."
See, e.g., Jn. 3:17; Jn. 8:15; Jn. 12:47; Jn. 18:36.

    53:8     "He was cut off out of the land of the living."

    53:9     "His grave was assigned with wicked men."  See Ez.
37:11-14, wherein Israelis described as "cut off" and G-D promises to
open its "graves" and bring Israel back into its own land.  Other
examples of figurative deaths include Ex. 10:17; 2 Sam. 9:8; 2 Sam.
16:9.

    53:8     "From my peoples' sins, there was injury to them."  Here
the Prophet makes absolutely clear, to anyone familiar with Biblical
Hebrew, that the oppressed Servant is a collective Servant, not a
single individual.  The Hebrew word "lamoh", when used in our
Scriptures, always means "to them" never "to him" and may be found,
for example, in Psalm 99:7 - "They kept his testimonies, and the
statute that He gave to them."

    53:9     "And with the rich in his deaths."  Perhaps King James
should have changed the original Hebrew, which again makes clear that
we are dealing with a collective Servant, i.e., Israel, which will
"come to life" when the exile ends (Ez. 37:14).

     53:9     "He had done no violence."  See Matt. 21:12; Mk.
11:15-16; Lk. 19:45; Lk. 19:27; Matt. 10:34 and Lk. 12:51; then judge
for yourself whether this passage is truly consistent with the New
Testament account of Jesus.

     53:10     "He shall see his seed."  The Hebrew word for "seed",
used in this verse, always refers to physical descendants in our
Jewish Scriptures.  See, e.g., Gen. 12:7; Gen. 15:13; Gen. 46:6; Ex.
28:43.  A different word, generally translated as "sons", is used to
refer to spiritual descendants (see Deut. 14:1, e.g.).

    53:10     "He will prolong his days."  Not only did Jesus die
young, but how could the days be prolonged of someone who is alleged
to be G-D?

    53:11     "With his knowledge the righteous one, my Servant, will
cause many to be just."  Note again the correct translation:  the
Servant will cause many to be just, he will not "justify the many."
The Jewish mission is to serve as a "light to the nations" which will
ultimately lead the world to a knowledge of the one true G-D, this
both by example (Deut. 4:5-8; Zech. 8:23) and by instructing the
nations in G-D's Law (Isa. 2:3-4; Micah 4:2-3).

     53:12     "Therefore, I will divide a portion to him with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty."  If Jesus  G-D,
does the idea of reward have any meaning?  Is it not rather the Jewish
people - who righteously bore the sins of the world and yet remained
faithful to G-D (Ps. 44) - who will be rewarded, and this in the
manner described more fully in Isaiah chapters 52 and 54?

mikepp@pop.corcom.com