Israel
Citing a number of Biblical verses that refer to Israel as the "servant", many of them from the Book of Isaiah such as 49:3 He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will display My splendor." Jewish scholars, and several Christian scholarly books, like Revised Standard Version Oxford Study Edition Bible, The Revised Standard Version tell us that Isaiah 53 is about national Israel and the New English Bible echo this analysis. Judaism, teaches that the "servant" in question is actually the nation of Israel. These scholars also argue that verse 10 cannot be describing Jesus. The verse states:
- 10he shall see seed, he shall prolong days
Taken literally, this description, is inconsistent with the short, childless life of Jesus. But there is interpretive room to argue that a resurrected Jesus has prolonged his days indefinitely and that his "seed" are those who become Christians.
The reason that the Servant is referred to in the third person may be that these verses are written from the point of view of Gentile nations amazed at Israel's restoration, or it may simply be a method of figurative description. Supporters of this theory argue that the reason for the use of past tense is based on the differences between Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. Chapters 40-55 of Isaiah are referred to as "Deutero-Isaiah" because the themes and language are different from the rest of the book, leading some scholars to believe it was written by another author. Deutero-Isaiah differs from Proto-Isaiah in that it refers to Israel as already restored, which could account for the past-tense of the passage.
The Servant passages in Isaiah, and especially Isaiah 53, has to be compared with Psalm 44. Psalm 44 directly parallels the Servant Songs, it is probably the best defense for reading Isaiah 53 as applicable to the nation of Israel.
Read more about this topic: Isaiah 53
Famous quotes containing the word israel:
“We Americans are the peculiar, chosen peoplethe Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.”
—Herman Melville (18191891)
“...that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 2 Kings 5:8.
Elijah to the king of Israel who has received a letter from the king of Syria looking for someone to cure his commander of leprosy.
“Who is the LORD, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 5:2.
Pharaoh.