Comments on Isaiah 42 This chapter is a difficult one, and therefore interesting. Most commentators are in no rush to say the servant in v. 1-3 is Jesus Christ. Instead they hint at it and imply it and beat around the bush a lot. The reason for this is 41:8 where Israel is called a servant of the Lord. However, in my comments on the previous chapter I argued that 41:25 was a reference to Jesus Christ specifically. Here again, I will do the same. Now, obviously, the text is sufficiently ambiguous to allow for it to refer to types of Christ. Regardless, I will attempt to establish that the primary interpretation is this chapter is in reference to the person of the Lord. First, let us review the textual structure of the chapter. The first half of the chapter (v. 1-12) presents the Lord's servant who is doing beneficial things for Israel in order that the Lord may glorify His name. Then we have the second half of the chapter (v. 13-25) where the Lord is coming out to condemn and destroy rebellious Israel. Naturally, we begin comparing the two sets of complementary text and come up with the following: A - (v. 1-4) The anointed servant B - (v. 5) The Creator of life C - (v. 6-7) Spiritual deliverer D - (v. 8-9) The Lord is exalted above idols E - (v. 10-12) All nations rejoice A - (v. 13-14) The Lord B - (v. 15) The Destroyer of life C - (v. 16) Physical deliverer D - (v. 17) Idol worshipers shall be humiliated (v. 18-21 parenthesis on Israel) E - (v. 22-25) Israel despoiled The result is a very nice antithetical parallelism which contrasts the anointed servant with the angry Lord. And, the parallelism says that the anointed servant is the Creator, who is a spiritual deliverer, who is exalted above idols and brings salvation to all nations. Now, with qualifiers like that, only one person fits these requirements: Jesus Christ. This reading is supported by the 41:25 interpretation that the character there is also Jesus Christ. So, if the parallelism is robust, the servant in question must be Jesus Christ. Assuming this is the case, we now have two aspects of the same individual being referred to, first the spiritual/merciful aspect (v. 1-12), then the physical/judgmental aspect (v. 13-25). Both are the same character, but they identify different modes. Verses 1-12 would obviously be referring to the mortal aspect, namely Jesus Christ. Verses 13-25 would be referring the immortal Lord of Hosts both pre and post-mortal. As an aside to this chapter, review John 1:1-14 (this passage forms a fairly tight chiasm centered on v. 7) and note how many themes from Isaiah 40-47 appear in this section of text: the incarnation of the Word/Law, the Creatorship, the life and light of men and man's lack of comprehension of that light, the Servant who reveals (in this case both Jesus and John Baptist). v1-4 Verses 1-4 are quoted in Matt. 12:18-21 with some modifications. On these verses the Anchor Bible (AB) states: If the mission of the Servant in this poem is to be summed up in one word, the word would be prophecy. But the word is not used; and in fact the words "judgement" and "law" are associated with priestly revelation rather than with prophetic revelation. But it is never suggested that the Servant is a priest. It seems that we encounter the idea of covenant law, a tradition which went back to the premonarchic period of Israel. Just a Yahweh by the revelation of covenant law established the people of Israel and the Israelite way of life, so the Servant will make Yahweh known beyond Israel. In this poem the Servant, it is suggested, is rather another Moses than another prophet. Note the AB is hesitant to identify this Servant character as Jesus Christ, but they hint at it by identifying the character as an intercessory one, as a revelator of covenant law and as a "prophet like Moses" per Deut. 18:15. Also note that the concept of prophecy employed above by the AB is the concept of "inspired vicarious witness" and not "prediction of future events" as the prediction of future events is only incidental to true prophecy. The Westminster Bible (WB) states: The structure of this first song is very clear and concise. The keynote of it all is given in the first two words, 'Behold, my Servant', or 'This is my Servant'. These in themselves epitomize the event described throughout--God points to someone and designates him as his servant. The song is thus the designation of God's servant. The two clauses in v. 1 that follow the words have the same significance, and underline God's turning towards this servant. Then, [the remainder of the verse] come the way in which the chosen servant is equipped, and the task for whose sake this is done. The task is again stated in v. 3, the intervening lines giving the way in which he is to accomplish it. This is done in four negative clauses, which in fact say how he is not to accomplish it. He is not to perform it by making clamor when he appears (v.2) and by destroying what is what is already at the point of extinction (v. 3). Verse 4 adds a promise for the servant, again put in negative terms. He is not to burn dimly and be broken before he has accomplished his task. The song ends by saying that the 'isles' [JPS: coastlands] are awaiting him. Again they hesitate to identify Jesus. Also, consider this could be a definition rendered by Isaiah along the lines of 'My Servant is such that....' For closing comments on the section, the WB states: Finally, all that can here be said about 42:1-4 is that the echo of the royal designation, as well as the proclamation of justice and the sparing of those already under sentence of death, point in the direction of a mediator who discharges his office by way of action, like the judges (charismatic leaders) and kings in the past. On the other hand, the Servant's task as set forth in v. 2-4 points rather to one who mediates by word of mouth (this comes out clearly later, in 50:4). The suggestion is possibly that the two lines of mediation which had parted company during the course of Israel's history are reunited in the Servant. Perhaps this is also implied in the designation 'servant', for the Old Testament very often uses it of Moses, in whose person the two lines were still one. v1d "nations", the Hebrew term is "goyim" which can also be interpreted "gentiles". v2 Contrast this with v. 13c-14 where the Lord as a fighter is yelling at the top of His lungs in fury. Also consider that Jesus did little to curry public favor as a leader of the people during his mortal ministry, rather he deliberately avoided it, cf. John 6. v3 The AB renders this verse: The crushed reed he will not break, and the fading wick he will not extinguish; Faithfully he will pronounce judgment. And comments: "Judgement" is a word too broad for translation by a single English word.... Judgement also means a law, or the right way of doing things; it is related to "instruction" [see comment on v4c below], by which we have translated "torah", conventionally rendered by "law". But "law" is not the original meaning of the word. "Judgement" and "law" together convey the idea of revelation, the revelation which in Israel's history is initiated in the patriarchal period and takes form in the covenant of Sinai. The Servant is the mediator of the revelation of Yahweh, and this is his mission. Verses 2- 3 suggest the manner in which the mission is to be fulfilled. Note the JPS renders the term "true way" rather than "judgement", to capture the broader meaning of the word. The WB comments on the term as it appears in v. 1d, 3c, 4b [the JPS:true way, the AB:judgement, the WB:justice, and the NAS:justice] as follows: These few words [i.e. v. 1d, 3c, 4b] give three descriptions of the Servant's task. All three lines contain the word "mispat". In two of them, too, the same verb is also used--the Servant is to 'bring forth' mispat. Thus 'establish' in v. 4b is also to be taken in the same sense: making mispat prevail abroad 'in the earth'. This is itself an important clue for the meaning of mispat. It must eventually have reference to the Gentiles. Taking 49:6, 'I will give you as a light to the Gentiles', into consideration as well, this is certain. v3b "dim wick", 43:17c-d says "They lay down to rise no more./They were extinguished, quenched like a wick". Thus, snuffing out a dim wick is a reference to physical death, cp. Luke 9:54-56.g v4a-b The WB says "the lines allude to the verbs in 3a and promise the Servant himself that he will not burn dim or be broken before he has completed his task. This is the only place in the song which suggests that the Servant's task is to involve him in grievous suffering--this is to be taken up in other songs. Thus, here alone is there any hint of that aspect of his work which is reminiscent of the call of a prophet (Jer. 1:19)." v4c "teaching", the AB renders this word "instruction". The AB states, "The Hebrew is 'torah', traditionally priestly instruction in the cult. Here the meaning seems to be wider, almost equivalent to 'revelation'." The JPS consistently translates torah to "teaching" in this chapter, cf. v. 21b, v. 24e. On "coastlands", cp. 41:1, 51:5, and note in 11:11 it says it is where the remnant of His people are. v5 "heaven and ... earth", references to the heavens and earth are common to the ch. 40-47 block as well as the immediately following chapters, cp. 40:22, 42:5, 44:23, 45:8 and 12 and 18, 48:13, 48:13, 51:6. In some cases the Creatorship of the Lord is invoked, and in others the Sinaitic covenant is invoked. Also cp. 1:2 where the Sinaitic covenant is invoked, cf. Deut. 4:26 and Deut. 30:19. v6b "grasped you by the hand", is similar to 41:13 and invokes images of the temple as well as the condescension of the Lord and the potential for the exaltation of man. v6c-d The AB translates these two lines as follows and states: I have formed you; I have made you a covenant for a people and a light of nations Just as "covenant of eternity" mean "eternal covenant", so "covenant of people" means "people-covenant", a covenant large enough to encompass peoples. In spite of the singular, "People" does not refer [exclusively] to the people of Israel. The second line exhibits an unusual type of poetic structure, retained in the translation; the two verbs are balanced against the two objects. We should expect "I have formed you a covenant for a people, I have made you a light of nations".... These phrases really indicate more than a "mission", but it is hard to define them more closely. The Servant is called a covenant; the force of the figure means that the Servant mediates between Yahweh and peoples, that the Servant becomes a bond of union. That he is also a "light" does not refer to his revealing mission; the light is explained in the following verse as the light of joy and deliverance. The blindness and captivity, in view of the general context, must be taken as figurative rather than literal; it is the blindness and captivity of ignorance of Yahweh and service of false gods.... The Servant plays a new role as the agent of Yahweh's salvation. The WB translates the lines as follows and states: I form and make of you the covenant of the people, the light of the heathen, Its first clause constitutes an equation with two unknown quantities: we do not know what is meant by "berit 'am", 'covenant of the people', and the expression, 'give as a berit', occurs nowhere else.... One thing is certain: the words, 'I make you as', mean that the person addressed is destined to become a tool or means whereby God effects something on others. This is shown by the second part of the verse. 'I make you the light to the nations', which means 'through you the nations are to experience light, illumination and salvation'. Then, taking the two phrases as parallel, berit 'am supposedly means, 'I make you the covenant-salvation (that is, the salvation given in the covenant) for all mankind'. Note the AB and WB both differ from the JPS (check the JPS footnotes though before you accuse them of being self-serving): I created you, and appointed you A covenant people, a light of nations. The JPS rendering favors the Servant=Israel reading by making the target of this statement the plural "people". On the "light of nations", compare 10:17 where the "Light of Israel" is in parallel with the "Holy One", thus lending further credence to the "light of nations" being Jesus Christ rather than Israel. However, 49:6 does identify Israel as being a light to the nations. But, 51:4 states that the Lord's precepts that are the light to the nations. So, one could conclude the light Israel will show forth is the Lord's precepts. Overall, the 10:17 cross ref. is not conclusive, it just helps bolster my interpretation. v7 Joseph Smith stated of this verse in reference to 1 Pet. 3:18- 19, "It is very evident from this that He not only went to preach to them, but to deliver, or bring them out of them prison house" (TPJS, p. 219). v8 brings up the subject of the 40:12-31 dispute where the Lord accuses Israel of idolatry. It also brings up the subject of chapter 41 where there is a formal legal hearing between the Lord and the heathens and their idols. So, the Lord is saying, "Look, I simply refuse to share credit for My works with dead idols". v9 Similar to v. 8, it brings up the issues of the Lord's exalted position in contrast to that of idols as addressed in 41:26 and 48:6-8. v10-12 The Interpreter's Bible (IB) says "all of creation praises the Lord from the grand in v. 10 to the remote in v. 11. They hail His return as a warrior in v. 13". This interpretation presents some interesting ideas. If v. 1-12 represents the Lord's mortal ministry as Jesus Christ, and we know that Israel/Judah by and large rejected Him and the gospel went to the nations, then this reading would indicate not only a parallel but a chronology. As Jesus came first in humility, he will come the second time in wrath and anger on the Day of the Lord. Now, this seems to make good sense, but I have difficulty with it. As the Day of the Lord will be a day of terror and misery, I can hardly see Isaiah framing it as a day when the nations of the earth will be singing and rejoicing. Rather, I would avoid interpreting the two parallel accounts as chronological and say that v. 10-12 is in response to v. 6 and not v. 13. For similar passages to this one cp. Psalms 96 and 98. v10 "new song", this new song is the song of salvation sung by the redeemed, cp. 12:1-6, 30:29, 54:1, Rev. 14:1-3, D&C 84:98-102, D&C 133:56-57. v11 "Kedar" and "Sela". Kedar is a nomadic Arabian tribe which is the leading descendant from Ishmael (21:16-17, 60:7, Jer. 69:28). Sela is an Edomite town (2 Kings 14:7) possibly the same as the town later called Petra. That these two towns are identified by Isaiah indicates that salvation has gone to every nation, even the non-Israelites as Ishmael is the rejected son of Abraham and Edomites are heathens elsewhere condemned (cf. ch. 34) v12 That these Gentile neighbors of Israel are singing the praises of the Lord rather than Israel is definitely pejorative. Israel is the one that should be doing this, instead they are worshipping idols. v13 The Lord as a warrior is a common OT symbol, cp. Deut. 10:17, Exod. 15:3, Zeph. 3:17, Ps. 24:8, Ps. 78:65. Frequently throughout Israel's struggles the Lord makes it very plain indeed that it is He who wins the battles and fights for Israel, consider the numerous accounts of divinely won conquest in the book of Joshua as well as the events surrounding Gideon in Judges. v14-17 The WB points out that v. 14-17 contrast well against a section from the previous chapter: Chapter 42 41 ------- -- -- Allusion to the lament 14a-b 17a-c The change in God's attitude 14b-c 17d-e God's intervention 15-16 18-19 Its consequence 17 20 "In 41:18 God's intervention consists in the turning of the desert into fertile country, in 4215 it is the very reverse: good land is turned into desert. Now, a glance at Ps. 102:33-37, shows that these are the two sides of the selfsame divine act, his intervention that effects change, corresponding to the humbling and exaltation of human beings (Ps. 107:40)." Also confer the similar complementary theme in chapters 34 and 35. v14b-c On the imagery of the woman at birth the AB says, "the impatience of Yahweh, as seen from the Israelite point of view, is due to the length of time it has taken to deliver Israel". A very clever interpretation. I don't know if that was what Isaiah intended, but I like it anyway. Given the number of wife/birth/ labor images in Isaiah its not unlikely. I suspect that Isaiah's primary intent was simply to contrast the servant's meekness in v. 2 with a loud, angry, emotional confrontation with the Lord that occurs here. Also, compare this verse with the captivity and subsequent delivery of Israel characterized in Micah 4:9-10 as a woman in travil at birth. v15 invokes the imagery of the blazing hot wind that desiccates and impoverishes the lands of the rebellious, cp. 27:8, 40:7. A common judgement theme and covenant malediction. v16 is a very forceful statement where the Lord indicates that He will keep the Abrahamic covenant just as He has promised. The result is that He will have to lead the blind (i.e. Israel), and make them walk in paths they never have known (i.e. righteousness) in order to gather them to Abraham's promised inheritance. Obviously, the Lord will not preclude free agency, He will afflict them so grievously they have to return to Him or be destroyed (i.e. the subject of v. 13-15 and 17a-b, cp. 33:10-15). The "rough places into level ground" establishes that this in reference to the gathering of natural Israel via cross reference with 11:15-16, 19:23-25, 27:12-13, 40:1-4. v17 Those who worship idols will be humiliated by the Lord in His day of anger, especially those among Israel. v18-21 is a parenthesis on Israel as to why it isn't the servant referred to in v. 1-4. Its subject is derived from the verse that immediately precedes it (v. 17). Israel is spiritually blind because they deliberately choose to rebel against the Lord in doing what He requires of them (v. 6-7 is the ideal mission of Israel where they follow the Lord's council, cf. 43:10, Num. 11:29) in favor of their idols. The result is that Israel is not the servant the Lord wants it to be, and they are punished as a result (the subject of the immediately following verses, i.e. v. 22-25). On this passage the AB states: Isaiah again uses words that were used in a somewhat different sense in a preceding context: "blind" and "deaf" mean those oppressed and desperate in 35:5, 42:7 and 16. Here it is clear that blindness and deafness mean lack of insight into the meaning of history as interpreted by prophecy. Israel is one sent, a messenger, like the Servant of 42:1-9; but how is Israel to declare that which it does not perceive or understand? It was the intention of Yahweh to make his teaching "great and glorious"; his revelation of himself was to be universally manifest and convincing. This purpose has not been achieved, because those who were to announce it are hiding or imprisoned. Also cp. 40:27, 43:22-28 and 44:18 for refs. to blindness. v18 Based on the statement in v. 17, Isaiah is probably playing on the indictment of astrology from 40:26 and the Deut. 4:19 prohibition of such idolatry. Note the "look up" theme common to all of them. v19-22 The IV/JST versus KJV on this passage is as follows, with structure added by myself: IV/JST KJV ------ --- For I will send my servant Who is blind, but my servant? unto you who are blind; or deaf, yea, a messenger to open as my messenger that I sent? the eyes of the blind, and who is blind as unstop the ears of the deaf; And they shall be made perfect he that is perfect and notwithstanding their blindness, blind as the Lord's servant? if they will hearken unto the messenger, the Lord's servant. Thou are a people, seeing many things, Seeing many things, but thou observest not; but thou observest not; opening the ears to hear, opening the ears, but thou hearest not. but he heareth not. The Lord is not well pleased The Lord is well pleased with such a people, but for his righteouness' sake for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and he will magnify the law, and make it honorable. make it honorable. Thou art a people But this is a people robbed and spoiled; robbed and spoiled; thine enemies, all of them, they are all of them have snared thee in holes, and snared in holes, and they have hid thee they are hid in prison houses; in prison houses: they have taken thee they are for a prey, and for a prey, and none delivereth; none delivereth; for a spoil, and for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. none saith, Restore. The IV/JST is significantly different from the KJV and definitely hostile to the servant from v. 1-4 being Israel. Most notably it indicates it is not the servant that is blind or deaf, but the servant's intended audience. It also leaves the identity of the servant ambiguous enough to have it apply to others besides Jesus Christ who are types of him. v21 is a problematic verse that most commentators consider a gloss. Note the IV/JST emends it to a faithful OT reading of the Lord preserving the dignity of His Name. v22-25 As a result of their rebellion, the Lord gives Israel over to her enemies, per the Lev. 26 and Deut. 28 covenant curses. v22a "plundered and despoiled", cp. the 8:1 reference to "Maher- shalal-hash-baz". v22d-e Compare 3:6-7 where no deliverer is to be found in Israel.