Comments on Isaiah 53 Note: this chapter appears in Mosiah 14. Using the theme from the preceding 49-52 block, which built on the theme from ch. 40-48, Isaiah now summarizes and terminates the line of thought and symbolism of the intercessory servant with a block of four chapters which forcefully present the Lord as the epitome of Israel's savior and what He will do to redeem Israel. The four chapter block is presented in an alternating A-B-C fashion based upon general subject: A - (53:1-12) The condescending intercessory servant (Grace, Mercy) B - (54:1-13) Redeemed Israel, bride of the Lord (Natural Israel) C - (54:14-17) Fight against Zion and fail (Enemies outside) A - (55:1-13) The exalted saving Lord (Justice) B - (56:1-8) All righteous brought to His House (All nations) C - (56:9-12) Wicked among Israel consumed (Enemies within) The parallelism informs us of the unity of the Lord's experience and mission as well as planning. He is both the lowly suffering servant and the exalted powerful Lord. He saves both Israel and the Gentiles who worship Him, and he destroys His enemies both inside and outside of Zion. The textual structure of this chapter is a chiasm starting with the last three verses from the preceding chapter. The structure is robust enough to be spotted and commented on by the author of the Westminster Bible (WB) commentary, who normally does not give much regard to rhetorical structures. A - (v. 53:13-15) Lord speaks of exalting His servant because of his actions B - (v. 1) Who can believe the arm of the Lord is revealed? C - (v. 2-3) Servant was not appealing to man and is rejected D - (v. 4-5) We thought he was cursed, he took upon himself our sins E - (v. 6a-b) We have gone astray like sheep do F - (v. 6c) And the Lord visited upon him, F - (v. 6d) the iniquity of us all E - (v. 7) Servant is meek and submissive as sheep are D - (v. 8) Servant is judged and killed, by the sins of His people C - (v. 9) Servant is counted among wicked though he was not wicked B - (v. 10-11b) Lord chose him that His purposes are achieved A - (v. 11c-12) Lord speaks of exalting His servant because of his actions There are a numerous references into the NT which Christians use as proof texts that Jesus was the servant. I will not make any attempt to list them as they are well known and well documented. The only cross references I will note are those which quote or paraphrase Isaiah with additional material which presents some new information on the text. Abinadi also quotes and interprets this chapter at length in Mosiah 15. I will reference his statements to a degree, but no attempt will be made to systematically address his comment. For this chapter, compare my notes on 26:15-19 where the subject at hand is addressed. v52:13-15 The Lord is speaking and He proclaims the servant's success which results in his subsequent exaltation. These three verses are quoted in 3 Ne. 20:43-45 in what I consider to be a reference to the Second Advent of the Lord as a result of these preceding text of that chapter. Verse 14 is then paraphrased in 3 Ne. 21:10 in such a fashion as to imply eschatological servants such as Joseph Smith and so on. Thus, I would see these usages as being generally applied to the Lord's prophetic servants (i.e. types of Christ) and their vindication being concurrent with the Second Advent. v52:13 "My servant", cp. 42:1-4, ct. 44:2 and 54:17. v52:14-15 The two verses contrast each other to some degree. Verse 14 states the people will be appalled at the servant's humiliation, but v. 15 states these same people will be astounded at him to an equal degree when they see his exaltation. v52:14 appears in 3 Ne. 20:44 as a verbatim quote of the KJV. Paraphrases of this verse with additional material appear in 3 Ne. 21:10 and D&C 10:43. The D&C usage tends to favor a figurative interpretation on the servant's "visage" where it represents the servant's actions and works rather than his literal face or body. v52:14a "appalled", to determine the context of the level of emotion implied we can cross reference the verb employed here with the one employed in 1 Kings 9:8. v52:14b-c In v. 14a we here the people are appalled at the servant, here we are told why. The servant has been marred beyond human semblance, experienced suffering so grievous it is "unlike that of man". Compare Mosiah 3:7. v52:15 The nations, not just Israel, are impacted by the actions committed by the servant. Compare 49:7 (and 1 Ne. 19:14) where a similar statement about the rulers of nations is made and the character in question is the Lord. This verse appears in 3 Ne. 20:45 as a verbatim quote of the KJV, and paraphrased with some additional material in 3 Ne. 21:8-9 and D&C 101:93-95. Paul also quotes a portion of v. 15 in Romans 15:21 as referring to his ministry of preaching the gospel to the gentiles. The meaning of teh verse is that the powerful ones and the rulers of the world will be made powerless when the Lord's servant is vindicated. v52:15a "startle", the Hebrew term here is "yazzeh" and is traditionally interpreted "to leap", but the exact meaning is not know. The KJV is "sprinkle" and the JST renders it "gather". v52:15b-c "not been told them...never had heard", the incident here is unique to the point that not even the kings of the earth have heard of it. This is an event that has never occurred previously, is unique and dumbfounding in its import when confronted by the truth. Given the chiastic counter of v. 11c-12 cross referenced with 45:22-25 we would place this event at the Judgement when the Lord confronts all peoples and in the resurrection they perceive that which was previously held from their view by the veil (i.e. the Lord in His exalted condition). That the kings and nations had never seen or heard these things could be read as a jab at Israel. In 42:6-7 Israel is commissioned to be a light to the nations and to set free those sitting in darkness. But, later in that chapter (42:18-20) we are informed that Israel is in fact deliberately blind and deaf (a theme which dovetails with v. 1-6). Thus, Israel is not doing what the Lord asked of them and the Gentiles and kings of the Gentiles remain in ignorance. v1-6 Here it would appear the servant's nation is speaking in something of a confessional. They admit they were wrong in their judgements of the servant and were rebellious against the Lord's will. But, in the end (v. 4-6) they confess that the servant's actions were performed for them and were genuine. The last verses seem to indicate they have changed their mind on the issue of the role of the servant. As to whether Isaiah is intending to present v. 4-6 as a confession of the damned at the Judgement, or as a confession of eschatological Israel who has been redeemed by the Lord and therefore accepting of Him is unclear. It seems more likely to me that this is a confession at the Judgement Bar. We would assume the people here are Israel as those whom the Lord's mortal ministry was aimed at was specifically natural Israel, cf. Matt. 15:24. The chiasm would also present the people speaking here are those same ones who persecute and put to death the servant. In a more general sense we would obviously assume that it ultimately applies to all people as all will hear the gospel whether in life or in death. v1 Unlike the kings and nations which have not seen or heard the startling things, this group has heard it and it was revealed to them. This is obviously referring to Israel, the Lord's people whom He has revealed Himself to. v1b "the arm of the Lord", previously mentioned in 51:9 and 52:10 as the agent of salvation. See also John 12:37-38 for Jesus' mortal ministry being a fulfillment of this and 1 Ne. 22:10-11 and D&C 45:47 for the Second Advent of Christ being a fulfillment. v2 Compare 49:7 for a similar statement on the rejection of the servant (who I argue if the incarnate Lord) by his nation. v2a-b The image of a dry plant growing in a desert is employed to comment further on the subject of v. 2c-3. Desert plants are scrubby, scraggly and typically not verdant. The more figurative interpretation would be that the servant grows up in a spiritual desert as he is generally among those who reject him and his message, cp. Amos 8:11-13. Note that the plant grows despite the ground being dry, indicating a "water" source other than the parched earth. The tree grows by the Lord's favor, and not by physical sustinence. Also note the imagery of the sprout growing up and later in v. 7- 10 we hear of the servant's death. Thus, we have here the mission of the servant spanning his entire lifetime from start to finish. This would make the servant unique as all of the previous intercessory servants and prophets and so forth served only a portion of their lives where this servant's whole life is committed to the completion of the assigned task. v2c-d That the servant has no outward form or beauty that the people speaking in v. 1-6 find attractive is probably playing on the history of Absalom son of David who was popular among Israel because if his considerable physical beauty and considerable charisma, cf. 2 Sam. 14:24-25, 2 Sam. 15:1-6. v3b-c The text indicates the servant is a man of suffering familiar with diseases such as leprosy. It does not say that he was diseased and had leprosy. The servant need have only been familiar with the plight of the leper and the diseased. Compare Ps. 22, a classic messianic psalm. v3c The JPS rendering states it is the servant is as one who hides his face as a leper (see JPS footnote), but some translators render the phrase to mean the people speaking in v. 1-6 are hiding their faces from the servant. In the latter case, the concept would be the semitic custom of not showing your face (i.e. turning away from) to those whom you despise or reject. v4 Matthew quotes the first part of this verse in Matt. 8:16-17. Peter may have been paraphrasing this same part in 1 Peter 2:24. v4c-d This statement is derivative of the story of Job where the innocent man is afflicted and his friends consider him cursed by God. In that case, and in this one too, the observing audience is incorrect in their assumptions as we are informed as in the book of Job. Thus, this passage indicates the group speaking in v. 1-6 is not apprised of the Scriptures and is instead following non-scriptural tradition that is self-serving. v5-6 present a blatant reference to the intercessory act of vicarious atonement. Here we have a righteous one, who delivers salvation to those who cannot save themselves. This passage also implies the general purpose of the elect as being a mission of help to those who cannot help themselves. Compare 43:22-28 and 46:3-4. The image of the Lord's prophet is a common one to the OT given the characters of Moses who pleaded on Israel's behalf many times, and Abraham's intercession for the possible righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. However, none of these preceding intercessors actually participated in a vicarious expiation of sins. They were afflicted by the wicked and suffered as a result of them, but none of them fulfilled the measure of expiation of sins presented here in this passage. Thus, we have a unique intercessory act. These verses paraphrased in Romans 4:25 and 1 Peter 2:24-25. v6a-b The image here of scattering sheep, each going into his own way is intended to show how foolish the people were in rejecting the servant. It is important to note that this is a confession on the part of the speakers as framed by Isaiah. That each went their own way is a theme very much derivative of the events that preceded the entrance to the promised land such as the wandering in the wilderness and the events that caused it, cf. Deut. 12:8. This wandering about and failing to heed the Lord was specifically prohibited by Moses immediately before Israel entered the promised land. The command to not wander about took the form of eliminating all foreign nations and their idolatry from the land so as to not pollute Israel. Thus, their confession is they have not kept the Law of Moses and have rejected the Law in rejecting the servant. As Jesus was the incarnation of the Law (cf. John 1:1-3, 3 Ne. 15:9), the rejection of Jesus would be the ultimate rejection of the Law. The image of sheep gone astray is used in Jesus' NT parables, cf. Matt. 10:6 and 18:12. Israel is also presented as wandering sheep in Ezek. 34:6. v6c-d forms the center of the chiasm and leaves no doubt that the subject here is the vicarious expiation of sins. Especially note the singular "him" and the very inclusive "guilt of all of us". Attempting to interpret this statement as referring to anyone besides Jesus Christ is made most difficult by this as no other single intercessor has suffered for "all of us". Also, compare my comments on 43:24c-25 where it is stated that the Lord is forced into the position of 'ebed, or servant, because of Israel's sins and He must expiate them Himself in order to vindicate His name. v7-10 present a series of statements that show the servant's various sufferings result in his physical death: "led to the slaughter", "cut off from the land of the living", "grave was set among the wicked", "crush him", "an offering for guilt". v7 The sheep symbol is maintained from the preceding verse, but the theme is altered. Rather than a group of shepherdless wandering sheep, we have here a single docile sheep that submits meekly to the "sheering" it is about to get. In contrast to the sheep of the previous verse who are wandering away from where they should be, this sheep is led to the slaughter. This last bit of symbolism connects with that of the v. 10a reference to the guilt offering. For similar statements compare Jer. 11:19 and Ps. 38:14. v7a "He was maltreated", The WB states the Hebrew "nagas" employed here implies the use of physical violence and cites 58:3 and Exod. 3:7 as proof text. v7b, e "He did not open his mouth", more than a statement to be taken literally, it is to be taken to indicate the meek and submissive nature of the servant and his reconciliation with the task to be performed (hence the combination with the sheep symbol). The servant is not returning railing for railing as his oppressors unfairly judge him and neither does he curse those who reject or go into his suffering unwillingly kicking and screaming. v8a "oppressive", the AB renders this term "perverted". In either case, the judgement rendered on the servant is presented as being unfair. v8b Note the JPS footnote which indicates the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain on this line. The AB renders it, "who was concerned with his case" then states, "conjectural emendation reading 'debaro' for Hebrew 'doro'. Neither the text nor the emendation is free from difficulty; but it is easier to understand 'dabar' as 'case' than 'dor' as 'fate', particularly since 'judgement' occurs in the first part of the line." The "case" being referred here may be that referenced in 57:1. Instead of "case", the WB offers "stock" as in offspring, per v. 10. v8c "cut off", cp. Lam. 3:54. v8d The AB states, "[the Masorah reads] 'For the rebellion of my people there was a stroke upon him'." The 1QIsa reads "his people" for "my people". If the 1QIsa is the most accurate reading, it strongly favors the servant as being the condescending Lord as it would say the servant was struck for the rebellion of his own people. Note the irony implicit in the word play. The servant was killed as a result of people's sinning, and he was killed for the people's sins. v9a, 10c Here the servant is noted as being buried and as obtaining offspring. These indicate that even though the servant was slandered by men, he was not cursed by God as going unburied to be mangled by wild beasts and having all of your posterity slaughtered as classic OT covenant curses. v9b The AB, as does the JPS, favors the emendation of the Hebrew "'ose ra'", or "rich", to "'asir", or "evildoers", which would be supported by a simple synthetical parallelism. The AB also indicates that the Hebrew "bamah" is typically rendered "high place". Apparently the JPS renders this term "grave" and the AB renders it sepulcher (I say apparently because I am unsure of the exact arrangement of the Hebrew). If this is the case, the servant here would be put in a "high place" among "evildoers", or lifted up among the wicked (i.e. crucified between thieves? - but this is largely speculative based on the connection of the term "bamah", but it may be where Abinidai got "crucified" from in what appears to be an interpretation of Isaiah in Mosiah 15:6-7). v9c "he had done no injustice", the KJV has "violence" in place of "injustice" and the Mosiah 14:9 quotation of it uses "evil" instead. v10 presents something of an answer to the message of v. 7-9. In those verses we have the rather unpleasant scene of an innocent servant of the Lord being mercilessly and unjustly killed at the hands of oppressors. We would naturally ask "Why?". This verse answers the question with the statement that the Lord chose to crush the servant so that his offering might be an expiation for sin, might redeem his/His offspring, grant life and ultimately prosper the Lord's plans. As a result the arm, or power, of the Lord is revealed in the act of salvation. This verse is also hostile to the people's comments in v. 4c-d where they account the servant as smitten by God. Here the Lord is definitely showing favor on the servant for the actions committed. v10a-b. Given the problematic nature of the Hebrew we should review other possible translations: JPS: But the Lord chose to crush him by disease, That, if he made himself an offering for guilt, AB: Yahweh decided to crush him with pain; but if he gives himself as a guilt offering, WB: Yet Yahweh took pleasure in him who was crushed, and healed the one who made his life an offering for sin. ["healed" a conjectural emendation] NAS: But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, [note the capitalization of the second line pronouns] KJV: Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, v10a "the Lord chose to crush him", this statement has led some to say that the servant in question cannot be Jesus Christ as he was the Lord incarnate, and how could the Lord be in two places at once being both crushed and crusher. I have difficulty with such a statement as we know well that Jesus deliberately chose to participate in the Atonement and willfully endorsed the Father's plan pre-mortally, and therefore assented to the act. Thus, the Lord chose the actions He would perform while incarnate, which involved the "crushing" of His own flesh. There is no specific requirement in the text for the Lord Himself to do the crushing. So attempting to break the equation in this manner doesn't work. The Lord would take no pleasure in crushing someone else, how could he? It pleased the Lord to crush himself as the mortal aspect of His servant because in doing so He wrought salvation for Israel. There are also passages wherein the Lord speaks in a possessive third-person manner when referring to His mortal flesh, cf. D&C 29:1, D&C 49:5-6. That the servant described in this chapter can be applied to other mortal servants than Jesus Christ is obvious. There are many persons presented as types of Christ who acted in intercessory roles. However, none of these preceding or following types performed the expiatory acts of the atonement. This being the case, we have to conclude that the epitome of the servant is none other than Jesus Christ himself, the mortal servant of the Lord. It should be noted that the name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Yeshua which is a contraction of Yehoshua. Yehoshua most literally interpreted into english means "help of Yah", thus we have the mortal flesh of the Lord being termed as a "help of Yah". The mortal ministry of the Lord was intended to bring about the covenants the Lord had made premortally with Abraham et. al. See 3 Ne. 1:14 and D&C 49:5 for the Lord (i.e. the Son) speaking in a possessive manner about his flesh tabernacle. v10a "by disease", the AB favors an emendation of "with pain" and indicates 1QIsa has "he pierced" (offering the reading "But the Lord chose to crush him, He pierced [him]"). v10b "offering for guilt", the AB states, "The guilt offering (see Lev. 4) is a type of sacrifice intended to atone for involuntary ritual offenses. The use of the term here has no particular reference to the rite of the guilt offering; the servant is compared to the victim of an atonement sacrifice." v10c "offspring", Abinadi interprets who these "seed" are in Mosiah 15:10-13. This spiritual interpretation by Abinadi presents a "born again" theme, normally considered to be a NT theme, in an OT setting. For additional "born again" themes in the OT see Deut. 10:16, Deut. 30:6, Jer. 24:1, Ezek. 18:31. This statement also provides further evidence that the servant being referred to here cannot be Israel. In 26:18 Isaiah uses birth imagery to indicate that Israel has not brought about salvation among all the nations, has not brought forth any children among the inhabitants of the earth. As we have the servant here bringing "children" forth, this servant cannot be Israel in general. v10c "and have long life", the AB renders this "and lengthen his days". It is a rather curious statement given the contents of v. 7-10 which all appear to imply the servant being physically killed in the process of doing his work. And the preceding lines of v. 10 state that in order for the servant to see his offspring and have his "long life" he must be crushed as a guilt offering. This forces us to seek a more figurative and spiritual interpretation as it is plain the servant is to physically die. It could be an obscure reference to resurrection or eternal life or both, but its brevity precludes any definite statement. Psalm 88 contains some of the same kind of language as does this chapter and has the theme of being redeemed from the dead, thus it could be employed to argue that this phrase is a reference to the resurrection. In any case, it is plain by context that this statement is intended to be one of the blessings enjoyed by the servant after his work is completed. The alternative is to interpret the statement as referring to the offspring. This is facilitated by the reading given by the WB, "He will see his seed, he shall prolong his days". The greater ambiguity provided by this particular translation makes it possible to say, "the servant will see his seed, the servant will prolong his seed's days". v11 This verse is where we draw an unequivocal connection between the servant and the Lord. If we cross reference 43:22-25 we have the Lord being made to serve, Hebrew:abed, beneath the weight of Israel's sins. And He blots out Israel's sins for His own sake. Here we have the servant, Hebrew: ebed, bearing the iniquity of the many and thereby justifying them. Thus, the servant must be the Lord incarnate as none else is presented as justifying the sins of another. Also note the similar sacrificial themes of v. 10-11 and 43:22-25. The servant here is made into a sin offering, and there the Lord rejects Israel's sin offerings and says they have forced Him to be a sin offering for them. v11a "see it", the AB indicates that in the LXX and 1QIsa the term "light" is present where in the Masorah it is absent. The result is the AB renders the phrase, "For his toils he will see light and be satisfied". The inclusion of the term "light" would cause us to cross reference with other appearances of this term such as 49:6 and 51:4. v11c-12 mirrors the proclamation in 52:13-15 but here the servant's success is explained. The servant succeeds because he has brought about righteousness for the many. Also, it indicates divine endorsement of the sacrifice described in the preceding text. There the sacrifice was described as abused and maltreated and disfigured. In the Law such a sacrifice would be desacrilized as only the physically blessed and unblemished might be offered at the altar. Thus, the desacrilization committed by the servant's oppressors have no impact on the expiatory nature of the servant's sacrifice and we are forced to develop a spiritual interpretation on it given the physical desecration of the servant. Had the servant's sacrifice been merely physical, it would have been desecrated by the people and subsequently invalidated. The divine endorsement indicates it was not invalidated. v11c "My righteous servant makes the many righteous", while the expiation of sin with the Atonement interpretation is obvious an interpretation can be developed for the types of Christ as well. The Lord has chosen righteous leaders to lead his people into righteousness (e.g. Moses, Abraham, Enoch, Melchizedek, Mosiah, Smith, &c.). Even so, the types have done nothing to provide justification for those who do sin, they only lead the people from sin and encourage sinners to repent. v11c-d The AB renders these two lines "By his knowledge my servant will deliver many, and he will bear their transgressions." The AB considers the knowledge referenced here to be akin to that of "knowledge of God" in 11:2 and Hosea 4:1, 6 meaning the perception and observance of the Torah/Law (i.e. to worship in spirit and truth). They indicate that "knowledge" is the reading according to the Hebrew, but that "several critics emend to 'his suffering'". The WB also forwards the "knowledge" translation, but notes the text is problematic. In either case, the reading differ from that the JPS offers. v12a-b employs language that tends to sound military, the servant obtains his "portion" and receives his "spoil". From the context of the chapter it is plain that the servant here however is no military leader as he is painted as generally despised by his people and abused by the powers that be. That plunder are "the many" and "the multitude" further pushes for a figurative interpretation and would favor cross reference with 45:22-25. v12c The JPS renders this line "For he exposed himself to death", the WB renders it "because he poured out his soul to death" and indicates that an alternative reading could be "because he poured out his blood to death" based on the Hebrew "nepes". The "poured out his blood" reading would be contextual to the guilt offering and expiatory sacrifice language of this chapter. v12f "And made intercession for sinners", The WB states: The "hipil" of the verb "paga' ", 'to light upon someone', means 'to cause to light upon', as in 53:6; and with "be" (in a request) 'to make entreaty', as in Jer. 36:25. Used absolutely it means 'to intervene', as in Isa. 59:16. This elucidates these meaning here, 'he interceded for the transgressors'. This does not mean, as some editors imagine, that he made prayers of intercession for them, but that with his life, his suffering and his death, he took their place and underwent their punishment in their stead.