[Sidenote: Isa. 53:8]
By an oppressive judgment was he taken away,
Yet who of his generation considered
That he had been cut off from the land of the living;
For our transgressions had been stricken to death?
[Sidenote: Isa. 53:9]
And his grave was made with the wicked,
And among evil-doers his burial mound,
Although he had done no violence,
Neither was deceit in his mouth.
[Sidenote: Isa. 53:10-11b]
Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him;
Through giving himself as an offering for guilt,
He shall see posterity and length of days,
And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands;
Out of his own suffering he shall see light,
He shall be satisfied with his knowledge.
[Sidenote: Isa. 53:11c-12]
My righteous servant shall make many righteous,
And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
And with the strong shall he divide spoil,
Because he poured out his life-blood,
And was numbered with transgressors,
And himself bore the sins of many,
And interposed for transgressors.
I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant. Isaiah 49-54 contains three distinct portraits of the ideal servant of Jehovah. Each in turn develops characteristics suggested in the preceding. These descriptions are interspersed with exhortations addressed to Jehovah's servant Israel and assurances that God will fully restore Jerusalem and bring back her scattered children. These three portraits of the type of servant that Jehovah required to realize his purpose in human history, together with the earlier portrait in 42:1-7, supplement each other. In the first of these four (42:1-7) the prophetic qualities of the servant are especially emphasized. Like the earlier prophets, he will not fail nor be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth. His task is to open blind eyes and to deliver prisoners from the darkness of ignorance and sin in which they were sitting. In the second picture (49:1-9a) the world-wide mission of the servant is emphasized. He is called not only to gather the outcasts of Israel, but also as an apostle to bring light to all the nations of the earth. In this passage for the first time appears that note of suffering and ignominy which is the lot of the true servant of Jehovah. In the third portrait (50:4-10) the servant is pictured as a disciple, attentively listening to the divine teachings, learning the lessons which will fit him in turn to become a teacher of men. The last and fullest picture (52:13-53:12) describes at length his suffering. A strong contrast is drawn between his present shame and ignominy and the future glory and victory which he will achieve through his voluntary and complete self-sacrifice. These pictures embody the prophet's ideal, and they can be fully understood only in the light of their historical background.
II. The Prophet's Purpose. In his earlier poems this great unknown prophet dealt largely with the interpretation of Israel's past history and the proclamation of the coming deliverance (40-48). His chief aims in chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows: (1) to interpret the inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah; (4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne.
III, Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet Appealed. From the allusions in the prophecies themselves it is possible to determine the classes that the prophet had in mind. In 49:2 his address is to the coast lands and the distant peoples who lived at the extremities of Israel's horizon. It is not probable, however, that he anticipated that his message in its present form would go out as it has to all races and nations; rather his attention was fixed on the scattered members of his own race, those who lived in the north and the west and in the distant city of Syene, far up the Nile (49:12). In 49:3 he clearly identifies the nation Israel as Jehovah's servant, whom he makes declare:
Jehovah said to me, Thou art my servant,
Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.
It is evident, however, that the prophet has especially in mind the Judean community amidst which he lived and for which he worked. In 54, as elsewhere, he calls upon this group of discouraged Jews to enlarge their tent, for their period of punishment is over and their foundation and walls are about to be rebuilt. At last they shall cease to tremble at the fury of the oppressor. In 51:18-20 he addresses Jerusalem directly and gives a vivid picture of its condition before the appearance of Nehemiah:
Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem,
Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cup of his wrath!
The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained!
There is none to guide thee of all the sons whom thou hast borne,
And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared.
These two things have befallen thee—who can condole with thee?
Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword—who can comfort thee?