Passing over mere whims, three explanations present themselves which require a closer examination, viz.--(1), that which makes the whole Jewish people the subject; (2), that which refers it to the godly portion of the Jewish people; and (3), that which refers it to the collective body of the Prophets. The following reasons militate against all the three interpretations simultaneously.

1. According to them, the contents of the section in question present themselves as a mere fancy; and its principal thought, the vicarious suffering of the Servant of God is an absurdity. According to them, the prophets can no longer be considered as godly men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit; and their name נביא, by which they claimed divine inspiration, is a mere pretence. And this reflection is, at the same time, cast upon the Lord, who, throughout, treats these visionaries as organs of immediate divine communications.

2. According to all the three explanations, the subject is not a real person, but an ideal one, a personified collective. But not one sure analogous instance can be quoted in favour of a personification carried on through a whole section, without the slightest intimation, that it is not a single individual who is spoken of. In ver. 3, the subject is called איש; in vers. 10 and 12 a soul is ascribed to Him; grave and death are used so as to imply a subject in the Singular. Scripture never leaves any thing to be guessed. If we had an allegory before us, distinct hints as to the interpretation would certainly not be wanting. It is, e.g., quite different in those passages where the Prophet designates Israel by the name of the Servant of the Lord. In them, all uncertainty is prevented by the addition of the names of Jacob and Israel, xli. 8, 9; xliv. 1, 2, 21; xlv. 4; xlviii. 20; and in them, moreover, the Prophet uses the Plural by the side of the Singular, to intimate that the Servant of the Lord is an ideal person, a collective, e.g., xlii. 24, 25; xlviii. 20, 21; xliii. 10–14.

3. The first condition of the vicarious satisfaction which, according to our prophecy, is to be performed by the Servant of God, is, according to ver. 9 ("Because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth"), but more especially still, according to ver. 11 ("He, the righteous one, my Servant, shall justify the many") the absolute righteousness of the suffering subject. He who is himself sinful cannot undergo punishment for the sins of others. He is, on the contrary, visited for his own sins, both as a righteous retribution, and for sanctification. Of such an one that would indeed be true which, according to the second clause of ver. 4, was only erroneously supposed in reference to the Servant of God. All the three interpretations, however, are unable to prove that this condition existed. All the three interpretations move on the purely human territory; but on that, absolute righteousness is not to be found. At the very threshold of Holy Writ, in Gen. ii. and 3, compare v. 3, the doctrine of the universal sinfulness of mankind meets us; and how deep a knowledge of sin pervades the Old Testament, is proved by passages such as Gen. vi. 5, viii. 21; Job xiv. 4, xv. 14–16; Ps. xiv., li. 7; Prov. xx. 9. That is not a soil on which ideas of substitution could thrive.--The doctrine of a substitution by men is indeed nowhere else found in the Old Testament; and Gesenius, who (l. c., S. 189) endeavoured to prove that "it is very general" has not adduced any arguments which are tenable or even plausible. The guilt of the fathers is visited upon the children, only when the latter walk in the steps of their fathers, and the latter are first punished; comp. Genuineness and Authenticity of the Pentateuch, Vol. ii. p. 446 ff. The same holds true in reference to 2 Sam. xxi. 1–14, The evil spirit which filled Saul, pervaded his family, at the same time, as we here see in the instance of Michal. It was probably in the interest of his family, and with their concurrence, that the wicked deed had been perpetrated. (Michaelis says: "In order that he might appropriate their goods to himself and to his family, under the pretext of a pious zeal for Judah and Israel.") As Saul himself was already overtaken by the divine judgment, the crime was punished in the family who were accomplices. In 2 Sam. xxiv. the people do not suffer as substitutes for the sin, which David had committed in numbering the people; but the spirit of pride which had incited the king to number the people, was widely spread among them. But the fact, that the king himself was punished in his subjects, is brought out by his beseeching the Lord, in 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, that He might rather visit the sin directly upon himself The sin of David and Bathsheba is not atoned for by the death of the child (2 Sam. xii. 15–18), for David had already obtained pardon, ver. 13. It is not the child which suffers, but David, whose repentance was to be deepened by this visitation. In the fact, that the whole army must suffer for what Achan has committed (Josh. vii. 1), a distinct intimation is implied, that the criminal does not stand alone, but that, to a certain degree, the whole community was implicated in his guilt. Substitution is quite out of the question, inasmuch as Achan himself, with his whole family and posterity, was burnt. Least of all, finally, can Dan. xi. 35 come into consideration. According to Gesenius, it is there said: "And they of understanding shall fall, in order to purge, purify, and make white those (the others)." But בהם refers rather to the משכילים themselves. Thus, nowhere in the Old Testament, is even the slightest trace found of a satisfaction to be accomplished by man for man; nor can it be found there, because, from its very commencement. Scripture most emphatically declares: πάντας ὑφʼ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι, Rom. iii. 9.

The explanation, which makes the Jewish people the subject, has already been overthrown by the parallel passages, before arriving: at the section under consideration. "Even so far back as chap. xlii. 1, difficulties are met with," remarks Beck. "How is it possible that the people who, in ver. 19 of that chapter, are described as blind and deaf, should here appear as being altogether penetrated by the Spirit, so as to become the teachers of the Gentiles?" "Chap. xlix. is a true cross for the interpreters." "Finally, the section, chap. l., Hitzig himself is obliged to explain as referring to the Prophet; and thus this interpretation forfeits the boast of most strictly holding fast the unity of this notion."

But still more decisively is the interpretation overthrown by the contents of the section under discussion. The Servant of God has, according to it, voluntarily taken upon Himself His sufferings (according to ver. 10, He offers himself as a sacrifice for sin; according to ver. 12, He is crowned with glory because He has poured out His soul unto death). Himself sinless, He bears the sins of others, vers. 4-6, 9. His sufferings are the means by which the justification of many is effected. He suffers quietly and patiently, ver. 7. Not one of these four signs can be vindicated for the people of Israel. (a). The Jews did not go voluntarily into the Babylonish exile, but were dragged into it by force. (b). The Jewish people were not without sin in suffering; but they suffered, in the captivity, the punishment of their own sins. Their being carried away had been foretold by Moses as a punitive judgment. Lev. xxvi. 14 ff.; Deut. xxviii. 15 ff. xxix. 19 ff., and as such it is announced by all the prophets also. In the second part, Isaiah frequently reminds Judah that they shall be cast into captivity by divine justice, and be delivered from it by divine mercy only; comp. chaps. lvi.-lix., especially chap. lix. 2: "Your iniquities separate between you and your God, and your sins hide His face from you that He doth not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity, your lips speak lies, and your tongue meditates perverseness. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood, their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not, and there is no right in their paths; they pervert their paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace. Apostacy and denying the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood." Comp. chap. xlii. 24: "Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient unto His law." Farther, chap. xliii. 26, 27, where the detailed proof that Israel's merits could not be the cause of their deliverance, inasmuch as they did not exist at all, is, by the Prophet, wound up by the words: "Put me in remembrance, let us plead together, declare then that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father hath sinned, and thy mediators have transgressed against me. Therefore I profane the princes of the sanctuary, and give Jacob to the destruction, and Israel to reproaches." It is solely to the mercy of God that, according to chap. xlviii. 11, Israel owes deliverance from the severe suffering into which they fell in the way of their sins. One may confidently assert there is not a single page in the whole book, which does not offer a striking refutation of this view. And most miserable are the expedients to which, in the face of such facts, the defenders of this view betake themselves. Rosenmüller was of opinion, that the Prophet introduced those Gentiles only as speaking, who, by this flattery, wished to gain the favour of the Jews,--without considering that it is just in the words of the Lord, in ver. 11, that the absolute righteousness of the Servant of God is most strongly expressed. Hitzig is of opinion, that the people had indeed suffered for their sins; but that the punishment had been greater than their sins, and that by this surplus the Gentiles were benefited. But the Prophet expressly contradicts such a gross view. He repeatedly declares that the punishment was still mitigated by mercy; that, in the way of their works, Israel would have found total destruction. Thus, e.g., chap. xlviii. 9: "For my name's sake will I be long-suffering, and for my praise will I moderate mine anger unto thee, that I cut thee not off;" chap. i. 9: "Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom; we should have been like unto Gomorrah." In order to be fully convinced how much this view of Israel, enforced upon the godly men of the Old Testament, is in contradiction to their own view, the prayer of Ezra may still be compared in Neh. ix., especially ver. 20 ff.--(c.) The sufferings of the Jewish people cannot be vicarious, because they are destitute of the very first condition of substitution, viz., sinlessness and righteousness. That even Hitzig does not venture to claim for them. But how can an ungodly man, even supposing that his punishment is too severe, justify others by a righteousness of his which does not exist? Finally--The fourth sign, patience, so little belongs to the Jewish people, that it is one of the main tasks of our Prophet himself to oppose their murmuring impatience; comp. e.g., chap. xlv. 9 ff.

Against the hypothesis that the people are the subject of the prophecy, there is the circumstance that it carries along with it the unnatural supposition that, in chap. liii. 1–10, the heathens are introduced as speaking. Decisive against this supposition are specially the designation עמי in ver. 8, and the most forced explanation to which it compels us, in some verses, especially ver. 2.

The interpretation which considers the godly portion of the people to be the subject of the prophecy, is overthrown by the fact that, according to the view of Scripture, even those who, in the ordinary sense, are righteous, are unable to render a vicarious satisfaction for others. For such, absolute righteousness is required. But the "righteous ones" are begotten by sinful seed (Ps. li.), and they have need daily to pray that God would pardon their secret sins, Ps. xix. 13; they themselves live only by the pardoning mercy of God, and cannot think of atoning for others, Ps. xxxii. Even for believers, the captivity is, according to chap. xlii., the merited punishment of their sins. In that passage, the greatness of the mercy of God is pointed out, who grants a twofold salvation for sins, while infinite punishment should be their natural consequence. It is not to a single portion of the people, but to the whole, that, in the passages formerly quoted, every share in effecting deliverance and salvation is denied. How little an absolute righteousness existed in the elect, sufficiently appears from the fact, that, in the second part, it forms a main object of the Prophet to oppose their want of courage, their despair and distrust of God. Farther--The ungodly could not by any means consider the sufferings of the righteous ones as vicarious, because they themselves suffered as much; and as little could they despise the godly on account of their sufferings. It is a mere invention, destitute of every historical foundation, to assert that it was especially the God-fearing who had to suffer so grievously in the captivity. On the contrary, their fear of God gained for them the respect of the Gentiles; and among their own people also, whose sinful disposition was broken by the punishment, they occupied an honourable position. Ezekiel we commonly find surrounded by the elders of the people, listening to his words; and Daniel, Esther, and Mordecai, Ezra, and Nehemiah, richly furnished with the goods of this world, enjoyed high esteem in the Gentile world. The fact that the supporters of this hypothesis are compelled to have recourse to such an unhistorical fiction, which has been carried to the extreme, especially by Knobel, sufficiently proves it to be untenable.

In opposition to the interpretation which refers the prophecy to the collective body of the Prophets, Hitzig very justly remarks: "The supposition that, by the Servant of God, the prophetic order is to be understood, is destitute of all foundation and probability." In commenting on chap. xlii. we remarked, that there are no analogous cases at all in favour of such a personification of the prophetic order. Moreover, the defenders of this view commonly deny, at the same time, the genuineness of the second part. From this stand-point it becomes still more evident, how untenable this hypothesis is. A prophetic order can, least of all, be spoken of during the time of the Babylonish captivity. With the captivity, Prophetism began to die out. Jeremiah in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel among the exiled, already stood very much isolated. Jeremiah, during the last days of the Jewish state, stands out everywhere as a single individual, opposed to the whole mass of the false prophets. "There is no more any prophet," is, at the time of the destruction by the Chaldeans, the lamentation of the author of Ps. lxxiv. in ver. 9. According to an unanimous tradition (comp. 1 Maccab. ix. 27, iv. 46, xiv. 41, and the passages from the Talmud and other Jewish writings in Knibbe's history of the Prophets, S. 347 ff., and in Joh. Smithi Dissert. de Prophetis, in the Appendix to Clericus' Commentary on the Prophets, chap. xii.), Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were the last of the prophets, and according to the historical books and their own prophecies, the only prophets of their time. How, now, were it possible that the Prophet should speak of a great corporation of the prophets, who become not only the founders and rulers of the new state, but who are to enlighten all the other nations of the earth with the light of the time religion, and incorporate them into the church of God? Of all that is characteristic of the vocation of the prophets, nothing is found here; while, on the other hand, almost everything which is said of the Servant of God is in opposition to the vocation and destination of the prophets. That which here, above everything, comes into consideration is the vicarious satisfaction. Chap. vi., where the Prophet when, after having administered the prophetic office for several years, he beheld the Lord, exclaims: "Woe is unto me for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips," is sufficient to show how far the thoughts of such a vicarious satisfaction were from the prophets. Such is surely not the ground from which the delusion of being substitutes for others can grow up. All those who entertained such a delusion, such as Gichtel, Bourignon, Guyon, were misled into it by proudly shutting their eyes to their own sinfulness. It would surely be abasing the prophets without any cause, if we were to assign to them that delusion. Moreover, the hopes which here, according to these interpreters, are uttered in reference to the prophetic order, contradict its idea, and institution. A prophetic pride would here come out, such as is not equalled by priestly pride in all history. Schenkel, no doubt, is right in remarking against the interpretation which makes the Jewish people the subject of the prophecy,--an interpretation of which Hitzig is the representative: "Is it to believed that the prophets, whose object all along it was to suppress the moral pride of the people, should wantonly have awakened it by such a thought?" But Hitzig is equally in the right when, in opposition to Schenkel and others who refer this prediction to the prophetic order, he remarks: "It is quite obvious, how very unsuitable it would be to limit the hitherto wretched condition and the future glory of the people to the prophets, as if they alone, as true κατακυριεύοντες τῶν κληρων, constituted the people." According to this hypothesis, the prophets are supposed to flatter themselves with the hope that they would be the rulers of the state again flourishing, and would celebrate worldly triumphs. Altogether apart from the folly of this hope, it was entirely opposed to the destiny of the prophetic order. By divine institution, the dominion in the Kingdom of God had for ever been given over to David and his family. By usurping it, the prophets would have rebelled against God, whose lights they were called to uphold.--Farther, As the principal sphere of the ministry of the Servant of God, the heathen world here appears. But with it, the prophets have, nowhere else, any thing to do; their mission is everywhere to Israel only.--The sufferings which the prophets had to endure during the captivity, were not different from those of the people. Every proof, yea, even every probability, is wanting that, during the time of the captivity, the prophets--and history mentions and knows only Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel--were pre-eminently afflicted. On the contrary, they occupy an honourable position. Jeremiah receives, after the capture of Jerusalem, proofs of esteem from Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is entrusted with the highest public offices. Ezekiel is held in honour by his compatriots. How then could the people despise the prophets on account of their sufferings? How could they imagine that they had been smitten by God? How could they afterwards conceive the idea that the sufferings of the prophets had a vicarious character?--To what quarter soever we look, impossibilities present themselves; and if, moreover, we also look at the parallel passages, we must indeed wonder, that a hypothesis altogether so untenable should ever have been listened to.