An indepth study of Isaiah 53:
The Suffering "Righteous Servant"

By Serge Lazar

The prophet Isaiah prophesied in the Eighth Century B.C. from Jerusalem a passage which nine times mentions and describes the suffering "Righteous Servant" and His substitutionary and sacrificial death for our sins and transgressions. The context begins in Isaiah 52:13 and continues through Isaiah 53:12:

Isaiah 52: 13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; 15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.

Isaiah 53: 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. [Like the goat in the Yom Kippur ceremonies, i.e., a substitutionary act of redemption.]

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. [Because He was in our place. A substitutionary act of payment for our sins. He was, and is, our Redeemer.] 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. ["Cut off" means that He was put to death, executed. Again, 'for the transgression of My people.' Clearly, a substitutionary act of redemption.] 9 And they made His grave with the wicked -- But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. [He must be sinless and without blemish to be a sin offering. Again, a substitutionary act of redemption, as the lambs according to the Levitical law. . . . It's the pleasure of the LORD to do this.] 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. [It clearly says, "by knowledge", meaning, that by faith alone we are justified.] 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

This passage mentions vicarious and substitutionary bearing of sins, iniquities, griefs and sorrows, for the purpose of justification of many, explicitly nine times. It also mentions "My Righteous Servant", i.e. "the Just One."

This substitutionary "sin offering" is willful and an intended act of love of the LORD Yahweh our Elohim.

"He bore their sins and made intercession for them". It is perfectly clear. This cannot be an ordinary person, because as Isaiah said, "Our righteousnesses are filthy rags to the LORD Yahweh"; nor can it be the nation Israel, comprised of sinful individuals, like all of us. And since this is a "sin offering", He must be a blameless, blemish-less, and a holy Lamb, as mentioned in verse 7.

As at the times of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the priest would look at the animal, a lamb or other kind, and qualify it as a perfect sin offering to the LORD Yahweh; And the LORD Yahweh would accept it as a substitutionary payment for the sins of the individual, or in the case of "Yom Kippur", for the nation Israel. When entering the Holy of Holies on the "Day of Atonement", the high priest would have to offer for himself first.

How great the individual mentioned here in Isaiah 53 is that He is offered for "many". Doubtlessly, He is none else but the Mashiach (The Messiah: The Suffering "Righteous Servant).

It is also implied here that since our righteousnesses are filthy rags to the LORD Yahweh, then, the Mashiach cannot be an ordinary human but must have some other nature that makes him a perfect and blameless and blemish-less offering for sin.

Verse 10 says that the LORD Yahweh purposed this in His pleasure and shall bring it to pass to see the "seed", or the result of this offering; i.e., many redeemed and saved, children of God.

Who is "My Righteous Servant"?

Isaiah 64:4 says that our righteous acts are filthy rags to the LORD Yahweh.

Who, then, is this "Righteous Servant"? Surely not Jacob the heel-catcher and the supplanter. Surely "the Jewish people as a single unit" have never been offered as an offering for sin. They could not have been, because, according to the Levitical laws of offerings, sin offering must be blameless and without blemish to be offered as an offering to the LORD Yahweh.

Isaiah 45: "24 Only in the LORD Yahweh are all righteousness and strength"; or, "Surely, in the LORD Yahweh I have righteousness and strength."

Job 25:4 How then can man be righteous before God Elohim? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?

Psalm 143:2 For in Your sight no one living is righteous.

Again, who is this "Righteous Servant"?

The Jewish scriptures, the Tanach - the "Old Testament" - is filled with accounts of Israel's sin, rebellion, adultery, idolatry, and forsaking of the LORD Yahweh our Elohim, not unlike "the Gentiles." The book of Hosea is a clear portrait of certain acts of Israel. The book of Malachi contributes to this fact as well.

The following two verses from the book of Hosea are particularly rich in meaning in what they prophesy (8th century B.C.):

Hosea 3: 4-5 For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim; Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD Yahweh their Elohim, and David their king; and shall come trembling unto the LORD Yahweh and to His goodness in the end of days.

Hosea 5: 15 I will return again to My place, till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will diligently seek Me.

(This offense [singular] is a prophecy about the rejection of the Messiah [HaMashiach] by Israel as a nation.)

An amazing prophecy!

Israel will, after its unfaithfulness to her husband, the LORD Yahweh, and the worship of pagan gods (Hosea 3:1), be isolated, without a king (or a ruler), without a Temple (i.e. no sacrifices), no pagan idol worship (i.e. pillar), no priesthood (i.e. no ephod), and no household idols. (i.e. Teraphim).

This has been precisely fulfilled. Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., Israel has had no country or ruler, no Temple, no sacrifices, no idol worship, no priesthood and no household idols either, EXACTLY as this passage prophesied. The establishment of the modern day state of Israel on May 14, 1948 seems to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 11: 11 prophecy where Yahweh "recovers the remnant of His people...."

Isaiah 53 in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint:

The Septuagint Version of Isaiah 53:

The following is an English translation of Isaiah 53 from the Greek Septuagint from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. (The Old Testament translation into Greek, 285 - 270 B.C. in Alexandria. Also see the English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton [1807-1862] originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd., London, 1851).

Appendix

O Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 We brought a report as of a child before him; he is as a root in a thirsty land: he has no form nor comeliness; and we saw him, but he had no form nor beauty. 3 But his form was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men; he was a man in suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of sickness, for his face is turned from us: he was dishonored, and not esteemed.

4 He bears our sins, and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in suffering, and in affliction. 5 But he was wounded on account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his bruises we were healed. 6 All we as sheep have gone astray; every one has gone astray in his way; and the Lord gave him up for our sins. 7 And he, because of his affliction, opens not his mouth: he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. 8 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken away from the earth: because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death. 9 And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; for he practiced no iniquity, nor craft with his mouth.

10 The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. If ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: 11 the Lord also is pleased to take away from the travail of his soul, to shew him light, and to form him with understanding; to justify the just one who serves many well; and he shall bear their sins. 12 Therefore he shall inherit many, and he shall divide the spoils of the mighty; because his soul was delivered to death: and he was numbered among the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and was delivered because of their iniquities.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Version of Isaiah 53

Dead Sea Scrolls: Part 2.

Dead Sea Scrolls - The Book of Isaiah

Over 200 fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed at the Shrine of the Book Museum in Jerusalem. Remarkably, the only fully intact scroll displayed at the Shrine of the Book is the "Great Isaiah Scroll" (1Qls-a), which contains the entire book of Isaiah that we read today -- all 66 chapters! A number of scholars, from a number of religions and professional disciplines, have analyzed this major find.

The Great Isaiah Scroll was discovered in Cave 1 in 1947. It was identified as the Biblical Book of Isaiah in 1948, and purchased by the Syrian Orthodox Church at that time. Israel re-acquired the Isaiah Scroll in 1954 to study it and preserve it as a national treasure. It has been displayed as the centerpiece exhibit at the Shrine of the Book museum since 1965. A second partial Isaiah scroll (1Qls-b) was also discovered in Cave 1 in 1947. Since that time, approximately 17 other fragments of Isaiah scripture have been discovered in other caves at Qumran.

As far as dating, it appears that pieces of the Great Isaiah Scroll (1Qls-a) have been carbon-14 dated at least four times, including a study at the University of Arizona in 1995 and a study at ETH-Zurich in 1990-91. The four studies produced calibrated date ranges between 335-324 BC and 202-107 BC. There have also been numerous paleographic and scribal dating studies conducted that place 1Qls-a at a date range of approximately 150-100 BC. (See Price, Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1996; Eisenman & Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, 1994; Golb, Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?, 1995; Wise, Abegg & Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation, 1999.)

Dead Sea Scrolls - Isaiah 53

The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided phenomenal evidence for the credibility of biblical scripture. Specifically, the nearly intact Great Isaiah Scroll is almost identical to the most recent manuscript version of the Masoretic text from the 900's AD. (Scholars have discovered a handful of spelling and tense-oriented scribal errors, but nothing of significance.) In light of Isaiah's rich Messianic prophecy, we thought it would be rewarding to reproduce a portion of the English translation of the actual Hebrew text found in the Great Isaiah Scroll. Specifically, the following corresponds to Isaiah 53 in today's Old Testament. Remember, this text was dated 100 to 335 years before the birth of Jesus Christ!

Translation of the actual Great Isaiah Scroll (Isaiah 53), beginning with line 5 of Column 44:

5. Who has believed our report and the arm of YHWH to whom has it been revealed And he shall come up like a suckling before him

6. and as a root from dry ground there is no form to him and no beauty [+to him+] and in his being seen and there is no appearance

7. that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and knowing grief

8. and as though hiding faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he

9. is bearing and our sorrows he carried them and we esteemed him beaten and struck by God

10. and afflicted. and he is wounded for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities, the correction

11. of our peace was upon him and by his wounds he has healed us. All of us like sheep have wandered each man to his own way

12. we have turned and YHWH has caused to light on him the iniquity of all of us He was oppressed and he was afflicted and he did not

13. open his mouth, as a lamb to the slaughter he is brought and as a ewe before her shearers is made dumb he did not open

14. his mouth. From prison and from judgment he was taken and his generation who shall discuss it because he was cut off from the land of

15. the living. Because from the transgressions of his people a wound was to him

16. And they gave wicked ones to be his grave and [a scribbled word probably accusative sign "eth"] rich ones in his death

17. although he worked no violence neither deceit in his mouth And YHWH was pleased to crush him and He has caused him grief.

18. If you will appoint his soul a sin offering he will see his seed and he will lengthen his days and the pleasure of YHWH

19. in his hand will advance. Of the toil of his soul he shall see {+light+} and he shall be satisfied and by his knowledge shall he make righteous

20. even my righteous servant for many and their iniquities he will bear. Therefore I will apportion to him among the great ones

21. and with the mighty ones he shall divide the spoil because he laid bare to death his soul and with the transgressors

22. he was numbered, and he, the sins of many, he bore, and for their transgressions he entreated.

Dead Sea Scrolls: Keep reading now!

An amazingly wonderful passage. "My Righteous Servant" is given for our sins, because the LORD Yahweh loved the world so much that He became our Kinsman Redeemer, and died for our sins and was buried and was resurrected the third day, that we may be forgiven and have eternal life and fellowship with Him in heaven.

Talmudic Period's Rabbis' Comments on Isaiah 53:

The following are a few comments from the Talmudic period, generally, 200 B.C. - 500 A.D.

In Targum of Jonathan , Isaiah 53 was Messianically applied. From the time of the development of the written Talmud, 200 B.C. - 500 A.D., Isaiah 53 was believed to be Messianic. In fact, it was not until the eleventh century A.D. that it was proposed otherwise. Rabbi Rashi erroneously began to interpret the suffering servant in this passage as reference to the nation of Israel (The Messianic Hope, Arthur Kac).

Targums are the Aramaic translations of very ancient Hebrew manuscripts that also included commentary on the scriptures. They were translated in the first or second century B.C.

In Targum of Isaiah, we read this incredible quote regarding the suffering servant in Isaiah 53:

"Behold, My servant the Messiah shall prosper; he shall be exalted and great and very powerful. The Righteous One shall grow up before Him, lo, like sprouting plants; and like a tree that sends its roots by the water-courses, so shall the exploits of the holy One multiply in the land which was desperate for him. His appearance shall not be a profane appearance, nor shall the awe of an ignorant person, but his countenance shall radiate with holiness, so that all who see him shall become wise through him. All of us were scattered like sheep . . . . but it is the will of God to pardon the sins of all of us on his account . . . . . Then I will apportion unto him the spoil of great nations . . . . because he was ready to suffer martyrdom that the rebellious he might subjugate to the Torah; and he might seek pardon for the sins of many." (Comments on Isaiah 53, Edersheim, The life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Appendix IX)

In the Babylonian Talmud there are a number of commentaries on the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. In a discussion of the suffering inflicted upon this servant we find the following statement:

"This teaches us that God will burden the Messiah with commandments and sufferings as with millstones." [Talmud, Sanhedrin 93b]

In Sanhedrin 98b we find a discussion on the name of the Messiah. In this remarkable portion of the Talmud we read:

"There is a whole discussion in the Talmud about Messiah's name. The several discussants suggested various names and cited scriptural references in support of these names. The disciples of the school of Rabbi Yehuda Ha' Nasi said, "'The sick one' is his name, for it is written, 'Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows and pains, yet we considered him stricken, smitten and afflicted of God.'"

Serge Lazar, is a Bible teacher in Los Angeles with a primary focus on ministering to the Jews. He recently taught at Calvary Chapel Bible College.