Isaiah 53 (“Suffering Servant”) and the Nation of Israel

April 29, 2015

This is a question of mine that I thought I would ask at the best place I know to ask questions. What are good arguments that Israel cannot be the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53?

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Ed Romero and Jinny Leo like this.
Robert Lowry Because the verses so clearly describe the person of Jesus, rather than a nation? (just like 42:1-9 and 49:1-7)

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Sarah Van Baale The last line reads, “For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isn’t the he (singular) opposed to the many (plural). In my mind that would draw a distinction in and of itself. I don’t know of any place where the Bible talks about the nation of Israel taking on the sins of the world – they had enough of their own sin to deal with.

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Joe Maxey He wasn’t writing metaphorically.

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Dwight Payne I cannot in my wildest dreams imagine that it was meant to be a reference to Israel.

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Ed Romero Is it possible that it was, in part, about Israel, but met it’s true fulfillment in Christ?

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Ed Chait I’m glad I brought this question here. The reason I’m asking is that this seems to be the most popular way for Jewish religious leadership to explain away it not being Jesus.

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Timothy Craig Munger Ed, up until the Middle Ages Jewish leadership interpreted Isaiah 53 as Messiah. To me the strongest answers are the personal pronouns: “He, Him, His” appear throughout the passage. “Man of Sorrows.” These speak of a human, not a people or a country. Second, in verse 8 it says, “for the transgressions of my people…” How can Israel redeem Israel? In Acts 8 when Phillip hears the Ethiopian eunuch reading, he at that point preaches to him Jesus. One Jewish believer writes this about Isaiah 53:8, “The term which is used in our sentence, “My People”, can only refer to Israel for whom the righteous servant suffers and dies” (Dr. VictorBuksbazen).