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Randy Smith

The case of the mistaken identi

The case of the mistaken identi

THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

by

Rachmiel Frydland

Much has been written and discussed about the outstanding section of Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 in the Hebrew Scriptures. Here is the English translation of The Holy Scriptures, Revised in Accordance with Jewish Tradition and Modern Biblical Scholarship, by Alexander Harkavy, published by the Hebrew Publishing Company in New York: Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who would have believed their report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he grew up before him a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he had no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne griefs inflicted by us, and suffered sorrows we have caused; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded through our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his wounds we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; as a lamb which is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken away from rule and from judgment; and his life who shall recount? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; through the transgressions of my people was he stricken. And one made his grave among the rich; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. But it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; if his soul shall consider it a recompense for guilt, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my servant justify the righteous before many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath laid open his soul unto death, and was numbered with transgressors; and he took off the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

CONTEXT

The text is clear. The passage speaks of an outstanding servant of the Lord whose visage is marred from suffering, who suffers, and is afflicted and stricken through the transgressions of my (i.e. the prophet Isaiah’s) people. He has

not deserved any pain or wounds, but was wounded through OUR transgression, bruised through OUR iniquities, and with his wounds we are healed. Not only is He concerned with us, the Jewish people, but He will also sprinkle many nations, who will be cleansed from their evil and sins through His sufferings. Even Gentile kings and rulers will give Him a hearing.

The context, that is the chapters preceding and following this passage, also speak of the physical and spiritual cleansing and salvation of Israel. Thus in chapter 52 Verse 10 we see God’s concern, first with Israel and then with the Gentiles, as it is written:

The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see salvation of our God.

God who has created all nations, is concerned for the salvation of all nations. Besides, there is no safety for Israel unless the nations also acknowledge the God of Israel. The same is true of the chapters that follow this passage wherein Israel is admonished to:

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles. (Isaiah 54:2-3)

This theme is carried over to the next chapter where everyone is invited to drink and feast on the SPIRITUAL food of God. Of the Messiah it is said:

Behold, I have made him a witness to the people, a leader and commander of nations. (Isaiah 55:4)

Clearly the context speaks of God’s anointed One, the Messiah, Who is interested in the salvation and justification of Israel and in the salvation of the other nations – the Gentiles.

CONSENSUS

The text and the context present the suffering Servant of the Lord Who dies as a korban – a recompense for guilt. He is then buried with the rich and wicked, but is gloriously resurrected to life. God permits His afflicted and, at the end, exalted Servant, to endure this suffering in order to effect the removal of the sins of many.

Our ancient commentators therefore with one accord interpreted the passage accordingly. The Aramaic translation ascribed to Rabbi Jonathan ben Uziel, a disciple of Hillel who loved early in the second century A.D., begins with the simple and worthy words:
Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high, and increase, and be exceeding strong: as the house of Israel looked to him through many days, because their countenance was darkened among the peoples, and their complexion beyond the sons of men.

The same interpretation is found in the Babylonian Talmud:

The Messiah – what is his name? . . . The Rabbis say, the leprous one; those of the house of Rabbi say, The sick one, as it is said, Surely he hath borne our sicknesses.

Similarly it is written in the Midrash Rabbah:

In an explanation of Ruth 2:14, `He’ is speaking of the king Messiah: `Come hither draw near to the throne; and eat of the bread,’ that is, the bread of the kingdom; `and dip thy morsel in the vinegar,’ refers to the chastisement, as it is said, `But He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.’

In the same manner also in the Yalkut, a later midrash, we read:

`Who are thou, O great mountain?’ (Zechariah 4:7). This refers to the King Messiah. And why does he call Him the great mountain? Because He is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, `My servant shall be high, and lifted up, and lofty exceedingly.’ He will be higher than Abraham who says, `I raise high my hand unto the Lord’ (Gen. 14:22); lifted up above Moses, to whom it is said, `Lift it up into thy bosom’ (Numbers 11:12); loftier than the ministering angels, of whom it is written, `Their wheels were lofty and terrible’ (Ezekiel 1:18). And out of whom does He come forth? Out of David

These are a few of the ancient interpretations ascribing this chapter to the suffering and exalted Messiah. The only one who met all these qualifications was Jesus of Nazareth.

CONSISTENCY

Although our Jewish ancient authorities interpreted this passage as referring to Messiah, some of the later rabbis, of whom the most prominent was Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki (Rashi) (1040-1105), began to interpret the passage as referring to Israel. They knew that the older interpretations ascribed it to Messiah, but probably wanted to prevent their people from accepting a faith associated with a degenerate medieval “Christianity.” Although their intentions were sincere, other prominent Jewish rabbis and leaders realized the inconsistencies of Rashi’s interpretation. They presented a threefold justified objection to his innovation. First, they pointed out the consensus of ancient opinion. Secondly, they pointed out that the text is in singular. Thirdly, they pointed to verse eight, “For the transgressions of my people was he smitten,” and said that “my people” must be Israel for whom the LORD’s servant suffers.

R. Moshe Kohen explains the section:

This passage, the commentators explain, speaks of the captivity of Israel, although the singular number is used in it throughout. Others have supposed it to mean the just in this present world, who are crushed and oppressed now … but these too, for the same reason, by altering the number, distort the verses from their natural meaning. And then it seemed to me that … having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers, and inclined `after the stubbornness of their own hearts,’ and of their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, of the King Messiah.

For the same reason, Rabbi Moshe Alsheikh, Rabbi of Safed, during the late sixteenth century, points out this truth saying:

I may remark, then, that our Rabbis with one voice accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet is speaking of the King Messiah.

Much to the point is the commentary of the great Jewish educator Herz Homberg (1749-1841), who says: According to the opinion of Rashi and Ibn Ezra, it relates to Israel at the end of their captivity. But if so, what can be the meaning of the passage, `He was wounded for our transgression’? Who was wounded? Who are the transgressors? Who carried the sickness and bare the pain? The fact is that it refers to King Messiah.

Here let me add that the ones who interpreted the passage as referring to Israel had an insurmountable difficulty in verse eight which reads:

He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation, for he was cut off of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Were the Jewish people, God forbid, ever cut off from the land of the living? No, we are proud that Am Yisrael chai – “The people of Israel are much alive” and, in Jeremiah 31:35-37, God promised that they will exist forever. It is again impossible to say that Israel suffered for the transgressions of “my people” which clearly means Isaiah’s people. Surely Isaiah’s people are not the Gentiles, but the Jews. Then consistency demands that we interpret this chapter as referring to Messiah.

CONCLUSION

One of our greatest Jewish religious poets paraphrased this chapter into rhyme and metric poetry. It is recited in the Yom Kippur prayer of Kether:

Messiah, our righteousness, hath turned from us: we are in terror and there is none to justify us! Our iniquities and the yoke of our transgressions He did bear for He was wounded for our transgressions: He carries our sins upon His shoulders, that we may find forgiveness for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed. O eternal One, the time is come to make a new creation: from the vault of heaven bring Him up, out of Seir draw Him forth, that He may make His voice heard to us in Lebanon, a second time by the hand of Yinnon (One of Messiah’s names will be Yinnon according to rabbinic interpretation of Psalm 72:19).

Who else can it be except Jesus the Messiah?! Receive Him into your heart today and your sins will be forgiven by His Korban, for He was wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities.

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