#99 Isaiah 53 in its original translation + Dr. Kevin Grasso

Isaiah 53 as an Exilic Servant Song

Today, we will be going line by line for Isaiah 53. I brought in an expert, Dr. Kevin Grosso. So where do translations, when you look at Isaiah 53, change the meaning that we're kind of seeing on the surface?

I would say that it is about the suffering servant ending the exile. Wait, say that again? The introduction of the servant is about his exaltation. He is going to bring salvation.

He's going to bring end of exile. Whoa, I, so much. Wow. We've never connected that. Okay, so what in your opinion is it about? Hello, hello. Welcome to Biblically Speaking. My name is Cassian Bellino and I'm your host.

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I'm your host, Cassian Bellino. Today, we will be doing something that I've never done before, but we will be going line by line for Isaiah 53, a very famous chapter in the book of Isaiah. And we're going to put us in the mind of those who have heard it 2000 years ago by understanding it through the scope of original translations, context, and what's really going on.

So we can actually glean that if I was there when Isaiah 53 was found, even in the caves of Qumran and the ancient scrolls, I would have read this and said, wow, look at everything that's layered in here.

Because right now when I read it, if I'm being honest as a quote Sunday school Christian in the way that I like to say it, there's so much here that kind of goes over my head. I don't fully understand it.

There's not enough of today's context for me to fully grasp what's trying to be said here. And I don't want to leave any God on the table, if you know what I'm saying. So I brought in an expert and you're a repeat guest.

You've come on and you've helped me understand, I think we did like eight different translations in the original translation, but we have Dr. Kevin Grosso. Dr. Grosso, you are a biblical scholar. You're a linguist and you have a PhD in Hebrew language from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

You hold a master's degree in linguistics and you focus on biblical Hebrew verbal systems. And you have a master's degree in comparative religion. You focus on Paul, simple, typical Judaism. And you are the co-founder and CEO of Bimblingo, which is an innovative platform for learning biblical Greek and Hebrew while reading the Bible.

Welcome back to the show. Thanks, it's great to be here, Cassian. Okay, so for those that don't really know Isaiah 53, what, in your opinion, is it about? Like what's the general synopsis of this chapter?

Yeah, so that's a good question. I think it's an important question because this is a very common text that's read around Easter, Good Friday time. And people have a lot of opinions about what it's actually about.

I actually, I was mentioning offline that I taught my Sunday school class this text and we did two weeks on it. And the first thing I did actually was ask them that question, is what is Isaiah 53 about?

Because I wanted to hear from them, what are we already thinking about what this text is trying to tell us? And a lot of it, sort of obviously, is about the sacrifice of Jesus, right? That was the prototypical answer.

And I think that there's a lot of truth to that. But the question then is like, what does that actually mean? And so, if I were to describe it, just to kind of like give my answer, I would say that it is about the suffering servant ending the exile.

That's what I think it's about. So I think the exile context is the context in which Isaiah 53 is set. And that context is sort of what drives the whole passage. And I think it's the one that's normally missed today by ordinary everyday Sunday school Christians, right?

I mean, I think that is, we normally don't think of it in those terms.

The Exile Context in Isaiah 52

Yeah, I mean, we're gonna read this entire chapter, but before we like approach it, what are we kind of sitting in preemptively? Like what's happening in chapter 52? Because I can look at the Bible right now and you know, like the headline for this is the suffering servant.

So like me as a Christian opening up to Isaiah 53, it's like, okay, suffering glory of the servant. Like, why are we talking about Jesus as a suffering servant? You know, what is Isaiah doing here? Because Isaiah hasn't met Jesus yet.

So what is he going on about? Are people even confused what he's talking about? Yeah, yeah.

So great question. So basically in Isaiah as a whole, okay, there are these servant songs. And scholars have identified four of them. Even though the third one only kind of counts, it doesn't actually mention servant in the same way.

But basically these servant songs are addressed to this servant who is going to do something connected to exile. And this servant has been honestly, again, interpreted in various ways. Some people say that the servant is Israel.

Some people say that the servant is Messiah. And you see these different interpretations very early on. So for example, Isaiah 42 is one of them. The Aramaic translation of Isaiah 42 one explicitly says that the servant is the Messiah.

And the Greek translation of Isaiah 42 explicitly says that the servant is Israel. So you see, these are ancient translations done Oh, that's confusing. Right, exactly. And so scholars have still debated this, right?

And it is confusing in the text because there are times when the servant is just called Israel or Jacob. And then there are other times where it seems like the servant is distinct from Israel or Jacob.

So it is confusing. But this last servant song, right, is set in this exile context. So if you go back to Isaiah 52 verse seven, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.

Okay, and this is the ESV translation. So Paul quotes this verse, right? Again, very well-known verse. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news. But the question is, bring good news to what and to whom and what is the news, right?

The news is that your God reigns or your God has become king. The news is that God has become king again. Well, where, I mean, wasn't he king before? The next verse answers this question. The voice of your watchman, they lift up their voice.

Together, they sing for joy. For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord or the return of Yahweh to Zion. So Yahweh should be in Zion. That's where he lives, that's where the temple is, right? But he's not there.

He's not there because the people are in exile. So they come back from exile, right? And now Yahweh is reigning again in Zion from his temple. That's the context in which this servant song is set. Does that make sense?

So Isaiah is basically prophesying that that's what's happening. He's talking to these people that are in exile and he's like, when you guys come out of this, don't worry. Our Messiah is going to be reigning in a temple in Zion.

He's kind of giving them like pieces.

Of comfort and encouragement. Right, exactly. So there are a couple of, you know, sort of problems with this or things you have to work through, I should say. You know, Isaiah, the prophet lived a couple hundred years or 150 years before the Babylonian exile actually happened.

Okay? Oh, okay. Yeah, even more confusing. Yes, yes. So he's in the 700s. Babylonian exile starts in 586.

So when people, when he's like talking about exile, where people are like, Isaiah, what are you talking about? We're going to be exiled? Were they freaking out?

Right, so this is where, you know, some scholars have said, starting in Isaiah 40 through, you know, the rest of Isaiah, you have second Isaiah, right? And so this part of Isaiah is actually written by another Isaiah that is a different Isaiah.

What? So, or not Isaiah at all, right? So this is the, this is the What do I do with that? Well, yeah, so honestly, you can't really prove it either way. What you can say is that it's very clear that starting in Isaiah 40, the context is set in exile.

Okay? So that is, that's clear. So the question is, right? Again, I wouldn't want to take a stance on how you work that out. Again, scholars have done it in different ways. You can say, for example, you know, obviously, like, and I think this is, I mean, true of most Christians, right?

That we're just okay with Isaiah talking about a time that isn't his own and speaking in facts, right? Because that's what prophets do. So that's just one way to think about it. Another way to think about it would be that someone else wrote, you know, Isaiah 40 through 66.

It got, you know, added on to what Isaiah wrote in one through 39. Again, those kinds of questions, I think are difficult to answer. And honestly, the text only helps you some, but it is clear from all sides that starting in Isaiah 40, the context is exile.

And so the people need to be comforted. They're in exile and they need to ultimately return to the land, right? And this is where we are right now in this section of Isaiah is like, the people need to come back to the land.

They need the good news that Yahweh is gonna reign again in Zion and they are gonna be there for it. Does that make sense?

I mean, a little, I think it's confusing because it hasn't happened yet. So they're needing comfort for something that hasn't happened, but it's almost, so Isaiah, would it be fair to say that like the book of Isaiah is just like prophecy because it hasn't happened.

So he's talking about things should give them comfort of things that are to come.

Yeah, certainly, right? I mean, yes. And again, I think the question of, you know, did Isaiah write it? I mean, again, to me, it is not as relevant because it is actually unanswerable, right? We can't answer the question of who wrote it.

And it's just, it's okay if, even if Isaiah didn't write it, right? I mean, does that mean it's not prophecy? No, right? Yeah, it's still God-braved. Right, exactly. We don't know this unnamed prophet whose work got attached to the end of Isaiah's, but who cares, right?

That doesn't necessarily mean it's not God's word, right? And so I think that's the, just my perspective, right? Is that those, like I said, those questions aren't really answerable. It is clear that this context is about comforting the people in exile.

And so just, so Isaiah is talking, just so like we understand the speakers here, Isaiah is talking, Isaiah one or two, or not Isaiah, and he's talking to people in what country?

So yeah, so they would have been in Babylon.

Oh, people, but they're not in exile yet. Well, right, exactly.

So that's the whole point, right? Is that they are, the setting is exile. So again, and we can do this, I mean, literally we can do this all the time, right? I mean, I can put myself in another world or another time, right, just by virtue of saying, you know, the year is 1941, America has just entered World War II, right?

Oh, I see. And so I just said, okay, this is the time we're talking about now, and America hasn't just entered World War II, but if I say the year is 1941, right, you put yourself there, right? And so the point is that in this context, like we're in exile, that's where we are.

That's what's being described. So again, how you work that out with, you know, whether Isaiah wrote it as a prediction or that someone else wrote it doesn't really matter. For the question of the text, it is clear that this is an exilic text.

Okay, I really appreciate you saying that because it took a while for me to grasp onto that, and now I do, so thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what I wanna do is, I wanna read through Isaiah 53. Do you think it'd be more helpful for us to read 52 first or the context there?

I think we should at least start in, start at 52 .7, which we already read. So we could start at 52 .7. The actual servant song starts in 52 .13. So if you look at like most English translations, actually have the heading start at 52 .13.

So I would say that 52 .7 is the right place to start, at least. I mean, obviously, you know, the right places. Isaiah chapter one and work your way through it, but we don't have time for that, probably.

So if you want, I can read it or you can read it, whatever you would like. Yeah, you read it. You know where the emphasis is. Okay, yeah. So I'll start in 52 .7 again. You can sing it if you want to. Just kidding.

Yeah, I don't want to, so we'll be okay. And you'll be okay too. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.

The voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy. For eye to eye, they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem.

For the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing.

Go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out in haste and you shall not go in flight for the Lord will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The Servant's Exaltation and the Meaning of His Silence

Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him. For that which has not been told them, they see and that which they have not heard, they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him.

Sorry. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away and as for his generation, who consider that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief.

When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.

Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Okay, thank you for reading that. I think it's so nice to just spend some time reading the straight word rather than referencing it. Sometimes people listen and they're like, I don't know what we're talking about.

But so I was kind of, I would love to know what pops out for you. I mean, you obviously know a lot more, but honestly what pops out for me is how many times they mentioned his mouth. I understand the difference in cadence once we get to verse 13, right?

When we start talking about the suffering servant, it's almost like Isaiah's talking to some people in exile and then he's like, but let me tell you about Jesus. And he doesn't say Jesus outright, but he's clearly talking about Jesus.

And this is such a good example of everything in the Old Testament points towards Jesus. And so we're reading and I do feel like, it's kind of like that muscle memory as a Christian. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's perfect in every way. And like, he took it and he did not complain and he is the best, you know? That's like a superficial way to talk about those verbs. But in just like a Sunday school mindset, it's like, why do they keep talking about his mouth?

That to me was like three repetitions there. Is there significance?

The Messiah's Mouth, Power, and Silence

Yeah. It's actually very interesting that you bring that up. So in Second Temple Judaism, so what I mean when I am talking about that, really, the Judaism around Jesus' day, we'll just call it that. There was a good bit of discussion around, like in the Messianic text that we have, there are often discussions around the mouth of the Messiah because he is someone who like has the ability like to, like his words are powerful.

His words do things, okay? Oh. So as an example, Isaiah 11 is a text that is like, a Messianic text that in Jesus' time was one of the most important Messianic texts we have. So, you know, it talks about him judging not by what his eyes see or deciding disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

And he shall strike the earth with the rot of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. So there is a lot of emphasis on, really on the power of the Messiah to bring about the world or create the world through his mouth, right?

Through speaking. And this is a theme that is obviously like in scripture in many, many places, but obviously in Genesis one, right? Is the, probably the most important example of this is God speaking the world into existence.

And so, you know, Isaiah is picking up on this idea and saying that the Messiah will have this sort of power in his mouth. And then in Isaiah 53, the point would be that the servant doesn't use it, right?

Like he doesn't open his mouth when he could and when it would be powerful, but instead he lets people kill him, right? I mean, that's the whole point.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. That makes sense. I mean, it's just a kind reminder, you know, like the power of his words and his speech and even just like the words that he's given to us, like words do have power.

So it's interesting to see it and then be like, oh yeah, of course, that's what it means. So where do translations, when you look at Isaiah 53, change the meaning that we're kind of seeing on the surface?

Translation Differences in Isaiah 53:14

Yeah. So Isaiah 53, I'll just say upfront, is one of the hardest texts in Hebrew. And it is very difficult. There are a number of like very debatable ways to translate things. So we can just start in, honestly, I think a good example of this is 52 14, right?

So again, if you think about the beginning of the servant's song is in 52 13. And so, I don't know, are you reading from the ESV?

No, NIV. So I was like jumping around a bit.

So you read me your verse 14.

Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.

Okay. So this in, this phrase like his appearance was so disfigured is what you said? Yes. Okay. So I'll read the Septuagint, right? So the Septuagint is an ancient Greek translation. Okay. So again, this is like, you know, second century BC.

In the same way that many will be amazed at you, so he will despise your appearance. So it's not that his appearance will be disfigured, but he will despise your appearance on account of men and your glory on account of men.

So it's just completely different. The Targum says, just as the house of Israel who is in darkness, so the Targum, sorry, backing up is an Aramaic translation. Again, ancient Aramaic translation. Just as the house of Israel who was in darkness among the nations hoped on him for many days, their appearance and their children is more than the children of men.

So there's no talk of being, yes, exactly. There's no talk of being disfigured. But the normal way to translate it in English is to use some sort of marred, disfigured sort of language. And it comes from a Hebrew word.

So just like backing up a second, you know. What do we do with that?

Right. What do we do with different meanings in the Bible from different translations?

Well, okay. So really the question is, there's two questions, right? There is like, really, the entire question is about what does the original mean, right? And so one question is like, what did the original actually say?

Like, what are the Hebrew letters that are there? Okay. And that question is based on the manuscripts that we have. Okay. And then there's the question of how to interpret it. So those different, yeah, yeah.

So if you look at the Qumran manuscripts, okay? So there are several manuscripts of Isaiah at Qumran. There is one that we call 1Q Isaiah A, okay? So in 1Q Isaiah A, this is the text. It says, as many as were astonished at you, so I anointed his appearance beyond others and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

So in Hebrew, this, so I anointed, and what you're seeing in your translation as marred is a one letter difference. So it's either marred or I anointed. So in Hebrew, it would be, so like in the normal sort of Hebrew called the Masoretic text that we have, it says, ken mishkat me 'ish mar 'ehu, ken mishkat.

And then, but in Qumran, it says, mashakhti. Okay, mishkat, mashakhti. You can hear it sounds like very similar, right? So here's the point is there's debate and there's discrepancies between the Hebrew manuscripts that we have.

So if you follow one Hebrew manuscript, most English translations are gonna follow the Hebrew manuscript, mishkat, okay? Which says anointed. Which says marred or transfigured, right? According to their interpretation of it, right?

Even that is debated. Okay, but then the Qumran manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, at least one of them says mashakhti. And that means I anointed. So the problem is we have to decide as a translator, right?

So you have to have to put this into English, right? You have to decide, do I go with this Hebrew manuscript or this other Hebrew manuscript, right? Imagine, again, imagine you are, do you know any other languages other than English?

No. Okay, so imagine you are looking at two versions of the same book. Let's say the man was cooking by the bat, okay? So if you substitute the letter B in bat for cat, the man was cooking by the cat, right?

You have two different sentences, two different meanings, right? So imagine if you were printing, if you were copying, let's say you're copying, right? To an entire book by hand, right? And you accidentally said the man was cooking by the cat rather than bat.

And you were supposed to say bat. And then hundreds of years later, you have these two books and you have to decide which one is right. Which one did the author actually intend, right? Does that make sense?

We don't know, right? You are looking, Cassian, hundreds of years later at these two books and it's a one letter difference, right? So how do you decide between whether the text is supposed to say bat or cat?

Right. You use context? Yeah, you can use context, right? So then you would look outside of it and you say, okay, what are we talking about? Are we talking about bats or are we talking about cats? Are we talking about, you know, what exactly are we?

Well, this is tough because it's kind of talking about like how much struggle Jesus overcame. Like it would make sense that he was marred. It would make sense that he was so down and so hurt that he still overcame, but yet he's anointed.

We do want to highlight his holiness.

Right. So, okay, so that's one problem, right? Okay, so let's just think about this for a second. Just read verse 13, 52, 13, just that one.

See, my servant will act wisely. He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

Okay, so if you were to just read that verse, what are you expecting is going to happen?

He's anointed. You're going to keep talking about his goodness. Right. You're going to keep going up. Why don't we pivot down to be like, and ugly? Like, we just go down. Exactly. Now read verse 15. So he will sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of him for what they were not told they will see and what they have not heard they will understand.

Again, he's above human intelligence. You can't even fathom where he's at.

Right, so if you look at 13 and 15, right, the verses surrounding 14, there's no mention of him being like bad in any way. It's the exact opposite, right? Right, right. And so, and so, and, and the sprinkling in 15.

So, so what was that? Why are we talking about sprinkling? Right. He'll sprinkle many nations. What's that? So, so great question, right? So, so the sprinkling is almost certainly a reference to anointing, right?

You anoint, you sprinkle with oil and you make the nations holy. Okay, but then, but then it makes way more sense to be talking about him as someone who was anointed, right? Rather than him as someone who's disfigured, right?

So the idea is that he is someone who was anointed and then he spreads that anointing to other nations. So that seems to fit the context much better than the mooring interpretation, okay? The, the, on the other side of it, right?

If you keep going in Isaiah, we see that the servant suffers, right? And so the question is, right? Should you read verse 14 as more in the context of 13 through 15 or the rest of Isaiah 53, like in 53 too, right?

For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. So if you wanna prioritize that context, then you might say, oh, maybe Mard makes more sense in 52, 14, right?

If you wanna prioritize the immediate context of 52, 13 and 15, you'd probably say anointed.

I don't mean to like skip to the end, but like neither one changes. Neither one changes the entire like dogma of who Jesus is and what he does. You know, like this is almost just fun. This is almost like just we're playing, you know?

We're just playing in the word of like, could it be this or this? But it doesn't really matter because it doesn't change the character or what Jesus does. And I don't wanna like spoil it, but it's like, guys, like we're not gonna end up hating the Bible at the end of this conversation.

Like this just is so wonderful how much history there is here.

Yeah, yeah. And I would say, I think that is exactly the right way to view it. We do want it to, we want to understand it the right way, right? Because it is God's word. And we wanted to understand exactly what God said, right?

We don't want to misinterpret it. But at the same time, like whether you interpret Isaiah 52, 14 as his appearance being marred or him being anointed, right? It's not gonna change Jesus, right? And who he is and the fact that he is the anointed king, right?

And that is the important point. And he has suffered. So I think that, but so this is honestly a very, very small example. And we could probably talk for the next 20 minutes about just this. Really?

Yeah. But, but. I'm like, do we cover? Where else? Where else do you like lose it? Well, okay.

The Servant Bears the Covenant Curses

So a couple of things, right? So I think what this brings up is the fact that we often read Isaiah 53 as a text about suffering. And while that is true, the introduction of the servant is about his exaltation.

Right?

Wait, say that again? The introduction of a servant is his exaltation?

The introduction of the servant is about his exaltation. So what we read in 52, 13 is behold, you know, my servant, he's gonna be exalted, right? And so when we understand it that way, we realize that Jesus is, or this predicted Messiah, right?

And again, Isaiah is not thinking Jesus. We know that after the fact, but he is thinking that this Messiah is going to be exalted through suffering. Right? And I think that is the important point is that, and what we don't often understand because we think of suffering as, we normally connect it with forgiveness, rightfully so, but we don't think of it as exaltation normally.