-Caveat Lector-
Wow. At least two people (notably John H. Taylor and Robert Tatman) jumped
in with the correct response, in BALLPARK terms, but NEITHER zeroed in on the
RELEVANT passages in the Old Testament regarding the UGLINESS of the
"Suffering Servant" -- allegedly Jesus Christ, as Biblical "prophecy" sees
it. And predictably, even the correct passages in Mr Taylor's post, from
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/j4j-2000/index.html, SKIP OVER the relevant
verses, OBFUSCATING the entire issue beneath a numbing smokescreen of
secondary pious "interpretation" and cross-references. How typical!
Okay, let's look right at the statements in question, used to argue that the
"Messiah" or "Christ" was or will be UGLY, and was SHUNNED for his ugliness
and/or his "disease."
(Taylor's post is included at the end, so you can watch our AVOIDANCE of the
fact.)
Isaiah 52:13-15 and 53:2-6 et seq., KING JAMES translation:
52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be
exalted and extolled, and be very high.
52:14 As many were astonied at thee; HIS VISAGE WAS SO MARRED
MORE THAN ANY MAN, and HIS FORM [MARRED] MORE THAN THE SONS OF
MEN:
52:15 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.
...
53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a
root, out of a dry ground: HE HATH NO FORM NOR COMELINESS; and
WHEN WE SHALL SEE HIM, THERE IS NO BEAUTY that we should DESIRE
him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and WE HID AS IT WERE OUR FACES FROM HIM;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all.
________________________________________________________
From the HEBREW (Masoretic text), literally translated into English:
52:13 Watch, my servant who shall minister wisely will be lifted
up and held high, greatly -- as (great) as the 'disfigurement'
[MShChTh] of his appearance among (other) men and of his form
among (other) human beings -- to the astonishment of many.
52:14 Thus he 'sprinkles' [=a "purifying" gesture] many (other)
nations -- (Because) on (seeing} him, kings will be speechless,
since they will be witnessing something they had never been told
about and contemplating (something) they had never heard of.
...
53:2 (He was) without stature or attractiveness that might cause
anyone to notice him, and without impressive appearance that
might cause anyone to admire him.
53:3 (He was) despised and rejected by people, a man of woes,
having much experience of pain. Others averted their eyes
from him in disgust, not seeing anything worthwhile in him.
53:4 (But) even while we regarded {him} as (one whom) God had
punished (as if) with the plague and misforune, (it was) really
OUR pain he held high and OUR woes he carried around.
53:5 He was humiliated by OUR misdeeds, (he was) tormented from
OUR wickedness. In him (there existed) an offense to our peace
of mind, so by 'whipping' HIM, (we) felt OURSELVES 'restored.'
53:6 (We are) all like sheep gone astray, (every) man having
turned aside his eyes to {pursue} his (own) course -- but through
HIM, YHWH has made us encounter the wickedness in all of US.
_________________________________________________________
KJV 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
KJV 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who
shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land
of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken.
KJV 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the
rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth.
KJV 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him
to grief: when thou shalt 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.
KJV 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
KJV 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors.
___________________________________________________________
Was the ugliness --the "disfigurement," hence a PRONOUNCED
ugliness-- of the "Suffering Servant" described herein merely
metaphorical, only symbolic? (Since the entire passage is now
read by Messianic Jews as well as by Fundamentalist Christians as
a symbolic description of "God's People," FIGURATIVELY maimed and
afflicted by historic circumstances, awaiting the "redemption" to
be brought them by the coming of the Messiah or Christ.)
If his ugliness is "only symbolic," then logically, the
OTHER "literal" descriptions here of the life of the "Suffering
Servant" --his capture, his imprisonment, and his disgraceful
death-- must be "only symbolic" TOO, right?
No? Then only PART of the "prophecy" is LITERALLY true,
while the REST of it must be UNTRUE, just "figurative"?
A case of SELECTIVE "literalness" ... So, Christians get to
"pick and choose," deciding what, by their own judgment, they can
"believe" and what they NEED NOT believe written in "God's Word"?
The "out" for LITERALIST Jews is to attribute the foregoing
description of the "Servant" to MOSES, who was always referred to
as "My Servant" AND who was described, in one place in the Old
Testament, as more or less "disfigured," since, after seeing God
on Mt Sinai, Moses found it necessary to cover HIS face with a
veil, lest others see its condition. (Some have speculated that
he suffered leprosy-like "radiation burns" from that encounter!)
More reasonably, according to Biblical scholars (see, e.g.,
"The Oxford Companion to the Bible"), the "Suffering Servant"
description MIGHT apply to ANOTHER historic figure -- either
Jehoiachin or Jehoiakim of the House of David, the last heirs to
the throne of Israel, who were imprisoned (and possibly tortured)
in Babylon after the Fall of Jerusalem ca. 58X BC. The king in
exile --as representative of Israel, punished LITERALLY for the
"sins" of his people by the King of Babylon, and held hostage as
an example to them all-- assumed near-legendary status among the
Jews left behind in Jerusalem, who believed that God would set
him free and he would return in glory to Jerusalem, a "Messiah."
(Such hopes, leading to popular "prophecies," are mentioned in
Jer 28:3-4.) He did in fact return and re-assume the throne of
Israel (but under the thumb and watchful eye of foreign rulers)
but, oddly, the Old Testament OMITS noting what happened next ...
Only Josephus, in his "Antiquities of the Jews" (x:97), tells us
what the historical record said -- he was killed and his corpse
thrown over Jerusalem's city walls. His death had in fact been
predicted by Jeremiah, whose COUNTER-prophecies in opposition to
"court prophets" of the House of David were not believed until
too late, and who HIMSELF was arrested, imprisoned, and scorned.
In that case, the argument goes, the "Suffering Servant"
could have been the King (Jehoiachin or Jehoiakim) returning "in
glory," for awhile leading a revival of faith in God's mercy --
but afterward, embarrassingly, FAILING in his "mission" and
coming to an ignominious end, which led to him being "deleted"
from Biblical history. Nevertheless, some of the "prophecies"
regarding him survived and were edited to be less SPECIFIC and
more GENERAL in their rebuke and their "Messianic" message ...
The portion of the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah lived in the 8th
Century BC) which is referred to by scholars as "Second Isaiah"
is often attributed to a "disciple" writing in the 6th Century BC
-- just coincidentally, the time of Jehoiachin and Jehoiakim ...
"Second Isaiah" is distinguished from the rest of Isaiah by
semantic differences, under the standard literary criteria for
authorship applied by scholars, as well as certain differences in
CONTENT which set it apart from the genuine writings of Isaiah,
the prophet who "anointed" King Hezekiah (his son-in-law, by the
way!) as future Messiah, just as John the Baptist chose Jesus.
Under the tutelage of Isaiah, Hezekiah REFORMED the Judahite
Temple-religion, purging it of Northern Israelite practices, and
succeeded in "saving" God's Chosen People when under siege by the
Assyrian Empire. For these accomplishments, many JEWS accept
Hezekiah as having truly been MESSIAH -- "a," not "the," Messiah.
In ISAIAH's "prophecies," the "Messiah" is described in
different terms than those preferred by "Second Isaiah" (perhaps
a grandson of the prophet) in descriptions of HIS "Messiah,"
although --both being in the "Messianic" spirit and both being
written in the same century-- there ARE common denominators TOO.
The precise distinctions and similarities are too technical to
merit an incursion into Biblical exegesis, OFF-TOPIC on CTRL.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is the modern Jewish view
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/j4j-2000/index.html
ISAIAH 53
At JEWS FOR JUDAISM, we frequently encounter questions from Jews who are
involved in or considering Christianity. Among the questions, one chapter of
our Jewish Scriptures keeps coming up: Isaiah 53. Wasn't the Prophet, in
fact, referring to Jesus in this chapter? And didn't all Jews before the
Middle Ages recognize this chapter as "messianic"? We hope to assist you in
interpreting a chapter which has become a cornerstone of Christian
evangelism to Jews.
<snip>
C. ISAIAH 53
In the original Hebrew texts, there are no chapter divisions, and Jew and
Christian alike agree that chapter 53 is actually a continuation of the
prophecy which begins at 52:13. Accordingly, our analysis must begin at that
verse.
52:13 "Behold, My servant will prosper." Israel in the singular is called
G-D's servant throughout Isaiah, both explicitly (Isa. 41:8-9; 44:1-2; 45:4;
48:20; 49:3) and implicitly (Isa. 42:19-20; 43:10) - the Messiah is not.
Other references to Israel as G-D's servant include Jer. 30:10 (note that in
Jer. 30:17, the servant Israel is regarded by the nations as an outcast,
forsaken by G-D, as in Isa. 53:4); Jer. 46:27-28; Ps. 136:22; Lk. 1:54.
ALSO: Given the Christian view that Jesus is G-D, is G-D His own servant?
52:15 - 53:1 "So shall he (the servant) startle many nations, the kings will
stand speechless; For that which had not been told them they shall see and
that which they had not heard shall they ponder. Who would believe what we
have heard?" Quite clearly, the nations and their kings will be amazed at
what happens to the "servant of the L-rd," and they will say "who would
believe what we have heard?". 52:15 tells us explicitly that it is the
nations of the world, the gentiles, who are doing the talking in Isaiah 53.
See, also, Micah 7:12-17, which speaks of the nations' astonishment when the
Jewish people again blossom in the Messianic age.
53:1 "And to whom has the arm of the L-rd been revealed?" In Isaiah, and
throughout our Scriptures, G-D's "arm" refers to the physical redemption of
the Jewish people from the oppression of other nations (see, e.g., Isa.
52:8-12; Isa. 63:12; Deut. 4:34; Deut. 7:19; Ps. 44:3).
53:3 "Despised and rejected of men." While this is clearly applicable to
Israel (see Isa. 60:15; Ps. 44:13-14), it cannot be reconciled with the New
Testament account of Jesus, a man who was supposedly "praised by all" (Lk.
4:14-15) and followed by multitudes (Matt. 4:25), who would later acclaim
him as a prophet upon his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9-11).
Even as he was taken to be crucified, a multitude bemoaned his fate (Lk.
23:27). Jesus had to be taken by stealth, as the rulers feared "a riot of
the people" (Mk. 14:1-2).
53:3 "A man of pains and acquainted with disease." Israel's adversities are
frequently likened to sickness - see, e.g., Isa. 1:5-6; Jer. 10:19; Jer
30:12.
53:4 "Surely our diseases he carried and our pains he bore." In Matt. 8:17,
this is correctly translated, and said to be literally (not spiritually)
fulfilled in Jesus' healing of the sick, a reading inconsistent with the
Christian mistranslation of 53:4 itself.
53:4 "Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of G- D and
afflicted." See Jer. 30:17 - of G-D's servant Israel (30:10), it is said by
the nations, "It is Zion; no one cares for her."
53:5 "But he was wounded from (NOTE: not for) our transgressions, he was
crushed from (AGAIN: not for) our iniquities." Whereas the nations had
thought the Servant (Israel) was undergoing Divine retribution for its sins
(53:4), they now realize that the Servant's sufferings stemmed from their
actions and sinfulness. This theme is further developed throughout our
Jewish Scriptures - see, e.g., Jer. 50:7; Jer. 10:25. ALSO: Note that the
Messiah "shall not fail nor be crushed till he has set the right in the
earth" (Isa. 42:4).
53:7 "He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before
its shearers, so he did not open his mouth." Note that in the prior chapter
(Isa. 52), Israel is said to have been oppressed and taken away without
cause (52:4-5). A similar theme is developed in Psalm 44, wherein King David
speaks of Israel's faithfulness even in the face of gentile oppression
(44:17- 18) and describes Israel as "sheep to be slaughtered" in the midst
of the unfaithful gentile nations (44:22,11).
Regarding the claim that Jesus "did not open his mouth" when faced with
oppression and affliction, see Matt. 27:46, Jn. 18:23, 36-37.
53:8 "From dominion and judgement he was taken away." Note the correct
translation of the Hebrew. The Christians are forced to mistranslate, since
- by Jesus' own testimony - he never had any rights to rulership or
judgement, at least not on the "first coming." See, e.g., Jn. 3:17; Jn.
8:15; Jn. 12:47; Jn. 18:36.
53:8 "He was cut off out of the land of the living."
53:9 "His grave was assigned with wicked men." See Ez. 37:11-14, wherein
Israelis described as "cut off" and G-D promises to open its "graves" and
bring Israel back into its own land. Other examples of figurative deaths
include Ex. 10:17; 2 Sam. 9:8; 2 Sam. 16:9.
53:8 "From my peoples' sins, there was injury to them." Here the Prophet
makes absolutely clear, to anyone familiar with Biblical Hebrew, that the
oppressed Servant is a collective Servant, not a single individual. The
Hebrew word "lamoh", when used in our Scriptures, always means "to them"
never "to him" and may be found, for example, in Psalm 99:7 - "They kept his
testimonies, and the statute that He gave to them."
53:9 "And with the rich in his deaths." Perhaps King James should have
changed the original Hebrew, which again makes clear that we are dealing
with a collective Servant, i.e., Israel, which will "come to life" when the
exile ends (Ez. 37:14).
53:9 "He had done no violence." See Matt. 21:12; Mk. 11:15-16; Lk. 19:45;
Lk. 19:27; Matt. 10:34 and Lk. 12:51; then judge for yourself whether this
passage is truly consistent with the New Testament account of Jesus.
53:10 "He shall see his seed." The Hebrew word for "seed", used in this
verse, always refers to physical descendants in our Jewish Scriptures. See,
e.g., Gen. 12:7; Gen. 15:13; Gen. 46:6; Ex. 28:43. A different word,
generally translated as "sons", is used to refer to spiritual descendants
(see Deut. 14:1, e.g.).
53:10 "He will prolong his days." Not only did Jesus die young, but how
could the days be prolonged of someone who is alleged to be G-D?
53:11 "With his knowledge the righteous one, my Servant, will cause many to
be just." Note again the correct translation: the Servant will cause many to
be just, he will not "justify the many." The Jewish mission is to serve as a
"light to the nations" which will ultimately lead the world to a knowledge
of the one true G-D, this both by example (Deut. 4:5-8; Zech. 8:23) and by
instructing the nations in G-D's Law (Isa. 2:3-4; Micah 4:2-3).
53:12 "Therefore, I will divide a portion to him with the great, and he
shall divide the spoil with the mighty." If Jesus is G-D, does the idea of
reward have any meaning? Is it not rather the Jewish people - who
righteously bore the sins of the world and yet remained faithful to G-D (Ps.
44) - who will be rewarded, and this in the manner described more fully in
Isaiah chapters 52 and 54?
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