The servant songs (also called the servant poems or the Songs of the Suffering Servant) are four songs in the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...
poem
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
s written about a certain "servant of
YHWH
The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from right to left, a ...
" (, ''‘eḇeḏ Yahweh''). Yahweh calls the servant to lead the nations, but the servant is horribly abused by them. In the end, he is rewarded.
Some scholars regard Isaiah 61 as a fifth servant song, although the word "servant" (, ''‘eḇeḏ'') is not mentioned in the passage. This fifth song is largely disregarded by modern scholars; without it, all four fall within Deutero-Isaiah, the middle part of the book, which some believe to be the work of an anonymous 6th-century BCE author writing during the Babylonian Exile. The five songs were first identified by Bernhard Duhm in his 1892 commentary on Isaiah.
Jewish interpretation
The Self-Glorification Hymn from
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
asserts, from the first-person narrative, a messianic human who has been exalted into heaven with a status above the angels. This figure rhetorically asks "Who bears all griefs as I do? And who suffers evil like me? Who has been despised on my account?" to imply that he has been despised unlike anyone before, modelling himself on the suffering servant from Isaiah's servant songs.
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
sees this passage, especially "God's Suffering Servant" as a reference to the Jewish nation, not to the king Mashiach. Jewish teaching also takes note of the historical context in which God's Suffering Servant appears, particularly because it speaks in the past tense. The Jewish nation has borne unspeakable injustices, under
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
,
Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
,
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
, ancient
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, which are all gone, and bears persecution to this day.
Hebrew Bible
Jewish scripture in Isaiah speaks in the light, when it says:
: "But thou, Israel, My servant..." ()
: "Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen..." ()
: "By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due..." ()
: "Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant..." ()
See also Ramban in his disputation.
Talmud
* "The Messiah --what is his name?...The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, 'surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted...–
Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
: (Sanhedrin 98b)
* "Another explanation (of Ruth ii.14): -- He is speaking of 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,' this refers to his chastisements, as it is said, 'But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.–Midrash Ruth Rabbah
Modern Judaism
The modern Jewish interpretation of through describes the servant of the as the Nation of Israel itself: "My servant..." (), "... a man of pains and accustomed to illness ... " (). "The theme of Isaiah is jubilation, a song of celebration at the imminent end of the
Babylonian Captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurred ...
".
Christian interpretation
Christians traditionally see the servant as
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
."Servant Songs." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005 The songs are quoted to and applied to Jesus multiple times in the New Testament, as described in following sections. Another Christian interpretation combines aspects of the traditional Christian and the Jewish interpretation. This position sees the servant as an example of ' corporate personality', where an individual can represent a group, and vice versa. Thus, in this case, the servant corresponds to Israel, yet at the same time corresponds to an individual (that is, the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
) who represents Israel.
The first song
The first poem has God speaking of his selection of the servant who will bring justice to earth. Here the servant is described as God's agent of justice, a king who brings justice in both royal and prophetic roles, yet justice is established neither by proclamation nor by force. He does not ecstatically announce salvation in the marketplace as prophets were bound to do, but instead moves quietly and confidently to establish right religion Isaiah 42:1-4 .
The first four verses are quoted in Matthew's gospel, where it is said that the prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus' withdrawal from the cities of Galilee and his request that the crowds do not make him known.
The second song
The second poem, written from the servant's point of view, is an account of his prenatal calling by God to lead both Israel and the nations. The servant is now portrayed as the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
of the Lord equipped and called to restore the nation to God. Yet, anticipating the fourth song, he is without success. Taken with the picture of the servant in the first song, his success will come not by political or military action, but by becoming a light to the
gentile
''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...
s. Ultimately his victory is in God's hands Isaiah 49:1-6 is quoted by Simeon in concerning the infant Jesus Christ during the time of His mother Mary's purification.
The third song
The third poem has a darker yet more confident tone than the others. Although the song gives a first-person description of how the servant was beaten and abused, here the servant is described both as teacher and learner who follows the path God places him on without pulling back. Echoing the first song's "a bruised reed he will not break," he sustains the weary with a word. His vindication is left in God's hands Isaiah 50:4-9 is seen by New Testament commentators to be a Messianic prophecy of Jesus Christ. 50:6 is quoted in Handel's "Messiah" of Jesus. There is an allusion in Luke 9:51 to Isaiah 50:7 ("Therefore I have set my face like a flint"), as Jesus "set His face steadfastly" to go to Jerusalem.
The fourth song
The fourth of the servant songs begins at Isaiah 52:13, continuing through 53:12 where it continues the discussion of the suffering servant.
Christians consider this song to be clearly a messianic prophecy of Jesus as do the gospels themselves. Jesus quoted one sentence in Isaiah 53:12 of this 4th servant song as referring to himself in Luke 22:37, and the New Testament cites it as referring to Jesus Christ in Matthew 8:17, Mark 15:28, John 12:38, Acts 8:32–33, Romans 10:16, 15:21 and 1 Peter 2:22.
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
founder
John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
suggested that it is "so evident" that "it is Christ who is here spoken of".Wesley's Notes on the Bible on Isaiah 52, accessed 11 March 2017
The Servant has moved from being a king in the first song to being someone who is bearing, and being punished, for the sins of others. Christians understand this as referring to the whole of humanity, as is shown in , , and elsewhere. He has no descendants (53:8), was killed (53:8,9). Posthumously, then, the Servant is vindicated by God (53:10-12), with an allusion to resurrection (53:11,12).