Isaiah 53: 11: Identity Of The Servant Of Israel

Jon Bernier
RELG 111
Term Paper
Identity of the Servant of YHWH According to Isaiah 53:11, the Bible says that “My servant would vindicate the just for many, and their iniquities he would bear” (kingjamesbibleonline.com). While many scholars believe that the servant is the land of Israel, there are plenty of other interpretations as to who the servant really is. Allen Maller proved that the servant is an “intercessor for Israel” (Allen S. Maller, 2004). Maller goes on to explain how Isaiah holds some heavy evidence that points toward the servant being Israel. Several verses in different chapters of Isaiah state that Jacob/Israel is God's servant. For example, "You Israel are my servant" from 41:8. Another is "Hear me now, Jacob my servant"

Schipper uses the Passover lamb imagery from Exodus to connect the same type of imagery in Isaiah 53 to Jesus (Schipper, 2013) While there were many sacrifices during this time, there were few that could link lambs to the servant. Schipper agrees with the theories of Walther Zimmerli, which argue that the scapegoat ritual mentioned in Leviticus 16 (Schipper, 2013), where “the priest will lay his hands on the head of a live goat and “confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness (kingjamesbibleonline.com).” Although some interesting points are made here, it seems to be a little farfetched of an idea. Also, the brief lines from Leviticus also mention Israel and how all the sins and transgressions would go away with the goat ritual. Anthony Ceresko discussed the historical aspects of the servant. “The Fourth Servant Song itself is unclear about the ultimate fate of the Servant, and some scholars argue that he was eventually freed…’He is led like a lamb to the slaughter, taken away, cut off from the land of the living, smitten to death, buried with the wicked.’ While one or other of these expressions taken by itself might be patient of a different explanation, they point cumulatively to a violent death, a conclusion which has been widely accepted.” (Ceresko,