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The Servant Songs in Second Isaiah

The Servant Songs in Second Isaiah. 42:1-4 (5-9) 49:1-6 (7//52:13-53:12, 8-12//42:1-9) 50:4-9 (10-11) 52:13-53:12 Should they be read separately from the rest of the book?. Who is the servant?. Duhm: poems added secondarily by someone who had leprosy Mowinckel: Second Isaiah himself

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The Servant Songs in Second Isaiah

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  1. The Servant Songs in Second Isaiah • 42:1-4 (5-9) • 49:1-6 (7//52:13-53:12, 8-12//42:1-9) • 50:4-9 (10-11) • 52:13-53:12 • Should they be read separately from the rest of the book?

  2. Who is the servant? • Duhm: poems added secondarily by someone who had leprosy • Mowinckel: Second Isaiah himself • Sellin: 1898 = Zerubbabel; 1901 = Jehoiachin; 1922 = Moses • Or does the servant represent Israel? the prophet and Israel?

  3. The “Servant” in Second Isaiah • Word servant appears 21 times in 40-55 • 19 times singular; 2 times plural (44:26; 54:17) • 8 times in servant poems; 1x = Israel; 2x = not Israel; 5x = unclear • 13 times elsewhere; = 8x explicitly Israel; 3x implicitly Israel; 2 plural

  4. The First Servant Poem 42:1-4 • v. 1: servant is agent of “justice” (restoration of God’s order in the world) to the nations (combines royal and prophetic functions). See 40:27! • not by proclamation nor by force • Israel makes clear to the world Yahweh’s sovereignty in experiencing deliverance from Babylon

  5. Supplement to the first song vv 5-9 • Breath of humanity has a common source, v. 5 • Covenant to people, light to nations • Opening of eyes, freeing from prison • Former things have come to pass; new things I now declare

  6. The Second Servant Poem 49:1-6 • Servant reports to nations his pre-natal call • The servant as God’s secret weapon • You (prophet?) are my servant, you are Israel, in whom I will be glorified! v.3 • I have labored in vain • My “right” is in Yahweh’s hands

  7. More on Second Servant poem • vv. 5-6 servant has mission to Israeland to the nations • Has the prophet become the true Israel? after 49:6 exiles = Zion and Jerusalem • If the central positive message of Second Isaiah is the new Exodus, does the servant figure indicate the vocation of those who are to be freed?

  8. Supplements to the Second Song • V. 7 anticipates the suffering and vindicated servant of 52:13-53:12 • vv. 8-12 associates the servant with the “job description” in 42:1-9 • The task that belonged to Israel as servant now belongs to individual servant of 49:1-6 • Restoration of land, gathering of diaspora, light to nations and covenant to people

  9. The Third Servant Poem 50:4-9 • Psalm of confidence by one who has experienced opposition • Servant sustains the weary with a word • “Prophetic” Israel (or Second Isaiah?) did not rebel • Lord Yahweh helps me; who can put me in the wrong? The one who vindicates me is near…the master of my case

  10. Response to third song in 3rd person--50:10-11 • What is the vocation of the those who hear Second Isaiah’s good news? • They walk in darkness but trust in the name of Yahweh and lean on God. • What is the fate of those who reject the word of the servant and light their own fires? • They shall lie down in torment (cf. 66:24)

  11. Structure of the Fourth Song • 52:13-15 speech of Yahweh announcing ultimate destiny of servant (cf. v. 15 with 49:7) • 53:1-11a Confession of the “we” about the work of the servant. We = them in 53:15b • 53:11b-12 Divine speech about servant’s destiny--exalted because of his intercession for others and his death

  12. The “servant” and the “servants”* • Achievement of the servant 40:1-52:11 • The work of the servants 54:1-66:24 • The servant suffers on behalf of the servants • The servant’s suffering and death are Israel’s, on behalf of the nations • * = 54:17; 56:6; 63:17; 65:9, 13, 14, 15; 66:14

  13. The Fourth Servant Poem 53:1-11a • Who is “we” and “us”? the nations? The “many”? The “servants”? • Servant made a disgusting appearance; people could not stand to look at him • 53:4-6 “We” people change their evaluation of the servant • He bore our sicknesses, our iniquities, our rebellions • In the servant’s wounds is healing for us.

  14. The Fourth Servant Poem 53:1-11a continued • The servant never said a mumbling word 53:7 (cf. 42:2) • Was the servant killed? Was Second Isaiah executed? Did Israel in exile die a metaphorical death? 53:8 • Servant dies ignominiously 53:9 • Servant’s life = a sin offering followed by coming vindication 53:10

  15. The Fourth Servant Poem 53:10-12 • Yahweh again the speaker • Through his humiliation/knowledge the servant makes the “many” righteous • Final vindication because • servant poured himself out unto death • servant carried the sins of many (Deut 4:21-24) • servant prayed for them (Deut 9:25-29)

  16. NT echoes • If the servant originally is the prophet and/or Israel • And if Jesus is the servant • Then we--in our good confession--are also called and empowered to be servants

  17. Second Isaiah and the Priestly Writer • P looked back to the everlasting covenant with the ancestors and to the possibility of reestablishing an ideal “Mosaic” community • Second Isaiah: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? 43:18-19

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