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1. Isaiah 53 According to the Jews:
The following is from www.jewsforjudaism.org:
Christian missionaries claim that it is only with the commentary of Rashi (1040-
1105), seeking to refute the Christian interpretation, that the Jews began to refer Isaiah
52:13-53:12 to the entire nation of Israel. This misconception perhaps owes its origin
to Edward Pusey, who wrote in his 1876 introduction to The "Suffering Servant" of
Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpretations (trans. Driver and Neubauer, [reprinted]
New York: Hermon Press, 1969) that "The new interpretation began with Rashi" (p.
XLIV).
The interpretation was neither new, nor began with Rashi. This missionary allegation
is refuted even by a Christian source. In Contra Celsum, written in 248 C.E. (some
800 years before Rashi), the Church Father Origen records that Jews contemporary
with him interpreted this passage as referring to the entire nation of Israel. He wrote:
I remember that once in a discussion with some whom the Jews regard as learned I
used these prophecies [Isaiah 52:13-53:8]. At this the Jew said that these prophecies
referred to the whole people as though of a single individual, since they were scattered
in the dispersion and smitten, that as a result of the scattering of the Jews among the
other nations many might become proselytes. In this way he explained the text:
"Thy form shall be inglorious among men"; and "those to whom he was not
proclaimed shall see him"; "being a man in calamity." (Origen, Contra Celsum, trans.
Henry Chadwick, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Book 1.55, 1965, p. 50)
This shows that Jewish biblical exegesis subscribing to the belief that the people of
Israel was the suffering servant spoken of throughout the entire passage pre-dates
Rashi by many centuries.
The following is from www.jewsforjudaism.org:
Question: In 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.
Answer: Our Jewish sages teach that "whoever saves a single Jewish soul is
considered as if he had saved an entire world." How precious is the Jewish soul!

2. Though the Bible study which follows is a lengthy one, we have prepared it in the
belief that - as a Jewish soul - you are worthy of any method which may be required.
We hope that you too will value your soul highly enough to prayerfully ponder that
which follows. G-D's truth is not always easy to discern, but we are possessors of a
Divine promise; "you will find Him if you search after Him with all your heart and all
your soul" (Deut. 4:29). As faithful Jews have attested for over 3500 years, it's worth
the effort. And now - on with the search!
A. PRELIMINARY ISSUES
Before engaging in an examination of Isaiah 53 itself, some preliminary issues must
be considered. First is the issue of circular reasoning. Even if we interpret the chapter
as the Christians do (forgetting for a minute the mistranslations and distortions of
context which will be noted below), the most that could be said is this: Isaiah 53 is
about someone who dies for the sins of others. People may have seen Jesus die, but
did anyone see him die as an atonement for the sins of others? Of course not; this is
simply the meaning which the New Testament gives to his death. Only if you already
accept the New Testament teaching that his death had a non-visible, spiritual
significance can you than go back to Isaiah and say, "see - the Prophet predicted what
I already believe." Isaiah 53, then, is in reality no "proof" at all, but rather a contrived
confirmation for someone who has already chosen Christianity.
Second (and consistent with all Jewish teaching at the time), Jesus' own disciples
didn't view Isaiah 53 as a messianic prophecy. For example, after Peter identifies
Jesus as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16), he is informed that Jesus will be killed (Matt.
16:21). His response: "G-D forbid it, lord! This shall never happen to you" (Matt.
16:22). See, also, Mk. 9:31-32; Mk. 16:10-11; Jn. 20:9. Even Jesus didn't see Isaiah
53 as crucial to his messianic claims - why else did he call the Jews children of the
devil for not believing in him before the alleged resurrection (Jn. 8:39-47)? And why
did he later request that G-D "remove this cup from me" (Mk.14:36) - didn't he know
that a "removal of the cup" would violate the gentile understanding of Isaiah 53?
And third, even if we accept the gentile Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53, where is
it indicated (either in Isaiah 53 or anywhere else in our Jewish Scriptures) that you
must believe in this "Messiah" to get the benefits?
B. CONTEXT
Since any portion of Scripture is only understood properly when viewed in the context
of G-D's revelation as a whole, some additional study will be helpful before you
"tackle" Isaiah 53.

3. Look at the setting in which Isaiah 53 occurs. Earlier on in Isaiah, G-D had predicted
exile and calamity for the Jewish people. Chapter 53, however, occurs in the midst of
Isaiah's "Messages of Consolation", which tell of the restoration of Israel to a position
of prominence and a vindication of their status as G-D's chosen people. In chapter 52,
for example, Israel is described as "oppressed without cause" (v.4) and "taken away"
(v.5), yet G-D promises a brighter future ahead, one in which Israel will again prosper
and be redeemed in the sight of all the nations (v.1-3, 8-12).
Chapter 54 further elaborates upon the redemption which awaits the nation of Israel.
Following immediately after chapter 53's promise of a reward for G-D's servant in
return for all of its suffering (53:10-12), chapter 54 describes an unequivocally joyous
fate for the Jewish people.
Speaking clearly of the Jewish people and their exalted status (even according to all
Christian commentaries), chapter 54 ends as follows: "`This is the heritage of the
servants of the L-rd and their vindication is from Me,' declares the L-rd."
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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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?
The following is from www.jewsforjudaism.org:
Question: Isaiah 53:7 says that the suffering servant "humbled himself and opened not
his mouth" as a lamb about to be slaughtered or a sheep dumb before its shearers.
Does this describe Jesus' behavior at his trials?
Answer: Jesus' claim to be the Messiah was the accusation placed against him before
the Sanhedrin and Pilate. To the charge of his messianic claim, Jesus answered both
the Jewish authorities and Pilate in a forceful manner (John 18:19-23, 33-37).
The statement: "Therefore Pilate entered the judgment hall again and called Jesus, and
said to him: 'Are you the King of the Jews?'" makes it clear that claiming to be the
King Messiah was the Jewish accusation against Jesus. Matthew and Mark comment
that Jesus did not answer the Jewish accusations when questioned by Pilate: "But he
did not answer him, not even to a single charge" (Matthew 27:14); "But Jesus made
no further answer" (Mark 15:15).
However, the list of charges made by the Jews, which is found in Luke's Gospel:
"misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he
himself is Christ, a King" (Luke 23:2), is answered by Jesus. The charges are
answered in his defense before Pilate, as found in John's Gospel. There he claimed to
head a peace-loving, nonmilitary, otherworldly group, which would not countenance
revolt against the Roman Empire. John argues, with the help of alleged quotations
from the trial, that Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews but not one who sought power
in this world, i.e., at the expense of the Roman Empire (John 18:36).
Far from showing the humility and silence with which Isaiah describes the servant in
verse 7, the encounter between the high priest, the elders, and Jesus is highlighted by a
vigorous verbal exchange. In addition, Jesus did not show humility and silence during
his confrontation with Pilate. At their meeting, Jesus is depicted as skillfully
defending himself. Jesus at no time humbled himself, but, on the contrary, presented a
clever verbal defense before Pilate (the one man who could condemn him to death),
pleading shrewdly that his messianic teaching was a nonviolent, "not of this world"
movement, one which the Romans need not fear. Pilate, Jesus assumed, would not be
interested in a non-political, non-military movement that was not of "this world."
However, Jesus' movement must have appeared to Pilate like any of the other
seditious movements that confronted him. He reacted accordingly.

7. Jesus was obviously defending himself by presenting a shrewd verbal response when
he tried to convince Pilate that he was not the head of a seditious movement but that
his intentions were peaceful.
Contrary to what Christian theologians claim, the Gospels' Jesus presented a strong
defense before the Jewish officials and Pilate. Jesus was not "dumb" but very
outspoken before his accusers, Jewish or Gentile. Therefore, it is simply not true to
say of Jesus that "he humbled himself and did not open his mouth."
The following is from www.jewsforjudaism.org:
Question: Isaiah 53:4 says that the suffering servant was considered "stricken" by his
enemies. Does this describe Jesus in any way?
Answer: In verse 4 the Gentile nations exclaim, concerning the servant, "we
considered him stricken [by God]." The verb appears again in verse 8. This does not
describe Jesus in any way whatsoever. The verb, nagua, "stricken," is commonly used
in the Jewish Scriptures for being stricken with leprosy (for example, 2 Kings 5:27,
15:5; Job 19:21; Leviticus 13:3, 9, 20; Numbers 12:10). Jesus was not stricken
physically with leprosy!
Yet, even metaphorically, nagua cannot be applied to Jesus who was not generally
shunned as a loathsome pariah. The respectively supportive, indifferent, or hostile
audiences he confronts in the Gospels show a variety of responses to his message.
Those who apparently despise Jesus are numerically represented in insignificant
numbers. They exist, but no more so than one may expect in reaction to any extremely
controversial figure. Consideration must also be given to the fact that the great
majority of contemporary Jews never heard of Jesus. The application to Jesus of
nagua, that is, stricken metaphorically in the manner of one who has leprosy and
treated as such by fellow human beings, is unwarranted.