1. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

2. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

3. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

4. Is. 53 Group Bible Study

5. Is. 53 Group Bible Study
•Suffering,
•Death,
• Reason for death,
•Vindication/Resurrection
•Look at the other servant songs
42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9.

6. Is. 53 Group Bible Study
•Suffering,
•Death,
• Reason for death,
•Vindication/Resurrection
•Look at the other servant songs
42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9.
Further Study: How is this ‘servant figure’ different or similar to the
messianic deliverer of Isaiah 11?

8. •SUFFERING

9. •SUFFERING
“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.” (53.3)
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its
shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (53.7)
“By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his
generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?” (53.8)
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when
his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall
prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” (53.10)

11. •SUFFERING

12. •SUFFERING
•DEATH

13. •SUFFERING
•DEATH
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,.... who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the
wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no
violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7–9, ESV)
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to
death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin
of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah
53:12, ESV)

14. •SUFFERING
•DEATH
•DEATH FOR
OTHERS

15. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
•SUFFERING esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced
for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
•DEATH the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one
•DEATH FOR —to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
OTHERS all.” (Isaiah 53:4–6, ESV)
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he
shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand.” (Isaiah 53:10, ESV)
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and
was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and
makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12, ESV)

16. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we
•SUFFERING esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced
for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
•DEATH the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one
•DEATH FOR —to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
OTHERS all.” (Isaiah 53:4–6, ESV)
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he
shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand.” (Isaiah 53:10, ESV)
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and
was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and
makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12, ESV)
ĀŠAM : as a technical term for an offering that represents the guilty persons attempt to absolve
wrongdoing by making restitution.... The asam merely squared the offender with his God, whose honor
had been violated.' The law required that this offering for the cleansing of a leper (Lev 14.12-28), the
rape of a slave girl (19.21-22) and the violation of a Nazarite vow (Numbers 6.12).

17. FOUR INITIAL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SERVANT
•SUFFERING
•DEATH
•DEATH FOR
OTHERS
•VINDICATION/
RESURRECTION

18. FOUR INITIAL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SERVANT
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high
and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13, ESV)
•SUFFERING
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put
•DEATH him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the
•DEATH FOR will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah
OTHERS 53:10, ESV)
•VINDICATION/ “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see (light) and
be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one,
RESURRECTION my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and
he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11, ESV)

20. Isaiah 40-55

21. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon

22. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon
•Supremacy of YHWH to the Idols

23. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon
•Supremacy of YHWH to the Idols
•Servant Songs

24. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon
•Supremacy of YHWH to the Idols
•Servant Songs
•New Exodus/Return from Exile

25. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon
•Supremacy of YHWH to the Idols
•Servant Songs
•New Exodus/Return from Exile
•Confrontation/Consolation?

26. Isaiah 40-55
•To the Exiles in Babylon
•Supremacy of YHWH to the Idols
•Servant Songs
•New Exodus/Return from Exile
•Confrontation/Consolation?
•40-48, 49-55

27. •Narrative Substructure 40-48
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that
she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain
and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough
places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says,
“Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is
like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the
breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass
withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on
up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with
strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the
cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God comes with
might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his
recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will
gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently
lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:1–11, ESV)

28. CYRUS THE PERSIAN
“who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall
fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall
be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be
laid.’ ” Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations
before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open
doors before him that gates may not be
closed:” (Isaiah 44:28–45:1, ESV)

29. CONFRONTATION

30. CONFRONTATION
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my
servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated
one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?” (Isaiah 42:18–19, ESV)

31. CONFRONTATION
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my
servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated
one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?” (Isaiah 42:18–19, ESV)
“You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your
ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal
treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a
rebel.” (Isaiah 48:8, ESV)

32. CONFRONTATION
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my
servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated
one, or blind as the servant of the Lord?” (Isaiah 42:18–19, ESV)
“You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your
ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal
treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a
rebel.” (Isaiah 48:8, ESV)
“Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would
have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your
offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.” Go out from
Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it
out to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for
them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out. “There is no
peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”” (Isaiah 48:18–22, ESV)

33. ISRAEL ARE IN EXILE
IN BABYLON
ANNOUNCEMENT (ORACLE) OF IMMINENT SALVATION
•Promise of New Exodus (Liberation,
Journey, Enthronement)
•Forgiveness of Sins
•Use of Cyrus
CONFRONTATION AND DIALOGUE
WITH ISRAEL
REJECTION OF YHWH'S PLAN
FAILED NEW EXODUS (IS. 55-66, MAL, ZECH)

34. Narrative Substructure 49-55
•Forms of Speech (No Trial Speeches)
•New Exodus
•YHWH Has Not forgotten His People
•No Confrontation
•Salvation less Imminent
•Zion
•No mention of Cyrus
“Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains,
into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have
compassion on his afflicted. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that
she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these
may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the
palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Your builders
make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from
you. Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.” (Isaiah 49:13–18, ESV)

35. PROCLAMATION OF
(FUTURE) SALVATION:
PROMISE OF NEW EXODUS (LIBERATION,
JOURNEY, ENTHRONEMENT)
• SERVANT GIVES HIS LIFE AS AN
ĀŠAM
• SERVANT IS VINDICATED/
RESURRECTED
SUCCESSFUL NEW EXODUS
ISRAEL TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS

36. THE DAVIDIC IDENTITY OF THE SERVANT
•Gezerah Shavah (Intratextual and Intertextual Method)
•David Known elsewhere as Servant
•!Servant (Is. 37.55)
•!David was Known for righteous suffering. (See superscriptions of 3, 34,
52, 56, 59)
•!‘Servant of YHWH’ in superscriptions of Psa. 18 and 36
•‘High and Lifted Up’ read alongside Isaiah 6.1 and 57.15, with Psalm 110.
•Horticultural Imagery (young plant, root 53.2) with Isaiah 11, Zech 3 (my
servant, the branch)
•Shared language/concepts between Is. 53 and Isa. 11
•Targum of Isaiah

37. Isa. 11 Servant Song
11.1 ‘Stump of Jesse’ 53.2 ‘Young Plant/Root
11.2 ‘Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
42.1 ‘I have put my Spirit on him’
Him’
52.13 ‘Behold my Servant shall act
11.2 Endowed with Wisdom
wisely’
53.10 ‘will of YHWH’ 49.5 Honoured in
11.3 Pleases YHWH
Eyes of YHWH
11.3 Judges 42.3 Brings Justice
11.4 Mouth Like a Weapon 49.2 Mouth Like a Sharp Sword
11.10,12 Stands as a Signal 49.22, directly after servant song
11.6 Gather Nations 49.1, 49.6, 42.2
11.12 Gather ISrael 49.5

38. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

39. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

40. PROJECT
SESSION TWO: A CLOSER LOOK AT ISAIAH 53
DATE LOCATION
26TH FEB 2012 ST GEORGES’ CHURCH, LEEDS

41. nt others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is
id not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human
death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
very tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:3–11, ESV)