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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 53

1 Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lord’s power revealed through him? 2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.⁠ 3 He was despised and rejected by people,⁠ one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain;⁠ even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.⁠ 5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.⁠ 6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. 7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth.⁠ Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,⁠ like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.⁠ 8 He was led away after an unjust trial—but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded. 9 They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully. 10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,⁠ once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life,⁠ and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.⁠ 11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.⁠ “My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.⁠ 12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death⁠ and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 53:11 and Jonathan Isaiah 53:12

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Isaiah 53 says the servant will free many people because he carries their sins. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan interprets it as justification through wisdom, with the servant teaching many to obey the Torah and then praying about their sins.

Passages

Isaiah 53:11

Hebrew Bible
10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him. 11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. “My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins. 12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Jonathan Isaiah 53:12

Targum
11 And it was the pleasure of the LORD to refine and purify the remnant of His people, in order to cleanse their souls from sin, that they might see the kingdom of their Messiah, that their sons and daughters might multiply and prolong their days, and that those who keep the Torah of the LORD might prosper through His pleasure. 12 He will deliver their souls from the servitude of the nations; they will see the vengeance upon their enemies; they will be satisfied with the spoil of their kings. By His wisdom He will justify the righteous, in order to make many keep the Torah, and He will pray for their sins. 13 Therefore I will divide to Him the spoil of many peoples, and the treasures of strong fortifications; He will divide the spoil, because He delivered His life to death, and He made the rebellious keep the Torah; He will pray for the sins of many, and as for the transgressors, each will be pardoned for His sake.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

“... Little help is available from the ancient versions. The Septuagint and other Greek versions translate by σύνεσις or γνῶσις and construe the word with what precedes, as does the Peshitta. Targum Jonathan, on the other hand, renders ‘by his wisdom’ and construes it with the following words, which it paraphrases and expands. The whole clause is thus rendered: ‘by his wisdom shall he justify the just, in order to subject many to the law’. This seems to imply an interpretation along the lines of the Servant bringing about the justification of others by teaching them to accept the obligation of obedience to the Torah, but such an interpretation clearly reads a good deal into the Hebrew text, and cannot be said to be a natural exegesis of it. It finds echoes, however, in some of the Jewish mediaeval commentators. David Kimhi, for instance, explains דעת as the Servant’s knowledge of the Lord, referring to Isaiah 11.9 and Jeremiah 31.34. ...”
Anthony Gelston, “Knowledge, Humiliation or Suffering: A Lexical, Textual and Exegetical Problem in Isaiah 53,” in Of Prophets' Visions and the Wisdom of Sages: Essays in Honour of R. Norman Whybray on His Seventieth Birthday, ed. Heather A. McKay and David J. A. Clines, JSOTSup 162 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993), 136.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 53:11 and Jonathan Isaiah 53:12

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