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Jonathan Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 53

1 Who has believed this our report? And to whom is the power of the arm of the LORD now revealed? 2 The righteous will be great before Him, like budding branches; and like a tree that sends forth its roots by the streams of water, so the generation of the just will multiply in the land that has need of Him. 3 His appearance will not be the appearance of a common person, nor His fear the fear of an ordinary man; but a holy brightness will be His brightness, so that everyone who sees Him will gaze upon Him. 4 Although He will be in contempt, yet He will cut off the glory of all the wicked; they will be weak and wretched. Look, we are in contempt and not esteemed, like a man of pain and appointed to sickness, and as if He had removed the face of His Shekinah from us. 5 Therefore He will pray for our sins, and our iniquities will be forgiven for His sake;⁠ for we are considered crushed, smitten of the LORD, and afflicted. 6 He will build the house of the sanctuary, which was profaned on account of our sins;⁠ He was delivered over on account of our iniquities, and through His teaching peace will be multiplied upon us, and through the teaching of His words our sins will be forgiven us. 7 All we like sheep have been scattered; everyone of us has turned to his own way; and it pleased the LORD to forgive the sins of all of us for His sake. 8 He will pray, and He will be answered; yes, before He opens His mouth He will be heard. He will deliver over the mighty of the nations like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is dumb before her shearers; none will open his mouth in His presence or speak a word. 9 He will gather our captives from affliction and pain, and who will be able to recount the wonderful works that will be done for us in His days? He will remove the rule of the nations from the land of Israel; the sins that my people have committed have come upon them. 10 And He will deliver the wicked into hell, and the riches of treasures that they got by violence to the death of Abaddon, so that those who commit sin will not remain, and that they should not speak folly with their mouth.⁠ 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.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 53:5 and John 2:19 and Jonathan Isaiah 53:6

Hebrew Bible · New Testament · Targum

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Summary

The Aramaic translation of Isaiah 53 in the Targum reshapes the suffering servant to a triumphant Messiah who brings peace, judges sin, and rebuilds the temple. John uses similar language for Jesus, suggesting it was influenced by an Aramaic tradition.

Passages

Isaiah 53:5

Hebrew Bible
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.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

John 2:19

New Testament
18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

Jonathan Isaiah 53:6

Targum
5 Therefore He will pray for our sins, and our iniquities will be forgiven for His sake; for we are considered crushed, smitten of the LORD, and afflicted. 6 He will build the house of the sanctuary, which was profaned on account of our sins; He was delivered over on account of our iniquities, and through His teaching peace will be multiplied upon us, and through the teaching of His words our sins will be forgiven us. 7 All we like sheep have been scattered; everyone of us has turned to his own way; and it pleased the LORD to forgive the sins of all of us for His sake.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... In the fourth song about the suffering servant of YHWH, in the targumic translation the servant appears not as suffering and humiliated, but as triumphant and exalted (Targum Isaiah 52:13–53:12). In light of the targumic tradition, one can better understand John’s Christology, in which the crucified Messiah is shown in triumph and glory. In the Targum Isaiah, there is a reference to the future Messiah, who, as Teacher of peace, Defender and Judge, will rebuild the temple destroyed because of human sins (Targum Isaiah 53:5) ... This text allows us to look at John’s Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God, who becomes the New Temple, in a new light ..."
Mirosław S. Wróbel, “Ideological and Intertextual Relations Between the Targum Isaiah and the Gospel of John,” Collectanea Theologica 93.1 (2023): 85–102.

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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Comments

  • Could the phrase He shall build the house of the sanctuary, which has been profaned on account of our sins; added after 70 AD?

    chengxiufan, April 11, 2025

Isaiah 53:5 and John 2:19 and Jonathan Isaiah 53:6

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