| Isaiah 52 | |
|---|---|
 TheGreat Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found atQumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter. | |
| Book | Book of Isaiah |
| Hebrew Bible part | Nevi'im |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 5 |
| Category | Latter Prophets |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 23 |
Isaiah 52 is the fifty-secondchapter of theBook of Isaiah in theHebrew Bible or theOld Testament of theChristianBible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to theprophetIsaiah, and is one of theBooks of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of theIsraelites'exile in Babylon. This chapter includes from verse 13 the start of the fourth of thesongs of the "Suffering Servant".
The original text was written inHebrew language.This chapter is divided into 15 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter inHebrew are found among theDead Sea Scrolls, i.e., theIsaiah Scroll (1Qlsaa; 356-100 BCE[1]), and of theMasoretic Text tradition, which includesCodex Cairensis (895 CE),the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),Aleppo Codex (10th century),Codex Leningradensis (1008).[2]
There is also a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of theSeptuagint version includeCodex Vaticanus (B;B; 4th century),Codex Sinaiticus (S;BHK:S; 4th century),Codex Alexandrinus (A;A; 5th century) andCodex Marchalianus (Q;Q; 6th century).[3]
Theparashah sections listed here are based on theAleppo Codex.[4] Isaiah 52 is a part of theConsolations (Isaiah 40–66). {P}: openparashah; {S}: closedparashah.
TheNew King James Version organises this chapter as follows:
The call,Awake, awake (Hebrew:עורי עורי‘ūrî ‘ūrî) repeats the same call heard inIsaiah 51:9 andIsaiah 51:17.[6]
The second line is rendered in the GreekSeptuagint version as: "For those who were not told will see, and those who have not heard will understand", which is cited inRomans 15:21.[12]
Citing a number of Biblical verses that refer to Israel as the "servant", many of them from the Book of Isaiah such as 49:3 He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will display My splendor."[13] Jewish scholars, and several Christian scholarly books, like Revised Standard Version Oxford Study Edition Bible, The Revised Standard Version tell us that Isaiah 53 is about national Israel and the New English Bible echo this analysis. Judaism, teaches that the "servant" in question is actually the nation ofIsrael. These scholars also argue that verse 10 cannot be describing Jesus. The verse states:
Taken literally, this description, is inconsistent with the short, childless life of Jesus. But there is interpretive room to argue that a resurrected Jesus has prolonged his days indefinitely and that his "seed" are those who become Christians.
The reason that the Servant is referred to in the third person may be that these verses are written from the point of view ofGentile nations amazed at Israel's restoration, or it may simply be a method of figurative description.[14] Supporters of this theory argue that the reason for the use of past tense is based on the differences betweenProto-Isaiah andDeutero-Isaiah. Chapters 40–55 of Isaiah are referred to as "Deutero-Isaiah" because the themes and language are different from the rest of the book, leading some scholars to believe it was written byanother author. Deutero-Isaiah differs from Proto-Isaiah in that it refers to Israel as already restored, which could account for the past-tense of the passage.
The Servant passages in Isaiah, and especially Isaiah 53, may be compared withPsalm 44. Psalm 44 directly parallels the Servant Songs, making it, probably, the best defense for reading Isaiah 53 as applicable to the nation of Israel.
The earliest known example of a Jew and a Christian debating the meaning of Isaiah 53 is the example from 248 cited by Origen. In Christian church fatherOrigen'sContra Celsus, written in 248, he writes of Isaiah 53:
The discourse between Origen and his Jewish counterpart does not seem to have had any consequences for either party. This was not the case for the majority of centuries that have passed since that time. InEcclesiastes Rabbah 1:24, written in the 700s, a debate about a much less controversial topic results in the arrest of the Jew engaging in the debate.[16]
In 1263 at theDisputation of Barcelona,Nahmanides expressed the Jewish viewpoint of Isaiah 53 and other matters regarding Christian belief about Jesus's role in Hebrew Scripture. The disputation was awarded in his favor byJames I of Aragon, and as a result theDominican Order compelled him to flee from Spain for the remainder of his life. Passages of Talmud were also censored. In a number of otherdisputations, debate about this passage resulted in forced conversions, deportations, and the burning of Jewish religious texts.[17]
The use of Isaiah 53 in debates between Jews and Christians still often occurs in the context of Christian missionary work among Jews, and the topic is a source of frequent discussion that is often repetitive and heated. Some devout Christians view the use of the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 in targetedconversion of Jews as a special act of Christian love and a fulfillment ofJesus Christ's teaching of theGreat Commission.
TheKing James Version of verse 7 from this chapter is cited as texts in the English-languageoratorio "Messiah" byGeorge Frideric Handel (HWV 56).[18]
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