- The Term "Servant of the Lord"
- Never occurs in exactly that form in Isaiah 40-55
- God calls the servant "my servant" (42:1; 49:3,6; 52:13;
53:11)
- The servant refers to himself as "his servant" (49:5)
- Meaning of the term
- Basic meaning of "servant" is "slave"
- Term was also used to express the relationship of a weaker party to a
stronger party in a covenant relationship
- While the servant would be expected to obey his master, he could also
look to his master for protection and care - often the relationship was described in terms
of steadfast love
- In Israel and in other nations those individuals who were devoted to
a god/goddess were called his/her servants
- People identified as God's servants in Israel
- Prophets (2 Kings 9:7)
- Ahijah (1 Kings 14:18)
- Elijah (2 Kings 9:36)
- Jonah (2 Kings 14:25)
- Isaiah (Isa. 20:3)
- Patriarchs
-
- Kings
- David (2 Sam. 3:18)
- Hezekiah (2 Chron. 32:16)
- Zerubbabel (Hag. 2:23)
- Other leaders
- Moses (Exod. 14:31, Deut. 34:5)
- Joshua (Josh. 24:29, Judg. 2:8)
- Caleb (Num. 14:24)
- Job (Job 1:8)
- Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 25:9)
- The Servant Songs in Isaiah
- 42:1-4
- The servant is chosen by God and empowered by God to bring justice to
the nations
- He will work quietly but will not fail or become discouraged
- 49:1-6
- The servant proclaims to all nations that he has been called by God
from birth
- Thus far his work has been in vain but he is confident God will bless
what he has done
- He is not to go only to Israel but is to be a light to all nations
- 50:4-9
- God awakens the servant each morning to hear
- The servant continues to be unsuccessful and has suffered violence
- Still he clings to the nearness of God and his task
- 52:13-53:12
- The people (perhaps Israel or the nations) have seen the servant
disfigured and hated and have assumed he was punished by God
- Now the people have realized the servant was suffering for their sins
rather than his own
- The servant is vindicated, the people are redeemed
- The new thing Isaiah had spoken of has occurred and it has been
unbelievable
- Who is the Servant?
- An historical individual
- The servant certainly is portrayed as an individual, more so as the
songs continue
- Some suggestions
- Moses
- Deuteronomy calls Moses "the servant of the Lord" (Deut.
3:24, 34:5)
- Moses taught the law in an effort to bring God's justice to his
people even as the servant does in Isaiah
- Like the servant, Moses suffered rejection and rebellion
- Jeremiah
- Was called from his mother's womb as was the servant
- Endured hatred, plots, and imprisonment but remained faithful
- Jehoiachin - the king in exile in Babylon who was deported when
Jerusalem fell and imprisoned in Babylon
- Cyrus - the king of Persia who allowed the Jews to return home to
their land
- Second Isaiah - the prophet
writes about himself and the difficulty he has in getting God's word across
- A contemporary of Second Isaiah
- Difficulties
- Israel is named as the servant in 49:3
- None of the people mentioned above accomplished what the servant
accomplished
- Israel
- 49:3 explicitly identifies the servant as Israel
- Difficulties
- The nation never fulfilled the mission of the servant in any time of
its history
- The mission of the servant is not only to the nations but also to
itself - it is difficult, although not impossible, to see Israel ministering to Israel
- The description of the servant in most of the songs indicates an
individual rather than a nation
- Individual and nation
- The idea of "corporate personality" in Old Testament
thought would allow the servant to be seen as both individual and nation
- The servant is faithful Israel purged by the exile but also an
individual who represents and embodies the nation
- The servant is Israel but at the same time one person who in life
fulfills the mission that was given to Israel
- This view allows members of Israel to see themselves as called to the
same ministry as the servant and provides one method for interpreting suffering (i.e.,
vicarious - on behalf of others)
- Difficulty - the Western mind's attempt to understand the idea of
"corporate personality" and the movement of thought between nation and
individual
- An individual still to come
- Combination of qualities of king, Moses, and Jeremiah
- For Christians, the servant has come in the person of Jesus Christ
- Difficulties
- The servant has none of the trappings of kingship which a
king/messiah was to have
- Suffering was not to be a part of the messiah's mission in typical
Israelite thought
- The servant is related to God through worship but is viewed as
completely human rather than divine or as human and divine
-
Sources
Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction.
New York: Paulist, 1984.
North, C. R. "Servant of the Lord, The." The
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by George A. Buttrick. Nashville:
Abingdon, 1962. IV:292-294.