• 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
    • • Abraham (Gen. 26:24)
      • Isaac (Gen. 24:14)
      • Jacob (Ezek. 28:25)
    • 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.