11. The Socalled Servant Songs

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11. The So-called Servant Songs

• BOT634 Exegesis of Isaiah

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THE SO-CALLED - SERVANT SONGS

• Isaiah 42.1-4 (5-9)
• Isaiah 49.1-6
• Isaiah 50.4-9
• Isaiah 52.13-53.12

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Intra-Biblical - Canonical Interpretation

• 1. At the outset we may lay aside all anxiety as
  to the bearings of these passages on the claims
  of the New Testament. If the passages represent
  the Servant to be a person different from Israel,
  then the New Testament claims that what is said
  concerning that person is fulfilled in Jesus. If
  on the other hand we find that the Servant, in
  these passages, is still Israel, we shall also
  find that the New Testament claim is that Jesus
  Christ is Israel the Servant in his highest
  manifestation. In either case the passages are
  messianic, and in either case the New Testament
  claims that they are fulfilled in Jesus the
  Messiah. Beecher, Willis J., The Servant,
  originally from The Prophets and the Promise,
  1903, The Baker Book House Reprint) pp. 263-88,
  but cited from Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., ed.
  Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament
  Interpretation, 194

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Introduction to the so-called Servant Songs
5
Intra-Biblical - Canonical Interpretation

• 2. First, while it is obvious that the Servant
  motif is used Christologically (e.g. Matt 8.17,
  12.15-21, Mark 10.45, Luke 22.37, Acts 8.30-35
  and Phil 2.6-7), it should not be overlooked that
  Acts 13.46-47 clearly show that the same motif
  could also be applied to the Church For so the
  Lord has commanded us, saying, I have set you to
  be a light for the Gentiles.... Secondly, it
  should be remembered that language and imagery
  that are used of Israel in the Old Testament are
  often applied to Jesus in the New Testament. See
  for instance Matt 2.15 (quoting Hos 11.1 Out of
  Egypt have I called my son.), Matt 4.1-11 (the
  testing of Gods Son recapitulates Gods testing
  of Israel in the desert, Deuteronomy 8) and John
  15.1-6 (Jesus as the true vine, cf. Israel as the
  vine in Hos 10.1, Ezekiel 15, 17.1-10, 19.10-14
  and Ps 80.9-14). Mettinger, A Farewell to the
  Servant Songs A Critical Examination of an
  Exegetical Axiom, 46

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Gattung of the so-called Servant Songs

• 1. Baltzer interprets these texts as part of a
  biography, in which the information we received
  concerning the office and function of the subject
  describes him as a prophet.... If Baltzers
  thesis is correct, then we are confronted by a
  surprising reduction which only includes the
  installation of the Servant (42.1 ff.), his
  designation (49.1 ff.), and death (chap. 53).
  Mettinger, Ibid., 16

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Gattung of the so-called Servant Songs

• 2. As earlier form-critical studies have taught
  us, 42.1-4 is most likely a (royal) designation,
  49.1-6 is related to the confessions of Jeremiah,
  50.4-9 is a psalm of confidence, 53.1-6 has
  elements in common with a psalm of thanksgiving,
  while 52.13-15 and 53.11-12 make up a framework
  which is reminiscent of a salvation oracle.
  However, while the texts themselves reveal
  connections to traditional genres, it is clear
  that their author was not confined by convention.
  Thus I would return a verdict of not proven on
  the hypothesis that the Servant Songs once
  comprised the biography of a prophet. I agree
  rather with Westermann and Melugin that, as far
  as genre is concerned, the Servant Songs are
  heterogeneous. Mettinger, Ibid., 17

8
The Structure of Isaiah 40-55 and the so-called
Servant Songs
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Contextually Unrelated ?

• 1. In the commentary we have adopted the
  position that the Songs are not related to the
  context except for the response which follows the
  first three Songs (xlii 5-9, xlix 7-13, l 10-11).
  That the Songs and the responses can be removed
  from the context without any interruption is
  suggestive, but it is not convincing several
  passages in Second Isaiah could be removed or
  rearranged without violence. The unity of Second
  Isaiah is not so rigorously organized that one
  passage always flows from and leads to another.
  But the Songs are more of an interruption than
  any other passage which might be placed
  elsewhere. McKenzie, The Anchor Bible Second
  Isaiah, xxxix

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Contextually Unrelated ?

•  2. The word servant occurs twenty times in
  chaps. 4055 (once in the plural). There is
  agreement that thirteen of the occurrences refer
  to Israel as the servant. The remaining seven
  occur in 4214 4916 5049 52135312, and
  the verses connected to them (4557 5010, 11),
  the servant songs of B. Duhm. In these
  passages, according to Duhm, the servant is an
  individual, not Israel On the contrary, the
  hero of these poems is set over against the
  people, is innocent, Yahwehs disciple clearly
  enlightened by him, called to a mission to the
  people and to the gentiles and attending to his
  call in complete calm. The poems are probably
  from an author different from Second Isaiah and
  were inserted awkwardly in their present context
  (Duhm Jesaia HKAT, 311). Freedman, David Noel,
  ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (New York
  Doubleday) 1997, 1992., s. v., Isaiah.

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Mettinger's Structural Analysis
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The Hymns of Praise in Second Isaiah

• 1. The best point of departure for an analysis
  of the composition in chap. 40-55 is provided by
  the hymns of praise which ornament the work like
  jewels on a crown. These may be quite simply
  identified as including 42.10-13 44.23 45.8
  48.20-21 49.13 51.3 (fragmentary) 52.9-10 and
  54.1-3. In terms of contents we should to these
  passage add the prologue and epilogue of the
  book, 40.9-11 and 55.12-13. Just as the hymns in
  the Book of Amos have been considered to play a
  compositional role, it seems likely that the
  hymns of praise in Isaiah 40-55 do so as well.
  Mettinger, Ibid., 19

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The Hymns of Praise in Second Isaiah

• 2. The hymns of Amos, 4.13 5.8-9 9.5-6
• 3. Let us once again examine the position of the
  hymns of praise 42.10-13 44.23 45.8 48.20-21
  49.13 51.3 54.1-3 In three places we find
  relatively short sections of text.... The middle
  term of these sections is 49.1-12.... 49.1-12 is
  bracketed by hymns like a gemstone in its
  mounting, thus bringing the text in relief.
  Similarly, we find two other relatively short
  sections situated between hymns these are the
  Cyrus section in 44.24-45.7 and the fourth
  Servant Song in 52.13-53.12. This is evident
  even when we consider... that the hymn of praise
  in 54.1-3 is attached to the following section.
  Thus the compositional situation of these three
  sections sets them in high relief.

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The Hymns of Praise in Second Isaiah

• Of these three sections we shall especially pay
  attention to 49.1-12. The observation that this
  passage is set in relief by the two hymns
  surrounding it is further supported by the fact
  that the section is situated on one of the more
  important divisions in the corpus. After 49.14
  ff. we encounter passages which to
  Zion-Jerusalem, which is not the case with the
  first part of the book, where the concept of
  Israel is correspondingly emphasized. In
  approximately the middle of each half of the book
  we find sections of highly significant content,
  and both are bracketed between hymns of praise
  the Cyrus oracle and the text dealing with the
  Man of Sorrow. Mettinger, Ibid., 20-21

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The Prologue and the Epilogue of Isaiah 40-55

• 1. Mettinger argues that 40.1-31 is the prologue
  (contra Melugins 40.1-11, with 40.1-8
  anticipating chap. 41-48 and 40.9-11 pointing
  forward toward the Zion-Jerusalem motif of
  chap. 49-55.)
• 1.1 40.12-26, speaks about Gods cosmic
  greatness and omnipotence and thus anticipates
  the later debate as to who is really God, which
  is located in chap. 41-48, but not later in the
  book. Mettinger, Ibid., 21-22

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The Prologue and the Epilogue of Isaiah 40-55

• 1.2 40.27-31, offers a rebuttal of Israels lack
  of faith in the form of a disputation the Lord
  is aware of Israels misfortune. This theme seems
  already to play a part in the first half of the
  book (cf. 42.18 ff., on the blind Servant a
  section which obviously recalls 40.27 ff.), but
  it is especially explored with the poignancy of
  metaphor in the second half of the work. The fact
  that the Lord has not abandoned Israel runs like
  a Leitmotif throughout chap. 49.14-55.5....
  Mettinger, Ibid., 22

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The Prologue and the Epilogue of Isaiah 40-55

• 1.3 The xn theme of 40.1 is repeated in 49.13b
  51.3a 52.9b (three hymns of praise).... I
  submit that this relationship emphasizes the
  compositional role of the hymns of praise.
  Mettinger, ibid., 22
• 1.4 Epilogue 55.10-11 links with 40.6-8.

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(No Transcript)
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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• 1. In the first place, there are numerous
  connections between the two main parts of the
  book which are evident in 49.1-12 (or, rather,
  48.20-49.13, if we also take account of the
  hymnic setting).... Mettinger, Ibid., 23
• Concealment of the Servant 49.2 40.27 51.16
• Description of the path of the new Exodus
  49.9-12 (40.3-5 41.17-20 42.14-17 43.14-21)
  and (49.14-26 51.9-16 52.11-12
• that my salvation may reach to the end of the
  earth 49.6b 52.10 40.5

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• 2. In conclusion that 49.1-12 is the central
  section which at one and the same time both
  separates the two parts of the book is further
  substantiated by the previously unnoticed
  interplay between the hymns of praise. The
  Exodus hymn in 48.20-21 which immediately
  precedes 49.1-12 reveals a rapport with 52.7-12,
  where we find the same combination of hymn and
  Exodus motif (v. 9-10, 11-12). Further, the hymn
  which immediately follows 49.1-12 has the same
  structure as the hymn of praise in 44.23 and
  exhibits verbal similarities to this text....
  44.23 49.13.... Mettinger, Ibid., 24

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs
22
The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• 2.1 Accordingly, the compositional structure of
  the work suggests a bipartite arrangement
  comprised of 41.1-48.19 and 49.14-55.5,
  respectively. This observation agrees with the
  fact that the first part of the book speaks of
  Israel and Jacob, while the latter part speaks of
  Zion and Jerusalem. Furthermore, Cyrus only plays
  a significant part in the fist part of the book.
  Mettinger, Ibid., 25

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs
24
The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• 2.2 Now, just as the Ebed-section in 49.1-12 is
  emphasized by two hymns of praise, the Cyrus
  oracle in 44.24-45.7 is framed between two hymns.
  If we seek a parallel to the Cyrus oracle in the
  latter half of the book, the interplay between
  the hymns of praise which was demonstrated above
  would lead us to expect that it was located
  between the hymns in 51.3 and 52.7-12. But this,
  however, is not the case, as the passage which
  apparently corresponds to the Cyrus oracle is the
  Ebed-section 52.13-53.12, the text concerning the
  Man of Sorrows. Just as the Ebed-section in
  49.1-12 follows an Exodus hymn (48.20-21), this
  Ebed-section succeeds the Exodus hymn in
  52.7-12.... This analysis is confirmed by an
  examination of the structure of chap. 41-42.

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• Chap. 41.1-5 is a law suit which alludes to
  Cyrus. This section is followed by the
  significant passage 41.8-13, which accounts for
  the election of the Servant Israel. Yet another
  law suit alluding to Cyrus (41.21-29 cf. v. 25)
  follows somewhat later, and it is correspondingly
  succeeded by a section featuring the Servant
  (42.1-9). The compositional unit composed of
  41.1-42.9 is rounded off with the hymn in
  42.10-13, which.... closes the entire section
  beginning in 41.1 ff. To my way of thinking the
  conclusion is inescapable that the texts plays
  Cyrus and the Servant. This is true of 41.1-42.9.
  What is most important is that the same play is
  also to be found in the book as a whole, since
  Cyrus and the Servant are counterpoised against
  each other in the two gemstone sections in
  44.24-45.7 and 52.13-53.12.... Mettinger,
  Ibid., 25

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• 2.3 This understanding of the composition is
  also confirmed by the striking parallelism of the
  expressions concerning Cyrus and the (ebed. Both
  figures are called by name (45.3, 49.1), and
  their hands are grasped by the Lord (45.1 41.9,
  10, 13 42.1, 6). Finally, both men are
  commissioned to carry out the will of the Lord
  (44.28 53.10b). The relationship between Cyrus
  and the Servant in the first part of the book is
  positive, whereas if we examine the book as a
  whole we can not avoid being struck by the
  contrast between Cyrus and the anti-hero, the
  Man of Sorrows. The two halves of the book also
  evince a similar contrast between Babylon and
  Zion.

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs

• The description of Cyrus activity unavoidably
  leads to the description of the humiliation and
  fall of Babylon (chap. 46-47). Correspondingly,
  in the second half of the book the text featuring
  the Man of Sorrow is followed by the description
  of the glory of Zion. The connection between
  Babylon and Zion is emphasized by the fact that
  each is referred to as daughter (47.1, 5
  52.2). Mettinger, Ibid., 26

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The Compositional Function of the Servant Songs
29
Mettingers Summary

• 1. We have observed that 49.1-12 serves an
  important compositional function as a bridge
  between the two halves of the book. The numerous
  connections pointed out above between this
  section and the two parts of the book show it to
  be extraordinarily well integrated into the
  structure of the book. Mettinger, Ibid., 26

30
Mettingers Summary

• 2. Just as it would be inappropriate to excise
  the Cyrus oracle in 44.24-45.7 from its context,
  it would also be incorrect to regard the fourth
  Servant Song in 52.13-53.12 as a secondary
  addition. Such an operation would lame the
  patient and would without fail result in a
  compositional imbalance between the two parts of
  the book, since the text dealing with the Man of
  Sorrow corresponds to the Cyrus oracle.
  Mettinger, Ibid., 26, 28

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Mettingers Summary

• 3. The function the first Servant Song
  (42.1-9) is to be sought within the compositional
  entity composed of 41.1-42.13. This structure
  reveals that 42.1-9 is probably to be seen as a
  companion piece to 41.8-13 (the election of the
  Servant Israel) rather than to be associated with
  an (hypothetical) series of special Servant
  Songs. Mettinger, Ibid., 28

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The Texts in Isaiah
33
General Comments

• 1. A series of 4 songs that
• 1.1 seem to be out of context in their present
  location
• 1.2 First 3 have responses McKenzie, AB Second
  Isaiah,
• 1.3 Style 1st 4th God speaks of the servant
  in the third person.
• 2nd 3rd Servant speaks of God in the
  third person.
• 1.4 The four text can stand together, but they
  dont presuppose one another.
• 2. The 4 songs are cryptic by nature Exegesis
  will not solve all the questions Who is this
  servant? How does he relate to the other servants
  mentioned in 40-55?

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General Comments

• Are there other "Servant Song" Passages?
• Isaiah 49.7-13
• Isaiah 42.5-9
• Isaiah 50.10f.
• Isaiah 42.19-21
• Isaiah 48.14-16
• Isaiah 51.4-8
• Isaiah 51.9-16
• Isaiah 61.1ff.

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History of Interpretation

• 1. Collective Interpretation
• 1.1 Israel
• 1.2 Core of Israel
• 1.3 Idealized Israel
• 2. Individual Interpretation
• 2.1 Historical Person of the Past (Zerubbable,
  Cyrus, Moses, Isaiah)
• 2.2 Historical Person of the Future (Jesus
  Messiah)
• 3. Ideal Figure not expected to be fulfilled.

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42.1-4 The Mission of the Servant

• 1. Context 41.1-7 highlighted the fear among
  idols worshipers when God sent his envoy Cyrus
  against Babylon. But 41.8-20 assured the helpless
  servant Israel that they had nothing to fear from
  their God, who was shaping the events of history
  to bless them. 41.21-29 intensified the attack by
  emphasizing Gods ability to tell the future,
  something the idols could not do. Now, in 42.1-9,
  God foretells how, through his Servant, his
  beneficial order (mispa4t) will come to rule
  over the world. Thus 42.1-9 is the specific
  conclusion to 41.21-42.9, and the general
  conclusion to 41.1-42.9. Oswalt, John, The Book
  of Isaiah 40-66 The New International Commentary
  on the Old Testament, 108

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42.1-4 The Mission of the Servant

• 2. Structure
• 42.1 Relationship with God
• 42.2-4 Nature of his Ministry
• 3. Interpretative Crux Prophet or King?
• 4. Justice ". . . the divine mispa4t that the
  Servant will establish is nothing less than the
  salvation of God in its broadest sense.
  Oswalt, John, The Book of Isaiah 40-66 The New
  International Commentary on the Old Testament,
  110

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49.1-6

• 1. Structure
• 49.1a Address to the Foreign Nations
• 49.1b-3 The election, call and equipment of the
  Servant
• 49.4 His despondency
• 49.5-6 His new task.
• 2. Interpretative Crux Servant as Israel
• 3. Major Thrust "I will give you as a light to
  the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
  ends of the earth."
• 4. ". . . the ministry to Israel is subsidiary
  and as it were by the way." North

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50.4-9

• 1. Form "The most obvious points are the
  affinities between 50.4-9 and the confidence
  motifs in Jeremiahs laments (11.20 15.15, 16
  17.14 20.11, 12 18.23) the affinities with the
  certainty of being answered, which approximates
  to the motif just mentioned (11.20 20.11, 12)
  and to the fact that a protestation of innocence
  is often combined with a confidence motif (11.19
  12.3 15.10, 16 18.20 20.12). But these are the
  very three motifs which we found built into
  50.4-9. Westermann, Claus, Isaiah 40-66 OTL,
  227

40
50.4-9

• 2. "The mission to Israel was, in the purpose of
  Yhweh . . . . Ancillary to the mission to the
  Gentiles, and it is probably that 49.6 should be
  interpreted as indicating, not that the servant
  was the carry on both parts of his mission
  simultaneously, but that he was to leave the
  first part unfulfilled and like Paul and Barnabas
  'turn to the Gentiles' (Acts 13.46)." North

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52.13-53.12 Structure

• 1. Unity of the Whole The fourth servant song
  is in two parts. What certain people say,
  53.1-11a, is set within the framework of
  something that God says 52.13ff. and 53.11b-12.
  Both parts speak of the Servant in the third
  person. The utterance contained in the framework
  bears the stamp of an announcement, and its
  subject is the Servant. The central portion is a
  report, the Servant again being its subject. What
  links the two is the fact that both tell of the
  Servants humiliation and exaltation.
  Westermann, OTL Isaiah 40-66, 255

42
52.13-53.12 Structure

• 2. ...form, namely, the Songs affinities with
  thanksgiving psalms such as Psalms 30 and 54, in
  which the psalmist recalls adverse circumstances,
  whether of a personal or national nature, and
  then offers thanks for deliverance. While the
  author of our passage clearly has drawn upon this
  genre, the adaptation is undertaken with great
  freedom, as seen especially in the fact that
  whereas the thanksgiving psalms are written in
  the first person, this passage begins and ends
  with divine speech and in between presents a
  third-person voice that describes the suffering
  of the Servant." Hanson, Interpretation Isaiah
  40-66, 154

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52.13-53.12 Context

• 1. The poem as a whole is one of triumph, as the
  opening and closing strophes plainly show. Thus
  they suit the context very well. Indeed the major
  motif of the great reversal in 49.1-52.12 and
  52.13-53.12 is the same and is continued in chap.
  54. Detailed study confirms the connection of our
  poem both with what precedes and with what
  follows. The stress on the arm of Yahweh, the
  purpose of Yahweh, the parallelism of nations and
  kings, the words bare and carried, the
  extraordinary emphasis on affliction (50.5-6
  51.17-23 54.11 cf. 52.2-6), and many other
  similar phenomena argue strongly for Second
  Isaiahs authorship of the poem and for its
  present position in the collection. Muilenburg,
  The Interpreters Bible Isaiah 40-66, Vol. 5,
  615

44
Isaiah 52.13-53.12 An Outline

• 52.13 Announcement of the Exaltation
• 52.14-15 The Development of this
• 52.14 Earlier many were aghast at him
  (humiliation)
• 52.15 Now kings and nations are astonished at
  his exaltation
• 53.1-11a Report on the Servant's Suffering and
  Exaltation
• 53.1 Introduction we never dreamt of what we
  have been told

45
Isaiah 52.13-53.12 An Outline

• 53.2-9 Report on the Servant's Sufferings
• 53.2 He grew up parched and was insignificant
• 53.3 He was despised
• 53.4-9 His suffering had been caused by our guilt
• 53.4 he (bore) we (supposed him)
• 53.5 he (was smitten) we (because of our sins)
• 53.6 we (each his own way) he (Yahweh laid our
  iniquity on him)

46
Isaiah 52.13-53.12 An Outline

• 53.7 he suffered submissively (was made to appear
  in court)
• 53.8 he was killed (put to death for our sins)
• 53.9 buried with transgressors (although there
  was nothing guilty about him)
• 53.10-11a Report on the Servant's deliverance
• 53.10a God turned to him ( took pleasure in him)

47
Isaiah 52.13-53.12 An Outline

• 53.10b God's intervention on the Servant's
  behalf (he healed)
• 53.10c-11a The consequence for the Servant of the
  intervention (future tense)
• 53.11b-12 The Divine Oracle (continuation of
  52.13ff.)
• 53.11b my Servant will procure righteousness,
  bear sins
• 53.12a I will give him a return for his work
• 53.12b because he gave up his life and accepted
  shame
• 53.12c thus he bore sins and became intercessor

48
N.T. Use of Isaiah 52.13-53.12

• 1. One of the first tasks of the Church in
  defense of its claims was to explain the
  suffering and death of Jesus as Messiah Litwak,
  K. D., The Use of Quotations from Isaiah
  52.13-53.12 in the New Testament, JETS, 26/4
  (1983), p. 386

49
N.T. Use of Isaiah 52.13-53.12

• 2. 7 Major Quotations of Isaiah 52.13-53.12
• 2.1 Passion Apologetics
• Matthew 8.17
• Luke 22.37
• Acts 8.32-33
• John 12.38
• Romans 10.16
• 2.2 Justification for Pauls Preaching in
  Unevangelized Areas Romans 15.21
• 2.3 Moral Admonition 1 Peter 2.22

50
N.T. Use of Isaiah 52.13-53.12

• 3. The Gospel of Mark and the Theme of the
  Suffering Servant
• 3.1 Death Prediction Passages
• Mark 8.31-33
• Mark 9.31-32
• Mark 10.33-34
• 3.2 Gospel of Mark as an extended Passion
  Narrative