Part 2: The second servant song
Background to the 3rd Servant Song
The second servant song ends with a declaration that the Servant will guide God’s people and bring them back from exile, using imagery reminiscent of the Exodus (49:8-13). Zion believes that Yahweh has forsaken her, but he promises that he will never forget her, and she will be rebuilt (49:14-18), and the wastelands of Israel will be resettled (49:19-21). The people of Israel will be restored, and kings and queens will bow down to them (49:22-23); their oppressors will be destroyed (49:24-26). Yet this is the same people that was sold because of their sins, who refused to come when God called (50:1-3).
This short interlude between the second and third servant songs highlights the same themes seen across Isaiah 40-48: the faithlessness of Israel (50:1-3), the faithfulness of God (49:14-18), and the idea of a coming ‘new Exodus’ (49:8-13; 50:2-3).
The 3rd Servant Song
“The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord Yahweh helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord Yahweh who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.”
Who among you fears Yahweh and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of Yahweh and relies upon his God? But all of you are kindlers of fire, lighters of firebrands. Walk in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled! This is what you shall have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment. (Isaiah 50:4-11)
The third servant song focuses on the obedience of the Servant despite harsh circumstances. Even though he is beaten and insulted, he refuses to retaliate against his adversaries, because he trusts that God will deliver him. In spite of his suffering, he “was not rebellious, [he] did not turn backward” (50:5).
This is to be contrasted with the infidelity of Israel. The second and third servant songs, both of which emphasize the faithfulness of the Servant (49:4; 50:5), are sandwiched between three statements about how unfaithful the people of Israel have been (48:1-8; 50:1-3, 11). Whereas the Servant unfailingly trusts God’s ability to deliver him (50:7-9), Zion claims that God has forsaken her (49:14). Even within the third servant song, the prophet chastises the people of Israel for refusing to trust in the name of Yahweh and obey his servant (50:10-11). These distinctions establish that the Servant isn’t Israel, although his suffering and vindication recapitulate the history of Israel’s exile and restoration.
Later Interpretation of the 3rd Servant Song
Although the context shows that the Servant of the third song isn’t the people of Israel, there is less information in this song that allows us to identify the Servant. It’s only from the first two servant songs that we know he must be the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and the second Moses (Isa. 42:6; 49:5-6, 8-10; cf. 55:3). Because of this, the interpretations of this oracle in second temple Judaism are more varied. Targum Jonathan, a first-century interpretive paraphrase which understood Isaiah 42 to be Messianic, interprets the “servant” of the third song to be the prophet:
The Holy One, blessed be He, shall say to all the nations: Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant the prophet, who keeps the law, being in distress, as a man who walks in darkness and has no light, trusting in the name of the Lord, will stay upon the salvation of his God? (Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 50:10)
Unlike the other servant songs, there are no explicit quotes or obvious allusions to Isaiah 50:4-11 in the New Testament. However, it is echoed in the descriptions of Jesus’ suffering in the four gospels, which state that he was insulted, spit on, and beaten (Matt. 26:67; 27:30; Mark 10:34; Luke 6:32; cf. Isa. 50:6), yet refused to retaliate against his oppressors (Matt. 5:39; 1 Pet. 2:23; cf. Isa. 50:6-7). There is a possible allusion to Isaiah 50:7 where Luke says that Jesus “set his face steadfastly” to go to Jerusalem where he would be killed (Luke 9:51). Therefore, based on the NT, the third servant song was fulfilled in Jesus' suffering and unfailing trust in God to vindicate him.
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