Israel And The Servant In Isaiah 42 And 49
Messiah: fulfilling Israel’s task of servanthood
In chapter 40-48 the people of Israel are called “G-d’s servant” several times. But then in Isaiah 49:3 G-d calls the Messiah “My servant, Israel in whom I will be glorified.” After this, Isaiah no longer gives the title “servant” to the nation. The message which the prophecy wants to give us is this: Messiah, the ultimate Israel, perfectly fulfills Israel’s task of servanthood.
This “shift” in the prophecy doesn’t come all of a sudden like a lightning bolt out of blue sky. A careful reading of the prophecy already prepares us for this.
An ideal servant
Isaiah first calls Israel G-d’s servant in Isaiah 41. But right after that, Isaiah 42:1-9 gives a description of an anonymous ideal servant of G-d.
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says G-d, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Since the people of Israel have been called G-d’s servant in Isaiah 41, we might think the servant of Isaiah 42 is also Israel. But then on the other hand, the picture is so ideal that it naturally raises the question “can this be Israel?” It becomes even more difficult to answer that question with a “yes” when we continue reading that same chapter.
A contrast
At the end of chapter 42 Israel is again explicitly called G-d’s servant. But when it is described there it seems to be a deliberate contrast with the ideal servant described at the beginning of the chapter.
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
Israel, the servant, as described at the end of Chapter 42 doesn’t match at all with the ideal servant earlier in the chapter. The servant at the beginning of Chapter 42 opens the eyes of the blind and sets prisoners free; the servant at the end of the chapter is blind and imprisoned himself. The first servant sets the gentiles straight with his Torah and is a light to them. The second servant is not paying attention to G-d’s Torah, even when he is judged. So, the question “Who is this ideal servant?” keeps lingering.
Someone steps forward
In chapter 48, Israel’s failure and rebelliousness are stressed again. Then we learn something else. In the midst of Israel’s deep crisis of not listening and not responding to G-d, a mysterious person steps forward. He begins to speak in the first person, singular:
“And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.” (Isaiah 48:16)
His speech continues in chapter 49. He tells us G-d told him that he is His servant, Israel in whom G-d will be glorified.[1] The context makes it clear that the servant has to be distinguished from the people as a whole. He is too ideal and special to be identified simply with the nation.
But then why is he called “Israel?”
The answer is: He personifies and embodies the ideal Israel. He is what Israel was intended, but failed, to be — a light to the nations. In this sense the ideal Servant fulfills Israel’s divinely-ordained purpose. In rabbinic interpretations of Isaiah 42 this ideal servant is often identified with the Messiah (e.g., Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 42)[2], with which we happily concur.
[1] In keeping with the emphasis in the Hebrew text, Isaiah 49:3 may be translated (as did the famous Jewish scholar Martin Buber) to read “You are my servant, the Israel in whom I will be glorified.”
[2] Also e.g. by Malbim, Metzudat David, RaDaK. But again not so by Rashi