1

DEFUSING
THE MISSIONARY
NUCLEAR BOMB

ISAIAH 53
A COUNTER-MISSIONARY SEMINAR
WITH RABBI MICHAEL SKOBAC

Session 1
Messiah, Sin and
How Not to Misread the Bible

JEWS FOR JUDAISM

3110 Bathurst St., PO Box 54042 • Toronto, ON M6A 3B7
T: (416) 789-0020 • F: (416) 789-0030
info@jewsforjudaism.ca • www.jewsforjudaism.ca
YouTube – JEWS FOR JUDAISM (Canada)
 2

INGATHERING OF THE JEWISH EXILES

JEREMIAH 30:3
For behold, days are coming, says the L-rd, when I will return the captivity of My
people Israel and Judah, said the L-rd, and I will return them to the land that I gave
their forefathers, and they will possess it. (cf. Deuteronomy 30:3; Isaiah 11:11-12, 43:5-6;
Jeremiah 3:18, 32:37; Ezekiel 11:17, 34:13, 36:24, 37:21, etc.)

REBUILDING OF THE HOLY TEMPLE

ISAIAH 2:2-3
2 It will happen in the end of days: The mountain of the Temple of the L-rd will be

firmly established as the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills,
and all the nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will go and say: Come, let us go
up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the Temple of the G-d of Jacob…(cf. Isaiah 56:6-7,
60:7,66:20; Ezekiel chapters 40-44; Malachi 3:4; Zechariah 14:20-21, etc.)

OBSERVANCE OF TORAH
EZEKIEL 11:19-20
19 I will give them an undivided heart and I will place a new spirit in them; I will

remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they
may walk in My decrees and observe My laws and fulfill them...(cf. Deuteronomy
30:8,10; Jeremiah 31:32; Ezekiel 36:26-27, etc.)

UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE OF G-D

ZECHARIAH 14:9
And the L-rd will become King over all the earth; on that day the L-rd will be one and
His Name one. (cf. Zechariah 8:23, 14:16; Isaiah 45:23, 66:23; Zepheniah 3:9; Jeremiah
31:33; Ezekiel 38:23; Psalm 86:9, etc.)

REIGN OF PEACE
MICAH 4:3-4
3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far

away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 4 But
they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall
make them afraid; for the mouth of the L-rd of hosts has spoken.
(cf. Hoseah 2:20; Isaiah 2:1-4, 32:16-18, 60:18, 65:25; Zechariah 14:11; Jeremiah 33:9, etc.)
 3

THE DAVIDIC KING

ISAIAH 11:1-10
1 A staff shall emerge from the stump of Jesse, and a shoot shall sprout from his roots. 2

The spirit of G-d will rest upon him – a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of
counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and fear of G-d. 3 He will be filled with a spirit
for the fear of G-d, and will not judge by what his eyes see nor decide by what his ears
hear. 4 He will judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the meek
of the earth. He will strike (the wicked of) the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be the belt around his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the sheep
and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and a calf, a lion’s cub and a fatling will
walk together, and a young child shall lead them. 7 A cow and a bear will graze and
their young will lie down together, and a lion will eat straw like the cattle. 8 A nursing
child will play by a viper’s hole, and a weaned child will put his hand on the adder's
den. 9 They will neither hurt nor destroy in all of My holy mountain, for the earth will
be full of the knowledge of the L-rd as the waters cover the sea. 10 It shall be on that day
that the descendant of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples, nations will seek him
and his resting place will be glorious.

JEREMIAH 23:5-6
5 The days are surely coming, says the L-rd, when I will raise up for David a righteous

branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and
righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be safe and Israel will dwell securely.
And this is the name by which he will be called: "The L-rd is our righteousness."
(cf. Jeremiah 30:7-10, 33:14-17)

EZEKIEL 37:24-28
24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They

shall follow My ordinances and keep My decrees and fulfill them. 25 They shall live in the
land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their
children and their children's children shall live there forever; and My servant David shall
be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set My
sanctuary among them forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them; I will be
their G-d and they shall be My people. 28 Then the nations of the world will know that I,
the L-rd, sanctifies Israel when My sanctuary is among them forevermore. (cf.Ezekiel
34:23-30; Hosea 3:4-5; Zechariah 9:9-10).
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SIN AND ATONEMENT

1) Cognitive Dissonance and re-defining the concept of Messiah

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures.

ROMANS 11:26
And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he
will banish ungodliness from Jacob."

2) This is based on the assumption that we can’t do it:

“ I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness could come
through (observing) the Torah, then Christ died in vain”.
The Apostle Paul, Galatians 2:21

* Christian concepts of original sin, total depravity and Satan as “god of this world”

3) The Torah’s perspective:

GENESIS 4:6-7
And the L-rd said unto Cain, "Why are you wroth, and why is your countenance fallen?
If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin waits at the
door. And he (it) desires you, but you shall (can) conquer him (it)."

DEUTERONOMY 30:11-14
For this commandment that I command you today – it is not hidden from you and it is not distant.
It is not in heaven, (for you) to say, “Who can go up to the heaven for us and take it for us, so that
we can obey it and perform it?” Nor is it across the sea, (for you) to say, “Who can cross to the
other side of the sea for us and take it for us, so that we can obey it and perform it?” Rather, the
matter is very near to you – in your mouth and in your heart – to perform it.

PROVERBS 24:16
For the righteous one will fall seven times and rise, but the wicked ones will stumble through evil.

ISAIAH 59:20
And he will come to Zion as redeemer, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says
the L-rd.
 5

The Path to Divine Forgiveness in the Torah

1 KINGS 8:46-53
If they sin against You, (for there is no man that does not sin), and You be angry with
them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the
land of the enemy, far or near; 47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land where
they were carried captives, and repent and make supplication unto You in the land of
them that carried them captives, saying, "We have sinned, and have done perversely, we
have committed wickedness;" 48 And return to You with all of their heart, and with all
their soul, in the land of their enemies, which let them away captive, and pray unto You
toward their land, which You gave unto their fathers, the city which You have chosen,
and the house which I have built for Your Name: 49 Then hear their prayer and
supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive
Your people who have sinned against You…

2 CHRONICLES 7:14
If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, pray, seek My face, and
turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin
and heal their land.

EZEKIEL 18:21-23
But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all
My statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. 22
None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them;
for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the
death of the wicked, says the L-rd G-d, and not rather that they should turn from their
ways and live?

EZEKIEL 33:10-11; 14-16

Now you, son of man, say to the House of Israel, Thus have you spoken, “Since our sins
are upon us and we are wasting away because of them, how can we live?” Say to them: As
I live, declares the L-rd G-d, I do not desire the death of the wicked one, but rather the
return of the wicked one from his way, so that he may live. Repent, repent from your evil
ways! Why should you die, O House of Israel?
Again, though I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," yet if they turn from their sin
and do what is lawful and right – 15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give back what they
have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity - they shall
surely live, they shall not die. 16 None of the sins that they have committed shall be
remembered against them; they have done what is lawful and right, they shall surely live.
 6

JEREMIAH 36:3
It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to
them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity
and their sin.

ISAIAH 55:6-7
6 Seek the L-rd while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; 7 let the wicked

forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the L-rd, that
He may have mercy on them, and to our G-d, for He will abundantly pardon.

DANIEL 4:24
Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you; atone for your sins with
righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity
may be prolonged.

JONAH 3:6-10
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe,

covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in
Nineveh: "by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd
or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human
beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to G-d.
All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who
knows? G-d may relent and change His mind; he may turn from His fierce anger, so that
we do not perish. 10 When G-d saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways,
G-d changed His mind about the calamity that He said He would bring upon them; and
He did not do it.

HOW ATONEMENT DOESN’T WORK

PROVERBS 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the L-rd, but the prayer of the upright
is his delight.

ISAIAH 1:11,16
11 What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the L-rd; I have had enough of

burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or
of lambs or of goats…16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your
doings from before My eyes; cause to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the
oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
 7

AMOS 5:22-24
22 Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept

them; and offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. 23 Take
away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. 24 But
let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

MICAH 6:6-8
6 “With what shall I come before the L-rd, and bow myself before G-d on high? Shall I

come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the L-rd be pleased
with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O
mortal, what is good; and what does the L-rd require of you but to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d?

PSALM 51:15-17
15 O L-rd, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For You have no

delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, You would not be pleased. 17 The
sacrifice acceptable to G-d is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O G-d, You will
not despise.

JEREMIAH 7:3-7
3 Thus says the L-rd of hosts, the G-d of Israel: ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and

let me dwell with you in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the
temple of the L-rd, the temple of the L-rd, the temple of the L-rd.’ 5For if you truly amend
your ways and your doings if you truly act justly one with another,
6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in

this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7Then I will dwell with
you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

1 SAMUEL 15:22
22And Samuel said, “Has the L-rd as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in

obeying the voice of the L-rd? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the
fat of rams.

HOSEA 6:6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of G-d rather than burnt
offerings.

PROVERBS 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the L-rd than sacrifice.
 8

HOW NOT TO READ THE BIBLE

1. Putting the cart before the horse – reading the Bible with a preconceived agenda:

“Let me repeat this point: there is no self-evident blueprint in the Hebrew Bible which
can be said to unambiguously point to Jesus. Only after one has come to believe that Jesus
is the Messiah, and more specifically the kind of Messiah that he is, does it all begin to
make sense and hang together.”
“Yehoshua ben David” by Walter Riggans, Olive Press, 1995, page 155
(A Christian missionary textbook)

2. Examples of Out-of-Context prooftexts:

ZECHARIAH 13:1-6
1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants

of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the L-
rd of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no
more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass
out of the land. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his
father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, "You shall not live; for you
speak lies in the name of the L-rd:" and his father and his mother that begat him shall
thrust him through when he prophesies. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he has prophesied; neither shall
they wear a rough garment to deceive: 5 But he shall say, "I am no prophet, I am a
husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth." 6 And one shall say unto
him, "What are these wounds in your hands?" And he shall answer, "Those with which
I was wounded in the house of my friends."

MATTHEW Chapter 2
13And when they departed, behold, the angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,

saying: "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay
there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek to destroy the young child." 14 When he
arose, he took the young child by night, and went down into Egypt. 15 And stayed there
until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the lord by the
prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called My son."

HOSEA 11:1
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.
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MATTHEW Chapter 2 (continued)

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was very angry, and

sent out, and killed all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from age two years and under, according to the time which he diligently inquired of the
wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 “In Ra'ma was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

JEREMIAH 31:15-17
15 Thus says the L-rd; "A voice was heard in Ra'ma, lamentation, and bitter weeping;

Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they
were not." 16 Thus says the L-rd; "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from
tears: for your work shall be rewarded," says the L-rd; "and they shall come again from
the land of the enemy. 17 And there is hope in your end," says the L-rd, "that your
children shall come again to their own border."

PSALM 41:1-10
1 Happy are those who consider the poor; the L-rd delivers them in the day of trouble. 2

The L-rd protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land. You do
not give them up to the will of their enemies. 3 The L-rd sustains them on their sickbed; in
their illness you heal all their infirmities. 4 As for me, I said, O L-rd, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you." 5 My enemies wonder in malice when I die, and
my name perish? 6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words, while their
hearts gather mischief; when they go out, they tell it abroad. 7 All who hate me whisper
together about me they imagine the worst for me. 8 They think that a deadly thing has
fastened on me, that I will not rise again from where I lie. 9 Even my bosom friend in
whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me. 10 But you, O L-rd,
be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.

3. MISTRANSLATION:

PSALM 22 (Christian translation, King James Version)

12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They

gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like
water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of
my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
and you have brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the
assembly of the wicked have enclosed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.
:‫כִּי ְסבָבּונִּי ְכ ָלבִּים עֲדַ ת מ ְֵרעִּים ִּהקִּיפּונִּי כָּאֲ ִרי י ָדַ י ו ְַרגְלָי‬
(Jewish Translation appears as verse 17)
For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have enclosed me; like a lion, at my
hands and my feet.
ISAIAH 38:13
 10

:‫שלִּי ֵמנִּי‬
ְ ַ‫שבֵר כָל ַעצְמֹותָ י מִּּיֹום עַד ַליְלָה ת‬
ַ ְ ‫שּוִּיתִּ י עַד בֹּקֶר כָּאֲ ִרי כֵן י‬
ִּ
I cry for help until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to
an end.

NUMBERS 24:9
:‫שכַב כַּאֲ ִרי ּו ְכ ָלבִּיא מִּי יְקִּימֶּנּו ְמב ֲָרכֶיָך בָרּוְך וְא ְֹּר ֶריָך ָארּור‬
ָ ‫כ ַָרע‬
He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that
blesses you, and cursed is he that curses you.

MATTHEW Chapter 1
22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the lord by the

prophet, saying,23 "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and
they shall call his name Emanu-el, which being interpreted is, G-d with us."

ISAIAH 7:14 ‫מה ה ָָרה וְיֹלֶדֶ ת בֵן ְוק ָָראת שְ מֹו עִמָ נּו אֵ ל‬
ָ ‫ָלכֵן יִתֵ ן אֲ דֹנָי הּוא ָלכֶם אֹות ִהנֵה ָה ַע ְל‬
Accurate translation:

Therefore, G-d Himself will give to you a sign; Behold, the young woman is with child and will
give birth to a son and she will call his name Immanuel.

4) P’shat vs. Midrash PARDES

 Peshat (‫ — ) ְּפשָׁט‬Plain, simple, straightforward, intended meaning of a text.
 Remez (‫)רמֶז‬ֶ — Meanings alluded to through “Hints” such as Gematria (numerical value of
letters)
 Derash (‫ — )דְּ ַרש‬From the Hebrew meaning to inquire, seek or to draw out. Homiletical or
interpretative meanings not explicit in the text.
 Sod (‫ – )סֹוד‬Secret, mystical, Kabbalistic levels of understanding.

Genesis 1:2 And the land was desolate and void, and darkness upon the face of the deep.

Desolate – this is the exile of Babylon. Void – this is the exile of Persia. Darkness – this is the
exile of Greece. The deep – this is the exile of Rome. Midrash Genesis Rabbah

Psalm 22:1-2 For the conductor, on the ayeles hashachar, a psalm by David. My God, my
God, why have You forsaken me; why so far from saving me, from the words of my roar?

(Esther said) But I have been placed in the bosom of this wicked man all these years, for me you
do no miracles. My Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?" (Midrash Tehilim Buber, 22:16)
 11

DEFUSING
THE MISSIONARY
NUCLEAR BOMB

ISAIAH 53
A COUNTER-MISSIONARY SEMINAR
WITH RABBI MICHAEL SKOBAC

Session 2
Deconstructing
the Missionary Reading
of Isaiah 53

JEWS FOR JUDAISM

3110 Bathurst St., PO Box 54042 • Toronto, ON M6A 3B7
T: (416) 789-0020 • F: (416) 789-0030
info@jewsforjudaism.ca • www.jewsforjudaism.ca
YouTube – JEWS FOR JUDAISM (Canada)
 12

ISAIAH 52:13-53:12 (Christian translation)

52:13 Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall
be very high.
52:14 As many were astonished at him his appearance was so marred, beyond
human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men
52:15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of
him; for that which has not been told them they shall see,
and that which they have not heard they shall understand.

53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?
53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry
ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty
that we should desire him.
53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed
him not.
53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a
lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so
he opened not his mouth.
53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people?
53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
53:10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he
makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his
days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand;
53:11 he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his
knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted
righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities.
53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the
transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
 13

Proverbs 18:17
The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-
examines him.

*Missionaries have set the bar very high for themselves – they claim this passage
proves their position.

 Red Herring #1 - Jesus insisted people accept him years before his crucifixion

 Red Herring #2 – This is not the critical divide between Judaism & Christianity

IS THIS PASSAGE CLEARLY ABOUT THE MESSIAH?

1) Jesus’ followers did not understand it as a prophesy about the Messiah

MATTHEW 16:21-22
21 From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how he must go into

Jerusalem, and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and
began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it lord, this must never happen to you.”

MARK 9:31-32
31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, "The son of man is delivered into the

hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third
day." 32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
 14

2) No clear identifying marks that it is about the Messiah

3) Not consistent with passages that are clearly about the Messiah

4) No corroboration for this Messianic concept:

“Before you venture forward in this pilgrimage through Isaiah 53, it is essential to
know that no other prophesy in the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures explicitly
links the death of the Messiah with his work of atonement.”

The Gospel According to Isaiah 53, Bock and Glaser, editors

Kregel Publications 2012, page 29

5) Lack of clarity demonstrated by the fact that among Christian Bible scholars and
commentators, there are at least 15 different theories regarding who the Servant of the
Lord is in this chapter.

“The Suffering Servant in Isaiah” by Father Hayden Williams OFM Cap,

“Theories which identify the Servant with some individual name: Fifteen names
have been suggested:
1. Isaiah
2. Uzziah
3. Hezekiah
4. Josiah
5. Jeremiah
6. Ezekiel
7. Job
8. Moses
9. Jehoiachim
10. Cyrus
11. Sheshbazzar
12. Zerubbabel
13. Meshullam
14. Nehemiah
15. Eleazar”

Indeed, many Christian scholars recognize that lack of probative value in Isaiah 53:

“It is important to recognize that there is a significant scholarly line of argument that concludes
that this poem [Isaiah 53] will not bear the theological freight familiarly assigned to it, and
that its theological claims are rather minimal…One must recognize a certain dis-ease about
making a maximal theological interpretation (a large Christian inclination) on what are at best
unstable critical grounds.”
Walter Brueggemann, Professor of Old Testament at
Columbia Theological Seminary
 15

IS IT CLEAR THAT JESUS IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS PASSAGE?

1) The identification is built upon circular reasoning. What is the very

maximum Christianity can extract from this passage?

2) The language of Isaiah’s passage seems to exclude Jesus as a possible subject:

(a) ISAIAH 52:13-15

13 See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.

14 Just as there were many who were astonished at you, saying, "Surely his visage was

marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men."
15 So shall he startle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for

that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard
they shall understand.

(b) Was Jesus someone of unpleasant appearance, appearing to many as inhuman?

Isaiah 52:14 and 53:2

(c) Despised and rejected of men? Isaiah 53:3

 How often does the Bible teach us that the Messiah will be despised and rejected?
 Do these terms really apply to Jesus?

MATTHEW 4:23-25
And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the
gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the
people. And the news about him went out into all of Syria…And great multitudes followed him
from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea from beyond the Jordan.

MARK 3:7-9
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee

followed him; 8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from
Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they
would not crush him.

LUKE 2:52
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
 16

LUKE 4:14-15
14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about

him spread through all the surrounding country. 15He began to teach in their
synagogues and was praised by everyone.

(d) “a man of pain and one who knows sickness” Isaiah 53:3

 How many times does scripture teach that the Messiah would suffer constant pain and
illness?
 Is there any evidence that Jesus experienced pain and illness throughout his life?

(e) Did Jesus go silently to his death? Isaiah 53:7

MATTHEW 26:39
And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it
is
possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.

MATTHEW 27:46
And about three o'clock, Jesus cried with a loud voice, "El, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that
is, "My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me?"

JOHN 18:36
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this
world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

(f) …due to the transgression of my people, they (lamo) were afflicted (or: affliction came to
them) Isaiah 53:8

ISAIAH 48:21
They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them
(‫ )למו‬from the rock; he split open the rock and the water gushed out.

(g) Was Jesus someone disconnected from violence? Isaiah 53:9

LUKE 8:32-33
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged

Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out
of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the
lake and were drowned.
 17

LUKE 19:27
"But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them -- bring
them here and slaughter them in my presence."

MATTHEW 21:18-20
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19 And when he saw a

fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said
unto it, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever." And presently the fig tree
withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How soon is
the fig tree withered away."

MARK 11:13-14
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything

thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was
not yet. 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, "No man eat fruit of the hereafter
forever." And his disciples heard it.

JOHN 2:14-15
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers

of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a whip of small cords, he drove them all
out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money,
and overthrew the tables;

LUKE 22:36
He said to them, "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag.
And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one."

(h) Could it be said about Jesus that he had no deceit in his mouth? Isaiah 53:9

JOHN 18:20
Jesus answered, " I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues
and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret."

HOWEVER:

MARK 4:10-12
10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him

about the parables. 11And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the
kingdom of G-d, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that
they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so
that they may not turn again and be forgiven."
 18

MATTHEW 16:19-20
19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth

will
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20
Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

LUKE 8:53-56
53And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand

and called out, "Child, get up!" 55 Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he
directed them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astounded; but he
ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

(i) If his soul would acknowledge guilt…Isaiah 53:10

(j) He will see his seed (zera), he shall prolong his days…Isaiah 53:10

The word used in scripture for figurative progeny is never “Zera” (seed) but “Ben” (son/child)

DEUTERONOMY 14
You are children (‫ )בנים‬of the L-rd your G-d.

GENESIS 15:2-4
2 But Abram said, "O L-rd G-d, what else will you give me, for I continue childless, and

the heir (‫ )בן‬of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3And Abram said, "You have given
me no offspring (‫)זרע‬, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir (‫)בן‬." 4 But the
word of the L-rd came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very
own issue shall be your heir."

ISAIAH 45:11
Thus says the L-rd, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: "Will you question me about my
children (‫)בנים‬, or command me concerning the work of my hands?"

ISAIAH 45:19
I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring (‫ )זרע‬of Jacob,
"Seek me in chaos." I the L-rd speak the truth, I declare what is right.

(k)…with his knowledge, the righteous one, My servant will cause many to be just…
Isaiah 53:11
 19

3) The idea that Jesus was a sacrifice to atone for the sins of those who
would believe in him is problematic:

(a) If Isaiah 53 is saying this, it would be the only source in the Bible for such an idea. An
idea that Christians insist is the most central idea about the Messiah and actually, the most
central teaching of the Bible – all resting on this isolated and highly controversial passage.

(b) The passage doesn’t speak of belief in this servant – quite the opposite.

(c) The idea of vicarious suffering is finessed in Christian translations with a subtle
mistranslation:

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities...

However, a more accurate translation would be:

He was wounded from our transgression, bruised as a result of our iniquities…

(d) This concept violates virtually all Biblical teachings about atonement:

1) Sacrifices were not sufficient to atone for sin.

2) Sacrifices were ultimately not necessary to atone for sin – repentance is.

3) Torah does not endorse the idea of an innocent person dying for guilty ones:

EXODUS 32:32-33
32But now, if you will only forgive their sin - but if not, blot me out of the book that you

have written. 33But the L-rd said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot
out of my book."

DEUTERONOMY 24:16
Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for
their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death.

EZEKIEL 18:1-4
1The word of the L-rd came unto me again, saying, 2 "What mean you, that you use this

proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge?' 3As I live," says the L-rd G-d, "you shall not have
occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul
of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die."
 20

4) Jesus would not have been a “kosher” sacrifice:

 Sacrifices had to be offered by Cohanim (Priests)

 Sacrifices had to be physically perfect, without blemish
 Sacrifices had to be brought on the altar of the Temple
 Sacrifices had to be burned
 Sacrifices were never brought for future sins
 The Christian Bible designates Jesus as a Paschal lamb, which was not brought
to atone for sin

e) If Jesus was the final, once and for all sacrifice for sin, why does the Bible say there
will be a third Temple in Jerusalem with the restoration of the sacrificial system in the
future?

HEBREWS 10:10,18
10 And it is by G-d's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of

Jesus Christ once for all…

18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

EZEKIEL 37:26-27
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting

covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them;
yea, I will be their G-d, and they shall be my people.

EZEKIEL 44:27-29
27On the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy

place, he shall offer his sin offering, says the L-rd G-d. 28This shall be their inheritance: I
am their inheritance; and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding. 29
They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every
devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

EZEKIEL 45:22-23
22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young

bull for a sin offering. 23And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a
burnt offering to the L-rd seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each
of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
 21

ZECHARIAH 14:20-21
20On that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, "Holy to the L-rd." And

the cooking pots in the house of the L-rd shall be as holy as the bowls in front of the
altar; 21and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the L-rd of
hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice.
And there shall no longer be traders in the house of the L-rd of hosts on that day.

MALACHI 3:2-4
2For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of

silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver,
until they present offerings to the L-rd in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah
and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the L-rd as in the days of old and as in former years.

ISAIAH 56:6-7
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the L-rd, to minister to him, to love the

name of the L-rd, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane
it, and hold fast my covenant - 7these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them
joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted
on my alter; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
 22

DEFUSING
THE MISSIONARY
NUCLEAR BOMB

ISAIAH 53
A COUNTER-MISSIONARY SEMINAR
WITH RABBI MICHAEL SKOBAC

Session 3
Understanding
Isaiah 53

JEWS FOR JUDAISM

2795 Bathurst St., PO Box 41032 • Toronto, ON M6B 4J6
T: (416) 789-0020 • F: (416) 789-0030
toronto@jewsforjudaism.ca • www.jewsforjudaism.ca
YouTube – JEWS FOR JUDAISM (Canada)
 23

Does Isaiah ever identify G-d’s servant?

ISAIAH 41:8-9
8 But you Israel, My servant, Jacob who I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend;

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts,

and said to you, you are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.

ISAIAH 43:10
You are My witnesses declares the L-rd, and My servant whom I have chosen: that you
may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no god
formed, neither shall there be after me.

ISAIAH 44:1-2
1 But now listen, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen: 2 Thus says the L-

rd who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you, "Do not fear O
Jacob My servant, Jeshurun who I have chosen."

ISAIAH 44:21
Remember these things O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant, I have formed you,
you are My servant O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

ISAIAH 45:4
For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have even called you by
your name:

ISAIAH 48:20
Go forth out of Babylon, flee from the Kasdim with a voice of singing declare, tell this, say
it even to the ends of the earth; say, "The L-rd has redeemed his servant Jacob."

ISAIAH 49:3
And said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Israel are the Servants of G-d in Isaiah 54:17, 63:17, 65:8-9, 13-15 and 66:14.

Elsewhere in the Bible, there is a similar identification:

JEREMIAH 30:10-11
But as for you, do not fear the word of the L-rd, My servant Jacob, and do not be afraid,
O Israel, for see that I am saving you from distant places, and your descendants from the
 24

land of their captivity, and Jacob will return, and be at peace and ease, and no one shall
make him afraid. For I am with you, declares the L-rd, to save you, for I will bring
annihilation upon all the nations among whom I have dispersed you, but upon you I will
not bring annihilation; I will chastise you with justice, but I will never eliminate you
altogether.

JEREMIAH 46:27-28
But as for you, do not be afraid, My servant Jacob, and do not be disheartened, O Israel,
for see that I am saving you from a distant land, and your offspring from the land of
their captivity; and Jacob will return and be calm and serene, and no one will frighten
him. Do not be afraid, O my servant Jacob, declares the L-rd, for I am with you. Though
I will utterly destroy all the nations where I have dispersed you, I will not utterly
destroy you; I will punish you with justice, but I will never totally wipe you out.

DEUTERONOMY 32:36, 43
For the L-rd will vindicate His people, and have compassion upon His servants; When
He sees that their strength is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free.
O nations, sing the praises of His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants;
He will bring retribution upon His foes, and He will appease His land and His people.

See also Leviticus 25:42,55; Ezekiel 28:25, I Chronicles 16:13, Nechemiah 1:10-11, Psalm
79:10, 135:1

Factors that lead to an interpretation of Israel (or the righteous of Israel)

as G-d’s servant:

1. In the chapters leading up to 53, Israel has been identified as G-d’s

servant
2. The surrounding chapters, 52 and 54 speak about the ultimate
redemption of Israel after their long history of suffering and
humiliation
3. We will see that this approach is consistently and thoroughly
corroborated by numerous parallel passages throughout the book
of Isaiah and the Bible.
4. Due to the compelling nature of this approach and its clarity, it has
been accepted by a very large and growing number of Christian
scholars and Bible commentators:
 25

THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE : OXFORD STUDY EDITION

52.13-53.12: Fourth servant song. The suffering servant. See 42.1-4 n. Israel, the servant
of God, has suffered as а humiliated individual. However, the servant endured without
complaint because it was vicarious suffering (suffering for others). 13-15: Nations and
kings will be surprised to see the servant exalted. 53.1: The crowds, pagan nations,
among whom the servant (Israel) lived, speak here (through v. 9), saying that the
significance of Israel's humiliation and exaltation is hard to believe.

THE HARPER COLLINS STUDY BIBLE, 1989, Commentary to Isaiah by J.J.M.

Roberts, Ph.D. Professor of Old Testament Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary

52.13-53.12 The last and most striking of the so-called servant songs (see note on 42.1-9)
. The early church indentified the servant in this passage with Jesus (Acts 8.32-35), and
Jesus’ own sense of identity and mission may have been shaped by this figure (Mk 8.31;
9.30-32; 10.33-34). In the original historical context, however, the servant appears to
have been exiled Israel. 52.13-15 God’s delivarance and exaltation of Israel will astound
the nations who formally despised this disfigured slave (49.7). 53.1-6 The nations speak,
expressing their astonishment at the deliverance of Israel, which forces them to revise
their assessment of Israel. 53.1-3 The servant’s outward appearance suggested nothing
special. 53.2 There may be an allusion in the term root to Israel’s messianic expectations
(11.1,10), but the servant had no majesty to suggest a royal status. 53.3 The servant was
despised by the nations. 53.4-6 Israel’s suffering suggested God had rejected it. Now,
however, contrary to the nations’ original impression, they see that the servant’s
suffering was vicarious. God’s surprising way of restoring all people to himself

NEW INTERPRETER’S STUDY BIBLE, 2003

52:13-53:12 The fourth, last, and longest of the so-called “Servant Songs” (42:1-4; 49:1-6;
50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) is also the most difficult because of its distinctive theologu of
vicarious suffering and beause of its appropriation in NT and later Christian traditon
52:13-15 The LORD speaks, promising that the servant Israel, although disfigured
because of the agonies of exile, will be exalted so that the nations will be astonished.
Paul uses the LXX of v.15 to justify his Gentile mission (Rom 15:21). 53:1-3 The nations
respond, describing both Israel’s seeming insignificance and the suffering it endured at
their hands. The description of Israel coming forth like a root out of dry ground shows
how unprepossessing the nation appeared. 53:4-6 The nations, although they once took
Israel’s suffering as a sign that God had rejected the nation, now proclaim a new
understanding: that Israel’s suffering was to atone for their sins so that they can be
made righteous (whole) and brought into relationship with God.
 26

Missionary objections to identifying the Servant as Israel:

(1) The language of the passage (he, him) is in the singular. It can’t be
referring to the nation.

RESPONSE:

ISAIAH 43:10
You are My witnesses says the L-rd, and My servant whom I have chosen . . .

EXODUS 4:22
And you shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus says the L-rd, Israel is My son, My first born.

HOSEAH 8:3
Israel has rejected the good - the enemy will pursue him.

HOSEAH 11:1
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.

HOSEAH 14:5-6
5 I will be like the dew to Israel, he will blossom like the lily, and he will take root like

the cedars of Lebanon. 6 His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive
tree, and his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

PSALM 130:8
And He will redeem Israel from all his sins.

JEREMIAH 48:27
Now was Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each
time you speak about him you shook your head in scorn.

JEREMIAH 50:19
And I shall bring Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze in the Carmel and the
Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

EXODUS 19:2
When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in
the wilderness, and there he, Israel, encamped in front of the mountain.
 27

EXODUS 1:10-12
10 Pharaoh says regarding the Jewish people: "Come, let us deal wisely with him (usually

translated them) lest he increase, and if there will be a war, he will join our enemies and
fight against us and go up from the land. 11 So they appointed taskmasters over him
(usually translated them) to afflict him (see above) with hard labor. And he built for
Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Ramses. 12 But the more they afflicted him, the more
he spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.

DEUTERONOMY 32:8-13
8 When the most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of

man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the L-rd's portion is His people, Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. 10 He found

him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness. He encircled him, He
cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its
nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them
on his pinions. 12 The L-rd alone guided him, and there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field,

and He made him suck honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock.

(2) How can the servant be Israel, when the Jewish people will admit
they were wrong for rejecting G-d’s servant by confessing “All we like
sheep have gone astray” (verse 6). Furthermore, how could Israel say,
“for the transgression of my people he was stricken” (verse 8). It doesn’t
make any sense for Israel to reject Israel or for Israel to suffer for Israel.

RESPONSE:
This objection stems from a critical error in reading our passage. It jumps to a
stereotyped conclusion about who is speaking in chapter 53 without fully thinking
this through:

ISAIAH 52:13 – 53:1

13 See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.

14 Just as there were many who were astonished at you, saying, "Surely his visage was

marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men."
15 So shall he startle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that

which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they
shall understand.
 28

1"Who would have believed what we are hearing? And to whom has the arm of the L-
rd been revealed?

WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN CHAPTER 53? An overview:

1. It’s a Messianic prophesy, but not a prophesy about the person of the
Messiah.
2. It describes the reflections of the kings and nations of the world
during the Messianic age.
3. Their reflections will be about their history with the Jewish people,
specifically focusing on understanding the historical suffering of the
people of Israel.
4. They will confess that while they always assumed that the Jews
suffered because they were rejected by G-d for their treachery, this
was not the case. In the Messianic age these nations and kings will
understand that it was actually they who were wicked, and that the
Jewish people suffered as a result of that wickedness. The nations, in
an effort to ease their own troubles, mercilessly scapegoated the
Jewish people and assumed they were getting what they deserved.
5. G-d speaks at the end of the chapter and explains that there was an
ultimate purpose to the suffering of the Jewish people and that
ultimately, they would be vindicated.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ISAIAH 53:

ISAIAH 52:13
13 See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
 29

After being downtrodden, the ultimate elevation and exaltation of the Jewish people:

ISAIAH 45:25
In the L-rd all the offspring of Israel shall find righteousness and glory.

ISAIAH 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers and queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to
the ground they shall bow down to you and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall
know that I am the L-rd: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

ISAIAH 60:1-3
1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the L-rd has risen upon you. 2

For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples, but the L-rd
will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. 3And nations will come to
your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

ISAIAH 60:14-15
14 And the sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all those who

despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet, and they will call you the
city of the L-rd, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken
and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy
from generation to generation.

ISAIAH 61:6-7,9
6 But you will be called the priests of the L-rd, you will be spoken of as ministers of our

G-d. 7 Instead of the shame, you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation
they will shout for joy over their portion.
9Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the

midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, because they are the
offspring whom the L-rd has blessed.

ISAIAH 62:2-3
2 And the nations will see your righteousness and all the kings your glory, and you will

be called by a new name that the mouth of the L-rd will designate. 3 You will also be a
crown of beauty in the hand of the L-rd and a royal diadem in the hand of your G-d.

ISAIAH 62:11-12
See, the L-rd has announced to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, Look,
your Saviour has come! Look, His reward is with Him and His wage is before Him.
 30

People will call them the holy people, the redeemed of the L-rd, and you will be called,
“The one sought after; a city not forsaken.”

ZEPHANIAH 3:19-20
Behold I am going to deal at that time with all of your oppressors; I will save the lame
and gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in, even at that time when I gather you together; Indeed I
will give you renown and praise among all the nations of the earth, when I restore your
fortunes before your eyes says the L-rd.

MALACHI 3:12
And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land says the L-rd
of Hosts.

NACHUM 2:2
For the L-rd will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel. Even though
devastators have devastated them and destroyed their vine branches.

HOSEAH 14:6-8
6 I will be like the dew to Israel, he will blossom like the lily and will take root like the

cedars of Lebanon. 7His shoots will sprout and his splendor will be like the olive tree, and
his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. 8Those who live in his shadow will again raise
grain, and they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

ISAIAH 52:14-14-53:1
14 Just as there were many who were astonished at you, saying, "Surely his visage was

marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men."
15 So shall he startle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that

which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they
shall understand.
1 "Who would have believed what we are hearing? And to whom has the arm of the L-

rd been revealed?

The marred appearance of the Jewish people because of the ravages of

exile:

LAMENTATIONS 4:8
Their appearance had become blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones, it became dry as wood.
 31

The shock and astonishment of the world upon the vindication of Israel,
G-d’s servant:

MICAH 7:15-16
15 According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them

marvelous things. 16 The nations shall see and be confounded, they shall lay their hands
upon their mouths, their ears shall be deaf.

ISAIAH 41:11
Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded,
those
who quarreled with you shall be as naught and lost.

JEREMIAH 16:19
O L-rd, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles
shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say: "Surely our fathers have inherited
lies, vanity, and things of no benefit."

ISAIAH 66:8
Who has ever heard such a thing? Who has ever seen things such as these? Has a land
ever gone through her labor in one day? Has a nation ever been born in one moment, as
Zion went through her labor and gave birth to her children?

ISAIAH 53:1
Who would have believed what we are hearing? And to whom is the arm of the L-rd
revealed?

What is meant by G-d manifesting His holy arm?

ISAIAH 52:9-10
9 Break forth into joy, sing together you waste places of Jerusalem, for the L-rd has

comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The L-rd has made bare His holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of
Israel.

ISAIAH 62:8
The L-rd swore by His right hand and by the arm of his strength: I will no longer give
your grain to your enemies, and foreigners shall no longer drink your wine for which
you have toiled.
 32

ISAIAH 63:12
Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters
before them to make for Himself an everlasting name...

EXODUS 3:20
So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all of My miracles which I shall do
in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.

EXODUS 14:31
Israel saw the great hand that G-d inflicted upon Egypt, and the people feared G-d, and
they believed in G-d and in Moses His servant.

EXODUS 15:6,12
6 Your right hand, O L-rd is majestic in power, Your right hand, O L-rd shatters the

enemy. 12 You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them.

DEUTERONOMY 4:34
Or has G-d tried to take for Himself a nation from within a nation by trials, by signs and
wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great
terrors as the L-rd your G-d did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

DEUTERONOMY 7:19
The great miracles that you saw with your own eyes, the signs, the wonders, the mighty
hand and outstretched arm with which G-d brought you out of Egypt.

PSALM 44:3
For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save
them, but Your right hand, and Your arm, and the light of Your presence, for You did
favor them.

PSALM 98:1-3
1 O sing to the L-rd a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and

His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. 2 The L-rd has made known His
salvation, He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has
remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the House of Israel. 3 All the
ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our G-d.

ISAIAH 53:2
For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry land. He had no
form or comeliness that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should
delight in him.
 33

PLANT IMAGERY OF JEWISH PEOPLE TAKEN FROM ARID LAND:

DEUTERONOMY 32:9-10
9For the L-rd's portion in His people, Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. He

found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness. 10 He encircled
him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

HOSEAH 13:4-5
4 Yet I have been the L-rd your G-d since the land of Egypt. And you were not to know

any god except me. 5For there is no savior besides Me. I cared for you in the
wilderness, in the land of drought.

PSALM 80:8
You removed a vine from Egypt, You drove out the nations and planted it.

JEREMIAH 2:2
Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem saying: Thus says the L-rd, "I remember
concerning you the devotion of your youth. The love of your betrothals. Your following
after Me in the wilderness, through a land that was not sown.

JEREMIAH 12:2
You have planted them and they have even taken root; they even produce fruit…

PSALM 107:4
They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert region.

EZEKIEL 16:5-7
5 No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion

on you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on
the day
that you were born. 6 When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I
said to you while you were in your blood: Live! I said to you while you were in your
blood: Live! 7 I made you numerous like plants of the field...

HOSEAH 13:5
I knew you in the wilderness, in a parched land.

HOSEAH 14:5-6
5 I will be like the dew to Israel, he will blossom like the lily, and he will take root like

the cedars of Lebanon. 6 His shoots will sprout and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
 34

ISAIAH 53:3
For he was despised and rejected of men, a man of pains and well acquainted with
disease, and as one from whom men hide their faces; he was despised and we esteemed
him not.

JEWISH PEOPLE DESPISED AND REJECTED:

ISAIAH 60:14-15
14 The sons of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you, and they that

despised you shall bow themselves at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you the
city of the L-rd, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken
and despised with no passerby, I will make you an everlasting pride, the joy of every
generation.

LAMENTATIONS 1:11
All her people groan, seeking bread; they have given their precious things for food to
restore their lives themselves. "See, O L-rd, and look, for I am despised."

EZEKIEL 16:5
No eye looked upon you with pity to do any of these things for you, to have
compassion on you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for you were
abhorred on the day that you were born.

EZEKIEL 34:28-29
28 And they will no longer be prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not

devour them, but they will live securely and no one will make them afraid. 29And I will
establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of
famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore.

EZEKIEL 35:5-6
5Because you have everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the

power of the sword at the time of their calamity... 6I will give you over to bloodshed
and bloodshed will pursue you...

ISAIAH 49:13
Shout for joy O heavens, and rejoice O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O
mountains! For the L-rd has comforted His people, and will have compassion on his
afflicted.
 35

ISRAEL’S NATIONAL SUFFERING DESCRIBED AS SICKNESS AND

WOUNDS:

JEREMIAH 30:12-13,17
12For thus says the L-rd: Your hurt is incurable, your wound is grievous. 13There is no

one to uphold your cause, no medicine for your wound, no healing for you.
17For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds, declares the L-rd.
Because they have called you an outcast saying: ‘It is Zion, no one cares for her.”

HOSEAH 6:1
Come, let us return to the L-rd, for He has torn us, but He will heal us. He has
wounded us, but He will bandage us.

ISAIAH 30:26
And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be
seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the L-rd binds up the
fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

MICAH 1:9
For her wound is incurable, for it has come to Judah it has reached the gate of My
people, even to Jerusalem.

ISAIAH 1:5-6
Where could you be smitten, that you continue to rebel? Every head is sick and every
heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it, but
bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they are neither pressed out nor bound up nor
softened with oil.

ISAIAH 53:4
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried, but we considered him
stricken, smitten of G-d and afflicted.

THE NATIONS THOUGHT THE JEWS WERE REJECTED BY GOD:

JEREMIAH 50:7
All who came upon them devoured them, and their adversaries have said: We are not
guilty, inasmuch as they have sinned against the L-rd who is the habitation of
righteousness, even against the L-rd, the hope of their fathers.

PSALM 94:5,7
5 They crush thy people, O L-rd, and afflict Thy heritage.

7And they have said: "The L-rd does not see, nor does the G-d of Jacob take hee
 36

ISAIAH 53:5-6
But he was wounded from our transgressions, he was crushed as a result of our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes, we
were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we turned everyone to his own way;
and the L-rd has laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

The Jewish nation suffered due to the cruelty and wickedness of the
nations.

JEREMIAH 2:3
Israel was holy to the L-rd, the first of His harvest; all who devour him will be guilty,
evil will come upon them, declares the L-rd.

JEREMIAH 10:25
Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that do not know You, and upon the families who
do not call upon Your name. For they have devoured Jacob, they have devoured him
and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

ZECHARIAH 1:15
But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry,
they furthered the disaster.

ZEPHANIAH 2:10
This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become
arrogant against the people of the L-rd of hosts.

PSALM 79:4-7
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those around

us. 5How long, O L-rd? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? 6
Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, and upon the kingdoms
which do not call upon Your name. 7For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his
habitation.

PSALM 83:1-4
1 O G-d, do not remain quiet, do not be silent, do not be still. 2 For behold, Your

enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. 3 They make
shrewd plans against Your treasured ones. 4 They have said: "Come, let us wipe them out
as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more."
 37

PSALM 94:3-5
3 How long shall the wicked, O L-rd, how long shall the wicked exult? 4They pour forth

words, they speak arrogantly, all who do wickedness vaunt themselves. 5 They crush
Thy people, O L-rd, and afflict Thy heritage.

ISAIAH 53:7
He was oppressed and he was afflicted, but he did not open his mouth; as a lamb that is
led to the slaughter and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb, and did not open
his mouth.

AS LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER WHO DIDN’T OPEN THEIR MOUTHS

PSALM 44:12-21
12 You have given us as sheep to the slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations.

13 You sell your people for no great gain, and have not put their price high. 14 You have made

us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those around us. 15 You have made
us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 16 All day long my
dishonor is before me, and my humiliation is overwhelming me. 17Because of the voice of
him who reproaches and reviles, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
18 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely

with your covenant. 19 Our heart was not turned back, and our steps have not deviated
from Your way, yet You have crushed us on a place of jackals, and covered us with the
shadow of death. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our G-d, or extended our hands to a
strange god, would not G-d find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 21 But for
Your sake we are killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Have pity on us, Lord, in Your compassion, and do not hand us over to cruel oppressors.
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” For Your own sake, deal kindly
with us, and do not delay. Please turn away from Your fierce anger, and have compassion
on the people You chose as Your own. Lord, God of Israel, turn away from Your fierce
anger, and relent from the evil against Your people. Heed our voice and be gracious. Do not
abandon us into the hand of our enemies to plot out our name. Remember what You promised our
fathers: “I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven” – yet now we are only a few
left of many. Yet, despite all this, we have not forgotten Your name. Please do not forget us.
(Daily Prayer Book:Tachanun)

Yet despite all this: After the Holocaust, the concentration camp at
Theresienstadt was excavated. A hidden room was discovered, which had
served as a secret place in which the prisoners would pray. On ne of its
walls were written the words: “Yet, despite all this, we have not forgotten
Your name. Please do not forget us.”
Commentary of Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Koren Siddur
 38

ISAIAH 53:8
From dominion and judgment he was taken away, and his history - who is able to
relate? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. As a result of the transgression of
my people, they were afflicted.

THE JEWISH PEOPLE EXILED FROM THE LAND OF ISRAEL

PSALM 52:7
Likewise, G-d will shatter you for eternity; He will break you and tear you from the
tent, and uproot you from the land of the living.

PSALM 116:3,8-9
The cords of death surrounded me, and the pains of the grave seized me. I found
trouble and sorrow.
For You have saved my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I
walk before the L-rd in the land of the living.

PSALM 142:6
I have cried out to You, L-rd; I have said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of
the living.”

EZEKIEL 32:23-24
Their graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company surrounds her grave; all of
them are killed, felled by the sword, who struck terror in the land of the living.
There are Elam and all of her multitude around her grave, all of them slain, those fallen
by the sword, who descended uncircumcised to the nethermost earth, because they
instilled their terror in the land of the living and they bore their shame with those who
descend into the pit. (See also verses 25-27 and 32)

ISAIAH 53:9
And his grave was set with the wicked, and with the wealthy with his kinds of deaths,
although he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth.

ZEPHANIAH 3:13-20
13The remnant of Israel shall neither commit injustice nor speak lies;

neither shall deceitful speech be found in their mouth, for they shall
 39

graze and lie down, with no one to cause them to shudder. 14Sing aloud, O
daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice with all your heart, O daughter
Jerusalem! 15The L-rd has taken away the judgment against you, he has
turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the L-rd, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 17The L-rd, your G-
d, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you
with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with
loud singing 18 as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so
that you will not bear reproach from it. 19 I will deal with all your
oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At
that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will
make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when
I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the L-rd.

ISAIAH 53:10
And the L-rd wished to crush him, He made him ill; if he would
acknowledge his guilt, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days.
And the purpose of the L-rd will prosper in his hand.

REWARDS TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE: FRUITFUL AND LONG LIFE

DEUTERONOMY 11:21
In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the land that the L-rd
has sworn to your forefathers to give them, like the days of the heaven over the earth.

DEUTERONOMY 28:11
And the L-rd will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body and in the fruit
of your beast…

DEUTERONOMY 30:5
And the L-rd, your G-d, will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, in order that
you may possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your
fathers.
 40

DEUTERONOMY 30:19-20
I call heaven and earth as witnesses. Before you, I have placed life and death, the blessing
and the curse. Choose life, so that you and your seed will survive. If you choose to love the
L-rd your G-d and obey Him, and to attach yourselves to Him. This is the sole means of
survival and long life when you dwell in the land that G-d swore to your fathers…

JEREMIAH 3:13-16
But you must recognize your sin, that you have rebelled against the L-rd your G-d,
and that you have spread out your ways to seek foreign gods under every leafy tree,
and you did not heed My voice, declares the L-rd. Return, O wayward sons, declares
the L-rd, for I shall be your master. I shall take you, even one from a city and two from a
family, and I shall bring you to Zion. I shall appoint shepherds for you according to My
own heart, and they will care for you with knowledge and wisdom. And it shall be, in
those days when you multiply and become fruitful in the land, declares the L-rd, that
they will no longer say, The Ark of the Covenant of the L-rd and it will not come to
mind; they will not mention it and will not recall it and it will not be used anymore.

JEREMIAH 23:3
Then I Myself shall gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have
driven them and shall bring them back to their pasture; and they will be fruitful and
multiply.

ISAIAH 65:20
No longer will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not
live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred, and one who does not
reach the age of one hundred shall be thought accursed.

ZECHARIAH 8:4
Thus says the L-rd of hosts: Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of
Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of the multitude of days.

ZECHARIAH 10:8
I will whistle for them to gather them together, for I have redeemed the; and they will
multiply as they multiplied.

GENESIS 22:16-18
16 ...because you have done this thing, and not withheld your son, your only son: 17

Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the
heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate
of their enemies; 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
because you have obeyed My voice.
 41

EZEKIEL 36:37
Thus says the L-rd, G-d, “Moreover, this request I will grant the House of Israel,
fulfilling it for them: I will increase their men like flock.”

ISAIAH 53:11
From the labor of his soul he shall see, he shall be satisfied. With his knowledge, the
righteous one, My servant will cause many to be just, and their iniquities he shall bear.

The Jewish people will ultimately bring light and blessing to the world
by teaching G-d’s ways:
ISAIAH 49:3,6
3And he said to me: You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. . .

6 I will also make you a light unto the nations so that My salvation may reach the ends

of the earth.

DEUTERONOMY 4:5-6
See, I have taught you decrees and ordinances, as the L-rd, my G-d, has commanded
me, to do so in the midst of the land to which you come, to posses it. You shall
safeguard and perform them, for it is your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the
peoples, who shall hear all these decrees and who shall say, “Surely a wise and
discerning people is this great nation!”

EXODUS 19:5-6
5 Now, then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My

special treasures among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.
6And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…

ZECHARIAH 8:13
And it shall come to pass that as you were a curse among the gentiles, O house of Judah
and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, may your
hands be strengthened.

ZECHARIAH 8:23
Thus says the L-rd of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass that ten men from all the
languages of the nations shall take hold of the garment of a Jew saying, We will go with
you, for we have heard that G-d is with you.
 42

ISAIAH 55:5
. . . nations that knew you not shall run to you because the L-rd your G-d, the holy one
of Israel has glorified you.

GENESIS 28:14
Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the
west ant to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your descendants
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

MICAH 4:2
And many nations shall come and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, and
to the House of the G-d of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His
paths, for Torah (instruction) shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the L-rd from
Jerusalem.

MALACHI 2:7
The Torah of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with
Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many away from iniquity. For the Priest’s lip
should guard knowledge and they should seek the Torah from his mouth, for he is a
messenger of the L-rd of Hosts.

ISAIAH 55:5
…nations that knew you not shall run to you because the L-rd your G-d, the Holy One of
Israel has glorified you.

ISAIAH 60:3
And nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.

ISAIAH 61:6
But you shall be called the Priests of the L-rd; people shall call you the Ministers of our G-d…

HABAKKUK 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the L-rd as the waters that
cover the seas.

ISAIAH 53:12
Therefore I will allot a portion to him with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with
the mighty, because he poured out his soul to the death, and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
 43

REWARD GIVEN TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE:

ISAIAH 60:5-11
5 Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice;

because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the
nations will come to you. 6A multitude of camels will cover you, the
young camels of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba will come, they
will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises
of the L-rd. 8 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you, and the rams
of Nevayot will serve you; they weill be offered with favor upon My altar
and I will glorify the House of My splendor. 8 Who are these who fly like a
cloud, like doves to their dovecote? 9 For the island will hope in Me, with
ships of Tarshish as in earlier times, to bring your children from far away,
with their gold and silver with them, in the Name of the L-rd your G-d
and for the Holy One of Israel, for He will have glorified you. 10 Then the
foreigners will build your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though I
struck you in My wrath, in My grace I have been compassionate to you.
11 Your gates will always be open; they be closed neither by day nor by

night; for them to bring you the wealth of the nations, and their kings
under escort.

ISAIAH 61:5-6
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall be your plowmen
and vinedressers. But you shall be called Priests of the L-rd; men shall say of
you: Ministers of our G-d; you shall eat the wealth of the nations and glory in
their riches.

ZECHARIAH 14:14
And the wealth fo all the nations all around will be gathered – gold, silver and garments in
great abundance.

ISRAEL INTERCEDES FOR THE NATIONS:

JEREMIAH 29:7
And see the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the L-rd on
its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.