JEWISH INTERPRETATION
Here’s how Jewish sources, specifically rabbinic authorities, interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy:
d. Yalqut.
1. Who art thou, O great Mountain? (Zech. iv. 7.) This refers to the King Messiah. And why does he call him ‘the great mountain?’ because he is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, ‘My servant shall be high, and lifted up, and lofty exceedingly’–he will be higher than Abraham, who says, ‘I raise high my hands unto the Lord’ (Gen. xiv. 22); lifted up above Moses, to whom it is said, ‘Lift it up into they bosom’ (Num. xi. 12); loftier than the ministering angels of whom it is written, ‘Their wheels were lofty and terrible’ (Ez. i. 18). And out of whom does he come forth? Out of David.
2. I will tell of the institution (Ps. ii. 7). Already are the words [concerning my servant] told in the institution of the Pentateuch, of the book of the Prophets, and of Hagiographa: in the Pentateuch where are they told? ‘Israel is my firstborn’ (Ex. iv. 22); in the Prophets where? ‘Behold my servant will deal prudently,’ and near to it, ‘My servant whom I uphold’ (xlii. 1) in the Hagiographa, where? ‘The Lord said to my lord,’ and ‘The Lord said unto me’ (Ps. cx. 1, ii. 7). (Yalqut Shim‘oni, 2:571, as quoted in The “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, translated by Samuel R. Driver and Adolf Neubauer, with an introduction by Edward B. Pusey [Hermon Press, New York: Reprinted in 1969], pp. 9-10; bold emphasis mine)
And:
“I will now proceed to my exposition. 13 Behold my servant shall have understanding. From the prophet’s saying ‘understanding,’ it may be seen that all the lofty predicates which he assigns to him have their source in this attribute; in virtue of his comprehensive intelligence he will attain an elevation above that even of the most perfect men in the world. He shall be high and exalted, and lofty exceedingly. According to the Midrash of our Rabbis; he will be higher than Abraham, who was first of all a ‘high father,’ and afterwards a father of a multitude. He will be more exalted than Moses, who was ‘exalted’ above the exalted ones of Levi (cf. Num. iii. 32), who was a prophet such that ‘none arose like him in Israel,’ (Deut. xxxiv. 10), who ‘saved’ Israel ‘with a great salvation’ (cf. I Chron. xi. 14) when they came out of Egypt, and the report of whom spread into all places until ‘the dukes of Edom were confounded’ before him, and ‘trembling seized the mighty men of Moab, and all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away’ (Ex. xv. 15). But this one will be exalted far above Moses: for when he gathers together our scattered ones from the four corners of the earth, he will be exalted in the eyes of all the kings in the whole world, and all of them will serve him, and will exalt him above them, as Daniel prophesies concerning him, ‘All nations, peoples, and tongues shall serve him’ (Dan. vii. 14, 27). He will be loftier than Solomon, whose dignity was so lofty that he is said to have ‘sat on the throne of the Lord’ (I Chron. xxix. 23), and our Rabbis say that he was king over both the upper and the nether world. But the King Messiah, in his ALL-COMPREHENDING INTELLIGENCE, will be loftier than Solomon. Exceedingly above the ministering angels, because that same comprehensive intelligence will approach [God] more nearly than theirs. For it is an exceedingly high privilege, that one whose nature is compound and material should attain to a grade of intelligence more nearly Divine than that which belongs to the incorporeal; and so it is said of him that ‘his strength is greater than that of the ministering angels,’ because these have no impediment in the exercise of their intellect, whereas that which is compound is continually impeded in consequence of material element in its nature. Accordingly, the grade of his intelligence being such as this, he is said to be ‘lofty exceedingly,’ and his strength to be ‘greater than the angels.’… And when this ‘servant of the Lord’ is born, he will continue to be marked by the possession of intelligence enabling him to acquire from God what it is impossible for any to acquire until he reaches that height wither none of the sons of men, EXCEPT HIM, have ever ascended: from that day he will be counted with his people Israel, and will share their subjugation and distress; ‘in all their affliction’ (Is. lxiii. 9) he will be exceedingly afflicted; and because of their being outcasts and scattered to the ends of the world, his grief will be such that the colour of his countenance will be changed from that of a man, and pangs and sicknesses will seize him (for great grief, as physicians know, by producing melancholy, subjects a man to many diseases); and all the chastisements which come upon him in consequence of his grief will be for our sakes, and not from any deficiency or sin on his part which might bring punishment in his train, BECAUSE HE IS PERFECT, IN THE COMPLETENESS OF PERFECTION, as Isaiah says (xi. 2f.). Truly all his pains and sicknesses will be for us…” (R. Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin (14th century AD), as cited by Driver & Neubauer, pp. 101-103; bold and capital emphasis mine)
And:
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler also sees Moshiach suffering as an atonement for all of Israel, but adds that we would consider him “hated by God”…1
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler:
“…he suffered in order that by his sufferings atonement might be made for the whole of Israel, as it is said of the prophet Micah, that the blood issuing from him made atonement for all Israel. The sickness which ought to have fallen upon us was borne by him: the prophet means to say, When the Messiah son of Joseph shall die between the gates, and be a marvel in the eyes of creation, why must the penalty he bears be so severe? What is his sin, and what [is] his transgression, except that he will bear the chastisement of Israel, according to the words smitten of God [Isaiah 53:4]? Others consider that the passage speaks of the Messiah who is now with the pains of the world to come (as it stands in the Gemara) and endures so the sufferings of Israel. And yet we – it is Israel who are speaking – thought that he had been hated of God. But it was not so: he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement which was afterwards to secure was upon him. [Isaiah 53:5]1
Ramban says that when Moshiach is faced with the revilings of his oppressors, he will “give no answer, but keep silent and cease not to entreat for Israel”…2
Ramban:
“… He was oppressed and he was afflicted [Isaiah 53:7]: for when he first comes, ‘meek and riding upon an ***,’ the oppressors and officers of every city will come to him, and afflict him with revilings and insults, reproaching both him and the God in whose name he appears, like Moses our master, who, when Pharaoh said, I know not the Lord, answered him not, neither said, The God of heaven and earth who will destroy thee quickly, etc., but kept silence. So will the Messiah give no answer, but keep silent, and cease not to entreat for Israel…”3 (Douglas Pyle, What The Rabbonim Say About Moshiach [No publisher listed, Third edition (paperback), 2010], 6. Chevley (Sufferings Of) Moshiach, pp. 49-50; emphasis mine)
1 Neubauer, pp. 282-283. (Ibid., p. 49)
1 Driver and Neubauer, (English translation), p. 321.
2 Shaval, p. 89.
3 Driver and Neubauer (English translation), p. 82. (Ibid., p. 50)
There’s more:
The Zohar states that once it was the rituals and sacrifices that removed diseases from the world; now it is Moshiach…1
Zohar, Exodus, Vayaqhel 212a:
“As long as Israel dwelt in the Holy Land, the rituals and the Sacrifices they performed [in the Temple] removed all those diseases from the world; now the Messiah removes them from the children of the world.”2
The Yalkut Hadash affirms that while Israel was in the Land, they freed themselves from punishments by means of offerings, but now Moshiach frees us from them…3
Yalkut Hadash, nun tet, mishmot:
“… While Israel were in their own land they freed themselves from such sicknesses and other punishments by means of offerings, but now the Messiah frees them from them, as it is written, He was wounded for our transgressions…’ (Isaiah 53:5)”4
Midrash Aseret Memrot informs us that Moshiach will make his soul a “corban asham” according as it is written in Isaiah 53:10…1
Midrash Aseret Memrot:
“The Messiah, in order to atone for them both [for Adam and David] will make his soul a trespass offering, (Isaiah 53:10) as it is written next to this Parashah ‘Behold my servant.’ (Isaiah 53:12)”2
Note: in this Midrash above, the word used for “trespass offering” that Moshiach would make of his soul, is the same word in the Hebrew (“asham”) used over and over in Leviticus when the cohen would offer a corban asham on the mizbeach (altar).
The famous second century Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai sees Moshiach in a remarkable light…3
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai:
“The meaning of the words ‘bruised for our iniquities’ [Isaiah 53:5], is, that since the Messiah bears our iniquities, which produce the effect of his being bruised, it follows that whoso will not admit that the Messiah thus suffers for our iniquities, must endure and suffer for them himself.”1 (Ibid., pp. 53-55; emphasis mine)
1 Moshe Margoliot, Shemot, Vayaqhel 212, p. 421.
2 Patai (English translation), Zohar (Exodus) 212a, p. 116.
3 Israel ben Benjamin of Belzec, Yalkut Hadash (Lublin: Kalonimus Kalman, 1647 or 1648), photocopied. Brooklyn, NY, Renaissance Hebrew, 1994.
4 Driver and Neubauer (English translation; from the later Yalkut, styled Souls), p. 396. (Ibid., p. 53)
1 Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano, with commentary by Megini Shlomo and Yoel Moshe, Sefer Aseret (Jerusalem: Hamad Press Ltd., 1999), part 2, chapter 7…
2 Driver (English translation), p. 394
3 Neubauer, p. 331. (Ibid., p. 54)
1 Driver (English translation), see Introduction, p. xl (words of Shimon ben Yochai as given by R. Elijah de Vidas, 16th century Kabbalist of Safed and pupil of Rabbi Moses Cordovero of Spain). (Ibid., p. 55)
Once again:
The idea that it was the righteous in Israel suffering because of gentile persecution against them gained popularity after Rashi, in his Biblical commentary, said it was so. Radak followed suit as did ibn Ezra. On the other hand, we have a great Jewish thinker like Rambam who assigned Isaiah 53 to Moshiach, finding a description of him there. Moshe ibn Crispin lends his voice to that of Rambam and feels that anyone who said the passage referred to Israel is giving the text an unnatural reading. Here is what they say:
Rambam in his Egeret Teman (Letter to Yemen)…1
Rambam, “Letter to Yemen”:
“What is the manner of Messiah’s advent, …thou canst not know this so far as it to be said of him that he is ‘the son of such a one, and is of such and such a family:’ there shall rise up one of whom none have known before, and the signs and wonders which they shall see performed by him will be the proofs of his true origin; for the Almighty, where he declares to us his mind upon the mater says, ‘behold the man whose name is the Branch, and shall branch forth out of his place’ (Zechariah 6:12). And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he will appear, without his father or mother, or family being known ‘He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, etc.’ (Isaiah 53:2). But the unique phenomenon attending his manifestation is, that all the kings of the earth will be thrown into terror at the fame [of] him…that they will lay their hands upon their mouth; in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which the kings will hearken to him, ‘At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived’ (Isaiah 52:15)2
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin complains that some, avoiding the natural, literal interpretation of the text, have said that the prophet Isaiah speaks here collectively (of Israel)…1
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin:
“The expression my servant [Isaiah 52:13] they compare rashly with 41:8, ‘thou Israel art my servant,’ where the prophet is speaking of Israel (which would be singular); here, however, he does not mention Israel, but simply says my servant; we cannot therefore understand the word in the same sense. Again in 41:8 he addresses the whole nation by the name of their father Israel (or Jacob, as he continues, ‘Jacob whim I have chosen’), but here he says my servant alone, and uniformly applies the singular, and as there is no cause constraining us to do so, why should we here interpret the word collectively, and thereby distort the passage from its natural sense?
… As then it seemed to me that the doors of the literal interpretation of the Parashah were shut in their face, and that ‘they wearied themselves to find the entrance,’ having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers…”2
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin continues, saying that to interpret this passage of Israel and not Moshiach is “forced and far-fetched”…1
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin:
“I am pleased to interpret it, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHING OF OUR RABBIS, OF THE KING MESSIAH, and will be careful, so far as I am able, to adhere to the literal sense; thus possibly, I shall be free from the forced and far-fetched interpretations of which others have been guilty…This prophecy was delivered by Isaiah at the divine command for the purpose of making known to us something about the nature of the Messiah who is to come to deliver Israel, and his life for the day when he arrive at discretion, until his advent as a redeemer, in order that if anyone arise claiming himself to be the Messiah, we may reflect and look to see whether we can observe in him any resemblance, then we may believe that he is the Messiah our righteousness…”2 (Ibid., pp. 57-60; emphasis mine)
1 Neubauer, p. 322.
2 Halkin, p. 8. (Ibid., p. 58)
1 Neubauer, p. 95 (Taken from Bodleian Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, UK).
2 Driver (English translation), p. 95. (Ibid., p. 59)
1 Neubauer, pp. 95, 96, 108.
2 Driver and Neubauer, pp. 99, 100, 114. (Ibid., p. 60)
Finally:
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler expresses his surprise that Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi also did not apply Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53 to Moshiach…3
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler:
“I will now proceed to explain these verses of our own Messiah, who, God willing, will come speedily in our days! I am surprised that Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi have not, with the Targum, applied them to the Messiah likewise.”1
Rabbi Altschuler then gives his reasoning for referring these verses to Moshiach…2
R. Naphtali Altschuler continues:
“The prophet says he shall be ‘high and exalted and lofty,’ expressing the idea under various forms, in order to indicate that his exaltation will be something extraordinary. It is a proof that the Parashah refers to our Messiah, that alluding to the future Deliverance, the prophet said before, ‘Break forth into joy, you waste places of Jerusalem’ (52:9), and ‘How beautiful on the mountains,’ etc. (52:7), and immediately afterwards continues, ‘Behold my servant shall prosper,’ [Isaiah 52:13] etc.”3
Rabbi Moshe Alsheich, interpreting this passage of Moshiach, reminds us that “our rabbis with one voice” referred it to Moshiach also…1
Rabbi Moshe Alscheich:
“I therefore, in my humility, am come after them; [the commentators], not with any sense of wisdom I am about to utter, but merely with the object of applying to its elucidation a straightforward method in accord with the literal sense of the text…I may remark, then, THAT OUR RABBIS WITH ONE VOICE ACCEPT AND AFFIRM THE OPINION THAT THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING OF THE KING MESSIAH, and shall ourselves adhere to the same view…”2 (Ibid., pp. 60-62; capital emphasis mine)
3 Altschuler R. Naphtali ben Asher, Ayelah Sheluchah (“Hind Sent Forth”): A Commentary on the First Prophets, Book 4 (Amsterdam: Proops Publishers, 1777)
1 Driver and Neubauer (English translation), p. 319.
2 Altschuler, op. cit.
3 Driver and Neubauer (English Translation), p. 319. (Ibid., pp. 60-61)
1 Joseph Wiess, Sefer Merot Hatzovot, Moshe Alscheich (Brooklyn, NY: Nechmod Printing Corp., 1977), Vol. 1, p. 294.
2 Driver (English translation), p. 102. (Ibid., p. 62)
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Here’s how Jewish sources, specifically rabbinic authorities, interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy:
d. Yalqut.
1. Who art thou, O great Mountain? (Zech. iv. 7.) This refers to the King Messiah. And why does he call him ‘the great mountain?’ because he is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, ‘My servant shall be high, and lifted up, and lofty exceedingly’–he will be higher than Abraham, who says, ‘I raise high my hands unto the Lord’ (Gen. xiv. 22); lifted up above Moses, to whom it is said, ‘Lift it up into they bosom’ (Num. xi. 12); loftier than the ministering angels of whom it is written, ‘Their wheels were lofty and terrible’ (Ez. i. 18). And out of whom does he come forth? Out of David.
2. I will tell of the institution (Ps. ii. 7). Already are the words [concerning my servant] told in the institution of the Pentateuch, of the book of the Prophets, and of Hagiographa: in the Pentateuch where are they told? ‘Israel is my firstborn’ (Ex. iv. 22); in the Prophets where? ‘Behold my servant will deal prudently,’ and near to it, ‘My servant whom I uphold’ (xlii. 1) in the Hagiographa, where? ‘The Lord said to my lord,’ and ‘The Lord said unto me’ (Ps. cx. 1, ii. 7). (Yalqut Shim‘oni, 2:571, as quoted in The “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, translated by Samuel R. Driver and Adolf Neubauer, with an introduction by Edward B. Pusey [Hermon Press, New York: Reprinted in 1969], pp. 9-10; bold emphasis mine)
And:
“I will now proceed to my exposition. 13 Behold my servant shall have understanding. From the prophet’s saying ‘understanding,’ it may be seen that all the lofty predicates which he assigns to him have their source in this attribute; in virtue of his comprehensive intelligence he will attain an elevation above that even of the most perfect men in the world. He shall be high and exalted, and lofty exceedingly. According to the Midrash of our Rabbis; he will be higher than Abraham, who was first of all a ‘high father,’ and afterwards a father of a multitude. He will be more exalted than Moses, who was ‘exalted’ above the exalted ones of Levi (cf. Num. iii. 32), who was a prophet such that ‘none arose like him in Israel,’ (Deut. xxxiv. 10), who ‘saved’ Israel ‘with a great salvation’ (cf. I Chron. xi. 14) when they came out of Egypt, and the report of whom spread into all places until ‘the dukes of Edom were confounded’ before him, and ‘trembling seized the mighty men of Moab, and all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away’ (Ex. xv. 15). But this one will be exalted far above Moses: for when he gathers together our scattered ones from the four corners of the earth, he will be exalted in the eyes of all the kings in the whole world, and all of them will serve him, and will exalt him above them, as Daniel prophesies concerning him, ‘All nations, peoples, and tongues shall serve him’ (Dan. vii. 14, 27). He will be loftier than Solomon, whose dignity was so lofty that he is said to have ‘sat on the throne of the Lord’ (I Chron. xxix. 23), and our Rabbis say that he was king over both the upper and the nether world. But the King Messiah, in his ALL-COMPREHENDING INTELLIGENCE, will be loftier than Solomon. Exceedingly above the ministering angels, because that same comprehensive intelligence will approach [God] more nearly than theirs. For it is an exceedingly high privilege, that one whose nature is compound and material should attain to a grade of intelligence more nearly Divine than that which belongs to the incorporeal; and so it is said of him that ‘his strength is greater than that of the ministering angels,’ because these have no impediment in the exercise of their intellect, whereas that which is compound is continually impeded in consequence of material element in its nature. Accordingly, the grade of his intelligence being such as this, he is said to be ‘lofty exceedingly,’ and his strength to be ‘greater than the angels.’… And when this ‘servant of the Lord’ is born, he will continue to be marked by the possession of intelligence enabling him to acquire from God what it is impossible for any to acquire until he reaches that height wither none of the sons of men, EXCEPT HIM, have ever ascended: from that day he will be counted with his people Israel, and will share their subjugation and distress; ‘in all their affliction’ (Is. lxiii. 9) he will be exceedingly afflicted; and because of their being outcasts and scattered to the ends of the world, his grief will be such that the colour of his countenance will be changed from that of a man, and pangs and sicknesses will seize him (for great grief, as physicians know, by producing melancholy, subjects a man to many diseases); and all the chastisements which come upon him in consequence of his grief will be for our sakes, and not from any deficiency or sin on his part which might bring punishment in his train, BECAUSE HE IS PERFECT, IN THE COMPLETENESS OF PERFECTION, as Isaiah says (xi. 2f.). Truly all his pains and sicknesses will be for us…” (R. Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin (14th century AD), as cited by Driver & Neubauer, pp. 101-103; bold and capital emphasis mine)
And:
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler also sees Moshiach suffering as an atonement for all of Israel, but adds that we would consider him “hated by God”…1
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler:
“…he suffered in order that by his sufferings atonement might be made for the whole of Israel, as it is said of the prophet Micah, that the blood issuing from him made atonement for all Israel. The sickness which ought to have fallen upon us was borne by him: the prophet means to say, When the Messiah son of Joseph shall die between the gates, and be a marvel in the eyes of creation, why must the penalty he bears be so severe? What is his sin, and what [is] his transgression, except that he will bear the chastisement of Israel, according to the words smitten of God [Isaiah 53:4]? Others consider that the passage speaks of the Messiah who is now with the pains of the world to come (as it stands in the Gemara) and endures so the sufferings of Israel. And yet we – it is Israel who are speaking – thought that he had been hated of God. But it was not so: he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement which was afterwards to secure was upon him. [Isaiah 53:5]1
Ramban says that when Moshiach is faced with the revilings of his oppressors, he will “give no answer, but keep silent and cease not to entreat for Israel”…2
Ramban:
“… He was oppressed and he was afflicted [Isaiah 53:7]: for when he first comes, ‘meek and riding upon an ***,’ the oppressors and officers of every city will come to him, and afflict him with revilings and insults, reproaching both him and the God in whose name he appears, like Moses our master, who, when Pharaoh said, I know not the Lord, answered him not, neither said, The God of heaven and earth who will destroy thee quickly, etc., but kept silence. So will the Messiah give no answer, but keep silent, and cease not to entreat for Israel…”3 (Douglas Pyle, What The Rabbonim Say About Moshiach [No publisher listed, Third edition (paperback), 2010], 6. Chevley (Sufferings Of) Moshiach, pp. 49-50; emphasis mine)
1 Neubauer, pp. 282-283. (Ibid., p. 49)
1 Driver and Neubauer, (English translation), p. 321.
2 Shaval, p. 89.
3 Driver and Neubauer (English translation), p. 82. (Ibid., p. 50)
There’s more:
The Zohar states that once it was the rituals and sacrifices that removed diseases from the world; now it is Moshiach…1
Zohar, Exodus, Vayaqhel 212a:
“As long as Israel dwelt in the Holy Land, the rituals and the Sacrifices they performed [in the Temple] removed all those diseases from the world; now the Messiah removes them from the children of the world.”2
The Yalkut Hadash affirms that while Israel was in the Land, they freed themselves from punishments by means of offerings, but now Moshiach frees us from them…3
Yalkut Hadash, nun tet, mishmot:
“… While Israel were in their own land they freed themselves from such sicknesses and other punishments by means of offerings, but now the Messiah frees them from them, as it is written, He was wounded for our transgressions…’ (Isaiah 53:5)”4
Midrash Aseret Memrot informs us that Moshiach will make his soul a “corban asham” according as it is written in Isaiah 53:10…1
Midrash Aseret Memrot:
“The Messiah, in order to atone for them both [for Adam and David] will make his soul a trespass offering, (Isaiah 53:10) as it is written next to this Parashah ‘Behold my servant.’ (Isaiah 53:12)”2
Note: in this Midrash above, the word used for “trespass offering” that Moshiach would make of his soul, is the same word in the Hebrew (“asham”) used over and over in Leviticus when the cohen would offer a corban asham on the mizbeach (altar).
The famous second century Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai sees Moshiach in a remarkable light…3
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai:
“The meaning of the words ‘bruised for our iniquities’ [Isaiah 53:5], is, that since the Messiah bears our iniquities, which produce the effect of his being bruised, it follows that whoso will not admit that the Messiah thus suffers for our iniquities, must endure and suffer for them himself.”1 (Ibid., pp. 53-55; emphasis mine)
1 Moshe Margoliot, Shemot, Vayaqhel 212, p. 421.
2 Patai (English translation), Zohar (Exodus) 212a, p. 116.
3 Israel ben Benjamin of Belzec, Yalkut Hadash (Lublin: Kalonimus Kalman, 1647 or 1648), photocopied. Brooklyn, NY, Renaissance Hebrew, 1994.
4 Driver and Neubauer (English translation; from the later Yalkut, styled Souls), p. 396. (Ibid., p. 53)
1 Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Fano, with commentary by Megini Shlomo and Yoel Moshe, Sefer Aseret (Jerusalem: Hamad Press Ltd., 1999), part 2, chapter 7…
2 Driver (English translation), p. 394
3 Neubauer, p. 331. (Ibid., p. 54)
1 Driver (English translation), see Introduction, p. xl (words of Shimon ben Yochai as given by R. Elijah de Vidas, 16th century Kabbalist of Safed and pupil of Rabbi Moses Cordovero of Spain). (Ibid., p. 55)
Once again:
The idea that it was the righteous in Israel suffering because of gentile persecution against them gained popularity after Rashi, in his Biblical commentary, said it was so. Radak followed suit as did ibn Ezra. On the other hand, we have a great Jewish thinker like Rambam who assigned Isaiah 53 to Moshiach, finding a description of him there. Moshe ibn Crispin lends his voice to that of Rambam and feels that anyone who said the passage referred to Israel is giving the text an unnatural reading. Here is what they say:
Rambam in his Egeret Teman (Letter to Yemen)…1
Rambam, “Letter to Yemen”:
“What is the manner of Messiah’s advent, …thou canst not know this so far as it to be said of him that he is ‘the son of such a one, and is of such and such a family:’ there shall rise up one of whom none have known before, and the signs and wonders which they shall see performed by him will be the proofs of his true origin; for the Almighty, where he declares to us his mind upon the mater says, ‘behold the man whose name is the Branch, and shall branch forth out of his place’ (Zechariah 6:12). And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he will appear, without his father or mother, or family being known ‘He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, etc.’ (Isaiah 53:2). But the unique phenomenon attending his manifestation is, that all the kings of the earth will be thrown into terror at the fame [of] him…that they will lay their hands upon their mouth; in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which the kings will hearken to him, ‘At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived’ (Isaiah 52:15)2
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin complains that some, avoiding the natural, literal interpretation of the text, have said that the prophet Isaiah speaks here collectively (of Israel)…1
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin:
“The expression my servant [Isaiah 52:13] they compare rashly with 41:8, ‘thou Israel art my servant,’ where the prophet is speaking of Israel (which would be singular); here, however, he does not mention Israel, but simply says my servant; we cannot therefore understand the word in the same sense. Again in 41:8 he addresses the whole nation by the name of their father Israel (or Jacob, as he continues, ‘Jacob whim I have chosen’), but here he says my servant alone, and uniformly applies the singular, and as there is no cause constraining us to do so, why should we here interpret the word collectively, and thereby distort the passage from its natural sense?
… As then it seemed to me that the doors of the literal interpretation of the Parashah were shut in their face, and that ‘they wearied themselves to find the entrance,’ having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers…”2
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin continues, saying that to interpret this passage of Israel and not Moshiach is “forced and far-fetched”…1
Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin:
“I am pleased to interpret it, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHING OF OUR RABBIS, OF THE KING MESSIAH, and will be careful, so far as I am able, to adhere to the literal sense; thus possibly, I shall be free from the forced and far-fetched interpretations of which others have been guilty…This prophecy was delivered by Isaiah at the divine command for the purpose of making known to us something about the nature of the Messiah who is to come to deliver Israel, and his life for the day when he arrive at discretion, until his advent as a redeemer, in order that if anyone arise claiming himself to be the Messiah, we may reflect and look to see whether we can observe in him any resemblance, then we may believe that he is the Messiah our righteousness…”2 (Ibid., pp. 57-60; emphasis mine)
1 Neubauer, p. 322.
2 Halkin, p. 8. (Ibid., p. 58)
1 Neubauer, p. 95 (Taken from Bodleian Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, UK).
2 Driver (English translation), p. 95. (Ibid., p. 59)
1 Neubauer, pp. 95, 96, 108.
2 Driver and Neubauer, pp. 99, 100, 114. (Ibid., p. 60)
Finally:
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler expresses his surprise that Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi also did not apply Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53 to Moshiach…3
Rabbi Naphtali ben Asher Altschuler:
“I will now proceed to explain these verses of our own Messiah, who, God willing, will come speedily in our days! I am surprised that Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi have not, with the Targum, applied them to the Messiah likewise.”1
Rabbi Altschuler then gives his reasoning for referring these verses to Moshiach…2
R. Naphtali Altschuler continues:
“The prophet says he shall be ‘high and exalted and lofty,’ expressing the idea under various forms, in order to indicate that his exaltation will be something extraordinary. It is a proof that the Parashah refers to our Messiah, that alluding to the future Deliverance, the prophet said before, ‘Break forth into joy, you waste places of Jerusalem’ (52:9), and ‘How beautiful on the mountains,’ etc. (52:7), and immediately afterwards continues, ‘Behold my servant shall prosper,’ [Isaiah 52:13] etc.”3
Rabbi Moshe Alsheich, interpreting this passage of Moshiach, reminds us that “our rabbis with one voice” referred it to Moshiach also…1
Rabbi Moshe Alscheich:
“I therefore, in my humility, am come after them; [the commentators], not with any sense of wisdom I am about to utter, but merely with the object of applying to its elucidation a straightforward method in accord with the literal sense of the text…I may remark, then, THAT OUR RABBIS WITH ONE VOICE ACCEPT AND AFFIRM THE OPINION THAT THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING OF THE KING MESSIAH, and shall ourselves adhere to the same view…”2 (Ibid., pp. 60-62; capital emphasis mine)
3 Altschuler R. Naphtali ben Asher, Ayelah Sheluchah (“Hind Sent Forth”): A Commentary on the First Prophets, Book 4 (Amsterdam: Proops Publishers, 1777)
1 Driver and Neubauer (English translation), p. 319.
2 Altschuler, op. cit.
3 Driver and Neubauer (English Translation), p. 319. (Ibid., pp. 60-61)
1 Joseph Wiess, Sefer Merot Hatzovot, Moshe Alscheich (Brooklyn, NY: Nechmod Printing Corp., 1977), Vol. 1, p. 294.
2 Driver (English translation), p. 102. (Ibid., p. 62)
THE QURAN CONFIRMS THAT JESUS IS ISAIAH’S SUFFERING SERVANT!
In this post I will show how Muhammad invariably confirmed that Jesus is the righteous Servant of God of Isaiah 53 who offers himself as a vicarious sacrifice and a guilt offering for the sins of t…
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