Biblical Hebrew Forum

[sujata <shevaroys AT yahoo.com>]

Some  more Jewish thoughts on Isaiah  53 long before and after Rashi: 
  The Targum    Behold, My Servant the Messiah shall prosper.  -- Targum 
("Targum Jonathan") to Isaiah 52:13, various editions (such as Samson H. 
Levey, The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation; the Messianic Exegesis of the 
Targum." Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1974, p. 63).   
  
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  In the early cycle of synagogue readings    We know that messianic homilies 
based on Joseph's career (his saving role preceded by suffering), and using 
Isaiah 53 as the prophetic portion, were preached in certain old synagogues 
which used the triennial cycle...  -- Rav Asher Soloff, "The Fifty Third 
Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Commentators, to the Sixteenth 
Century" (Ph.D. Thesis, Drew University,1967), p. 146.  The addition of 
53.4-5 [to the cycle of synagogue readings] was evidently of a Messianic 
purport by reason of the theory of a suffering Messiah. The earlier part of 
[the Haftarah] (52.7ff.) dealt with the redemption of Israel, and in this 
connection the tribulations of the Messiah were briefly alluded to by the 
recital of the above 2 verses.  -- Jacob Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached 
in the Old Synagogue (NY: Ktav, 1971, © 1940), p. 298.   
  
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  Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b    The Rabbis said: His name is "the leper 
scholar," as it is written, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our 
sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
[Isaiah 53:4].  -- Soncino Talmud edition.   
  
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  Ruth Rabbah 5:6    The fifth interpretation [of Ruth 2:14] makes it refer 
to the Messiah. Come hither: approach to royal state. And eat of the BREAD 
refers to the bread of royalty; AND DIP THY MORSEL IN THE VINEGAR refers to 
his sufferings, as it is said, But he was wounded because of our 
transgressions. (Isa. LIII, 5).  -- Soncino Midrash Rabbah (vol. 8, p. 64).   
  
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  The Karaite Yefeth ben Ali (10th c.)    As to myself, I am inclined, with 
Benjamin of Nehawend, to regard it as alluding to the Messiah, and as opening 
with a description of his condition in exile, from the time of his birth to 
his accession to the throne: for the prophet begins by speaking of his being 
seated in a position of great honour, and then goes back to relate all that 
will happen to him during the captivity. He thus gives us to understand two 
things: In the first instance, that the Messiah will only reach his highest 
degree of honour after long and severe trials; and secondly, that these 
trials will be sent upon him as a kind of sign, so that, if he finds himself 
under the yoke of misfortunes whilst remaining pure in his actions, he may 
know that he is the desired one....  -- S. R. Driver and A. Neubauer, 
editors, The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish 
Interpreters (2 volumes; New York: Ktav, 1969), pp. 19-20. The English 
translations used
 here are taken from volume 2. The original texts are in volume 1. Cf. 
Soloff, pp. 107-09.   Another statement from Yefeth ben Ali:  By the words 
"surely he hath carried our sicknesses," they mean that the pains and 
sickness which he fell into were merited by them, but that he bore them 
instead. . . . And here I think it necessary to pause for a few moments, in 
order to explain why God caused these sicknesses to attach themselves to the 
Messiah for the sake of Israel. . . . The nation deserved from God greater 
punishment than that which actually came upon them, but not being strong 
enough to bear it. . . God appoints his servant to carry their sins, and by 
doing so lighten their punishment in order that Israel might not be 
completely exterminated.  -- Driver and Neubauer, pp. 23 ff.; Soloff pp. 
108-109.  Another statement from Yefeth ben Ali:  "And the Lord laid on him 
the iniquity of us all." The prophet does not by avon mean iniquity, but 
punishment for iniquity, as in
 the passage, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. xxxii. 23).  -- 
Driver and Neubauer, p. 26; Soloff p. 109.   
  
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  Mysteries of R. Shim'on ben Yohai (midrash, date uncertain)    And Armilaus 
will join battle with Messiah, the son of Ephraim, in the East gate . . .; 
and Messiah, the son of Ephraim, will die there, and Israel will mourn for 
him. And afterwards the Holy One will reveal to them Messiah, the son of 
David, whom Israel will desire to stone, saying, Thou speakest falsely; 
already is the Messiah slain, and there is non other Messiah to stand up 
(after him): and so they will despise him, as it is written, "Despised and 
forlorn of men;" but he will turn and hide himself from them, according to 
the words, "Like one hiding his face from us."  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 
32, citing the edition of Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrash (1855), part iii. p. 80.  
 
  
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  Lekach Tov (11th c. midrash)    "And let his [Israel's] kingdom be 
exalted," in the days of the Messiah, of whom it is said, "Behold my servant 
shall prosper; he will be high and exalted, and lofty exceedingly."  -- 
Driver and Neubauer, p. 36.   
  
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  Maimonides, Letter to Yemen (12th c.)    What is to be the manner of 
Messiah's advent, and where will be the place of his appearance? . . . And 
Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he will appear, without his father 
or mother of family being known, He came up as a sucker before him, and as a 
root out of the dry earth, etc. 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 -- their kingdoms will be in consternation, and they 
themselves will be devising whether to oppose him with arms, or to adopt some 
different course, confessing, in fact, their inability to contend with him or 
ignore his presence, and so confounded at the wonders which they will see him 
work, 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.  -- Driver and 
Neubauer vol 1: p. 322. Edition is Abraham S. Halkin, ed., Igeret Teman (NY: 
American Academy for Jewish Research, 1952). See Soloff pp. 127-128.   
  
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  Zohar II, 212a (medieval)    There is in the Garden of Eden a palace named 
the Palace of the Sons of Sickness. This palace the Messiah enters, and He 
summons every pain and every chastisement of Israel. All of these come and 
rest upon Him. And had He not thus lightened them upon Himself, there had 
been no man able to bear Israel's chastisements for the transgressions of the 
law; as it is written, "Surely our sicknesses he has carried."  -- Cited in 
Driver and Neubauer, pp. 14-15 from section "va-yiqqahel". Translation from 
Frydland, Rachmiel, What the Rabbis Know About the Messiah (Cincinnati: 
Messianic Literature Outreach, 1991), p. 56, n. 27. Note that this section is 
not found in the Soncino edition which says that it was an interpolation.   
  
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  Nachmanides (R. Moshe ben Nachman) (13th c.)    The right view respecting 
this Parashah is to suppose that by the phrase "my servant" the whole of 
Israel is meant. . . .As a different opinion, however, is adopted by the 
Midrash, which refers it to the Messiah, it is necessary for us to explain it 
in conformity with the view there maintained. The prophet says, The Messiah, 
the son of David of whom the text speaks, will never be conquered or perish 
by the hands of his enemies. And, in fact the text teaches this clearly. . . 
.  And by his stripes we were healed -- because the stripes by which he is 
vexed and distressed will heal us; God will pardon us for his righteousness, 
and we shall be healed both from our own transgressions and from the 
iniquities of our fathers.  -- Driver and Neubauer, pp. 78 ff.   
  
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  Yalkut ii: 571 (13th c.)    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, . . . lifted up above Moses, . . . loftier than the 
ministering angels.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 9.  The same passage is found 
in Midrash Tanhuma to Genesis (perhaps 9th c.), ed. John T. Townsend 
(Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1989), p. 166.   
  
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  Yalkut ii. 620 (13th c.), in regard to Psalm 2:6     I.e., I have drawn him 
out of the chastisements. . . .The chastisements are divided into three 
parts: one for David and the fathers, one for our own generation, and one for 
the King Messiah; and this is that which is written, "He was wounded for our 
transgressions," etc.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 10.   
  
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  R. Mosheh Kohen ibn Crispin (14th c.)    This Parashah the commentators 
agree in explaining of the Captivity of Israel, although the singular number 
is used in it throughout. . . .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, and inclined after the "stubbornness of their own 
hearts," and of their own opinion, 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.  -- Driver and 
Neubauer, pp. 99-100.   Another comment from R. Mosheh Kohen ibn Crispin  If 
his soul makes itself into a trespass-offering, implying that his soul will 
treat
 itself as guilty, and so receive punishment for our trespasses and 
transgressions.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 112.   
  
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  R. Sh'lomoh Astruc (14th c.)    My servant shall prosper, or be truly 
intelligent, because by intelligence man is really man -- it is intelligence 
which makes a man what he is. And the prophet calls the King Messiah my 
servant, speaking as one who sent him. Or he may call the whole people my 
servant, as he says above my people (lii. 6): when he speaks of the people, 
the King Messiah is included in it; and when he speaks of the King Messiah, 
the people is comprehended with him. What he says then is, that my servant 
the King Messiah will prosper.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 129.   
  
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  R. Elijah de Vidas (16th c.)    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.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 331.   
  
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  Rabbi Moshe Alshekh (El-Sheikh) of Sefad (16th c.)    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 we ourselves also adhere to the same 
view.  -- Driver and Neubauer, p. 258.   
  
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  Herz Homberg (18th-19th c.)    The fact is, that it refers to the King 
Messiah, who will come in the latter days, when it will be the Lord's good 
pleasure to redeem Israel from among the different nations of the 
earth.....Whatever he underwent was in consequence of their own 
transgression, the Lord having chosen him to be a trespass-offering, like the 
scape-goat which bore all the iniquities of the house of Israel.  -- Driver 
and Neubauer, p. 400-401.   
  
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  The musaf (additional) service for the Day of Atonement, Philips machzor 
(20th c.)     Our righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized 
us, and we have non to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our iniquities, 
and our transgression, and is wounded because of our transgression. He 
beareth our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. 
We shall be healed by his wound, at the time that the Eternal will create him 
(the Messiah) as a new creature. O bring him up from the circle of the earth. 
Raise him up from Seir, to assemble us the second time on Mount Lebanon, by 
the hand of Yinnon.  -- A. Th. Philips, Machzor Leyom Kippur / Prayer Book 
for the Day of Atonement with English Translation; Revised and Enlarged 
Edition (New York: Hebrew Publishing Company, 1931), p. 239. The passage can 
also be found in, e.g., the 1937 edition. Also, Driver and Neubauer, p. 399.  
Source:http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/m.sion/jmiisa53.htm
   
  Best,
  Sujata

Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net> wrote:
  >Isaiah 53 is a prophecy foretelling what the nations and their kings
>will exclaim when they witness Israel's rejuvination. When Israel's
>exile is ended, the nations will marvel that such a generation could
>have survived the expulsion from "the land of the living", ie; the
>Land of Israel. It is not talking about the resurrection of a single
>person.
>
>