6

ISAIAH 53
IN THE LETTERS OF
PETER, PAUL, AND JOHN

Craig A. Evans

I
saiah 53 makes a signiicant contribution to the theologies of Peter,
Paul, and John.1 The contribution of this passage to most of the so-
called General Epistles, to which the Petrine Epistles have been custom-
arily assigned, is relatively minor. The tables below provide an overview.

1. For recent studies that assess the inluence of Isaiah 53 on the writings of the New Tes-
tament, see Bernd Janowski and Peter Stuhlmacher, eds., Der leidende Gottesknecht: Jesaja
53 und seine Wirkungsgeschichte; mit einer Bibliographie zu Jes 53, FAT 14 (Tübingen: Mohr Sie-
beck, 1996); William H. Bellinger Jr. and William R. Farmer, eds., Jesus and the Suffering
Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998).
Also see Kenneth D. Litwak, “The Use of Quotation from Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in the
New Testament,” JETS 26, no. 4 (1983): 385–94; Anneli Aejmelaeus, “The Suffering
Servant: Isaiah 53 as an Intertext of the New Testament,” in Lux Humana, Lux Aeterna:
Essays on Biblical and Related Themes in Honour of Lars Aejmelaeus, ed. Antti Mustakallio, with
Heikki Leppä and Heikki Räisänen, Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society 89
(Helsinki: Finnish Exegetical Society; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005),
475–94.

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Quotations and echoes

of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in Peter

Isaiah 1 Peter and Peter in Acts

52:13 Acts 3:13 (Peter); 4:27, 30 (Peter?)
53 1 Peter 1:11
53:4 1 Peter 2:24
53:5 1 Peter 2:24
53:1, 5–6 (+ 52:7) Acts 10:43 (Peter) (+ Acts 10:36)
53:6 1 Peter 2:25
53:7 1 Peter 2:23
53:9 1 Peter 2:21–22; 4:1
53:12 1 Peter 2:24
Quotations and echoes
of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in Paul

Isaiah Paul
52:15 Rom. 15:21; 1 Cor. 2:9
53:1 (+ 52:7) Rom. 10:16 (+ Rom. 10:15; 2 Cor. 5:20)
53:4–5 Rom. 4:25
53:7 1 Cor. 5:7
53:8–9 1 Cor. 15:3
53:11 Rom. 5:19
Quotations and echoes
of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in Hebrews and John

Isaiah Hebrews and Johannine Writings

53:1 John 12:38
53:6–7 John 1:29
53:10 1 John 3:5
53:12 Heb. 9:28

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 Craig A. Evans

one will note that in the irst two tables I include one instance of
Isaiah 52:7, which of course falls outside Isaiah 52:13–53:12.2 I should ex-
plain. In the tables above we observe that both times Isaiah 52:7 appears, it
is in proximity to a verse or two from Isaiah 53. In the case of Paul, Isaiah
52:7 is cited in Romans 10:15, followed by a citation of Isaiah 53:1 in the
very next verse (i.e., Rom. 10:16). In the case of Peter, Isaiah 52:7 is al-
luded to in the speech to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:34–43, here
v. 36) and then a few verses later Isaiah 53:1, 5–6 is alluded to (i.e., Acts
10:43). Are these examples evidence of some sort of linkage of Isaiah 52:7
with the Suffering Servant hymn? Did Jewish interpreters of late antiquity
link Isaiah 52:7 with this hymn?
I think there is evidence of the linkage of Isaiah 52:7 with the Suffering
Servant hymn, beyond what has just been observed in Pauline and Petrine
tradition. It has been suggested that Isaiah 52:7–12 may have been un-
derstood as an introduction to the Suffering Servant hymn proper. The
marginal sigla in Hebrew manuscripts lend support to this suggestion. We
see this in 1QIsaa col. 43, where a prominent hat-shaped siglum appears in
the right-hand margin of Isaiah 52:7.3 Although of uncertain meaning, this
manuscript feature likely indicates the beginning of a new section. The
paragraphing supports this interpretation, for the previous line (i.e., the
last part of Isa. 52:6) ends with a blank space of about one-third of a line,
indicating the end of a section. A simpler mark or siglum in the right-hand
margin of col. 44 separates 52:15 from 53:1.4 Paragraphing for the whole
passage is 52:7–12, 52:13–15, 53:1–8, and 53:9–12.
In the MT, a large samek (for seder) appears in the right-hand margin
of Isaiah 52:7 and a smaller samek appears in the left-hand margin at the
conclusion of verse 12. A small samek also appears in the left-hand margin
at the conclusion of 53:12.5 In Codex Leningrad, 52:13 begins a new para-

2. I was tempted to include Isaiah 52:7 in the third table, as possibly alluded to in 1 John
1:2–3: “we . . . proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father . . . that
which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.” In other words, the leaders
of the Johannine community have assumed the role of “proclaiming” (άπαγγέλλω)
the good news, which is what the messenger does in Isaiah 52:7. The parallel is sug-
gestive, but vague and uncertain. And in any case, even if we concluded that Isaiah
52:7 is alluded to, its connection to 1 John 3:5, which may allude to Isaiah 53:10, is at
best remote. Note that unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the
Revised Standard Version (RSV).
3. The siglum is in plain view in John Trever’s photographs. See John C. Trever, Scrolls
from Qumrân Cave I (Jerusalem: Shrine of the Book, 1974), 50 (pl. 43). The scroll dates
to the second century B.C.
4. See Trever, Scrolls from Qumrân Cave I, 51 (pl. 44).
5. The large samekh is quite noticeable in Codex Leningrad folio 240, left-hand column,
with samekh to the right (i.e., between the middle and left-hand columns). See David

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 ISAIAH 53 IN THE LETTERS oF PETER, PAUL, AND JoHN

graph and 54:1 begins a new paragraph, thus witnessing the understanding
that Isaiah 52:13–53:12 makes up a literary unit, which with 52:7–12
falls under a larger heading.6 Accordingly, both the Great Isaiah Scroll
of Qumran and the MT appear to view Isaiah 52:7–12 and 52:13–53:12
as two related units, perhaps with 52:7–12 introducing the hymn.7 John
Watts has remarked, rightly in my opinion, that the report of Isaiah 53:1
(“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?”) harks back to the good news of the messenger of Isaiah 52:7,
who proclaims good news.8 Watts’s suggestion enjoys a measure of support
from the Targum, which changes the wording of 53:1, to read: “Who has
believed this our good news?” (emphasis added). The reading “good news,”
instead of “report,” takes the reader back to the “good news” of 52:7. These
observations show that there are at least four indications that in late an-
tiquity Isaiah 52:7 was understood as linked in some way to the Suffering
Servant hymn: (1) irst-century preachers and writers Peter and Paul linked
52:7 with the hymn; (2) the Great Isaiah Scroll of Qumran appears to mark
52:7 as the beginning of a lection that includes the hymn; (3) the masoretic
tradition (esp. Codex Leningrad) appears to make 52:7 as the beginning
of a lection that includes the hymn, with the hymn clearly indicated as a
complete unit; and (4) the Targum creates a link between 53:1 and 52:7 by
making the former refer to “good news,” which is announced in the latter.
I might add that, without rehearsing the details of his argument, N.
T. Wright believes that Isaiah 52:7–12 “sums up the whole of Jesus’ public

Noel Freedman, ed., et al., The Leningrad Codex: A Facsimile Edition (Grand Rapids: Eerd-
mans, 1998), 492. The codex is dated to A.D. 1008.
6. See Codex Leningrad folio 241 and Freedman, Leningrad Codex, 493.
7. Even modern commentators draw our attention to lines of connection, such as how
52:7–10 comes to an appropriate conclusion in 52:11–12 and how the latter passage
prepares for the “epiphany” of 52:13 and all that follows. For a few examples, see
Klaus Baltzer, Deutero-Isaiah: A Commentary on Isaiah 40–55, Hermeneia (Minneapolis:
Fortress, 2001), 376–94 (see p. 393 for the “epiphany” comment); Brevard S. Childs,
Isaiah, oTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 406–7. Childs remarks that
52:11–12 draws out the “effect of the hymn of praise” in 52:7–10 (407). on this point,
see also Baltzer, Deutero-Isaiah, 387n1, in which vv. 11–12 are described as “an excellent
close” to vv. 7–10. For more comments on the unity of Isaiah 52:1–12 and its relation
to the Servant hymn, see James D. Smart, History and Theology in Second Isaiah: A Commen-
tary on Isaiah 35, 40–66 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1965), 191–92; Edward J. Young,
The Book of Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 3:329–34.
8. John D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34–66, 2nd ed., WBC 25 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005),
782: Here Watts says, “The subject matter of 53:1 relates it to the messengers of 52:7.”
Quite so. The proclamation of the messenger in Isaiah 52:7 is called a “report” or
“something heard” (‫יע‬ ַ ‫ ַמ ְׁ ִמ‬/ ἀκοήν), which is the very thing people have refused to
believe in Isaiah 53:1.

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 Craig A. Evans

ministry.”9 Accordingly, what follows in 52:13–53:12 sums up the passion.

The ancient paragraphing of Isaiah 52–53 and the preaching and teaching
of the apostles, which we are yet to review, support the bishop’s interesting
assertion. Thus this essay continues on the understanding that the good
news of peace and God’s rule mentioned in Isaiah 52:7 do indeed introduce
the Suffering Servant hymn.10 We turn now to the preaching and teaching
of Peter.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in the Teaching of Peterour analysis of Isaiah
52:13–53:12 begins in the teaching of Peter by reviewing two of the apos-
tle’s sermons, one preached on the occasion of the healing of the crippled
man before the precincts of the temple (Acts 3), the other on the occasion
of meeting and converting Cornelius, the Roman centurion of Caesarea
Maritima, and his household (Acts 10).11
In the irst sermon, before the gate of the temple, Peter declares to the

9. N. T. Wright, “The Servant and Jesus,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, ed. Bellinger and
Farmer, 281–97, esp. 290–93, with quotation from 290.
10. The LXX links Isaiah 52:6 with 52:7, so that the words of v. 7 are the words of the
Lord himself. The wording of the text is also altered at places, so that it reads: “There-
fore my people shall know my name in that day, because I myself am the one who
speaks: ‘I am here, as a season upon the mountains, like the feet of one bringing glad
tidings of a report of peace, like one bringing glad tidings of good things, because I
will make your salvation heard, saying to Zion, “Your God shall reign.”’” For Greek
text and textual evidence, see Joseph Ziegler, Isaias, Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum
Graecum 14 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1939), 318. Ross Wagner rightly
notes that Paul’s use of Isaiah 52:7 relects the Semitic tradition, not the Greek. See
J. Ross Wagner, Heralds of Good News: Isaiah and Paul “in Concert” in the Letter to the Romans,
NovTSup 101 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 176–77n170. Accordingly, what has been said
with respect to Hebrew and Aramaic versions probably applies, at least in part, to
Paul’s understanding of Isaiah 52:7. For further discussion of the translations of Isaiah
53, especially as seen in the Greek, see Harald Hegermann, Jesaja 53 in Hexapla, Targum,
und Peschitta, BFCT 2/56 (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1954); otto Betz, “Die Über-
setzungen von Jes 53 (LXX, Targum) und die Theologie Crucis des Paulus,” in otto
Betz, Jesus, der Herr der Kirche: Aufsätze zur biblischen Theologie II, WUNT 52 (Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1990), 197–216; David A. Sapp, “The LXX, 1QIsa, and MT Versions of
Isaiah 53 and the Christian Doctrine of Atonement,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, ed.
Bellinger and Farmer, 170–92. I should add that the parallel Nahum 1:15a (“Behold,
on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!”
rsv), alludes to the fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.). Likewise, part of the good news of Isaiah
52:7 may have alluded to the fall of Babylon (539 B.C.). If Isaiah 40–55 is dated to the
postexilic period, then Isaiah 52:7 is an allusion to Nahum’s earlier announcement of
good news. of course, if this part of Isaiah dates to the time of the great prophet and
his immediate successors, then Nahum 1:15a is an allusion to Isaiah 52:7. For the view
that Nahum 1:15a has drawn on Isaiah 52:7, see Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 40–55, AB
19A (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 342.
11. For more on Isaiah 53 in Acts, see Peter Stuhlmacher, “Jes 53 in den Evangelien und
in der Apostelgeschichte,” in Der leidende Gottesknecht, ed. Janowski and Stuhlmacher,
93–105.

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 ISAIAH 53 IN THE LETTERS oF PETER, PAUL, AND JoHN

astonished crowd: “The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God
of our fathers, gloriied his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied
in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him” (Acts 3:13).
It is probable that the clause “gloriied his servant” (ἐδόξασεν τὸν παῖδα
αὐτοῦ) alludes to Isaiah 52:13: “My servant . . . shall be gloriied” (ὁ παῖϛ
μου . . . δοξασθήσεται).12 We have verbal agreements involving noun,
pronoun, and verb.13 Even the reference to Pilate may have been understood
as signifying the nations (ἔθνη) and kings mentioned in Isaiah 52:15, just
as Pilate and his soldiers signify the nations (ἔθνη) of Psalm 2:1–2, cited in
Acts 4:25–27.14 The wider context also supports the probability of this al-
lusion, for the apostle goes on to speak of the denial and killing of Jesus the
Holy and Righteous one, “whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 3:14–15).
In short, we have denial, death, and vindication. This abstract of Jesus’ min-
istry and passion summarizes the main points of the Suffering Servant hymn:
the failure to believe the report (Isa. 53:1), the despising and rejecting of the
Servant (53:3), the suffering and death of the Servant (53:4–10, 12b–c), and
the vindication of the Servant (53:11–12a).15
That Peter has in mind old Testament prophecy is made explicit in
Acts 3:18, where the apostle declares: “But what God foretold by the mouth
of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulilled.” Where
in the prophets are we told that God’s “Christ [or Messiah] should suffer”?

12. Rightly, among others, Rudolf Pesch, Die Apostelgeschichte, EKKNT 5.1–2 (Zürich: Ben-
ziger Verlag, 1986), 1:153; C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of
the Apostles, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994), 1:194; Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of
the Apostles, AB 31 (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 284.
13. one also should mention Acts 4:27 and 30, where Peter and the apostles rejoice in
prayer, referring to Jesus as God’s “holy servant.” The allusion to Isaiah 52:13 is prob-
able; but Peter is not cited as the speaker. At most he is speaking along with everyone
else.
14. on the messianic interpretation of Psalm 2 in the Targum, see Timothy Edwards,
Exegesis in the Targum of The Psalms: The Old, the New, and the Rewritten, Gorgias Dissertations
28: Biblical Studies 1 (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2007), 39–42. The antiquity of
the messianic interpretation of Psalm 2 is supported by its allusion in 1QSa 2:11–12
(“when God will have begotten the Messiah among them”), its citation in Acts 4:25–
27, and in its probable allusion in Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:11 [“You are my beloved
Son”] and parallels; note the reading in Tg. Ps. 2:7: “You are as beloved [‫ ]חביב‬to me as
a son to a father”).
15. Peter’s words in the Pentecost sermon may also allude to the Suffering Servant hymn.
The apostle summarizes Jesus’ ministry, passion, and resurrection (Acts 2:22–24),
saying, “This one . . . you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men [διὰ χειρὸϛ
ἀνόμων]” (v. 23). Death at the hands of the “lawless” may allude to Isaiah 53:5, “He
was wounded because of our acts of lawlessness [διὰ τὰϛ ἀνομίαϛ ἡμῶν],” and
53:8, “He was led to death on account of the lawlessness acts of my people [ἀπὸ τῶν
ἀνομιῶν τoῦ λαoῦ μου].”

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 Craig A. Evans

Isaiah 53 is the only viable candidate,16 not only because it speaks of a suf-
fering igure, but because in the Aramaic paraphrase this suffering igure is
explicitly identiied as the Messiah (cf. Tg. Isa. 52:13 “Behold, my Servant
the Messiah”; 53:10).17 The risen Christ in Luke also declared that the
Prophets foretold that the Messiah should suffer (Luke 24:44, 46). The pre-
supposed old Testament prophecy is not hard to ind. It is revealed plainly
in Acts 8, where the Ethiopian oficial has read Isaiah 53:7–8:

As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so

he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who
can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth. (Acts
8:32–33)

The Ethiopian asks Philip the evangelist: “About whom, pray, does
the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” (Acts 8:34).
In reply Philip “told him the good news of Jesus” (8:35). Philip’s telling the
good news (εὐηγγελίσατο) harks back to the good news proclaimed by
the messenger of Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him who brings good news [εὐαγγελιζομένου].” Accordingly,
there is little doubt that Peter’s reference to Jesus as Servant, whose rejec-
tion, suffering, and death fulilled prophecy, had in mind the Suffering
Servant of Isaiah 52:13–53:12, whose suffering and vindication constitute
the good news proclaimed by the prophetic messenger in Isaiah. 52:7.18
I would like to digress a moment and ask how it is the Servant (‫ ֶע ֶבד‬/
παῖϛ) of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 came to be interpreted as the Messiah? At
the outset it should be made clear that there was no pre-Christian un-
derstanding of the Servant as Messiah, at least nothing has yet come to
light to indicate this. But irst- or second-century Jewish interpretation,
especially as seen in the Targum, and of course Christian interpretation
came to understand the Servant of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 as the Messiah.19

16. Rightly, F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), 111; pace Barrett, Acts of the Apostles, 1:202: “There is
no allusion to Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant.” Peter, the speaker in Acts 3, also
appeals to Isaiah 53 in his letter, which will be discussed below.
17. Bruce D. Chilton, The Glory of Israel: The Theology and Provenience of the Isaiah Targum,
JSoTSup 23 (Shefield: JSoT Press, 1982), 91–96, dates the Aramaic paraphrase of
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 to the interval between the great rebellion of 66–70 and the Bar
Kokhba revolt of 132–135. The Targum likely presupposes an older messianic inter-
pretation of the passage.
18. See Bruce, Acts of the Apostles, 192–94.
19. See the discussion in Donald Juel, Messianic Exegesis: Christological Interpretation of the Old
Testament in Early Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 125–31. The Messiah as
“Servant” appears to be attested in 4 Ezra, which at 7:28–29 reads: “My Messiah shall

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 ISAIAH 53 IN THE LETTERS oF PETER, PAUL, AND JoHN

How did this happen? Exegetically speaking, what accommodated this

interpretation?
I think the identiication of the Servant as the Messiah arose from
the description of David as the Lord’s servant. We see this in Isaiah itself,
where through the prophet God assures the people of Jerusalem: “I will
shield this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant
David [‫ ָּוִ ד ַע ְב ִּי‬/ Δαυὶδ τὸν παῖδά μου]” (Isa. 37:35). We again hear
this language in the title of Psalm 18: “A Psalm of David the servant of the
Lord [‫ ְל ֶע ֶבד יְ הוָ ה ְל ָדוִ ד‬/ τῷ παιδὶ κυρίου τῷ Δαυιδ]” (Ps. 18:0 = LXX
Ps. 17:1).20 David is referred to as the Lord’s servant by the Chronicler also
(1 Chron. 17:4; 2 Chron. 6:17).
In the literature of the New Testament this language appears in the
evangelist Luke. We ind it in the song of Zechariah (Luke 1:67–79), who
blesses God for raising up a horn of salvation “in the house of his servant
David [Δαυὶδ παιδὸϛ αὐτοῦ]” (Luke 1:69). The epithet appears again
when the disciples praise God, “who by the mouth of our father David, thy
servant [Δαυὶδ παιδόϛ σου], didst say by the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:25),
and then quote Psalm 2:1–2: “against the Lord and his Messiah [κατὰ
τoῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τoῦ χριοτoῦ αὐτοῦ]” (Acts 4:26). David is called
God’s “servant” (παῖϛ) in Acts 4:25, relecting old Testament language
just reviewed, and Jesus is called God’s “servant” (παῖϛ) in Acts 4:27 and
30. If David is God’s servant and messiah (or “anointed”), then the Servant
of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is also the Messiah. So goes the reasoning.
I should mention that references to David as the Lord’s servant are rare
in early Christian literature. Besides the examples in Luke–Acts, we have
an example in Didache 9:2: “We give you thanks, our Father, for the holy
vine of David your servant [Δαυεὶδ τoῦ παιδόϛ σου].” The servant epi-
thet is not applied often to Jesus either. For examples, see 1 Clement 59:2–4;

be revealed . . . after these years my son [or servant] the Messiah shall die.” For this
translation and discussion of the probability that underlying the original text was
reference to “servant,” see Michael E. Stone, Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of
Fourth Ezra, Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990), 202–17. Most assume that 4
Ezra was composed around A.D. 100. of course, the identity of the Messiah as the
Servant predates the composition of 4 Ezra, but by how much? Does the messianic
identiication of the Servant, witnessed also in the Targum, predate the time of Jesus?
For further discussion, see Martin Hengel, “Zur Wirkungsgeschichte von Jes 53 in
vorchristlicher Zeit,” in Der leidende Gottesknecht, ed. Janowski and Stuhlmacher, 49–91;
reprinted in Martin Hengel, Judaica, Hellenistica et Christiana: Kleine Schriften II, WUNT
109 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), 72–114.
20. Note also the last verse of Psalm 18: “Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows
steadfast love to his anointed [‫] ְמ ִׁיחׄו‬, to David and his descendants for ever” (v. 50 in
the RSV; v. 51 in the Hebrew). The Targum seems to understand this verse in reference
to the Messiah.

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 Craig A. Evans

Martyrdom of Polycarp 14:1, 3; 20:2; Didache 9:2–3; 10:2. I might also note
that in one old Testament passage Joshua is called “servant” (Josh. 7:7),
whose name in the Greek version is Jesus (Ἰησοῦϛ).
In the Targum (the Aramaic paraphrase of Hebrew Scripture), re-
lecting popular Jewish expectations and hopes, the Messiah is victorious.
We ind a rather remarkable interpretation, in which the theme of rejec-
tion and suffering is transformed into victory. Part of the passage reads this
way (with italics added indicating departures from the Hebrew):

Behold, my servant, the Messiah, shall prosper, he shall be exalted

52:13

and increase, and shall be very strong. 14Just as the house of Israel hoped
for him many days—their appearances were so dark among the peoples,
and their aspect beyond that of the sons of men—15So he shall scatter
many peoples . . . 53:1Who has believed this our good news? . . . 2And the
righteous shall be exalted before him . . . his appearance is not a common
appearance and his fearfulness is not an ordinary fearfulness, and his bril-
liance will be holy brilliance, that everyone who looks at him will con-
sider him. 3Then the glory of all the kingdoms will be for contempt and
cease; they will be faint and mournful, behold, as a man of sorrows and
appointed for sicknesses . . . 4Then he will beseech concerning our sins
and our iniquities for his sake will be forgiven; yet we were esteemed
wounded, smitten before the Lord and aflicted. 5And he will build the
sanctuary . . . [if] we attach ourselves to his words our sins will be for-
given to us. 7He beseeches, and he is answered, and before he opens his
mouth he is accepted . . . 8From bonds and retribution he will bring our
exiles near . . . for he will take away the rule of the Gentiles from the land
of Israel; the sins which my people sinned he will cast on to them. 9And
he will hand over the wicked to Gehenna and those rich in possessions
which they robbed to the death of the corruption . . . 10Yet before the
Lord it was a pleasure to reine and to cleanse the remnant of his people,
in order to purify their soul from sins; they shall see the kingdom of their
Messiah . . . .21

The transformation we see in the Aramaic paraphrase is quite remark-

able.22 Here are a few of the highlights:52:13—The Servant of the Lord is
explicitly identiied as the Messiah in 52:13 and 53:10.

21. The translation is based on Bruce D. Chilton, The Isaiah Targum, ArBib 11 (Wilmington:
Glazier, 1987), 103–5. For Aramaic text and English translation, which at points dif-
fers somewhat, see John F. Stenning, The Targum of Isaiah (oxford: Clarendon Press,
1949), 178–81.
22. For learned discussion of the Servant’s remarkable makeover in the Aramaic text, see

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52:14—The appearance of the Servant is not marred; the

appearance of Israel was, as it longed for the advent of the
Messiah.

52:15—The Servant Messiah does not startle the nations; he

scatters them, even as they had scattered Israel in exile.

53:1—The prophet wonders who has believed the good news.

Reference to “good news”(‫)בסֹרה‬, instead of the Hebrew’s
ָ ְׁ ), harks back more obviously to the good news
“report” (‫מּעה‬
proclaimed by the messenger in 52:7 (where the Aramaic’s ‫ְמ ַב ַסר‬
translates the Hebrew’s ‫) ְמ ַב ֵּר‬.

53:2—According to the Hebrew, the Servant possessed no

beauty, yet in the Aramaic the Servant Messiah possesses an
uncommon appearance and fearfulness, even a holy brilliance.

53:3—According to the Hebrew, the Servant is despised and

rejected; he is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, from
whom people hide their faces. But in the Aramaic it is the glory
of kingdoms that will be held in contempt; these kingdoms will
be as a man of sorrows and sickness.

53:4—According to the Hebrew, the Servant has borne our grief

and our sorrows; he is regarded wounded and struck by God.
But in the Aramaic the Servant Messiah will beseech the Lord on
behalf of this sinful people and their iniquities will be forgiven.
It is the people of Israel who were esteemed as wounded and
aflicted.

53:5—Far from being wounded and bruised, the Servant

Messiah of the Aramaic tradition will build the Sanctuary and his
teaching, if heeded, will result in peace and forgiveness.

Jostein Ådna, “Der Gottesknecht als triumphierender und interzessorischer Messias.

Die Rezeption von Jes 53 im Targum Jonathan untersucht mit besonderer Berücksi-
chtigung des Messiasbildes,” in Der leidende Gottesknecht, ed. Janowski and Stuhlmacher,
129–58. Also see Samson H. Levey, The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation; The Messianic
Exegesis of the Targum, MHUC 2 (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1974), 63–
67. For a compendium of ancient translation, paraphrase, and commentary, see Samuel
R. Driver and Adolf Neubauer, The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah according to the Jewish Inter-
preters (oxford: J. Parker, 1876–77; repr. with Prolegomena by Raphael Loewe, New
York: Ktav, 1969).

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53:7—The Servant of the Hebrew is oppressed and aflicted and

does not open his mouth. But in the Aramaic the Servant Messiah
beseeches and is answered, and even before he opens his mouth,
his requests are accepted. It is the strong ones of the peoples who
will be slaughtered as a lamb, not the Servant.

53:8—According to the Hebrew, the Servant is oppressed,

judged, cut off from the land of the living, and stricken for the
transgression of his people Israel. But in the Aramaic the Servant
Messiah brings the exiles back to the land, removes the rule of
the Gentiles, and will cast Israel’s sins on the Gentiles.

53:9—According to the Hebrew, the enemies of the Servant

have assigned him a grave with the wicked, even with a rich man
in his death. Not so in the Targum. According to the Aramaic,
the Servant Messiah will deliver the wicked to Gehenna and the
rich, who through robbery have gained their possessions, will be
assigned the death of the corruption.

53:10—According to the Hebrew, it was the Lord’s will to

bruise the Servant, to put him to grief. The Servant will be an
atoning offering for sin, whose days will be prolonged. But in
the Aramaic it is the Lord’s pleasure to reine and cleanse the
remnant, to purify the nation from its sins.23 Then God’s people
will see the kingdom of their Messiah, and those who perform
the Law will prosper.

Through the Messiah’s intercessory role, the people of Israel are re-
stored. The exiles are brought home. Atonement is made for the sin of
the people. The oppressive nations are put in their place. Israel is exalted,
and those who obey the Law will prosper. In some ways, this remarkable
exegesis coheres with Christian interpretation. The ultimate outcome of
both interpretations is not too different. In essence, both Jewish interpre-
tation and Christian interpretation teach that Israel is saved through the
work of the Servant Messiah.
of course, Christian interpretation of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is understood

23. In exactly what sense the Messiah of the Targum forgives sins is a complicated ques-
tion. For further discussion, see otfried Hoius, “Kennt der Targum zu Jes 53 einen
sündenvergebenden Messias?” in otfried Hoius, Neutestamentliche Studien, WUNT 132
(Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000), 70–107.

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in the light of what actually happened to Jesus. Because Jesus was rejected
by the religious leaders, was condemned to death, and was cruelly exe-
cuted by the Roman authorities, there was no need to modify the theme of
rejection and suffering that runs throughout the Suffering Servant hymn.
It is hardly surprising that in the aftermath of passion week Jesus’ earliest
followers, among them Peter, took great interest in this passage.24 Peter’s
interest in this passage, as seen in his preaching recounted in Acts and in
his letter known as 1 Peter, could explain why Isaiah 53 igures much more
prominently in the evangelist Luke, in contrast to the other evangelists.
In the second sermon, Acts 10, Peter again alludes to Isaiah 52:7 and
portions of Isaiah 53. In Acts 10:36, the apostle speaks of the “word which
he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ.” The
phrase “preaching good news of peace” (εὐαγγελιζόμενοϛ εἰρήνην) is
an unmistakable allusion to Isaiah 52:7, whose messenger “preaches good
news, a report of peace” (εὐαγγελιζομένου ἀκοὴν εἰρήνηϛ).25 Peter
then recounts the public activity of Jesus, including his passion, resurrec-
tion, and commissioning of the apostles (Acts 10:38–42). Peter concludes
with these words: “To him all the prophets bear witness that every one
who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts
10:43).
I believe these concluding words allude to Isaiah 53. The reference in
Acts 10:43 to believing in Jesus (πιστεύοντα) recalls Isaiah 53:1, which
refers to doubters who do not believe the good news (τίϛ ἐπίστευσεν
τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν), while the promise in Acts 10:43 of receiving forgiveness
of sins (ἁμαρτιῶν) recalls the suffering of the Servant because of the sins
of his people (as in 53:5, διὰ τὰϛ ἁμαρτίαϛ, and 53:6, ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις
ἡμῶν). Peter’s previous use of Isaiah 53 conirms the likelihood of the pas-
sage’s presence here.26

24. I recognize that Christian interpreters have in the past overstated the extent of the in-
luence of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in New Testament literature. This point has been driven
home by Morna D. Hooker, Jesus and the Servant: The Inluence of the Servant Concept of Deu-
tero-Isaiah in the New Testament (London: SPCK, 1959); and, again, in her essay, Morna
D. Hooker, “Did the Use of Isaiah 53 to Interpret His Mission Begin with Jesus?” in
Jesus and the Suffering Servant, ed. Bellinger and Farmer, 88–103. However, many scholars
have rightly replied that Hooker has overstated her case and in so doing has underes-
timated the extent and inluence of the Suffering Servant hymn in the thought of the
early church.
25. See Pesch, Die Apostelgeschichte, 1:342–43; Fitzmyer, Acts of the Apostles, 463.
26. Barrett, Acts of the Apostles, 1:528, suggests Isaiah 33:24 (“for sin is forgiven them”) and
55:7 (“he will forgive your sins”). F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of Acts, NICNT
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954), 228–29, believes Peter’s reference includes “the
prophecy of the suffering Servant who was to ‘justify the many’ and ‘bear their iniqui-
ties’” (Isa. 53:11).

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In sum we have found that Isaiah 52:13–53:12, along with Isaiah 52:7,
plays an important role in Peter’s preaching in Acts. We shall also ind that
this passage plays an important role in his letter known as 1 Peter.
According to 1 Peter 1:10–12, the “Spirit of Christ” (cf. Rom. 8:9, the
only other New Testament passage that speaks of the “Spirit of Christ”)
disclosed to the prophets the future “sufferings of Christ and the glories
to follow” (τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας).
Apart from the general theme of suffering, which certainly sums up much
of what is said about the Servant in Isaiah 52:13–53:12, and the reference
to “good news” that the prophets “announced” (1 Peter 1:12), there is not
much in 1 Peter 1:10–12 that urges us toward Isaiah. However, I think
the passage should be mentioned because of the quotation of Isaiah 53:9
in 1 Peter 2:21–25 and the important discussion of its implications in the
remaining verses of the chapter (note the initial statement “Christ . . . suf-
fered” in v. 21). Given the discussion in 1 Peter 2, I think the apostle may
well have had in mind the Suffering Servant here in 1 Peter 1:10–12.27
In 1 Peter 2:21–25, the apostle appeals to the example of Christ, who
suffered:

21
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22He com-
mitted no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 23When he was reviled, he
did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he
trusted to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his
wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep, but
have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Given the quotation of Isaiah 53:9 in 1 Peter 1:22, it is virtually certain

that the opening statement, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an
example,” sums up the whole of the Suffering Servant hymn.28 With the
exception of one word, the quotation in verse 22 follows the Greek version
of Isaiah 53:9 verbatim:

1 Peter 2:22: ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ

οτόματι αὐτοῦ.

27. See C. E. B. Cranield, The First Epistle of Peter (London: SCM Press, 1950), 29; J. Ramsey
Michaels, 1 Peter, WBC 49 (Dallas: Word, 1988), 47; Ben Witherington III, Letters and
Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1–2 Peter (Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 84.
28. Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 154.

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Isaiah 53:9: ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ

οτόματι αὐτοῦ.

Peter’s use of ἁμαρτία here in verse 22, instead of the expected

ἀνομία, is not hard to explain, for ἁμαρτία occurs many times in the
Suffering Servant hymn (cf. 53:4–6, 10–12).29 Jesus committed no sin, and
therefore he did not commit an unlawful act, nor was any deceit found in
him. Nevertheless, he suffered.
When Peter says that when Jesus “was reviled, he did not revile in
return” (v. 23), he has alluded to Isaiah 53:7, where the Suffering Servant
“opened not his mouth,” but, like the lamb led to slaughter, remained
“silent.”30 His willingness to suffer is relected in Peter’s statement that Jesus
“did not threaten” (v. 23). Peter’s “trusted to him who judges justly” may
well allude to the latter part of the hymn (Isa. 53:10b–12).
When Peter says in verse 24 that Jesus “himself bore our sins in his
body on the tree [τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν],” he has al-
luded to Isaiah 53:5 and, especially, 53:12 (cf. “he bore the sin of many”
[αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν]). one thinks of 53:4 as well (“he
bears our sins [τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ϕέρει] and suffers pain for us”). The
phrase “in his body on the tree [ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον]” in 1
Peter 2:24, recalls the image of being hanged on a tree, as in Deuteronomy
21:22–23, where with regard to the malefactor Israel is commanded: “You
hang him on a tree” (κρεμάσητε αὐτὸυ ἐπὶ ξύλον); “his body . . . upon
the tree” (τὸ οῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου). The allusion to Deuteronomy
21:22–23 is particularly apropos, in light of its understanding in late an-
tiquity in reference to cruciixion, as seen in its paraphrase in the Temple
Scroll: “If a man is a traitor against his people . . . you are to hang him on a
tree until dead.” That is to say, the guilty man is to be hanged on the tree
while still alive, as in the practice of cruciixion (see also 4Q169 frags. 3–4,
line 7: “he used to hang men alive”), and not after his execution, as was the
older custom in Israel.
The last part of 1 Peter 2:24, “By his wounds you have been healed

29. on this point, see Hermann Patsch, “Zum alttestamentlichen Hintergrund von Römer
4,25 und I.Petrus 2,24,” ZNW 60 (1969) 273–79. Patsch rightly argues that the whole
of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 underlies 1 Peter 2:21–25 (278–79). So also Cranield, First
Epistle of Peter, 67–68.
30. Rightly, J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude, BNTC (London: A
& C Black, 1969) 121; Michaels, 1 Peter, 146; Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter,
NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990) 111; Paul J. Achtemeier, 1 Peter, Hermeneia
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) 200; Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Chris-
tians, 156–57.

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[τῷ μώλωπι ἰάθητε],” is an unmistakable allusion to Isaiah 53:5: “By his

wounds we have been healed [τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν].”
And inally, 1 Peter 2:25 alludes to various components of the
Suffering Servant hymn. The phrase, “straying like sheep [ὡς πρόβατα
πλανώμενοι],” recalls the irst part of Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have
gone astray [ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν]; we have turned every one to
his own way.” Peter innovatively dubs the vindicated Servant Jesus as the
“Shepherd” (cf. John 10:11) and “Guardian” or “overseer” (ἐπίσκοπος); cf.
Isaiah 60:17: “I will appoint your rulers in peace and your overseers in righ-
teousness [καὶ τοὺς ἐπίσκόπους σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ]”; Philo, De migra-
tione Abrahami 81: “of which God alone is the overseer” [ων μόνος ὁ θεὸς
ἐπίσκοπος]; De mutatione nominum 216: God is “Inspector and overseer”).
Even the reference to “your souls” (των ψυχων ὑμων) may allude to the
experience of the Suffering Servant whose soul (ψυχή) suffered pain (Isa.
53:11), was given over to death (53:12), but will see offspring (53:10).31
There can be little doubt that the Christology of the apostle Peter
was deeply inluenced by Isaiah 52:13–53:12. Jesus’ identity, the meaning
of his life, death, and resurrection, and the signiicance that all of this has
for those who believe in him are clariied by this important passage of
Scripture. It lies at the heart of the apostle’s public preaching, as seen in
the book of Acts, and at the heart of the teaching in his epistle known as
1 Peter.

ISAIAH 52:13–53:12 IN THE TEACHING OF PAUL

I am not surprised that Isaiah 52:13–53:12 plays an important role in
Romans, by far Paul’s most inluential writing. To be sure, this passage from
Isaiah does not function in a polemical way, the way we see in the case of
Genesis 15:6, in reference to the faith of Abraham and God’s reckoning
the patriarch as righteous because of that faith. In contrast to a polemical
function, the Suffering Servant hymn guides Paul, as it does Peter, into a
deeper understanding of the identity of Jesus and the signiicance of his
death and its relation to the good news of God’s rule.
As in the case of Peter, so Paul also links Isaiah 52:7 and its message
of good news with Isaiah 52:13–53:12 and its message of the Suffering
Servant. We ind this linkage in the context of the apostle’s appeal to the
need to respond in faith to the good news of what God accomplished in
his Son the Messiah (Rom. 10:1–7). The word of the gospel is “near”; all

31. For further discussion, see Kelly, Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude, 124–26; Mi-
chaels, 1 Peter, 150–51; Achtemeier, 1 Peter, 203–4. Ezekiel also provides part of the
backdrop (cf. Ezek. 34:11–12).

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that one must do is confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in one’s heart that
God has indeed raised him from the dead. This confession and faith will
result in salvation. It applies to Jew and Gentile alike; there is no distinc-
tion (Rom. 10:8–13).
But how will people respond to this wonderful message, Paul asks, if
they do not hear? Preachers must go forth, proclaiming the good news, as
it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of
good things” (Rom. 10:15; Isa. 52:7). Alas, not everyone has responded in
faith to the good news, for Isaiah also says: “Lord, who has believed our
report?” (Rom. 10:16; Isa. 53:1). For Paul, Isaiah 53:1 explains the unbe-
lieving response of so many. Paul’s use of the passage here is similar to its
use in John 12, where the evangelist concedes that despite the many signs
performed by Jesus many refused to respond in faith.32
Portions of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 come into play elsewhere in Romans,
each making an important contribution. First, in Romans 4:25 Paul con-
cludes his argument concerning Abraham’s precedent-setting faith. God
reckoned righteousness not only to Abraham, but to all who respond in
faith to the promise of God, to those who believe in the God “who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:24), this Jesus “who was delivered
up on account of our trespasses and raised for our justiication” (4:25).33
Paul’s language in verse 25, “was delivered up on account of our tres-
passes” (παρεδόθη διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα), alludes to phrases in Isaiah
53:6 “the LORD delivered him up for our sins” (κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν
ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν) and in Isaiah 53:12 “his soul was delivered up to
death” (παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ) . . . “on account of their
sins he was delivered up” (διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθη).
Paul’s language in the last phrase of verse 25, “on account of our justii-
cation/righteousness” (διὰ τὴν δικαίωσιν ἡμῶν), alludes to Isaiah 53:11,
though I think more to the Hebrew than to the Greek. The Hebrew reads:
“by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be

32. For learned discussion, see Wagner, Heralds of Good News, 170–80. Wagner rightly says
that Isaiah 52:7 and 53:1 are “closely linked” in Paul’s understanding of the gospel. See
J. Ross Wagner, “The Heralds of Isaiah and the Mission of Paul: l: An Investigation of
Paul’s Use of Isaiah 51–55 in Romans,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, ed. Bellinger and
Farmer, 193–222, esp. 208–11.
33. C. E. B. Cranield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Vol.1: In-
troduction and Commentary on Romans I–VIII, 6th ed., ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1975),
251–52; James D. G. Dunn, Romans, WBC 38A (Dallas: Word, 1988), 1:224–25; J. A.
Fitzmyer, Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 33 (New York:
Doubleday, 1993), 389; Robert Jewett, Romans, Hermeneia; (Minneapolis: Fortress,
2007), 342 and n. 225.

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accounted righteous [‫ יַ ְצ ִדּיק ַצ ִּיק‬/ δικαιῶσαι δίκαιον]; and he shall bear

their iniquities.”
The second passage in Romans where Isaiah 52:13–53:12 comes into
play is Romans 5:19. In this context, Paul develops his Adam-Christ ty-
pology. Through the irst man come sin and death; through the second
man come obedience and life. The language of the contrast in Romans
5:19 makes best sense in the light of the work of the Suffering Servant.
Paul explains: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,
so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Making sinners
righteous is exactly what Jesus the Suffering Servant accomplished on the
cross. Several portions of Isaiah 53 provide a compelling and meaningful
backdrop to Paul’s thought: “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” (Isa. 53:5); “the LORD has laid
on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6); “stricken for the transgression of my
people” (53:8b); “he makes himself an offering for sin” (53:10b); “the righ-
teous one, my servant, [shall] make many to be accounted righteous; and
he shall bear their iniquities” (53:11b); “yet he bore the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors” (53:12b).34
The third passage is found in Romans 15:21, where Paul returns to the
theme of apostolic mission. The apostle wishes to preach where Christ has
not yet been proclaimed, as it is written: “They shall see who have never
been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him.”
Paul has quoted the Greek version of Isaiah 52:15b verbatim. Thus we
see that Paul derives his missionary mandate from several parts of Isaiah
52–53. His message is the good news to be proclaimed (Isa. 52:7), a mes-
sage for distant lands where the message has not been heard (Isa. 52:15), a
message not always received in faith (Isa. 53:1), a message about Jesus the
Servant, whose suffering and death justify sinners (Isa. 53:3–12).35
In two passages in 1 Corinthians, Paul alludes to the Suffering Servant
hymn. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, he exhorts his readers to remove the old
leaven, “For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacriiced.” The primary
reference, of course, is to the Passover, where only unleavened bread may
be eaten. Paul probably envisions a custom not too different from Jewish

34. Fitzmyer, Romans, 421; Jewett, Romans, 387; Sapp, “LXX, 1QIsa, and MT Versions of
Isaiah 53,” 187–88.
35. Wagner, “Heralds of Isaiah and the Mission of Paul,” 194, rightly says: “Isaiah has
exercised a profound and formative inluence on [Paul’s] conception of his apostolic
ministry. Paul inds in Isaiah a preiguration or pre-announcement of his own procla-
mation of the gospel of Christ to Jew and Gentile alike, wherever Christ is not yet
known.”

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custom today, where in ceremonial fashion all leaven is removed from the
home. In the same way, believers are to remove the old leaven, by which is
meant sin. After all, the Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacriiced. I
suspect Paul’s Passover analogy has been inluenced by Isaiah 53:7, where
the Servant is likened to a lamb led to the slaughter.
In 1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul summarizes the gospel, stating “as of irst im-
portance . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.”
Where in Scripture do we hear of the Messiah dying for our sins? As argued
early on in this essay, it is only in Isaiah 52:13–53:12, where the Servant,
understood to be the Lord’s Messiah, dies for the sins of his people.36
Before bringing this chapter to a close, there are passages elsewhere in
the General Letters that should be briely discussed.

ISAIAH 52:13–53:12
IN THE TEACHING OF HEBREWS AND JOHN
The author of Hebrews (cf. Heb. 7–10) argues that Jesus is the ultimate
high priest, not from the line of Aaron but from the line of Melchizedek,
the mysterious priestly igure who appears in Genesis 14 and later in Psalm
110 in reference to Israel’s enthroned king.37 The death of Jesus constitutes
a sacriice on behalf of humanity that need never be repeated (Heb. 9:26;
10:12), the beneits of which Jesus continues to bestow on humanity as a
heavenly high priest who mediates the new covenant (Heb. 9:11–15; cf.
Jer. 31:31).
It is in the midst of this argument that the author of Hebrews alludes
to the Suffering Servant hymn (Heb. 9:27–28):

And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes
judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are
eagerly waiting for him.

36. See A. T. Robertson and A. Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle
of St Paul to the Corinthians, 2nd ed., ICC (1911; repr. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1914),
333; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1987), 724.
37. It is the declaration to the king, who has been invited to sit at God’s right hand, that
he is “a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4) that inspires the
distinctive Christology of the author of Hebrews. Just as Melchizedek was king and
priest (cf. Gen. 14:18), so Jesus is both king and priest. For discussion of the Chris-
tology of Hebrews, see William L. Lane, Hebrews 1–8, WBC 47A (Dallas: Word, 1991),
cxl–cxliii; Ben Witherington III, Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical
Commentary on Hebrews, James and Jude (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007),
59–67.

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The phrase “to bear the sins of many” (εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν
ἁμαρτίας) is an unmistakable allusion to the second half of Isaiah 53:12:
“because his soul was given over to death, and he was reckoned among
the lawless, and he bore the sins of many [αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν
ἁνήνεγκεν], and because of their sins he was given over.” It may also al-
lude to the irst part of Isaiah 53:4: “This one bears our sins [τὰς ἁμαρτίας
ἡμῶν ϕέρει] and suffers pain for us.”
The allusion to Isaiah 53 is intriguing, in that the author of Hebrews
makes no use of the Suffering Servant elsewhere in a writing that is re-
plete with quotations and allusions to Israel’s Scriptures. The allusion to
Isaiah 53:12 (and perhaps 53:4) may have been unconscious and, if so,
may suggest that Jesus as the Suffering Servant was presupposed and well
known.38 The Servant’s bearing humanity’s sin is simply a given, and this
language comes to expression in the context of describing the beneits of
Jesus’ atoning death and ongoing priestly mediation.
The Suffering Servant seems to play no role in the Johannine Letters.
At most we may have a faint allusion in 1 John 3:5: “You know that he ap-
peared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” The phrase “to take
away sins” may echo the passages just mentioned (i.e., Isa. 53:4, 12) and
perhaps Isaiah 53:10, though it echos the Hebrew (“he makes himself an
offering for sin”), not the Greek (“if you give an offering for sin”). The
second phrase in 1 John 3:5, “in him there is no sin,” may also allude to the
Suffering Servant hymn. Nowhere in the hymn does it explicitly describe
the Servant as sinless, but it does say that he “had done no violence, and
there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isa. 53:9).39 one also thinks of the
Baptist’s declaration, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world!” (John 1:29). If 1 John 3:5 alludes to John 1:29 and if the “Lamb”
of John 1:29 alludes to the “lamb” of Isaiah 53:7,40 then we may indeed
have a very faint allusion to the Suffering Servant in 1 John 3:5.

38. So James R. Schaefer, “The Relationship between Priestly and Servant Messianism in
the Epistle to the Hebrews,” CBQ 30 (1968): 359–85. Schaefer remarks: “The priestly
Christology of Hebrews seems totally to have absorbed its servant Christology” (383).
39. For a defense of the inluence of Isaiah 53 on 1 John 3:5, see A. W. Argyle, “1 John iii.
4f.,” ExpTim 65 (1953–54): 62–63.
40. Although the evangelist’s primary reference in John 1:29 is to the Passover lamb (as is
made clear in John 19:33, 36), the assertion that this lamb “takes away the sin of the
world” very likely alludes to the lamb of Isaiah 53:7, upon whom humanity’s iniquity
is laid (53:6), who makes atonement for humanity’s sin (53:11–12). Both lamb images
have been fused in the work of the Lamb of God. See Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel
according to John, AB 29 (Garden City: Doubleday, 1966–70), 1:63. Brown believes the
evangelist in John 1:29 intended references to both the Passover lamb and the Suf-
fering Servant. For the same opinion, but with greater documentation, see Craig S.
Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003), 1:452–54.

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Elsewhere in the Johannine writings the Suffering Servant plays a

more obvious and inluential role. In John 12:38, Isaiah 53:1 is formally in-
troduced and quoted, following the LXX verbatim. Its immediate context
is quite important and should be quoted in full:

Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not be-
lieve in him; it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be
fulilled: “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm
of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah
again said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they
should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and turn for me
to heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
(John 12:37–41)

John 12:37–41 constitutes the turning point in the narrative of the fourth
Gospel. From chapters 2 through 11, Jesus has performed seven mighty
works, or “signs,” that demonstrate that he is indeed the one sent from God.41
Some of these signs, along with some of Jesus’ teaching, were meant to recall
Israel’s wandering in the wilderness under the leadership of Moses. Just as the
wilderness generation refused to believe in God,42 despite the many signs
of his saving power, so also the generation of Jesus refuses to believe in him
despite his many signs. From chapters 12 through 20 Jesus undergoes his pas-
sion. His passion is the means by which he inishes his work (17:4; 19:28, 30)
and returns to the one who sent him (12:44; 14:28; 16:5, 10).
The manner in which the fourth evangelist introduces or refers to
Scripture relects this two-part division of his Gospel. In the irst half, the
half that narrates Jesus’ ministry of signs, Scripture is introduced or re-
ferred to in a variety of ways:

1:23 “he said” (Isa. 40:3)

1:45 “of whom Moses wrote in the law, and [of whom] the prophets
[spoke]” (no text cited)

See also Peter John Gentry, “The Atonement in Isaiah’s Fourth Servant Song (Isaiah
52:13–53:12),” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 11, no. 2 (2007): 20–47.
41. The irst sign is changing the water into wine (2:1–11), the seventh sign is raising
Lazarus from the dead (11:38–53).
42. As in Numbers 14:11 (“How long will this people despise me? And how long will they
not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?”) or
especially Deuteronomy 29:2–4 (“You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes
. . . the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders; but to this
day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear”).

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2:17 “they remembered that it was written” (Ps. 69:9)

5:46 “for concerning me that one [Moses] wrote” (no citation)

6:31 “just as it is written” (Ps. 78:24)

6:45 “it is written in the prophets” (Isa. 54:13)

7:42 “the Scripture said that” (2 Sam. 7:12; Mic. 5:2)

8:17 “and it is written in your law that” (Deut. 17:6; 19:15)

10:34 “it is written in your law that” (Ps. 82:6)

12:14 “just as it is written” (Zech. 9:9)

12:16 “they remembered that these things were written of him” (al-
luding to Zech. 9:9 and other passages)

What we observe is that Scripture is introduced (and sometimes no

text is actually cited) in a variety of ways. The introductory formula “it is
written” is the most common. But not once is Scripture introduced with the
words “in order that it be fulilled.” In the second half of John’s Gospel, we
observe that this is the only way Scripture, as well as Jesus’ earlier teaching,
is introduced:

12:38 “in order that the word of Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke,
should be fulilled” (Isa. 53:1)

12:39 “again Isaiah said” (Isa. 6:10)

13:18 “in order that the Scripture be fulilled” (Ps. 41:9)

15:25 “in order that the word which is written in their law be fulilled”
(Ps. 35:19)

17:12 “in order that the Scripture be fulilled” (no text cited)

18:9 “in order that the word which he spoke be fulilled” (in reference
to John 6:39)

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18:32 “in order that the word of Jesus which he spoke be fulilled” (in
reference to Jesus’ words; cf. John 3:14; 8:28; 12:33)

19:24 “in order that the Scripture be fulilled which says” (Ps. 22:18)

19:28 “in order that the Scripture be fulilled” (Ps. 22:15)

19:36 “in order that the Scripture be fulilled” (Exod. 12:46; Num.
9:12; Ps. 34:20)

19:37 “and again another Scripture says” (Zech. 12:10)

We ind that the irst time Scripture is introduced with the words “in
order that . . . be fulilled” is in John 12:38, part of the transitional unit that
comprises 12:37–41. The irst time Scripture is cited as fulilled is in refer-
ence to the failure of the Jewish people to respond in faith to Jesus and his
ministry of signs: “Though he had done so many signs before them, yet
they did not believe in him” (12:37). From this point on, every Scripture is
introduced the same way.43
The distribution of the introductions to Scripture in the fourth Gospel
is quite deliberate, and it has nothing to do with imagined sources the
evangelist used, as some have suggested. The distribution relects an im-
portant part of the evangelist’s apologetic, in the face of a skeptical syna-
gogue that does not believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son
of God. After all, such skeptics argue, his brutal and shameful death on the
cross is surely evidence that he was not the Messiah and deliverer of Israel.
To counter the synagogue’s understandable objections the evange-
list shows that Jesus’ ministry, marked by impressive miracles or “signs,”
recalling Israel’s storied past, was in keeping with the expectations of
Scripture. Hence we see in chapters 1–12 introductions to this or that
Scripture as “he said” or “it is written,” and the like. But not once is a passage
of Scripture introduced with the words “in order that it be fulilled”; not
until we reach the transition in the Gospel, which comes in John 12:37–
41. Here the ministry of signs comes to a conclusion and the passion be-
gins. Despite all the signs that Jesus had performed, the Jewish people
refuse to believe, and in refusing to believe they align themselves with the

43. one might wonder if the introductions in John 12:39 (“again Isaiah said”) and 19:37
(“and again another Scripture says”) are exceptions. They are not. These two introduc-
tions merely extend the prior introductions in 12:38 and 19:36. We really should see
these examples as compound introductions, each appealing to two key passages of
Scripture.

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generation long ago that did not respond in faith despite the signs God
worked through Moses.
The evangelist must show the skeptical synagogue that the rejection
and death of Jesus do not disqualify him in his role as Messiah and Savior.
We need not speculate that the synagogue probably raised its principal
objection on this very basis. This is, in fact, the very objection we en-
counter in the arguments of Trypho, a second-century Jew. In his famous
Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 44 Justin Martyr, the Palestinian Christian who
in his mature years taught and wrote in Rome, tries to make the case that
Jesus’ Spirit-empowered ministry fulills Scripture at many points and of-
fers proof that he really is Israel’s Messiah.
But Trypho is not persuaded by this argument. He replies:

Be assured that all our nation waits for the Messiah; and we admit that all
the Scriptures which you have quoted refer to Him. Moreover, I do also
admit that the name of Jesus, by which (Joshua) the son of Nun was called,
has inclined me very strongly to adopt this view. But whether the Messiah
should be so shamefully cruciied, this we are in doubt about. (§89)45

Trypho acknowledges that the prophecies marshaled by Justin are im-

pressive and that in fact they do apply to the Messiah. What he cannot
accept is the idea that “the Messiah should be so shamefully cruciied.”
Precisely. In what sense is a cruciied Messiah really the Messiah? After all,
according to Scripture, he that is cruciied (i.e., hanged on a tree) is “cursed
of God” (Dialogue §89, referring to Deut. 21:23).46
To this objection Justin replies by appealing, allusively, to the Suffering
Servant:

If the Messiah was not to suffer, and the prophets had not foretold that
He would be led to death on account of the sins of the people, and be
dishonored and scourged, and reckoned among the transgressors, and
as a sheep be led to the slaughter, whose generation, the prophet says,
no man can declare, then you would have good cause to wonder. (§89)

44. Recent scholarship favors the view that the material in the Dialogue, attributed to
Typho, is genuine Jewish material. The construction of the Dialogue itself may be ar-
tiicial, but the material itself is authentic. For more on this and related issues, see
Timothy J. Horner, “Listening to Trypho”: Justin Martyr’s Dialogue Reconsidered, CBET 28
(Leuven: Peeters, 2001).
45. The quotations of Dialogue with Trypho are based on Alexander Roberts and James Don-
aldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1898; repr., Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1989), 1:244.
46. The objection is an old one, attested in Galatians 3:10–13.

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Justin’s reply alludes to portions of Isaiah 52:13–53:12: dying “on ac-

count of the sins of the people” alludes to 53:5, 10–12; being “dishonored
and scourged” probably alludes to 52:14 (“his appearance was so marred”),
53:4 (“smitten . . . aflicted”) and 53:5 (“stripes”); being “reckoned among
the transgressors” is a quotation of part of 53:12; “as a sheep be led to the
slaughter” is a quotation of part of 53:7; and the phrase “whose generation
. . . no man can declare” is taken from 53:8.

Trypho acknowledges this point, apparently agreeing that Isaiah 53 does

indeed speak of the Messiah. Nevertheless, he is not persuaded, but
urges his Christian counterpart:

Bring us on, then, by the Scriptures, that we may also be persuaded by

you; for we know that He should suffer and be led as a sheep. But prove
to us whether He must be cruciied and die so disgracefully and so dis-
honorably by the death cursed in the law. For we cannot bring ourselves
even to think of this. (§90)

Trypho concedes that the Messiah may well suffer as the sheep led
to slaughter (Isa. 53:7). But he cannot accept that this suffering involves
a humiliating death on a cross, a death that in the light of Deuteronomy
21:23 should be viewed as suffering a curse of God. This part of the debate
between Trypho the Jew and Justin the Christian reaches back to the irst
century, to the time of the composition of the Gospel of John and prob-
ably all the way back to the very beginnings of the church.
Just as Justin had appealed to Isaiah 53 to answer Trypho’s objections,
so a half century earlier the fourth evangelist appealed to Isaiah 53 to an-
swer the skepticism of the synagogue of his day. In anticipation of the
quotation of Isaiah 53:1, the fourth evangelist alludes to the opening verse
of the Suffering Servant hymn (i.e., 52:13). He does so in several places in
chapter 12:

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be
gloriied [δοξασθῇ].” (John 12:23)

“Father, glorify [δόξασόν] thy name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I
have gloriied [ἐδόξασα] it, and I will glorify [δοξάσω] it again.” (John
12:28)

“And I, when I am lifted up [ὑψωθῶ] from the earth, will draw all men
to myself.” (John 12:32)

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The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ
remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up
[ὑψωθῆναι]? Who is this Son of man?” (John 12:34)

The appearance of the verbs “glorify” (δοξάζω) and “lift up” (ὑψόω)
direct readers to the irst verse of Isaiah 52:13–53:12, where it is said of the
Servant (in the Greek version):

Behold, my servant shall understand, and he shall be lifted up

[ὑψωθήσεται] and gloriied [δοξασθήσεται] exceedingly. (LXX Isa.
52:13)

The crowd in the fourth Gospel wonder why Jesus says that the Son
of man “must be lifted up” (John 12:32, 34), thus implying that he will not
remain forever. Although it is not certain, the implication is that the crowd
recognizes that in speaking of being “lifted up” Jesus has suggested that the
Messiah will in fact be cruciied (that is, he will be lifted up on a cross).
The crowd in the fourth Gospel can no more accept a cruciied Messiah
than can Trypho the Jew in the following century. The only way to per-
suade the Jewish skeptic is to show that Jesus’ sufferings, including his
being lifted up on a Roman cross, fulilled Scripture, including Scripture
understood to be in reference to the Messiah, such as the Suffering Servant
Messiah of Isaiah 52:13–53:12.
“Isaiah,” the evangelist tells us, “said this because he saw his glory and
spoke of him” (John 12:41). That is, the prophet Isaiah saw the “glory of
the Lord” (see Isa 6:1 and 5, according to the Aramaic, not the Hebrew or
the Greek47) and spoke of the Servant Messiah, that is, spoke the words
found in Isaiah 52:13–53:12. In the fourth Gospel, Jesus is none other than
the glory of God made lesh, as is declared in the prologue: “And the Word
became lesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld
his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:14).
What the evangelist has shown is that when Jesus was rejected, the
Jewish leaders unwittingly began to fulill Scripture. The irst of these ful-
illed prophecies was Isaiah 53:1. Throughout the ministry of signs (John

47. The Hebrew and Greek read: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up.” The Aramaic (i.e., the Targum) reads: “I saw the glory of the Lord resting upon a
throne, high and lifted up in the heavens.” This “Glory” of the Lord, sitting on the di-
vine throne, high and lifted up, is none other than the Word made lesh. When Isaiah
saw God, he also saw his Glory, high and lifted up, which in time would appear as the
Servant Messiah, who also would be high and lifted up. The exegesis of the fourth
evangelist is quite remarkable.

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1–12) Jesus acted and taught in accord with Scripture, but when he was
rejected, when he suffered, and when he died (John 12–19), the Scriptures
were “fulilled.” Isaiah foretold this rejection in Isaiah 53:1, and indeed
he foretold the spiritual blindness that led to the rejection of the Servant
Messiah. This is seen in Isaiah 6:9–10, which is quoted in John 12:39–40:
“Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said, ‘He has blinded
their eyes and hardened their heart . . . .’”
The suffering and death of Jesus do not prove that he was not the
Messiah; they in fact prove it, for they fulilled the Scriptures, including
the Scripture that spoke of the Suffering Servant Messiah. Accordingly,
the evangelist can conclude his Gospel with the words: “These things are
written in order that you might believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, is
Jesus, and that believing you might have life in his name” (John 20:31, au-
thor’s translation).48I conclude by restating what was said at the beginning
of this study: Isaiah 53 makes a signiicant contribution to the theologies
of Peter, Paul, and John. What is especially intriguing is that the famous
Suffering Servant hymn apparently lay at the heart of an evangelism and
apologetic primarily intended for the synagogue. Not only did the original
apostolic generation appeal to this great prophetic oracle, their successors
did too, as we see in Justin Martyr in his debate with Trypho and even
today in ongoing dialogue and debate with Abraham’s descendants.

48. John 20:30–31 constitutes the conclusion to the fourth Gospel, whether one sees
chap. 21 as a later addendum or as part of the original Gospel. Either way, chap. 21
functions as an epilogue. For arguments in support of the translation that has been
proposed, see D. A. Carson, “The Purpose of the Fourth Gospel: John 20:31 Reconsid-
ered,” JBL 106 (1987): 639–51. Carson is right in saying that the question addressed
in the fourth Gospel is not “Who is Jesus?” but “Who is the Messiah, the Son of God?”
Recall that in the irst century several would-be Jewish prophets, messiahs, and deliv-
erers appeared on the scene.

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