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To: sanchmo; is_is; Pete
Isaiah 53 is not a messianic passage. Read the whole of Isaiah, and tell me, from the context of the whole book, who is the 'servant'?

Psalm 22 is a great example of trying to find something that isn't there. Let me offer a Christian translation first:

[12] Many bulls encompass me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
[13] they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

[16] Yea, dogs are round about me;
a company of evildoers encircle me;
they have pierced my hands and feet --

[20] Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
[21] Save me from the mouth of the lion,
my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen!

The key here is the translation of verse 16. Christians maintain that the Hebrew word ka-'ari should be translated as 'pierced'. They do so on the claim that the root is krh, "to dig". The problem with this is that it does not account for the 'aleph. Karah consists only of the Hebrew letters kaph, resh, and he, whereas the word in the Hebrew text, ka-'ari, consists of kaph, 'aleph, resh, and yod. Further, the verb krh, "to dig," does not have the meaning "to pierce." Karah generally refers to the digging of the soil, and is never applied in the Scriptures to the piercing of the flesh. A better word would have been nakar, used in 2 Kings 18:21 ("Behold, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.")

The correct translation of verse 16 is:

[16] For dogs have surrounded me;
a company of evildoers have encircled me;
like a lion they are at my hands and my feet.

Which, as you can see, perfectly matches the imagery of the preceding and following verses.

This is one of many such psalms which David wrote about being beset and suffering at the hands of enemies. It is not prophecy, and it is not a messianic passage.

42 posted on 01/17/2002 7:27:44 AM PST by malakhi
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To: angelo
Often in Isaiah "my servant" refers to Israel. This servant is often described as chosen, but also as blind and deaf.
Sometimes, Isaiah's servant is not Israel:
Isa 20:3 - Isaiah is "my servant"
Isa 37:35 - David is "my servant"

The Servant of 42 is clearly not the same "servant" as Israel:
1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope."
5 This is what God the LORD says-- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."

In 49:6 the Servant and Israel cannot be the same:
he says "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

Again in 50:10 - Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Also 52:13-15 See, my servant will act wisely [or: will prosper]; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him [or: you] -- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- so will he sprinkle many nations,[or: so will many nations marvel at him] and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

The Servant of 53 is a guiltless sin-offering. Israel was neither, and the text makes it clear it isn't Israel:
"for the transgression of my people he was stricken" [or "he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the blow was due"]
"he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth"
"the LORD makes [or "you make"] his life a guilt offering"
"he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors"
"he was cut off from the land of the living"
"He was assigned a grave with the wicked"

65 posted on 01/17/2002 8:23:29 AM PST by sanchmo
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To: angelo
They do so on the claim that the root is krh, "to dig".

A not unreasonable claim, since the (Jewish) translator of the psalms who added them to LXX, well before Jesus' birth, also evidently thought so:

Hoti ekuklo:san me kunes polloi sunago:ge pone:reuomeno:n perieskon me o:ruxan kheiras mou kai podas

The key word is o:ruxan, third person plural aorist active indicative of orusso:, "they have dug". Hence the final phrase is, literally, "they have dug hands my and feet".

By the way, it makes no sense to lie at somebody's hands like a lion, does it?

116 posted on 01/17/2002 8:57:28 PM PST by John Locke
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