an examination of the allusions to isaiah 52:13-53:12 in the new testament

8/14/2019 AN EXAMINATION OF THE ALLUSIONS TO ISAIAH 52:13-53:12 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

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AN EXAMINATION OF THE ALLUSIONS TO

ISAIAH 52:13-53:12 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

by

Robert John Dixon

April 22, 2008

A dissertation submitted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School of

State University of New York at Buffalo

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Classics


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3307660

2008

Copyright 2008 by

Dixon, Robert John

All rights reserved


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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Isaiah 53 in the New Testament . . . . . . . 11

C. H. Dodd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Walther Zimmerli-Joachim Jeremias . . . . 13

Morna Hooker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

R. T. France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Douglas Moo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in

Jewish and Christian Sources . . . . . . . 21

Peter Stuhlmacher . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Otfried Hofius . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53

and Christian Origins . . . . . . . . . . 25

Otto Betz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Mikeal C. Parsons . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Rikki E. Watts. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29


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J. Ross Wagner . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

David Sapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Isaiah in the New Testament . . . . . . . 31

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3. ANALYSIS OF ISAIAH 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Problem of Isaiah 53 . . . . . . . . . . 35

Non-Theological Reasons for Differences

Between the MT and the LXX . . . . . . . . . 38

How Did the NT Writers Handle Differences

Between the MT and the LXX . . . . . . . . . 42

The Servant Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Structure of Isaiah 53 . . . . . . . . . 50

Exegesis of Isaiah 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Strophe One-Isaiah 52:13-15 . . . . . . . 51

Isaiah 52:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Isaiah 52:14-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Isaiah 53:1-9: An Introduction . . . . . . . 63

Strophe Two-Isaiah 53:1-3 . . . . . . . . 64

Isaiah 53:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Isaiah 53:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Isaiah 53:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Strophe Three-Isaiah 53:4-6 . . . . . . . 70

Isaiah 53:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Isaiah 53:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Isaiah 53:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74


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Strophe Four-Isaiah 53:7-9 . . . . . . . . 75

Isaiah 53:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Isaiah 53:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Isaiah 53:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Strophe Five-Isaiah 53:10-12 . . . . . . . 85

Isaiah 53:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Isaiah 53:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Isaiah 53:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4. RICHARD HAYS' CRITERIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Allusion Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Criteria of Richard B. Hays . . . . . . . . . 96

Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Recurrence or Clustering . . . . . . . . . 97

Thematic Coherence . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Historical Plausibility . . . . . . . . . 98

History of Interpretation . . . . . . . . 99

Satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Availability and Isaiah 53 . . . . . . . . . 101

Historical Plausibility and Isaiah 53 . . . . 102

Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107


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5. QUOTATIONS FROM ISAIAH 53 IN

THE NEW TESTAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Quotations Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Isaiah 53:4 in Matthew 8:17 . . . . . . . . . 115

Isaiah 53:12 in Luke 22:37 . . . . . . . . . 118

Isaiah 53:1 in John 12:38 . . . . . . . . . . 123

Isaiah 53:7,8 in Acts 8:32,33 . . . . . . . . 124

Isaiah 53:1 in Romans 10:16 . . . . . . . . . 127

Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21 . . . . . . . . 129

Isaiah 53 in 1 Peter 2:22-25 . . . . . . . . 131

1 Peter 2:22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

1 Peter 2:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

1 Peter 2:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

1 Peter 2:25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

1 Peter Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

6. ALLUSIONS FROM ISAIAH 53 IN THE

GOSPELS AND ACTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Allusions in Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Matthew 2:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Matthew 13:16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Allusions in Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Mark 9:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148


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Mark 8:31, 9:31 and 10:33,34 . . . . . . . 150

Mark 8:31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Mark 9:31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Mark 10:33,34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Mark 10:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Mark 14:21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Mark 14:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Mark 14:49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Mark 14:60,61 and Mark 15:4,5 . . . . . . 167

Mark 14:65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Mark 15:27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Allusions in Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Luke 11:22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Luke 24:25, 24:27 and 24:46 . . . . . . . 174

Allusions in John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

John 1:29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

John 3:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Allusions in Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Acts 3:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Acts 10:43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

7. ALLUSIONS FROM ISAIAH 53 IN THE

PAULINE EPISTLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186


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Allusions in Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Romans 4:24, 4:25 and 5:1 . . . . . . . . 186

Romans 5:15 and 5:19 . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Allusions in 1 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . 193

1 Corinthians 2:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

1 Corinthians 5:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

1 Corinthians 15:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Allusions in Philippians . . . . . . . . . . 200

Philippians 2:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

8. ALLUSIONS FROM ISAIAH 53 IN THE GENERAL

EPISTLES AND REVELATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Hebrews 9:28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

1 Peter 1:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

1 John 3:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Allusions in Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Revelation 5:6, 5:9, 5:12, 13:8 . . . . . 212

Revelation 14:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

9. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228


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ABSTRACT

The writers of the New Testament make extensive use

of the Old Testament in their writings. One passage,

Isaiah 52:13-53:12, is of particular importance as

evidenced by the fact that it is quoted seven times by five

different writers. However, the use of Isaiah 52:13-53:12

is not limited to quotations. Some scholars also believe

that allusions from this passage play a vital role in the

writing of the New Testament. Of particular importance are

the questions: did Jesus understand his life and mission in

relation to Isa 52:13-53:12, and what is the nature of the

atonement? Other scholars think the writers of the New

Testament made very little or no use of allusions to Isaiah

52:13-53:12 in their writings.

The goal of the dissertation is to determine how

extensive is the use of allusions to Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in

the New Testament? This is accomplished by evaluating the

validity of the allusions most commonly suggested by

scholars. The allusions are assessed using the seven-fold

criteria of Richard B. Hays as set forth in his book Echoes

of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. In the conclusion,

the results of the analysis are categorized according to

the probability that they are actual allusions.


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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The writers of the NT saw the fulfillment of the OT

in the life and ministry of Jesus. To explain this belief

they drew heavily from the OT in the form of direct

quotations as well as allusions in their writings. One of

the most important, if not the most important OT passage

used by the NT writers is Isa 52:13-53:12.1 But how

widespread is the use of Isa 53 in the NT? Scholars agree

that there are seven direct quotations from this passage in

the NT.2 However, there is a lack of consensus concerning

the extent of allusions that have been drawn from this

passage. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate

the NT passages that are most frequently recognized as

containing an allusion to Isa 53 with the goal of

determining the validity of each one. Stated in other

1This passage, Isa 52:13-53:12, is usually referred

to simply as Isa 53 in commentaries, monographs, journal

articles et cetera. Therefore, throughout this paper, this

fifteen verse passage will be referred to as Isa 53.

2Matthew 8:17; Luke 22:37; John 12:38; Acts 8:32-33;

Romans 10:16, 15:21; 1 Peter 2:22.


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words, how extensive is the allusive use of Isa 53 in the

NT?

The Need

Isa 53 is a unique passage that has captured the

attention of biblical scholars for centuries as they try to

answer the questions raised in this elusive passage. Many

scholars such as Ivan Engnell, Franz Delitzsch, and James

Muilenburg3have emphasized the importance and beauty of

this passage.

The element that makes this passage distinct from

the rest of the OT is its revolutionary treatment of the

relationship between righteousness, sin, and suffering.

Isa 53 presents a figure, known as the Servant, who suffers

and dies to atone for the sins of others. This notion is

radically different from the standard OT belief that the

righteous person will prosper while the unrighteous will

suffer. Because of its unique nature, an overwhelming

amount of scholarship has been devoted to this difficult

3Ivan Engnell, "The Ebed Yahweh Songs and the

Suffering Messiah in Deutero-Isaiah," Bulletin of John

Rylands Library31 (January 1948):73; Franz J. Delitzsch,

Isaiah, vol. 2 in The Commentary on the Old Testament

(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 203; James Muilenburg,

"Isaiah," in The Interpreters Bible,ed. George Arthur

Buttrick et al. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1953), 614.


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passage in search of the answers to such questions as: Who

is the Servant? and What is his mission?

While it is evident that Isa 53 is important to OT

studies, it is also very important in NT studies. Passages

from Isa 53 are quoted or alluded to by NT writers to

support theological arguments and to contextualize

historical events. The most important theological issue

concerns the NT concept of the nature of atonement.4 In

regard to historical events, passages from Isa 53 are

believed to play an important role in the details

surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus5as well as the manner

in which Paul conceptualized his ministry6(i.e. to the

4Atonement studies include David A. Sapp, "The LXX,

1QIsa, and MT Versions of Isaiah 53 and the ChristianDoctrine of Atonement," in Jesus and the Suffering Servant:

Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger

Jr., and William R. Farmer (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998),

170-192; Daniel P. Bailey, "Concepts of Stellvertretungin

the Interpretation of Isaiah 53," in Jesus and the

Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed.

William H. Bellinger Jr., and William R. Farmer

(Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998), 223-250; Morna D. Hooker,

Jesus and the Servant: The Influence of the Servant Concept

of Deutero-Isaiah in the New Testament(London: SPCK,

1959), 23.

5Douglas J. Moo, The Old Testament in the Gospel

Passion Narratives(Sheffield, England: The Almond Press,

1983), 1-468.

6Richard B. Hays, "'Who Has Believed Our Message?':

Paul's Reading of Isaiah," in New Testament Writers and the

Old Testament: An Introduction, ed. John M. Court (London:


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gentiles). In the course of these NT theological and

historical investigations, scholars may discuss the seven

quotations and perhaps as many as forty allusions from Isa

53.

The problem with many of these studies is not

limited to how an allusion functions in a particular

passage, but whether the passage contains an allusion at

all. Widespread disagreement exists among scholars on this

issue. The disparity regarding which texts contain

allusions is also evident in scholarly reference works.

The allusions listed in the "Index of Allusions" in two of

the most widely used edited Greek New Testaments differ.

The Nestle-Aland 27thedition Greek New Testament and the

United Bible Society 3rd edition Greek New Testament each

list thirty-six allusions from Isa 53 in the NT, but they

are not the same thirty-six allusions.7

SPCK, 2002), 46-70.

7Kurt Aland, et al., "Index of Allusions and Verbal

Parallels," in The Greek New Testament, corrected 3d ed.,

(Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1983), 901-11; Eberhard

Nestle, et al., "Loci Citati Vel Allegati," in Nestle-Aland

Novum Testamentum Graece27th ed. (New York: American Bible

Society, 1993), 773-808. The two indexes will simply be

referred to as "Index" or "Index of Allusions" throughout

this dissertation.


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The Method

Because of the importance of the use of Isa 53 in

the NT, and the lack of consensus regarding which verses

actually contain allusions, there is a need to bring

greater clarity to this issue. The goal of this study is

to assess the probability that the suggested allusions from

Isa 53 are genuine. This will be accomplished by applying

the seven-fold criteria for identifying echoes and

allusions as set forth by Richard B. Hays in his book

Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul.8

The criteria will function as a scale to determine

the validity of an allusion, much as a ruler is used to

measure distance (although measuring allusions is less

objective). The criteria will be applied to the pertinent

allusions listed in the "Index of Allusions" of both the

Nestle-Aland 27thedition and the UBS 3rd edition Greek New

Testaments. These two indexes have been selected because

they contain the majority of the most commonly recognized

allusions. In addition to these allusions, three other

allusions, commonly discussed by scholars but not listed in

8Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters

of Paul, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 29-33.


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either index will also be examined.9

After applying Hays' criteria to the relevant

allusions, each will be classified based on its strength,

or the likelihood that it is authentic. This is the main

goal of this work. The three categories are

"certain/virtually certain," "probable/possible," and

"unlikely/doubtful."10

The impetus for this study is the lack of consensus

in the scholarly community regarding the certainty of

allusions from Isa 53 used in NT passages. Those studies,

as mentioned above, are usually theological or historical.

However, it is not the purpose of this work to engage in

those subjects. Discussion of theological and historical

issues that spring from these allusions will be avoided

except when this is necessary to determine the validity of

an allusion. It is the hope that those who engage in NT

studies that are based on allusions from Isa 53 will use

the findings in this study to bring greater accuracy to

their own work.

9Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33-34.

10Jan Fekkes III, Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in

the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and their

Development, Journal for the Study of the New Testament

Supplement Series 93 (Sheffield, England: Sheffield

Academic Press, 1994), 14-15.


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The Organization

This dissertation is organized into nine chapters.

Chapter 1 includes an explanation of the need, the method,

and the organization for this study. Chapter 2 contains a

review of selected studies that have included allusions

from Isa 53 in the NT as part of the study. I also show

through the review that few scholars explain why a given

allusion from Isa 53 is accepted as such. The meaning of

Isa 53 as the early church understood it is explained

through an exegesis of the Hebrew in chapter 3. Because

many quotations and allusions in the NT are based on the

LXX, attention is also given to the Greek text. A more

detailed explanation of Hays' criteria is presented in

chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents an analysis of the seven

quotations from Isa 53 in the NT.

In chapters 6-8, Hays' criteria are applied to the

allusive uses from Isa 53 in the NT (Chapter 6-The Gospels

and Acts; Chapter 7-The Pauline Epistles; and Chapter 8-The

General Epistles and Revelation).

The final chapter includes a summary of the

conclusions from chapters 6-8. It also contains a final

conclusion regarding the extent of the allusive use of Isa

53 in the NT derived from the analysis of the NT texts in


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the study. The dissertation concludes with suggestions for

further inquiries into this topic.


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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

The use of the OT in the NT represents an essential

field in biblical studies that encompasses a variety of

topics. The importance of this field is primarily due to

the tremendous number of OT passages either quoted or

alluded to by NT authors. Henry Shires identifies three

categories of OT quotations in the NT: acknowledged OT

quotations, unacknowledged quotations, and OT passages that

are reworded or referred to directly.11These three

categories take in 1,604 NT citations to 1,276 different OT

passages. This means that more than one-seventh of NT

verses contain some kind of quotation from the OT. In

addition to these quotations, Shires says that several

thousand other NT passages clearly allude or refer to OT

verses.12

Scholars have approached the topic of the use of

11Henry Shires, Finding the Old Testament in the New

(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974), 15.

12Ibid.


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the OT in the NT in a variety of ways. These studies

include works that endeavor to define and establish the

criteria necessary to determine the difference between a NT

quotation, allusion, or echo.13 Other studies explore

whether or not the NT authors respected the context of the

OT text.14 Research has been devoted to understanding the

relationship between the NT writer's use of the OT, and

that of Qumran and Rabbinic writers.15 Scholars have also

investigated how quotations and allusions were applied

13Stanley E. Porter, "The Use of the Old Testament

in the New Testament: A Brief Comment on Method and

Terminology," in Early Christian Interpretation of the

Scriptures of Israel: Investigations and Proposals, ed.

Craig A. Evans and James Sanders, Journal for the Study of

the New Testament Supplement Series, vol. 148, ed. StanleyE. Porter (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1997), 79-96;

Roger Nicole, "The New Testament Use of the Old Testament,"

in Revelation and the Bible, ed. Carl F. H. Henry (Grand

Rapids: Baker, 1958), 135-51.

14S. V. McCasland, "Matthew Twists the Scriptures,"

Journal of Biblical Literature80 (1961): 143-48; G. K.

Beale, "Did Jesus and His Followers Preach the Right

Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?" Themelios14 (1989): 89-96.

15Richard N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the

Apostolic Period, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999);

Klyne Snodgrass, "The Use of the Old Testament in the New,"

in The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts: Essays on the

Use of the Old Testament in the New,ed. G. K. Beale (Grand

Rapids: Baker, 1994), 29-51; Joseph A. Fitzmyer, "The Use

of Explicit Old Testament Quotations in Qumran Literature

and in the New Testament," New Testament Studies7 (1960-

61): 297-333.


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whether prophetically, didactically, or apologetically.16

Finally, subjects such as typology and sensus plenior are

included in this vast field of study.17

Isaiah 53 in the New Testament

It would seem that more studies exploring the use

of Isa 53 in the NT would exist, considering the vast

amount of literature devoted to the subjects of the

Suffering Servant and the Servant Songs found in Isa, of

which Isa 53 is a part. Studies include a discussion of

Isa 53 in a portion of the NT, but few have focused on the

use of Isa 53 in the entire NT.

In the following review of literature, I briefly

describe some of the studies that have included allusions

from Isa 53. I also explain how each author determined the

validity of the allusions that he or she used. I present

this review of literature chronologically.

16Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Uses of the Old

Testament in the New Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1985), 1-

235.

17David L. Baker, "Typology and the Christian Use of

the Old Testament," Scottish Journal of Theology29 (1976):

137-57; Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., "The Single Intent of

Scripture," in Evangelical Roots: A Tribute to Wilbur

Smith, ed. K. S. Kantzer (Nashville: Nelson, 1978), 123-41.


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C.H. Dodd

The first significant work devoted to the use of

the OT in the NT in the second half of the 20thcentury,

According to the Scriptures: The Sub-Structure of New

Testament Theology18by C.H. Dodd. Dodd's premise is that

certain portions of the OT are particularly useful to the

writers of the NT, and that these parts provide the

majority of the OT material used by the NT authors. Dodd

calls this OT foundation a "central tradition," that "more

or less" controls the teaching found in the NT.19 He

defines the "central tradition" as the kerygma,which is

the proclamation of the death, burial, and resurrection of

Jesus. He further explained that the kerygmaincluded not

only the facts of these events, but also the significance

of these historical events.

Dodd's work is important to this study because Isa

53 is one of the sections he identifies as significant to

the NT writers. He lists 25 verses in the NT that contain

either a quotation or an allusion to Isa 53.20 However,

18Dodd, C[harles] H[arold]. According to the

Scriptures: The Sub-Structure of New Testament Theology

(London: Nisbet, 1952), 1-145.

19Ibid., 11.

20Dodd, 92-94.


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nowhere does he provide any justification for his inclusion

of any of the allusions, including those that other

scholars have rejected.

Walther Zimmerli-Joachim Jeremias

Another work that has had wide influence on the

subject of Isa 53 in the NT is The Servant of God21by

Walther Zimmerli and Joachim Jeremias. This is an English

publication of what had previously been an article entitled

Pai'" qeou'in Kittel's Theologisches Wrterbuch zum NT.22 The

book consists of two sections and constitutes an in-depth

word study. In the first half of the book Zimmerli

explores the use of the designation pai'" qeou'"Servant of

God" in the OT. In the second part of the book, which is

particularly relevant to this study, Jeremias examines pai'"

qeou'from the period after the writing of the LXX through

the writing of the NT.

Jeremias begins the NT portion of the article

21Walther Zimmerli and Joachim Jeremias, The Servant

of God,rev. ed., trans. Harold Knight, ed. C. F. D. Moule

et al. Studies in Biblical Theology, No. 20. (London: SCM

Press, 1965).

22Gerhard Kittel, ed. et al., Theologisches

Wrterbuch zum Neuen Testament, vol. 5, (Stuttgart:

Kohlhammer, 1932), s. v. "pai'" qeou'," by Walther Zimmerli and

Joachim Jeremias.


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actual allusions. However, he does not always provide

reasons for acknowledging these allusions, and when he does

they are brief and limited to linguistic similarities.

Morna Hooker

Perhaps the most influential book discussed in this

survey is Jesus and the Servant,25written in 1959 by Morna

Hooker. Hooker's study is historical in nature. Her main

objective is to determine at what point in history

Christian thought identified Jesus as the Servant in

Deutero-Isaiah (this would encompass all four Servant

Songs). She queries whether this application originated

with Jesus himself, or with the early church. Further, she

asks that if it did begin with the early church, at what

point in time did this occur. In an attempt to answer this

question, Hooker examines many quotations and possible

allusions from Deutero-Isaiah in the NT.

In respect to allusions, she developed a two-fold

criteria to determine whether a verse actually contains an

allusion. The first criteron requires that the NT verse

must contain some linguistic affinity to a Deutero-Isaian

passage, and second, that this passage must indicate that

25Morna D. Hooker, Jesus and the Servant: The

Influence of the Servant Concept of Deutero-Isaiah in the

New Testament (London: SPCK, 1959), 1-230.


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it was necessary for Jesus to endure suffering. In

addition to these two criteria, Hooker also explains that

the evidence must remain inconclusive unless it can be

shown that the reference was to (and only to) a Deutero-

Isaian passage.

Her investigation begins with an analysis of 39

passages in the Synoptic Gospels. After examining these

verses, she concludes than while many of the texts can be

traced exclusively to Deutero-Isaiah, only one of them, in

her view, applied the sufferings of the Servant to Jesus.

This one passage, Luke 22:37 speaks only indirectly of

suffering and does not refer to vicarious suffering.

She examines a second group of 15 synoptic passages

to determine whether Jesus own predictions of his

suffering could be traced solely to Deutero-Isaiah. Once

again, she returns with a negative answer.

Regarding Pauls use of Isa 53, Hooker observes

that even though Paul quotes from Isa 53, there is no

evidence to support the concept that Paul understands Jesus

as the "servant figure." She adds that Paul would have

certainly included this idea had he believed Jesus was the

Servant.

She also states that she could find no evidence of

the Deutero-Isaian vicarious atonement concept in the


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Gospel of John. According to Hooker, the only passage from

Deutero-Isaiah used in the NT that explains the

significance of Jesus death is 1 Pet 2:22-25.

In her conclusion, Hooker upholds the belief that

no passage (quotation or allusion) in the NT supports the

idea that Jesus thought of himself as the Suffering Servant

of Deutero-Isaiah. She believes that this idea first

appeared in 1 Pet.

The reason this work is so influential is that it

runs counter to the commonly held belief by the majority of

scholars, such as Dodd and Jeremias, that Jesus did

understand his life and ministry in terms of the Servant of

Isa 53. While Morna Hooker's scholarship and thoroughness

cannot be questioned, her criteria are faulty. To require

proof that an allusion must be, and must only be from Isa

53 in order to verify it is too stringent. This criteron

virtually eliminates the possibility that any passage in

the NT contains an allusion to Deutero-Isaiah (including

Isa 53). In addition, her criteria, which are basically

limited to linguistic factors is inadequate, failing to

take in other factors such as thematic coherence and

recurrence.

In her article entitled "Did the Use of Isaiah 53


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to Interpret His Mission Begin with Jesus?,"26Morna Hooker,

after almost 40 years of reflection, comes to the same

basic conclusions as she did in her book, that the NT does

not support the thesis that Jesus understood his mission in

light of Isa 53, and that Peter was the first to apply Isa

53 to Jesus. Hooker does update her conclusions,

suggesting that perhaps the use of Isa 53 to interpret the

mission of Jesus began with Paul.27

R. T. France

Another significant work that deals with the

subject of the use of the OT in the NT, including a

discussion of Isa 53, is Jesus and the Old Testament28by

R.T. France, published in 1971. In this work, France

endeavors to explain how Jesus makes use of the OT to

explain his life and ministry. France limits the study to

those passages in the synoptic gospels where Jesus himself

26Morna D. Hooker, "Did the Use of Isaiah 53 to

Interpret His Mission Begin with Jesus?" in Jesus and the



(Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998), 88-103.

27Ibid., 103.

28R. T. France, Jesus and the Old Testament: His

Application of Old Testament Passages to Himself and His

Mission(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1971), 1-

292.


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explains his ministry and mission from OT passages. France

also argues that Jesus actually makes the statements

attributed to him; the early church did not put words in

his mouth as others suppose.

In his treatment of Jesus' application of the

Servant concept from Isa 53, he discusses several passages:

one formal quotation, Luke 22:37, and four allusions.

France assigns the allusions to levels of verifiability.

He considers Mark 10:45 and Mark 14:24 to be clear

allusions, Mark 9:12 and Luke 11:22 possible allusions.

France does not take for granted that these are allusions

to Isa 53, and therefore discusses each one, particularly

on linguistic and thematic grounds. An important aspect of

his method is his willingness to recognize an allusion by a

connection of thought (thematic), even if it is not

possible to prove a linguistic connection.

Douglas Moo

Another work that includes an extensive treatment

of Isa 53 in the NT is a dissertation by Douglass Moo,

published in 1983, The Old Testament in the Gospel Passion


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Narratives.29 This study is a topical investigation that

explores the use and influence of the OT in the passion

narratives of the four Gospels. By confining his inquiry

to a single subject, Moo is able to explore in detail the

OT background for this single theme. Other significant OT

passages discussed by Moo include Zechariah 9-14 and

various Psalms.

Moo's analysis of Isa 53 led him to several

conclusions. First, Moo states that there was a "point by

point" correspondence between the life and ministry of

Jesus and the Servant in Isa, and that Jesus could not have

overlooked this correspondence.

Second, he notes that even though Jesus does not

frequently quote Isa 53, this should not be interpreted as

though Jesus did not understand its significance to his

life and mission.30 This is because Moo thinks that the use

of allusions implies a greater familiarity to and

acceptance of the alluded passage.31

Moo also concludes that the appearance of only one

29Douglas J. Moo, The Old Testament in the Gospel

Passion Narratives(Sheffield, England: Almond Press,

1983), 1-468.

30Ibid., 168.

31Ibid., 169.


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direct citation to the servant concept in the gospel

passion narratives (Luke 22:37) shows that the servant

influence should not be consigned to a later soteriological

stage but to Jesus himself. Moo explains that if it were

from a later stage, one would expect to find an even

division of allusions and quotations between the sayings of

Jesus, narratives, and editorial comments on his death.32

Finally, Moo concludes his remarks with the

hermeneutical observation that the NT writers were faithful

to the original OT meaning and that no OT passage was

changed "illegitimately to suit an application."33

In this study, Moo provides in-depth discussions

for many of the allusions from Isa 53 in the Gospels in

order to substantiate whether a possible allusion is an

actual allusion. However, he does not present a

comprehensive set of criteria to evaluate these allusions.

The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in

Jewish and Christian Sources

Two important recent additions to the study of the

Servant Songs are The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in

32Ibid., 170.

33Ibid., 172.


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Jewish and Christian Sources34edited by Bernd Janowski and

Peter Stuhlmacher, and Jesus and the Suffering Servant:

Isaiah 53 and Christian Originsedited by William H.

Bellinger and William R. Farmer.35 The theme of the first

of these books, as stated in the book's preface, is the

vicarious suffering of the Servant of God found in Isa 53.

Two of the articles are relevant to this study.

Peter Stuhlmacher

The focus of the paper by Peter Stuhlmacher is

34Bernd Janowski and Peter Stuhlmacher, eds. The

Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian

Sources, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 1-548.

35The contents of both of these books are, for the

most part, papers that were presented at two separate

conferences. Of the ten papers that are included in The

Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian

Sources,seven of them were originally presented as part of

Martin Hegels graduate and faculty seminar held during the

1991 summer semester in Tbingen. This book was originally

published in German under the title Derleidende

Gottesknechtby Mohr Siebeck in 1996. The English edition

was translated by Daniel P. Bailey and the chapter by

Bailey was not part of the German edition. The two papers

included in both the German and English editions that were

not part of the seminar are those by Hermann Spieckerkmann

and Stefan Schreiner. Only two of the articles deal

directly with the use of Isa 53 in the NT. Other articles

included in the book explore such topics as the use of Isa

53 in the pre-Christian period and the messianic servant

concept in the Targum of Isaiah.


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Isaiah 53 in the Gospels and Acts.36 In this article, the

author, using many of the NT passages that quote or allude37

to Isa 53, shows that the roots of the Christological

interpretation of Isa 53 were not started by the early

church after the resurrection of Jesus, but rather

represents the interpretation of Jesus own understanding

of his mission and death.

He also shows that Jesus messianic understanding

of Isa 53 comes from the Jewish understanding of the

passage prevalent at that time, but that the idea of his

suffering comes from Isa 43:3-4 and 53:11-12. His

conclusion is that for the first time, the text of Isa 53

was made clear by a consistent application to a historical

individual. He adds that a corporate sense of the passage

remains when one considers that the people of God are his

"body."

In the article, Stuhlmacher does not explain why he

accepts the allusions from Isa 53 that he includes.

36Peter Stuhlmacher, "Isaiah 53 in the Gospel and

Acts," trans. Daniel P. Bailey, ed. Bernd Janowski and

Peter Stuhlmacher, in The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in

Jewish and Christian Sources(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 147-

62), 2004.

37Some of the allusions Stuhlmacher mentions are:

Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:32,33, 10:45, 14:24; Luke 24:56; John

1:29; Acts 3:13, 10:43; Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:3b-5; and Heb

9:28.


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Rather, he confines his discussion of allusions from Isa 53

in support of his own conclusion.

Otfried Hofius

In the next article, The Fourth Servant Song in the

New Testament Letters,38Otfried Hofius examines how the

authors of the NT epistles interpret the theological

meaning of Isa 53. The discussion revolves around the

German word Stellvertretung,"place-taking." The question

Hofius tries to answer is how should readers understand the

place-taking of the Servant and Jesus?

He establishes that in Isa 53, the Servant took

upon himself the sins of others (without their

participation), a concept known as "exclusive place-

taking." He then argues that the writers of the NT letters

interpreted Isa 53 in an innovative manner: sins are not

detachable from the sinner. In the NT, Jesus takes upon

himself the sins of others in such a way that the sinner is

still included in the process, known as "inclusive place-

taking."

Several NT passages thought to contain allusions to

38Otfried Hofius, "The Fourth Servant Song in the

New Testament Letters," trans. Daniel P. Bailey, ed. Bernd

Janowski and Peter Stuhlmacher, in The Suffering Servant:

Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources(Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 2004), 163-88.


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Isa 53 are used to explain this idea. Portions of Hofius'

arguments may serve partially to justify the validity of

certain allusions, but explanations are brief and not

applied to all the allusions. The primary function of the

proposed allusions is to support Hofius' argument. Hofius

states that two of the allusions he includes, 1 Cor 15:3b-5

and Romans 4:25, "cannot be doubted;"39however, he does not

explain why this is so. Other references to Isa 53 include

Rom 5:15-19; Hebrews 9:28; and 1 Pet 2:21-25 and 3:18.

Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53

and Christian Origins

In February of 1996, a conference entitled "Isaiah

53 and Christian Origins" was held at Baylor University.

Fifteen of the papers presented at the conference make up

the contents of Jesus and the Suffering Servant.40 In the

Introduction to this compendium, the editors state in two

different ways the general question the various authors are

trying to answer: did Jesus originate the application of

Isa 53 on Christian faith? and did Jesus understand Gods

will for Israel, himself and his disciples in light of the

39Hofius, 176.

40William H. Bellinger Jr. and William R. Farmer,

eds., Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and

Christian Origins, (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998), 1-325.


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suffering servant of Isa 53? The editors add that no

matter how difficult it may be, Christians must accept the

possibility that Jesus suffered and died without

identifying himself with the Servant of Isa 53, and that

this passage may not have possessed any special

significance upon his ministry.

Otto Betz

In his article, "Jesus and Isaiah 53,"41Otto Betz

states that he wants to take a "constructive" approach

regarding whether Jesus applied Isa 53 to himself and his

ministry. Betz' constructive approach includes the use of

four criteria in his analysis. First, he explains that in

addition to examining the Hebrew and Greek texts of Isa 53,

he also considers the Aramaic Targum of Isaiah. Second, he

notes the "speculative methods" used in the Targum, and

points out that the NT writers might have used a similar

method of interpretation. Third, Betz examines some of the

many statements of Jesus and Paul that he feels have been

neglected in other studies, yet have echoes to Isa 53.

Finally, he states that a special theme of the

41Otto Betz, "Jesus and Isaiah 53," in Jesus and the





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article will be the word "gospel,"whose source he

believes is Isa 53:1, and from that passage alone. With

these four criteria in mind, Betz examines a number of

passages from the epistles of Paul as well as the sayings

of Jesus.

Betz only discusses three allusions in depth: Mark

10:38, 45; and 14:22-24. He considers all three to contain

allusions from Isa 53 and argues for their validity on

several grounds, including linguistic factors and thematic

coherence. Betz also includes an interesting observation:

the LXX of Isa 53:10 may have been translated from the

Hebrew in an Aramaizing way. He arrives at this conclusion

after noting linguistic similarities between the LXX

translation and the Targum of Isa 53:10.

Mikeal C. Parsons

Mikeal C. Parsons wrote an article in reply to

Morna Hooker entitled "Isaiah 53 in Acts 8."42 The purpose

of this article is to challenge Hooker's interpretation of

one of the passages that led to her conclusions. Parsons

42Mikeal C. Parsons, "Isaiah 53 in Acts 8: A Reply

to Professor Morna Hooker," in Jesus and the Suffering

Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed.William H.

Bellinger Jr., and William R. Farmer (Harrisburg, PA:

Trinity, 1998), 104-19.


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suggests that demonstrating the weaknesses of Hooker's

analysis of this one passage could lead to an overall

reconsideration of her entire thesis.43 Parsons also

includes the criteria he thinks is necessary to conduct

this intensive reevaluation of her theory.44

Parsons begins by summarizing the results of

Hooker's study of Acts 8. He states that Hooker believes

that the writer of Acts used Isa 53 in Acts 8 only to

support the "fact" of Jesus' passion without any

consideration for the "significance" of the passion.

Parsons discusses several issues, including why the

particular passage from Isa 53 was quoted, and matters

concerning the eunuch.

Particularly important to this study is that

Parsons briefly applies Hays' criteria to Luke 24:27 (which

some scholars consider an allusion to Isa 53) to evaluate

whether or not it is alluded to in Acts 8:35.45 He

43Parsons, 104.

44Ibid. In a footnote, Parsons states, "I am of the

opinion that only by a combination of a detailed passage-

by-passage analysis and a coherent theory of early

Christian use(s) of Jewish scriptures can one begin to

undertake to dismantle the overall thesis proposed by

Hooker."

45Parsons, 116-17.


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determines that Acts 8:35 does refer to Luke 24:27, a

conclusion that strengthens his argument against Hooker.

Parsons ends his article stating that in Acts 8, not only

is the fact of Jesus death discussed, but also the

significance and vicarious nature of his death.

Rikki E. Watts

Rikki E. Watts, in "Jesus Death, Isaiah 53, and

Mark 10:45 A Crux Revisited,"46discusses the relationship

between Isa 53 and Mark 10:45. He argues against the

findings of C.K. Barrett and Morna Hooker, neither of whom

accepts Isa 53 as a source of allusion in Mark 10:45

Watts is very critical of the methodology of both

Barrett and particularly of Hooker, and seeks to establish

that Mark 10:45 is an allusion to Isa 53. He does this by

considering the thematic structure of Mark, and Mark's use

of Deutero-Isaiah and the "New Exodus" concept. Watts also

explores the nature of Mark's citations, and the highly

allusive way Marks Jesus used the OT, as well as

considerations relating to the use of the LXX.

46Rikki E. Watts, "Jesus' Death, Isaiah 53, and Mark

10:45: A Crux Revisited," in Jesus and the Suffering

Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed. William H.

Bellinger Jr., and William R. Farmer (Harrisburg, PA:

Trinity, 1998), 125-51.


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David Sapp

David Sapps article "The LXX, 1QIsa, and MT

Versions of Isaiah 53 and the Christian Doctrine of

Atonement,"50explores the use of the LXX, 1QIsa, and MT

versions of Isa 53. He observes that the Greek version,

which was probably the version used most by the NT writers,

does not contain so strong a statement about the vicarious

suffering of the Servant as did the Hebrew. Sapp also

points out that disciples seeking to evangelize the Gentile

world could only use their Greek Bibles since the Gentiles

did not know Hebrew. His findings are relevant to this

study because he concludes that one should not expect to

find references in the NT from Isa 53:9a or 10-11b.

Isaiah in the New Testament

The last work to be considered in this review is a

book edited by Steve Moyise and Maarten J. J. Menken,

Isaiah in the New Testament.51It represents the second

50David Sapp, "The LXX, 1QIsa, and MT Versions of

Isaiah 53 and the Christian Doctrine of Atonement," in

Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian

Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger Jr. and William R. Farmer


51Steve Moyise and Maarten J. J. Menken, eds.,

Isaiah in the New Testament(New York: T. & T. Clark,

2005), 1-217.


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examination to determine whether a proposed allusion is an

actual allusion. Robert France is the only other scholar,

besides Morna Hooker, to acknowledge levels of

verifiability. None of the other authors provides or

suggests the need for a set of criteria to evaluate

allusions. The only authors to provide in depth discussion

of the validity of allusions (without criteria) from Isa 53

are Douglas Moo, Otto Betz, Ricki Watts, and Robert

France.52

Two of the writers discussed in this review,

Parsons and Wagner, utilize all or a part of Richard Hays'

criteria in their studies.53 However, no author mentioned

in this survey,54has ever, to my knowledge, utilized or

advocated the use of Morna Hooker's criteria.

This survey has demonstrated that not all scholars

verify the validity of the allusions they accept. If a

writer does argue for a connection between a NT verse and

52However, Moo's discussion is limited to allusions

concerning the Gospel Passion Narrative, while Betz

discusses three allusions, Watts only one allusion, and

France four allusions.

53Chapter 4 includes a brief discussion of several

other scholars who have adapted Hays' criteria.

54I am not aware of any scholar advocating the use

of Hooker's criteria.


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Isa 53, it is usually on linguistic grounds. The only

study designed to apply systematically a defined set of

criteria to allusions in the NT from Isa 5355is inadequate.

Therefore, a need exists for a reexamination of the

proposed allusions from Isa 53 in the NT using a better set

of criteria. I discuss the criteria I use to evaluate

these allusions in chapter 4. In the next chapter, I will

discuss how the writers of the NT might have understood Isa

53.

55Hooker's study included all four Servant Songs.


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CHAPTER 3

ANALYSIS OF ISAIAH 53

The Problem of Isaiah 53

Isa 53 is one of the most important56and yet one of

the most difficult passages to understand in the OT. Many

scholars have noted both textual57and interpretive problems

with this text.58 Throughout history, these textual and

interpretive problems have led to a variety of Jewish and

56Ivan Engnell, "The Ebed Yahweh Songs and the

Suffering Messiah in Deutero-Isaiah," Bulletin of John

Rylands Library31 (January 1948): 73; Franz J. Delitzsch,Isaiah, vol. 2 in The Commentary on the Old Testament

(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 203.

57For a good survey of the many textual issues see

Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 40-55: A New Translation with

Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2 of The Anchor Bible

Commentary(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 2002), 346-349; and

John D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, vol. 25 in Word Biblical

Commentary, ed. David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker (Waco,

TX: Word, 1987), 225-226.

58Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah: A Commentary, in The

Old Testament Library, ed. James L. Mays, et al.

(Louisville, KY: Westminster, 2001), 410; John N. Oswalt,

The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, in The New

International Commentary on the Old Testament, ed. R. K.

Harrison and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1998), 377.


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Christian interpretations of this passage.59

The purpose of this section is to establish the

meaning of Isa 53 as it was probably understood by the

writers of the NT. Christopher North demonstrates that not

every interpretation of Isa 53 from a Christian perspective

associates the Servant with Jesus. However, throughout

history, the majority of Christians (both Protestant and

Catholic) have understood Isa 53 messianically, and

identified the Servant with Jesus. Several of the direct

quotations from Isa 53 in the NT60clearly show that the NT

writers recognized Jesus as the Servant of Isa 53. The

59Christopher R. North presents a historical survey

of the many Jewish and Christian interpretations of the

Servant Songs (including Isa 53). In regard to one of the

main questions, "Who is the servant?" North identifies bothcollective and individual interpretations. The collective

(collective, meaning the servant represents a group)

interpretations include: the Servant represents all of

Israel (Collective Israel), Ideal Israel, a Remnant of

Israel, the prophets of Israel, or the priests of Israel.

Individuals identified as the Servant include the prophets

Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Deutero-Isaiah; kings

identified are Josiah, Hezekiah, and Uzziah. Other

individuals identified as the Servant include Moses, Job,

Zerubbabel, and Cyrus. The most predominant interpretation

among Christians (both Protestant and Catholic) is that the

Songs are messianic, and Jesus is the Servant. Christopher

R. North, The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah: An

Historical and Critical Study(London: Oxford University

Press, 1948), 1-264.

60Matt 8:17 and Luke 22:37 both explain aspects of

Jesus' ministry as a "fulfillment" of Isa 53; In Acts 8:32-


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majority of current NT scholarship continues to

acknowledge that the writers of the NT identify Jesus with

the Servant of Isa 53, although scholars may differ on some

of the details in Isa 53.

The interpretation presented in this dissertation,

that of the early church, will show that a figure, known as

the "Servant," grew up in obscurity and was despised by

all. Even though he was innocent of any wrongdoing, he was

unjustly sentenced to death by cruel oppressors. In the

course of events, those who had previously scorned him

realize that he died as a substitute to pay the penalty for

their sins. In the end, the Servant is restored to a place

of prominence in victory. The writer of Isa 53 indicated

that none of this was a mistake; it all happened because

the Lord willed it to happen.

The analysis of this passage also includes an

explanation of the LXX translation of this poem. This is

necessary for two reasons. First, while the LXX

translation of the Hebrew is similar to the meaning of the

Hebrew, it does contain some important differences. These

differences probably reflect the theology of the LXX

35, Philip explains to the Ethiopian Eunuch that Isa 53

refers to Jesus; and Peter explains Jesus death in terms of

Isa 53 in 1 Pet 2:22-25.


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translator(s). The LXX translator removed both the ideas

that the Servant literally died, as well as the fact that

it was God's will for the Servant to suffer. While the LXX

may belie certain theological tendencies, other reasons for

changes between the Hebrew text and the LXX should not be

overlooked.

Non-Theological Reasons for Differences

Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint

The LXX translation was produced in Alexandria,

Egypt during the third and second centuries B.C. This

translation became necessary because the Jews living in

Egypt spoke Greek, having lost the Hebrew language during

the Babylonian Captivity.

One of the concerns with interpreting the LXX is

that it is not one unified translation, but a collection of

translations or versions. These translations were produced

over a period of many years, beginning with the Torah. The

translators possessed varied abilities and followed

different rules or criteria for their translations.

Different rules for translation are evident from an

examination of books such as the Torah, Job, and Daniel.

Scholars agree that the Torah LXX was carefully and

skillfully translated. The translators of the Torah

produced a Greek version that is very close in meaning to


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altered their thinking and thus affected the translation

from the Hebrew to the LXX. I. L. Seeligmann says the

translators had the "habit-peculiar to midrashic exegesis

generally-of contemporizing and anachronizing his

interpretations; or, in other words, his conscious or

unconscious tendency to rediscover, in the text he was

translating, the world of his own period."65 The changes

that resulted from the translators immersion in his own

culture may have have gone unnoticed by himself or those

who read his translation.

This brief survey clearly shows that not all the

changes that exist between the Hebrew text and the LXX

translation are of a theological nature. Many other

factors played a role in the LXX translation including the

Hebrew text available, the rules for translating, the

ability of the translators, the nature of the Koine Greek,

lexical differences between the Hebrew and Greek, and

cultural influences in Alexandria, Egypt.

65I.L. Seeligmann, The Septuagint Version of

Isaiah: A Discussion of Its Problems MVEOL 9 (Leiden:

Brill, 1948), 96.


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How Did the NT Writer's Handle Differences between the

Masoretic Text and the Septuagint.

It is also necessary to discuss the LXX translation

along with the Hebrew in this chapter because the LXX is

generally acknowledged as the Bible of the first-century

Christians. A comparison of the Hebrew text and its Greek

translation show that many of the verses contain at least a

few minor changes that do not alter the meaning in any

significant way. However, some verses contain significant

changes such as omissions, additions, and changes in

construction and emphasis. Because the NT writers often

quote from and allude to the LXX, it is important to

examine how they reconciled the differences between the LXX

and the Hebrew text from which it was translated.

First, it is necessary to explain both the speaking

and writing language skills of the NT writers. All the

writers, except Luke, were Jewish.66 The language spoken

among Jews in first-century Palestine was Aramaic. Even

though Paul was from Tarsus, he was also fluent in

66Luke was a Gentile and a physician and as such was

educated. The other NT writers are Matthew, Mark, John,

Paul, James, Jude, and the writer unknown writer of

Hebrews.


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Aramaic.67 It is also possible that Luke, who

traveledextensively with Paul, may have understood and/or

spoke Aramaic.

Many of the NT writers may also have been fluent in

Greek or at least had a working knowledge of the language.68

Paul was from Tarsus, and his native language was Greek as

was Luke's. Peter and John were from Bethsaida in Galilee,

which is located on the sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was

adjacent to the Decapolis, which was a federation of ten

Hellenistic cities. This was a cosmopolitan area and Peter

and John probably knew Greek well. Peter's name was

originally "Symeon Peter," but probably due to Greek

influence he was later called Simon. Mark was from

Jerusalem and may not have been originally exposed to

Greek. However, Mark probably learned Greek during his

considerable time with Paul while in Greece and other

Gentile areas on missionary journeys. It is probable that

Matthew also knew Greek well. He was a tax collector,

possibly in the cosmopolitan area around Capernaum,

67Acts 22:2.

68It would seem that all of them could write in

Greek, otherwise they would have required a scribe to write

for them (which is possible). Many people are able to read

and/or write in a language that he or she cannot speak.


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collecting tolls for the Roman government.

In regard to an understanding of Hebrew, most

Jewish boys in the first-century were taught to read and

write in the home and often through public or private

schools.69 The focus of Jewish education was the Torah and

Jewish boys were taught to read all the books of Scripture

(the OT) in Hebrew and expected to memorize much of the

text.70 Writing was also part of the education with boys

learning to write with a stylus on a small wax tablet.71

Therefore, we can expect that all the Jewish writers of the

NT were familiar with Hebrew and the Hebrew text of the OT.

If necessary, they were also able to write in Hebrew. As a

Gentile, only Luke may not have had knowlegde of Hebrew.

This brief survey reveals that all the Jewish

writers of the Gospels and Paul were fluent in Aramaic and

possibly Greek, and were able to at least read and write

Hebrew. Only Luke might have been limited to Greek.

Therefore, it should not be assumed that the NT writers

69D. F. Watson, "Education: Jewish and Greco-Roman,"

in Dictionary of New Testament Background, ed. Craig A.

Evans and Stanley E. Porter (Downers Grove, IL:

InterVarsity, 2000), 312.

70Ibid.

71Ibid.


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relied on the LXX translation alone for their understanding

of the OT. While the LXX was the text that was most

frequently quoted in the NT, that does not mean the NT

writers were unaware of the meaning of the Hebrew text.

For example, Matthew makes a very close translation of the

Hebrew in the quotation from Isa 53:4 in Matt 8:17.

The reason the NT writers quote so often from the

LXX is because it was the common Bible of the first-

century. The LXX was brought to every city in the Roman

Empire that the Jews of the Diaspora lived. Gleason Archer

and Gregory Chirichigno explain the significance of the

LXX:

It was virtually the only form of the Old Testament in

the hands of Jewish believers outside Palestine, and it

was certainly the only available form for Gentile

converts to the Jewish or Christian faiths.72

The purpose for writing the Gospels and other NT books was

largely evangelistic. Archer and Chirichigno point out

that it was necessary to quote the LXX because to do

otherwise would raise unnecessary questions about

discrepancies between the quotations in the NT and the OT

72Gleason L. Archer and Gregory Chirichigno, Old

Testament Quotations in the New Testament(Chicago: Moody,

1983), ix.


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of that day.73 Evidence that people did closely examine the

scriptures is found in Acts 17:11 where it is said of the

Berean's: "they received the message with great eagerness

and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul

said was true." (NIV)

While the NT writers made pragmatic use of the LXX

in order to avoid raising unnecessary issues between the OT

of the day and their quotations, it appears there were

times when a more significant alteration of the LXX or a

direct translation of the Hebrew was unavoidable. All of

the quotations discussed in this dissertation are verbatim

or very nearly so from the LXX except Matt 8:17. In Matt

8:17 Matthew appears to make his own translation from the

Hebrew. This does not pose as great a problem with the

rationale discussed above because Matthew was writing

primarily to a Jewish audience.74

It should also be noted that it seems the NT

writers avoided quotations from passages where the LXX

translators failed to accurately translate the meaning of

73Ibid.

74Matt is considered the Gospel to the Jews for many

reasons including the fact that he begins his Gospel by

tracing the lineage of Jesus to Abraham (father of the

Jewish nation) through David.


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the Hebrew text into Greek. David Sapp demonstrates that

there are no quotations in the NT from Isa 53:10, a

particularly difficult passage, and few if any allusions

from the LXX of this verse.75

In answer to the original question, "how did the

writers of the NT reconcile differences between the Hebrew

and LXX?" I suggest the following: writers who understood

both the LXX and the original Hebrew (except Luke), used

the LXX because it was the OT of the first-century.76 They

usually quote the LXX verbatim, but occasionally make their

own translation from the Hebrew or alter the Greek text

when necessary to clarify the meaning. If a verse is

especially problematic, they avoided the verse altogether

and used other OT passages to strengthen their writing.

The Servant Songs

Many modern scholars deny that the OT book of Isa

75David Sapp, "The LXX, 1QIsa, and MT Versions of

Isaiah 53 and the Christian Doctrine of Atonement," in

Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian

Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger Jr. and William R. Farmer

(Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998), 170-92.76Jennifer M. Dines, The Septuagint,ed. Michael A

Knibb (London: T. & T. Clark, 2004), 1-196; Karen H. Jobes

and Moiss Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint, (Grand

Rapids: Baker, 2000), 1-351; R. Timothy McClay, The Use of

the Septuagint in New Testament Research(Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 2003), 1-207.


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was written by a single author, the prophet Isaiah, arguing

that the book is the product of at least two writers.

According to this division, the first part of the book

(chapters 1-39) is attributed to the prophet Isaiah, while

the second part (chapters 40-66) is assigned to an unknown

author referred to as Deutero-Isaiah. Some scholars divide

the book further, believing that a third writer known as

Trito-Isaiah wrote chapters 55-66.77 These divisions are

based on differences such as theme, vocabulary, and the

perceived geographic location of the writer.

In 1892, Bernhard Duhm, in his commentary on the

book of Isa, identified four passages in Deutero-Isaiah

that he names the Servant Songs.78 He believes these

passages should be separated from the rest of Deutero-

77Other modern scholars still make valid arguments

for the unity of Isa. Gleason L. Archer Jr., A Survey of

Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985),

336-359; Roland Kenneth Harrison, Introduction to the Old

Testament: with a Comprehensive Review of Old Testament

Studies and a Special Supplement on the Apocrypha(Grand

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 764-795; Edward J. Young, Who

Wrote Isaiah?(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958), 1-88.

78It is assumed that the four songs are linked. The

best available complete work is still Christopher R. North,

The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah (New York: Oxford

University, 1949).


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Isa, and the overall significance of the Songs.

The issue that has received the greatest amount of

attention is the question, "Who is the Servant?" Many

different solutions have been suggested to answer this

question, but the most common are that the Servant is the

prophet Isaiah himself, a righteous remnant of Israel, or,

according to a Christian scholarly interpretation, Jesus.

The Structure of Isaiah 53

What is referred to as Isa 53 in this paper, and by

most scholars when they refer to this passage, is actually

Isa 52:13-53:12. That Isa 52:13-15 is connected to chapter

53 has been disputed, however most scholars accept the

entire passage as a unit.81

The poem can be nicely divided into five stanzas of

three verses each (52:13-15; 53:1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12).82

The first and last sections represent a divine oracle as it

is the Lord Himself who is speaking. The first strophe,

Isa 52:13-15 introduces the Servant of the Lord with a

81F. Duane Lindsey, The Servant Songs: A Study in

Isaiah(Chicago: Moody, 1985), 99.

82There is some disagreement about where the

"report" ends and the divine oracle resumes. It may be in

verse 11.


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statement indicating his ultimate success and exaltation.

The thought then turns to his unexpected humiliation and

subsequent vindication.

The last strophe, Isa 53:10-12, is tied to the

first and indicates the purpose of the Lord and explains

that it was his will that the events described occur. It

also describes the Servants atoning sacrifice and his

final vindication.

The middle section of the poem, verses 1-9

(strophes three, four, and five), provide a report of the

humiliation and death of the Servant. This report is given

by a group of people who initially scorn the Servant, only

later to realize that he bore their sins to secure God's

forgiveness.

Exegesis of Isaiah 53

Strophe One-Isaiah 52:13-15

Isaiah 52:13

yD]b=ulyK!c=y~hN}h!83.da)m=Hbgw+aC*n]w+


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awareness that he or she should pay careful attention to

what, or more importantly, who will be presented and

discussed.86

The exact nuance of the wordlk*c*is difficult to

determine. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

states that it is translated by at least nine English

words, and in this context suggests the word means "to act

circumspectly or prudently."87 In the context of Isa 52:13

BDB gives the meaning "prosper, have success,"88while

Holladay gives the meanings to "act w[ith] (religious)

insight, devotion, piety."89 Claus Westerman says that the

word can indicate both an action and its results.90 In this

case, the action would be to be wise and prudent; the

86

John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, in The New International Commentary on the Old

Testament, ed. R. K. Harrison and Robert L. Hubbard Jr.

(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 378.

87R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce

K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,

s.v.lk*c*, by Louis Goldberg.

88Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A.

Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon

with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic (Peabody,

MA: Hendrickson, 2000), 968.

89William L. Holladay ed., A Concise Hebrew and

Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament(Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1971), 352.

90Westermann, 258.


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result would be to succeed. Even if this is possible, it

seems that the emphasis is on the result. Therefore the

best translation is "to succeed," which is similar to the

way the word is used in Joshua 1:8 where it indicates that

if something is done, the person will have "success."

In the Greek, the word sunivhmi has fewer shades of

meaning and in biblical use generally means "to

understand," but can also mean "to be prudent" as in Josh

1:7 another passage where sunivhmiis used to translatelk*c*.91

Even though this interpretation may indicate that the

Hebrew meaning is "act wisely," it seems that the emphasis

is on the outcome, and the word should be translated

"succeed."The second part of the verse indicates the

exaltation of the Servant by the use of three verbs, "He

shall be exalted, and lifted up, and shall be exceedingly

high." One question surrounding these words is whether

they are synonymous or sequential. Franz Delitzsch

believes that these verbs showed a chain of thought, "he

will rise up, he will raise himself still higher, he will

stand on high," indicating the "commencement, the

91Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie,

eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed.

(Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2003), 524.


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continuation, and the result or climax of the exaltation."92

On the other hand, E. J. Young argues that the purpose here

is to show "a complete and utter exaltation will come to

the Servant."93 Youngs suggestion is preferable because

the focus seems to be on the result, not a continuing

action. The Servant having succeeded in his mission will

be "exalted" above all.

Of significance is the fact that in the entire OT

the words


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verbs are used for the Hebrew's three. It has been

suggested that one of the Hebrew verbs is a gloss or that

the Greek translator accidentally skipped over one of the

words. The reasons that seem most plausible are that the

LXX translator either rendered the Hebrew as a hendiadys or

that he did not feel it was necessary to repeat all three

words, knowing that in the Hebrew a repetition of such

words functions like a superlative.95

Isaiah 52:14-15


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Duhm's theory.97 While it does fit well between the two

verses in the next section, there is no textual evidence to

suggest this move.98

Assuming that 14b should remain where it is, it is

necessary to explain the syntactical problem that exists.

Verse 14 begins with a protasis "Just as" rv#a&K. The problem

is that several possibilities exist as the apodosis, the

"even so" clause because both 14b and 15a begin with "so"

/K@.

There are at least three ways this problem may be

resolved. The first suggestion is that the protasis in 14a

is followed by a double apodosis 14b and 15a.99

Protasis: Just as many were appalled at you,

Apodosis 1:-his appearance was so disfigured beyond

human semblance- And his form beyond that of the sons

of men.

Apodosis 2:So will he sprinkle many nations...

97R[oger] N[orman] Whybray, Isaiah 40-66in The New

Century Bible Commentary, ed. Ronald E. Clements (Grand

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 169.

98Childs, 412.

99"As thus explained, the sense would be, their

abhorrence of him was not without reason [so disfigured

beyond human semblance . . .], and it shall not be without

requital [so will he sprinkle many nations]," Joseph A.

Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, vol. 2

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1953), 287.


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The second suggestion is that both /K@clauses should

be understood parenthetically with the apodosis found in

the second clause of verse 15 "and kings shall shut their

mouths at him . . ."

Protasis:Just as many were appalled at you,

First Parenthesis:(his appearance was so

disfigured beyond human semblance And his form

beyond that of the sons of men.)

Second Parenthesis:(So will he sprinkle many

nations)

Apodosis:And kings will shut their mouths because of

him, For what they were not told they will see, And

what they did not hear they will understand.

With this construction the contrast would be the varied

response of the many and the kings; the many are appalled

while the kings shut their mouths.100

A third possibility, which I think is correct, is

that the protasis is followed by an explanatory parenthesis

and then by the apodosis as follows:

Protasis:Just as many were appalled at you,

Explanatory parenthesis:(his appearance was so

disfigured beyond human semblance And his form

beyond that of the sons of men.)

Apodosis:So will he sprinkle many nations, And kingswill shut their mouths because of him, For what they

100Young, 337.


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were not told they will see, And what they did not hear

they will understand.

In the parenthesis it is explained why the many are

appalled at the Servant. This theme will be returned to in

Isa 53:2. The comparison therefore is between the many who

are appalled and the nations, represented by the kings who

marvel at the spiritual cleansing wrought by the Servant's

suffering.101

Another important question concerns those who are

the "many," who are appalled, mentioned in verse 14. I

believe the "many" is the same group that is represented in

53:1-9. They are the Israelites who look upon the Servant

and are appalled at what happened to him. The unexpected

humiliation causes them to become


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seem to represent the many nations. The first group reacts

negatively to the Servant because of his suffering, while

the second group is amazed at the result (cleansing of sin)

of the Servant's suffering.103

A further difficulty in these two verses concerns

the meaning of the word hz*n*,104which has the primary meaning

of "to sprinkle." The word hz***n*is a technical word, found

in the Torah, and is used for the sprinkling of water, oil,

or blood for the purpose of ceremonial cleansing or

purifying.105 This cleansing is not for decontamination.

Instead, it is administered in order to obtain ritual

purity. In this case, the Servant, who the "many" believe

is contaminated, is actually pure and therefore able to

cleanse the many nations.106 While this interpretation

makes sense in the overall context of Isa 53, several

factors suggest a better translation for this instance of

103Lindsey, 105.

104Oswalt, 374. ". . . Among more recent

commentators, Young, North, Muilenburg continue to prefer

'sprinkle' (but North, following Nygren, has the nations

sprinkling the servant for fear of contamination). All the

others prefer some alternative, usually 'startle.'; E.J.

Young, "The Interpretation of yzh, in Isaiah 52:15,"

Westminster Theological Journal3 (1941) 125-32.

105Young, 338.

106Young, 338-339.


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hz***n*.

First, hz***n*is rendered qaumavzw "to startle," in the

LXX. There are other significant differences between the

Hebrew and LXX texts of this passage (as will be seen in

subsequent verses) so this factor alone should not be

considered conclusive. However, hz***n*in the hiphil tense

designates the liquid being sprinkled, never the object

that is sprinkled. Therefore, if this word is translated

consistent with its normal use, the clause would be "the

nations were sprinkled (onto something else), which makes

no sense.107

Scholars have also argued that it is exegetically

incorrect to infer the priestly function to the Servant and

heighten the cultic nature of this passage which does not

rise to the surface. I think it is possible possible that

cultic factors exist, especially in verse 53:10 where an


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one instance in the OT of hz***n*II from the Arabic, meaning "to

startle."108 The BDB entry includes a note regarding the

dubious nature of this meaning for this form; however, it

is possible and seems to provide the better solution to the

problem.

Isaiah 53:1-9: An Introduction

The identification of the speakers in this section

constitutes another very important interpretative problem.

Three main suggestions have been made as to who the "we"

are: the nations mentioned in 52:15,109the collective voice

of the prophets, or the nation of Israel which is

represented through the voice of the prophet.110

The first suggestion is unlikely because nothing is

said of the nations reacting negatively to the Servant,

rather they were unaware of both the suffering and

exaltation of the Servant, and when it happened, they were

108Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English

Lexicon,633.

109James Muilenburg and Henry Sloane Coffin, "The

Book of Isaiah 40-66," vol. 5 in The Interpreter's Bible,

ed. George Arthur Buttrick (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1954),

614. Muilenburg takes this passage as a "confessional

lament by the nations represented perhaps by their kings."

110Oswalt, 381.


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surprised.111 The second suggestion also seems unlikely,

since the true and faithful prophets of Israel would have

understood the Lord's will, and would not ha

an examination of the allusions to isaiah 52:13-53:12 in the new testament

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