jesus, isaac, and the 'suffering servant

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Jesus, Isaac, and the "Suffering Servant"Author(s): Roy A. RosenbergSource: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 84, No. 4 (Dec., 1965), pp. 381-388Published by: The Society of Biblical LiteratureStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3264864

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JESUS,

ISAAC,

AND

THE

SUFFERING

SERVANT

ROY A. ROSENBERG

HONOLULU,

HAWAII

I

M

ANY

suggestions

have

been made

over

the

years

concerning

the

identity

of the

Suffering

Servant of Isaiah

52-53.

Jewish

exegesis

sees

the

Servant

most

frequently

as

the

Jewish people,

or its

pious

remnant,

while conservative

Christian

exegesis

insists

that

he is

the Messiah. Modern scholars have

attempted

to

identify

the Servant

with

Jehoiachin

or

Zerubbabel,

with

Jeremiah,

Ezekiel,

or Deutero-

Isaiah

himself,

or

with

the

prophet

class

as a

whole.'

None

of these

suggestions

is

completely satisfactory.

It

is

unlikely

that the nation

or

a

portion

of

the nation is

meant,

since the

language

of the

prophet

speaks clearly

of

an individual. No

person

of

royal lineage

fits the

picture,

since

53

2

states

that the Servant had no

form or

splendor

that we

should

notice

him,

or

appearance

that we should

hold

him dear.

Nor can

it

likely

be a

prophet

or the

prophet

class,

since the Servant

is

meek

and

opens

not

his

mouth

(53

7),

while

a

prophet

could

always

be counted

upon

to

have

something

to

say.

The Servant

is

clearly

a

simple

man,

one of

the common

people,

whose

early

life

and

career

are

without

significance,

but whose

suffering

was believed

by

the

prophet

to

be

full of

meaning

for the

nation.

Some

scholars

feel

that the

royal ideology

of

Judah,

like that

of

Babylonia

and

Assyria,

included a

periodic

ritual

humiliation

of the

king,

emphasizing

his absolute

dependence

upon

the

favor

of

the

deity.

In its Babylonian form, this ritual took place as part of the New Year

or akitu

festival

at

the

beginning

of

spring. During

these

observances

the chief

priest

of

Marduk's

temple

would take the

diadem,

scepter,

and other

royal insignia

from the

king

and

lay

them before

the

deity.

While divested

of

these

signs

of

royalty,

the

king

had his

ears boxed

and

pulled by

the

priest,

after which he would kneel before the

god

and

offer a

prayer

of

penitence.

The

priest

then announced to

the

king

that his

prayer

had

been heard and

that,

if

he would

look after

the

welfare

of

Babylon

and the

temple,

his

power

would be exalted.

The

royal insignia were then restored to him.2

I

Some of the older

suggestions

are

summarized

and

discussed

in

the

Jewish

Encyclopedia,

xi,

pp.

204

f.,

s.v. Servant of God. Later

suggestions

are

analyzed

in

H. M.

Orlinsky,

The So-Called

Suffering

Servant

in Isaiah

53

(Goldenson

Lecture

of

1964, Cincinnati,

1964),

passim.

2

Johs.

Pedersen, Israel,

III-iv,

pp.

747

ff.

381



JOURNAL

OF

BIBLICAL LITERATURE

The

Suffering

Servant

passage

(Isa

52

13-53

12)

seems to

con-

stitute

a

portion

of

a ritual drama

centering

about a similar

humiliation,

culminating

in

death,

of

a substitute

for

the

figure

of

the

king

of the

Jews

during

the immediate

postexilic

period.

Like the Davidic

kings

of

an

earlier

day,

the substitute

was called

uli

73X7

the

Servant

of

Yahweh ).

An

act

of

substitution

was,

in

ancient

Assyria

and

Babylonia,

one

of the chief rites

of

preservation

and

deliverance.

When,

for

instance,

a

person

was

deathly

ill,

it

was

customary

to

put

a small

goat,

dressed

in

his

clothing,

in

bed

with him. The

goat

was

then

slaughtered

and funeral

rites

held,

with the name

of the man

applied

to

the

dead animal. Letters

from

the

era of

Esarhaddon

(681-669

B.C.)

attest

to

the

appointment

of a

puh

sarri or

sar

puhi ( substitute

for

the

king )

when

it

appeared

that the

king

was

in

danger

of

dying.

A

more

ancient

example

comes from

Akkad,

during

the

reign

of Irra-imitti

of

Isin

(ca.

2000

B.C.).

This

text relates

how the

king

set his

gardener

on

his

throne and

placed

a

crown

upon

his

head.

The substitution

did

not

work, however,

and

the

king

died.

The

gardener,

being

on

the

throne,

remained as

king.3

Frazer,

in his Golden

Bough,

presents

the

testimony

of

Berosus,

a

Babylonian

priest

born

during

the

reign

of Alexander the

Great,

that

during an annual festival called the sakaia masters and servants changed

places,

the

servants

giving

orders and

the masters

obeying

them.

A

prisoner

condemned

to

death was dressed

in

the

king's

robes,

seated

on

his

throne,

allowed to issue

whatever commands

he

pleased,

to

eat,

drink,

and

enjoy

himself with the

king's

concubines.

At the

end

of five

days,

however,

he was

stripped

of his

royal

robes,

scourged,

and

put

to

death.4

It

may

be

that

the name

sakaia is derived

from

the

Pehlevi

(Persian)

word

for

dog,

sak.

According

to this

theory,

the

sakaia festival

was

celebrated

in

both

Persia and

Babylonia

in

connection

with

the

acronical rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. During the years of the

hellenistic

era

this

ordinarily

took

place

in

December,

close

to

the

winter

solstice,

at

about

the same time

that

the

Saturnalia

festival

of

the

Romans

was

celebrated. Since

Sirius

in

Babylonian astrology

was

sometimes

regarded

as

a

manifestation

of

the

planet

Saturn

and its

god,

it

is

possible

that the

sakaia in

very early

times

was

connected

with

Saturn,

the

god

who

demanded human

sacrifice.

In

Babylon

some

of

the

customs

and

ideas connected

with

the sakaia

were

transferred

to

the

New

Year

festival

of the

spring,

for,

on

the sixth

day

of

the

festival,

a condemned criminal was paraded through the streets and scourged,

substituting

for

the

king

who

had

already

undergone

his

ritual

humilia-

3

R.

Labat,

Le sort des substituts

royaux

en

Assyrie

au

temps

des

Sargonides,

Revue

d'Assyriologie,

40-41

(1945-47),

pp.

123 f.

4

J.

G.

Frazer,

The New Golden

Bough

(ed.

T.

H.

Gaster),

p.

235.

382



ROSENBERG:

JESUS,

ISAAC,

SUFFERING SERVANT

tion

in

the

temple

of

the

city.5

A rite of

substitution

involving

the

death

of

the substitute

was carried out

as late as

1591,

according

to the

Persian historians.

Shah

Abbas

the

Great

was

warned

in

that

year by

his

astrologers

that a serious

danger impended.

He

attempted

to

avert

the

omen

by

abdicating

the

throne

and

appointing

a certain unbeliever

named Yusoofee

to

reign

in his

stead.

The substitute

was

accordingly

crowned,

and

for

three

days

he

is

alleged

to

have

enjoyed

the

name,

state,

and

power

of

the

king.

At

the

end

of

that

period

he

was

put

to

death.6

The

description

of the

Suffering

Servant

given

in

Isaiah

52

and

53

is

likely

based

upon

the

suffering

and death of such a substitute

king.

A

new

translation

of

this

famous

passage

will

help

to make

this clear:7

Yahweh

peaks:

Lo,

my

servant

prospers,

He

rises,

is lifted

up,

is

greatly

exalted.

In

measure

as

many

were

appalled

at

him,

So was his

appearance

nhumanly

marred,

And his

form

unlike

a

man's.

So

are

many

nations

astonished,

Kings

do

gape

at

him,

For what had never been told to them

they

have seen,

And what

they

had

never heard

they

have taken to heart.

The

prophet

peaks:

Who

would

have

believed our

salvation,8

And the arm

of

Yahweh

-

upon

whom has

it been revealed?

He

grew

up

as a

sapling

before

him,

As one

rooted

in

an arid

land.

He had

no

form or

splendor

that we

should notice

him,

Or appearance hat we should hold him dear.

He

was

despised

and forsaken of

men,

A man of

pains

and

familiar

with disease.

One would hide

his

face

from

him,

(For

he

was)

despised,

and

we took no account of him.

Yet,

our sickness did he

bear,

And our

pains

he did

carry.

We

supposed

him

stricken,

Smitten of

God

and

afflicted;

s

Ibid.,

p.

555.

6

Ibid.,

p.

242.

7

Some

of

the

language

of this

translation

is

dependent

upon

that

of

S.

H.

Blank

Prophetic

Faith in

Isaiah,

pp.

87

f.

8

Our salvation

(lnylp

),

emending

the

enigmatic

t1i?nuDl

( our

report ).

Salvation

is

parallel

to the arm

of Yahweh

in

several

places

in

Deutero-Isaiah;

e.

g.,

51

5

and

52

10.

The theme

of

the

chapter

is

the salvation

that

comes

to

the

people

through

the sacrifice

of

the Servant.

383



JOURNAL

OF

BIBLICAL

LITERATURE

But

he was

wounded because of

our

transgression,

Crushed

because

of our

iniquities.

The

chastisement

leading

to

our welfare was

upon

him,

And in his bruisinghave we been healed.

All

of

us like

sheep

have

gone astray;

Each of us has

gone

his own

way.

But

Yahweh visited

upon

him

the

sin

of

us all.

Driven,

he

is

meek and

opens

not

his

mouth;

As a

sheep

to the

slaughter

is

brought,

And as a

ewe before her

shearers s

dumb,

(So

does)

he not

open

his

mouth.

From

prison

and from

judgment

was he taken.

And

of his

generation

what

(need)

is

there to

speak?

For

he

is

cut off

from

the land of the

living,

Because of the sin of his people he has been broughtto death.9

They

placed

his

grave

with

the

wicked,

And

with the

(evil)

rich his

tomb,

Though

no

violence had he done

And

no

deceit was

in his

mouth.

But Yahweh

wished to crush

him,

And so

he did wound him.

The

peoplespeak:

If

he

offers his life

as

a

guilt

offering,

Will he see

seed,

and

lengthen

his

days,

And will

Yahweh's

desire succeed

through

him? ?

Yahweh

peaks:

(Yes),

out of the

affliction

of

his

soul he will see

light

and be

satisfied.

Through

his

knowledge

(of

my

will)

the

Righteous

One,

my

servant,

vindicates

the

many,

For

their

iniquity

does

he

bear.

Therefore

I

do

give

him

a

portion

among

the

great,'2

And with the mighty does he sharethe spoil,

Because he

emptied

his

life even unto death

And

was counted

among transgressors;

He

bore the

guilt

of

many,

And

for the

transgressors

does

he intervene.

9

His

people,

with

the

Qumran

Isaiah

scroll;

brought

to

death,

with

the LXX.

IO

This

verse

is

intelligible

only

if

it

is

read

as a

question by

the

people,

directed

either

to

Yahweh

or

the

prophet

who

has

described

the

suffering

of the

Servant.

Yahweh

answers,

confirming

he reward which

the Servant receives.

He will see

light

and be

satisfied,

with the

Qumran

Isaiah

scroll.

The

reward

of the Servantis that he is taken into eternal life in the heavenly realm of light. Though

he was buried with the

wicked,

his soul

is

not

consigned

to the nether

world,

the

kingdom

of darkness.

I2

A

portion among

the

great implies,

like

he will see

light

in

53

ll,

that the

Servant will be

granted

the

blessing

of eternal

life.

This was

originally

conceived

as a

special blessing

bestowed

by

the

deity

upon

those of

the

great

and the

mighty

who

had earned

his

favor.

384



ROSENBERG:

JESUS,

ISAAC,

SUFFERING SERVANT

The

description

of

the Servant

given

by

the

prophet

shows that he

was

a

simple

man,

without

form or

splendor, corresponding

to the

man of

simple

spirit

who would

usually

be

appointed

by

the

Baby-

lonian and

Assyrian

rulers to die in their stead when evil omens threat-

ened.

The

Servant

died that

the

people

might

live,

and

the

prophet

recounted the

story

of

his

sacrifice,

that its

saving

effects

might

be

made

manifest

during

the

years following

the

event.

Though

human

sacrifice

had been

eliminated from

Jewish religion

by

Josiah's

reformation

in

621

B.C.,

it

is

likely

that the tradition

remained alive

in

certain circles

that

the death

of

one

person

on

behalf

of

the

people

would be efficacious

at certain

significant

times. Such a death

would be

particularly

important

at the time

of the return

of

the

Jewish

exiles to

Jerusalem,

for

it

was

be-

lieved

that Yahweh was then

coming

into his

kingship

over the earth.

In

Jewish

tradition Isaac

is the

prototype

of the

Suffering

Servant,

bound

upon

the altar as a sacrifice. Isaac

is

described

in

the midrash

as the first to

experience

chastisements

from

God,'3

and

in the

targum

to

Job

3

is

he

is

expressly

styled

the servant

of

Yahweh.

In IV

Macc

13

12

he is

called

the one

who

offered

himself

to

be a

sacrifice

for

the

sake

of

righteousness.

The

Servant

of Isaiah

53 is

thus a

new

Isaac,

a substitute

king

who dies that

the

people

might

live.

Though the prophet does not record the name of the Servant, in

53

ni

he is

invested

with

the

title,

Righteous

One

(p'[.X),

and

it is

as

the

Righteous

One that the Servant

is known

in

Jewish

tradition.

The

targum

to

Isaiah,

which

represents

the

oldest

interpretive

tradi-

tion,

identifies

the

Righteous

One with the Messiah.

The

book of

Enoch,

the most

important

text

yet

uncovered of the

Jewish apocalyptic

literature,

very

much used

by

both the sect

of

Qumran

and the

early

Christians,

applies

this title to the Messiah

also. The

Righteous

One

shall

appear

before

the

eyes

of

all the

righteous

(En

38

2),

This

is the Son of man who hath righteousness, with whom righteousness

dwelleth

(En

46

3),

The

Righteous

One

shall arise from

sleep

and

walk

in

the

paths

of

righteousness

(En

92

3).

Jesus

is twice

called

the

Righteous

One

in

the book

of Acts

(7

52

and

22

14);

it

is

likely

that this

is the oldest title

applied

to

him

by

the nascent

Christian

church. What

is

implied

is that

Jesus,

the

p,'7,

is

by

means

of

his

suffering

able to

bring

p-T

( righteousness

or

acquittal )

to

others,

like the

p' Tc

whose sacrifice is described

in

Isaiah 53.14

3

Genesis

R. 65.

4

The noun

p' x

is

related

to

the

pi'el

form

of the

root

pTX,

which means

acquit

or

justify.

Hence the

p' .x

is not

only

righteous,

but

his

righteousness

can

acquire

merit

for others

as

well.

385



JOURNAL

OF BIBLICAL

LITERATURE

II

The

first

Christians believed that the

kingdom

of God

had been

made manifest on earth

by

the

appearance

of

Jesus,

the messianic

priest-

king,

in

his

rl1e

as

the

Suffering

Servant.

The related

theme of

Jesus

as the Lamb

of

God,

sacrificed

to take

away

the sins of the

world,

treated most

fully

in

John,

makes

of him

another

Isaac,

the

prototype

of the

Suffering

Servant.

Paul,

in

Gal

4

29,

equates

Isaac

with

Jesus;

both,

he

wrote,

were

children

born

not

according

to

the

flesh,

but

according

to the

Spirit

(Kara

rveviaa).

This is an

allusion

to

Gen 21

i,

which states that Yahweh

visited

Sarah,

after

which she

conceived

and bore

a

son.

Rejecting

the

views

of his

Pharisaic

teachers,

Paul

(Gal

3

16)

taught

that the

promises

made

by

God to

Abraham

were

not

to

be fulfilled

in

the entire

Jewish

people,

but

rather

in

Abraham's

single offspring.

This

was

Jesus,

who thus

played

the r6le of

a

new

Isaac,

the

ri'n

( only one )

of Genesis 22.

The

teaching

that

Jesus

died at

the

Passover

is

related to

similar

traditions

about Isaac.

The book of

Jubilees (18

is)

says

that the fes-

tival

originally

commemorated

the

offering

of

Isaac,

which

had

occurred

at

that time. Exodus Rabba

15

also

preserves

the

tradition that the

offering of Isaac took place in the month of Nisan, when the Passover

occurs.

It

may

well be that

in

the

ideology

of

some of

the

Jewish

sects

the connection of the

offering

of

Isaac

with

the

Passover

was more

important

than

the

observance

of

the

holiday

as a

memorial of

the

exodus

from

Egypt.

In

either

case,

however,

the

festival is

involved

with the theme

of

human

sacrifice;

either

Isaac,

who

was saved

from

death

upon

the altar

by

the

offering

of

a ram in his

place,

or

the

first-

born

of

Israel

in

Egypt,

who were redeemed from

death

at the

hand

of

nrntlr

i

( the Destroyer )

by

the

blood of the

paschal

lambs

slain

in their stead.'s It was therefore fitting that Jesus, the Lamb of God,

should

meditate

before

going

to his death at

Gethsemane on

the

Mount

of

Olives,

the site to the east of

Jerusalem

that

in

Jewish

folklore

was

sacred to

the

Destroyer. '6

There is considerable

evidence

that

Jesus

and his

disciples

followed

the

solar-pentecontad

calendar

of the

Essenes,

which

was also

the

cal-

endar

of

the books of Enoch

and

Jubilees.

An

important

feature of

this

calendar was the division

of

years

into

jubilee

periods

of

fifty years.

Jesus

and

his

disciples,

following

this

calendar,

expected

the

Messiah

to come during the jubilee in which they lived. The clue which reveals

this is found

in

the first

chapter

of

Matthew,

in

the

statement

that

there

were

fourteen

generations

from

Abraham

to

David,

fourteen

'5

Exod

12

23.

i6

II

Kings

23

13.

386



ROSENBERG:

JESUS,

ISAAC,

SUFFERING

SERVANT

generations

from

David

to the

deportation,

and

fourteen

generations

from

the

deportation

to

Christ.

Each

of

these

generations

represents

a

jubilee

of

fifty years,

for

a ddru

(Hebr.

1i't,

generation )

in

Babylonia

and

Assyria

was

fifty

years

long.I7

There

is

great

significance

in

Matthew's

division of

the

genealogy

of

Jesus

into

three

cycles

of

four-

teen

jubilee-generations;

i.

e.,

700

years,

for

an

offering

of

a

royal

child

to

the

deity

took

place

at the

beginning

of

each

of

these

cycles.

At

the

beginning

of

the

first,

Abraham

offered

Isaac;

at the

beginning

of

the

second,

Absalom

and

Adonijah,

sons of

David,

met

their

deaths;

at the

beginning

of

the

third

cycle

the children of

King

Zedekiah

were

put

to

death

by

Nebuchadrezzar.

Jesus

is

alleged by

Matthew to

have

lived and

died

during

the first

jubilee

of

the

fourth

cycle

of

fourteen

generations

following

Abraham:

i.

e.,

at

the

beginning

of

the

forty-

second

generation

following

Abraham.

Following

this

system

of

chro-

nology,

the

sacrifice

of

Jesus

becomes

exactly

parallel

to the

offering

of

Isaac,

for

the book of

Jubilees (13

16,

17

15,

19

1)

indicates

that the

offering

of

Isaac

had

taken

place just

prior

to the

beginning

of

the

forty-second

jubilee

after

the

creation

of

the

world.'8 It is

possible

that

some of

the first

Christians

believed

that

Jesus

was

fifty years

old,

a

jubilee

of

years,

when he

went to his

death.

This

is

suggested

by

John 8 57,which states that Jesus was once reproached by his opponents

with

the

taunt,

Thou art not

yet

fifty years

old.

Thus it

was

likely

the

conviction of

some

that,

when

his

jubilee

of

years

was

completed,

he

went to

his death.

It was no

doubt

taught

that the

willingness

of

Isaac to

sacrifice himself

had

made

possible

the

settlement of

Israel,

the

people

of

God,

in

the

land

of

Canaan.

In

like

manner

it

was

no

doubt

believed

that,

through

the sacrifice of

Jesus forty-two

jubilees

later,

the

people

of

God,

the

righteous

of

Israel who

accepted

the

truth

of his

mission,

would

inherit the earth.

The idea of Jesus as a sacrificial victim who was favored with the

privilege

of

resurrection from the

dead

is

paralleled by

certain

midrashic

traditions

about the

offering

of

Isaac.

Pirqe

de

Rabbi

Eliezer

31

says

that

Isaac

died

of

terror while bound

upon

the

altar,

and

that

he

was

revived

by

the

heavenly

voice

that told

Abraham

not

to

proceed

with

the

slaughter.

A

variant

of

this tradition held

that

Isaac

was

actually

burned

to

ashes

upon

the

altar,

but

was then

restored

to

life.I9

Ibn

Ezra,

in

his

comment

on

Gen

22

19,

argues against

this

view,

saying

'7

H.

and

J. Lewy,

The

Origin

of the Week

and the

Oldest West

Asiatic

Calendar,

Hebrew

Union

College

Annual,

17

(1942-43),

pp.

72

ff.

18

Rabbinic

Judaism,

in

Sanhedrin

97b,

preserved

the

tradition

that the

Messiah

would

come

during

the

eighty-fifth jubilee

after

creation.

19

Unknown

midrash

quoted

in

Shibbole

Halleket,

No. 18

(Tefillah)

17-18;

cf. Ginz-

berg, Legendsof

the

Jews, I, pp.

280

ff.;

v, pp.

251 and

254.

387



JOURNAL

OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

that

it

is

contrary

to

the

teaching

of

scripture.

Though

the idea

of

the

death

and resurrection

of

Isaac

was

generally

rejected by

rabbinic

Ju-

daism,

an

important

theme

in

Jewish

teaching, parallel

to

the

Christian

interpretation

of

Jesus'

sacrifice,

is that Isaac was the

perfect

sacrifice,

the

atonement

offering

that

brings forgiveness

to the

sins

of Israel

through

the

ages.20

This theme is

prominent

in

the traditional

liturgy

for the

New

Year

and the

Day

of

Atonement. The Mekilta identifies

the

blood

of the

paschal

lamb with

the blood

of

Isaac,21

and

in

Leviticus

Rabba

2,

the

daily

morning

and

evening

sacrifices

of

the

temple

are

defined

as

memorials

of

the

offering

of Isaac. This same idea is found

in

the

fragmentary targum

to

Lev

22

27: The lamb was

chosen

(as

the

sacrificial

animal)

to

recall the merit

of

the Lamb

of

Abraham,

who

bound himself

upon

the

altar

and stretched out

his

neck for

the

sake of

thy

name.

Students

of

Christian

origins

have

come

increasingly

to realize

that

the view of

Jesus

as

the

p'-x_

the

Righteous

One

of

Isaiah

53,

and

the

Gospel

of

John's concept

of

Jesus

as the Passover lamb reflect

one

fundamental

concept,

viz.,

that the sacrifice

of

Isaac was to

be re-

enacted

by

the

new

Isaac

who,

like the

old,

was

a

son of God. 22

Paul's assertion

in

I

Cor 5

7,

that

Christ

our

passover

is

sacrificed

for us, and in Rom 5 9, that we are now justified by his blood, is

also a

reflection

of

ancient

Jewish

traditions about the

offering

of

Isaac.23

Both the

Jewish

and

the

Christian

traditions

stem

ultimately

from the

ancient Canaanite cult of

Jerusalem,

in

which

periodically

the

king,

or

a

substitute

for

the

king,

had

to be offered as a

sacrifice,24

hat

the

power

of the

deity

might

be renewed

and his wrath diverted

from

the

people.

This

doctrine

is echoed

in

the words

of

Hebr

9

22,

Without the

shedding

of

blood there

is no remission

of

sins,

and

likewise

in

Talmud

Yoma

5a:

There

is

no

atonement

except through

blood.

20

Canticles

R.

1,

14.

Mekilta

8a,

ed.

Lauterbach,

Tractate

Pisha,

ch.

7,

p.

57.

22

G.

Vermes,

Redemption

and Genesis

22,

in

Scripture

and Tradition

in

Judaism,

p.

225.

23

H.

J. Schoeps,

The Sacrifice of Isaac

in

Paul's

Theology,

JBL,

65

(1946),

p.

391.

24

Several

studies

have

posited

a

connection between

aspects

of the

crucifixion

of

Jesus

and

the

sakaia;

cf.

P.

Wendland,

Jesus

als

Saturnalienk6nig,

Hermes,

33

(1898), pp. 175 ff., and H. Vollmer, Jesus und das Sacaeenopfer.

388

jesus, isaac, and the 'suffering servant

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