Investigation: Who Is the Servant?
Israel, a faithful remnant, a prophet, a king, the messiah: the evidence for each in its setting
"But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen" (41:8). "Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant" (44:1). "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect" (45:4). In these chapters the servant is the people, chosen, protected, sometimes blind and deaf (42:19).
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold" (42:1) names no one. "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (49:3) names Israel, yet the same servant is "to bring Jacob again to him" (49:5). In 50:4–9 an unnamed "I" is taught, beaten and vindicated. In 52:13–53:12 "my servant" is despised, wounded "for the transgression of my people" (53:8), cut off, buried, and then exalted.
The book never says who the servant of 52:13–53:12 is. Ancient readers asked the question too: "I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?" (Acts 8:34).
| Text | Who is called servant | What the servant does or suffers |
|---|---|---|
| 41:8–9 | Israel, Jacob, seed of Abraham | Chosen, not rejected; told not to fear |
| 42:1–4 (Song 1) | Unnamed (the library's Greek: Jacob/Israel) | Brings justice to nations gently; Spirit upon him |
| 42:5–9 | "Thee": the servant (or Cyrus?) | A covenant for the people, light to nations, opens blind eyes |
| 42:18–25 | "My servant… my messenger": Israel | Blind and deaf; plundered for its sins |
| 43:10 | "My servant whom I have chosen" beside "my witnesses" | Witness that the LORD alone is God |
| 44:1–2, 21; 45:4; 48:20 | Jacob/Israel | Formed, redeemed, not forgotten |
| 49:1–6 (Song 2) | "Israel" (v. 3), sent to Jacob/Israel (vv. 5–6) | Called from the womb; labored in vain; light to nations |
| 49:7 | One despised, servant of rulers | Kings will stand |
| 50:4–9 (Song 3) | Unnamed "I"; v. 10 "his servant" | Taught, obedient, beaten, spat on; vindicated |
| 52:13–53:12 (Song 4) | "My servant" (52:13; 53:11) | Marred; despised; wounded for others; silent; cut off; buried; makes many righteous; exalted |
| 54:17 | "The servants of the LORD" (plural) | Inherit protection and righteousness |
| Identification | Evidence for it in Isaiah | Difficulties | Who has held it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel, the whole people | Servant = Israel/Jacob throughout 41–48 and in 49:3; national suffering in exile; the nations' astonishment (52:15) | The servant suffers innocently (53:9) and for "my people" (53:8); Israel is called sinful (42:24; 43:24) | Origen's Jewish informant (c. AD 248); Rashi and much medieval and modern Jewish interpretation; many critical scholars |
| The faithful remnant within Israel | Servant both is and serves Israel (49:3, 5–6); the plural "servants" (54:17; 65–66) | The text speaks of one person in Song 4 | Daniel 11–12's maskilim (2nd c. BC) apply the language to the wise; some modern scholars |
| The prophet himself (or a prophetic figure) | First-person speech (49:1–6; 50:4–9); prophetic sufferings like Jeremiah's; 48:16 | Death and burial in Song 4 seem to exceed the prophet's role; who would describe his own death? | Acts 8:34's question; S. Mowinckel; R. N. Whybray |
| A king or royal figure (Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel, a Davidic heir) | Kings' astonishment (52:15); exaltation; "portion with the great"; 55:3 Davidic mercies | No royal title in the songs; the figures do not fit closely | Various 19th–20th century proposals |
| Moses or a new Moses | Moses is "my servant" (Numbers 12:7); intercession (53:12; Exodus 32:32); new exodus theme | No explicit Moses reference | Some scholars (e.g., K. Baltzer) |
| The messiah (an individual future figure) | Individual description; exaltation; making many righteous; royal-like vindication | The text does not call him messiah or king; Isaiah's other messianic texts (9; 11) do not mention suffering | Targum on 52:13 (but not the suffering); some rabbinic and medieval sources (Driver and Neubauer); Christians, applying it to Jesus |
| Text | Does the text name the servant? | Who speaks, to whom | Readings that fit best here | Readings that strain here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41:8–9 | Yes: "Israel… Jacob… the seed of Abraham" | God speaks to Israel | The whole people (stated) | Individual readings do not apply; nothing here describes one person |
| 42:1–4 (Song 1) | No name in the Hebrew; the library's Greek adds "Jacob… Israel" | God presents the servant to an unnamed audience | Israel (by the context of 41:8 and the Greek); an individual agent of justice (prophet, ideal king); Matthew 12:18–21 applies it to Jesus | The gentle, faithful servant who "shall not fail" (42:4) contrasts with the blind servant Israel of 42:19 |
| 42:18–25 | Yes: "my servant… my messenger," then "Jacob… Israel" (v. 24) | God accuses the people | The whole people, blind, deaf and punished for sin | Any reading of the servant as sinless; the same title is used of a sinful servant |
| 43:10 | "My witnesses" (plural) beside "my servant whom I have chosen" | God to the assembled people | The people as a body of witnesses | An individual reading is possible only if the servant is distinct from the witnesses |
| 44:1–2, 21; 45:4; 48:20 | Yes: Jacob/Israel each time | God to the people | The whole people (stated) | None for the collective reading |
| 49:1–6 (Song 2) | Yes, in v. 3: "Thou art my servant, O Israel" (all ancient witnesses) | The servant himself, in the first person, to the coastlands | A figure who embodies Israel's calling: the prophet (called from the womb, like Jeremiah 1:5), a faithful remnant, or an ideal Israel | The whole-people reading strains at vv. 5–6, where the servant is sent "to bring Jacob again"; an individual reading strains at v. 3's "Israel" (read by some as a title: "you are the true Israel") |
| 49:7 | "One despised… a servant of rulers" | God to the despised one | Israel humiliated in exile, or an individual | Either reading is possible; the verse does not decide |
| 50:4–9 (Song 3) | No name; v. 10 speaks of "his servant" | An unnamed "I" speaks | The prophet as a disciple who is beaten for his message; a faithful remnant | The whole-people reading strains: this speaker "was not rebellious" (50:5), but Israel is "a transgressor from the womb" (48:8) |
| 50:10–11 | "Obeyeth the voice of his servant" | The prophet or God to the hearers | An individual whose voice the faithful obey | The servant is distinct from those who fear the LORD |
| 52:13–53:12 (Song 4) | "My servant" (52:13; 53:11), no other name | God (52:13–15; 53:11b–12) and a confessing "we" (53:1–11a) | Two strong readings: Israel among the nations (the "we" are the astonished kings of 52:15), or an individual who dies, is buried and intercedes | The collective reading strains at innocence (53:9) and at "for the transgression of my people" (53:8; "his people" in 1QIsa-a and 1QIsa-b); the individual reading must explain why the servant is unnamed after so many texts that call Israel servant |
| 54:17; 56:6; 63:17; 65:8–15; 66:14 | Plural: "the servants of the LORD" | God to the community | The faithful within Israel, and in 56:6 foreigners who join them | After 53 the singular servant does not return; the servants inherit his work ("he shall see his seed," 53:10) |
In Isaiah 40–55 the word "servant" (eved) names Israel most of the time and is never given a personal name in the four songs. The songs' servant has Israel's name (49:3) and Israel's calling (light to the nations, 42:6; 49:6), but is distinguished from "my people" (53:8) and sent to restore Jacob (49:5). The text itself holds the collective and the individual together and does not resolve them.
Daniel 11:33–35; 12:3 (2nd century BC) applies the servant's vocabulary ("the wise," "make many righteous") to faithful teachers who suffer. The Wisdom of Solomon 2–5 reuses the song's pattern for the righteous man. The Targum calls the servant "messiah" in 52:13 and 53:10 but applies the suffering to Israel and the nations. The Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 98b) calls the messiah "the leper" from 53:4. Medieval interpreters divide: Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Kimchi and others read Israel (or the righteous in Israel); some midrashim and later authors read the messiah (Driver and Neubauer collect over forty Jewish interpretations).
Christians from the New Testament onward read the songs, above all the fourth, of Jesus: Matthew 12:18–21 (42:1–4); Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30 ("thy holy child [servant] Jesus," pais); Acts 8:32–35 (53:7–8); 1 Peter 2:21–25 (53). Early Christians also applied servant texts to apostles (Acts 13:47) and to the church.
Modern historians can trace the history of these interpretations; they cannot determine the author's referent with certainty. Critical scholarship has moved from Duhm's isolated songs toward reading them in their context in 40–55, which favors a strong link with Israel, while many still argue that Song 4 describes an individual. The idea of "corporate personality" (H. Wheeler Robinson) once used to join the two has been widely criticized. The question remains open in scholarship.
Reading passage by passage
No single identification has to explain every use of "servant" in Isaiah 41–54, and the text itself suggests that none does. Some passages name Israel outright (41:8; 44:1, 21; 45:4; 48:20) and describe the people as blind and sinful (42:18–25). Others portray someone who speaks to Israel, is sent to restore it, and suffers within it (49:5–6; 50:4–9; 53:8). The table above weighs each passage separately, and shows the tension the reader feels: the servant is Israel, and yet the servant is sent to Israel. Many scholars now treat that tension as the poems' point rather than a problem to solve: the calling given to the whole people (to be a light to the nations, 42:6; 49:6) is carried out by a figure, or a faithful group, within it.
"Servant Songs": a modern label
B. Duhm (1892) separated four poems as "Servant Songs" and argued that they came from another author. Today many scholars keep the label for convenience but read the poems as part of their surrounding chapters, where the servant theme runs through 41–55 and passes to "servants" in 54–66. Readers should know that the boundaries of the songs (42:1–4 or 1–9; 49:1–6 or 1–13; 50:4–9 or 4–11) are themselves debated.
The question in Acts 8
The Ethiopian official's question, "of himself, or of some other man?" (Acts 8:34), is the question this investigation asks. Luke records that Philip "began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." Luke thus preserves both an open question and the early Christian answer. See "Isaiah 53 in the New Testament."
What the evidence shows
- In Isaiah 41–48 the servant is repeatedly identified as Israel/Jacob.
- Isaiah 49:3 calls the servant Israel in all ancient witnesses.
- The four Servant Songs were written by a different author from the rest of 40–55. Duhm's thesis; many now read them in context.
- The servant of 52:13–53:12 is Israel. A major Jewish and scholarly reading.
- The servant of 52:13–53:12 is the messiah. Some Jewish sources; the Christian reading applies it to Jesus.
- Daniel 11–12 applies servant language to the faithful wise.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 42:1–4: "Behold my servant": Hebrew, Greek and Matthew 12"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." The Hebrew names no one; the library's Greek reads "Jacob my servant… Israel my chosen." Matthew 12:18–21 quotes the passage of Jesus in a form close to neither, without Jacob and Israel, ending with the Greek "in his name shall the Gentiles trust." The Great Isaiah Scroll reads "his justice" (v.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- "Of himself, or of some other man?"
- Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27, 30Jesus as God's servant (pais).
- Daniel 11:33–35; 12:3The wise who make many righteous.
- Wisdom of Solomon 2:12–20; 5:1–7The persecuted righteous one.