Isaiah 52 | |
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![]() The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter. | |
Book | Book of Isaiah |
Hebrew Bible part | Nevi'im |
Order in the Hebrew part | 5 |
Category | Latter Prophets |
Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
Order in the Christian part | 23 |
Isaiah 52 is the fifty-second chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter includes from verse 13 the start of the fourth of the songs of the "Suffering Servant".
The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 15 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., the Isaiah Scroll (1Qlsaa; 356-100 BCE [1] ), and of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes Codex Cairensis (895 CE), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). [2]
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). [3]
The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. [4] Isaiah 52 is a part of the Consolations (Isaiah 40 –66). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.
The New King James Version organises this chapter as follows:
The call, Awake, awake (Hebrew : עורי עורי‘ūrî ‘ūrî) repeats the same call heard in Isaiah 51:9 and Isaiah 51:17. [6]
The second line is rendered in the Greek Septuagint version as: "For those who were not told will see, and those who have not heard will understand", which is cited in Romans 15:21. [12]
Citing a number of Biblical verses that refer to Israel as the "servant", many of them from the Book of Isaiah such as 49:3 He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will display My splendor." [13] Jewish scholars, and several Christian scholarly books, like Revised Standard Version Oxford Study Edition Bible, The Revised Standard Version tell us that Isaiah 53 is about national Israel and the New English Bible echo this analysis. Judaism, teaches that the "servant" in question is actually the nation of Israel. These scholars also argue that verse 10 cannot be describing Jesus. The verse states:
Taken literally, this description, is inconsistent with the short, childless life of Jesus. But there is interpretive room to argue that a resurrected Jesus has prolonged his days indefinitely and that his "seed" are those who become Christians.
The reason that the Servant is referred to in the third person may be that these verses are written from the point of view of Gentile nations amazed at Israel's restoration, or it may simply be a method of figurative description. [14] Supporters of this theory argue that the reason for the use of past tense is based on the differences between Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. Chapters 40–55 of Isaiah are referred to as "Deutero-Isaiah" because the themes and language are different from the rest of the book, leading some scholars to believe it was written by another author. Deutero-Isaiah differs from Proto-Isaiah in that it refers to Israel as already restored, which could account for the past-tense of the passage.
The Servant passages in Isaiah, and especially Isaiah 53, may be compared with Psalm 44. Psalm 44 directly parallels the Servant Songs, making it, probably, the best defense for reading Isaiah 53 as applicable to the nation of Israel.
The earliest known example of a Jew and a Christian debating the meaning of Isaiah 53 is the example from 248 cited by Origen. In Christian church father Origen's Contra Celsus, written in 248, he writes of Isaiah 53:
The discourse between Origen and his Jewish counterpart does not seem to have had any consequences for either party. This was not the case for the majority of centuries that have passed since that time. In Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:24, written in the 700s, a debate about a much less controversial topic results in the arrest of the Jew engaging in the debate. [16]
In 1263 at the Disputation of Barcelona, Nahmanides expressed the Jewish viewpoint of Isaiah 53 and other matters regarding Christian belief about Jesus's role in Hebrew Scripture. The disputation was awarded in his favor by James I of Aragon, and as a result the Dominican Order compelled him to flee from Spain for the remainder of his life. Passages of Talmud were also censored. In a number of other disputations, debate about this passage resulted in forced conversions, deportations, and the burning of Jewish religious texts. [17]
The use of Isaiah 53 in debates between Jews and Christians still often occurs in the context of Christian missionary work among Jews, and the topic is a source of frequent discussion that is often repetitive and heated. Some devout Christians view the use of the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53 in targeted conversion of Jews as a special act of Christian love and a fulfillment of Jesus Christ's teaching of the Great Commission.
The King James Version of verse 7 from this chapter is cited as texts in the English-language oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56). [18]
Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 through 55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon.
Isaiah 50 is the fiftieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter includes the third of the songs of the "Suffering Servant".
Isaiah 49 is the forty-ninth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter includes the second of the songs of the "Suffering Servant".
Isaiah 42 is the forty-second chapter of the Book of Isaiah in both the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter contains a poem known as the first of the "Servant songs" about the servant, whom Jewish tradition holds that Isaiah identifies as either the Israelites themselves or Cyrus.
Isaiah 51 is the fifty-first chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter expresses the consolation of the Lord offered to the people of Israel.
Isaiah 41 is the forty-first chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the second chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah", dating from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.
Isaiah 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Books of the Prophets.
Isaiah 60 is the sixtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 56–66 are often referred to as Trito-Isaiah. In chapters 60–62, "three magnificent chapters", the prophet "hails the rising sun of Jerusalem’s prosperity".
Isaiah 11 is the eleventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophesies attributed to the prophet Isaiah. This chapter can be divided into two main parts, verses 1–9 and verses 11–16, with verse 10 as a connecting statement between them. The New International Version entitles the chapter "The Branch from Jesse".
Isaiah 26 is the twenty-sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 24-27 of Isaiah constitute one continuous poetical prophecy, sometimes called the "Isaiah Apocalypse".
Isaiah 29 is the twenty-ninth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Book of the Prophets. The Jerusalem Bible groups chapters 28-35 together as a collection of "poems on Israel and Judah".
Isaiah 32 is the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Book of the Prophets. The Jerusalem Bible groups chapters 28-35 together as a collection of "poems on Israel and Judah". Unlike the previous chapters, this chapter makes no reference to "the overthrow of the Assyrians".
Isaiah 35 is the thirty-fifth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This is the final chapter in a group which the Jerusalem Bible calls a collection of "poems on Israel and Judah". The New King James Version entitles this chapter "The Future Glory of Zion".
Isaiah 45 is the forty-fifth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.
Isaiah 47 is the forty-seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Books of the Prophets. Isaiah 40-55 is known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and dates from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. Chapter 47 concerns the fall of Babylon, which is personified as a woman, "the virgin daughter of Babylon", "daughter of the Chaldeans", no longer to be called "the Lady of Kingdoms" or "a Lady for ever".
Isaiah 48 is the forty-eighth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. According to John Skinner, this chapter, which is "largely a recapitulation of certain outstanding themes of the prophecy", consists of "exhortations addressed to the exiles in the near prospect of deliverance".
Isaiah 55 is the fifty-fifth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon.
Isaiah 56 is the fifty-sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapter 56 is the first chapter of the final section of the Book of Isaiah, often referred to as Trito-Isaiah.
Isaiah 61 is the sixty-first chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 56-66 are often referred to as Trito-Isaiah. In chapters 60–62, "three magnificent chapters", the prophet "hails the rising sun of Jerusalem’s prosperity". According to Luke 4:17, Jesus, visiting the synagogue at Nazareth, was handed "the book of the prophet Isaiah" and "found the place" where the opening verses of this chapter were written. The New King James Version sub-titles this chapter "The Good News of Salvation".
Isaiah 66 is the sixty-sixth and final chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Book of the Prophets. Chapters 56–66 are often referred to as Trito-Isaiah. This chapter contains an oracle delivered after the temple in Jerusalem had been re-built following the Jewish peoples' return from exile, and warns against "an unduly materialistic" approach to the worship of God.