Ebook: Studies on the Second Part of the Book of Isaiah

Harry M. Orlinsky: The So-Called 'Servant of the Lord' and 'Suffering Servant' in Second Isaiah

There are a number of biblical concepts that are of prime importance to the modern student of the Bible but which, it would seem to me, were actually non-existent, or were only of the slightest significance, in biblical times, when the inhabitants of the land of Israel were in the process of creating what later became Sacred Scripture. Among these, apparently only allegedly biblical concepts are the existence of a "soul" (the traditional, but incorrect translation of Hebrew néfesh), the "virginal" character of the ˁalmáh in Isaiah 7.14, the prophets' hostile attitude toward sacrifice in the worship of the Lord, the international outlook of the biblical writers (including, or especially, the prophets)—and the "Servant of the Lord" in Second
Isaiah, above all, the "Servant" in 52.13-53.12, as the "Suffering Servant" par excellence, who, innocent of sin, suffered vicariously in order that others, guilty of sin and hence deserving of punishment, might thereby be atoned for and spared the punishment.

Norman H. Snaith: Isaiah 40-66: A Study of the Teaching of the Second Isaiah and Its Consequences

These studies of the last twenty-seven chapters of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah are lectures delivered as Speaker's Lecturer in Biblical Studies in the University of Oxford in the year 1961/2. They consist of an examination of the teaching of the Second Isaiah and of the results of his teaching. The Second Isaiah had what is known in these days as 'a one track mind.' He was the Prophet of the Return. He was an intense nationalist, and he looked forward to a resurrection to abounding prosperity and world dominion for the exiles in Babylonia. Central in his thought was the conception of the Servant of the LORD. This was primarily those who went into exile with the young king Jehoiachin in 597 B.C., but the concept broadens to include all the Babylonian exiles. One of the marked features of his presentation of the Servant is the sudden surprise of the Servant's triumph. The Servant is a hidden Servant.