Isaiah 42 · a question people ask
Who is the servant of 42:1?
The verse doesn't name him. It says of him, "whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him" (42:1), and the verses that follow say he will bring justice without shouting (42:2), without breaking a bruised reed (42:3), and without failing "until he has set justice on the earth" (42:4). Matthew gives these verses of Jesus: after Jesus healed the crowds and "commanded them that they should not make him known" (Matthew 12:16), Matthew writes, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet" (Matthew 12:17), and gives the words of 42:1-4 (Matthew 12:18-21). Elsewhere in Isaiah the LORD says my servant of several: of Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3), of Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20), of David (Isaiah 37:35) and, from chapter 41, of Israel (Isaiah 41:8). Christians read how the servant passages of these chapters fit together in more than one way. Chapter 49's honest question sets out the main readings, each resting on its verses, and chooses none; each reading it sets out agrees that Matthew applies 42:1-4 to Jesus. This chapter settles nothing more.
The verses
““Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice on the earth, and the islands wait for his law.””
“The LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,”
“It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,”
“‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’””