Isaiah 52 · a question people ask
Who is the servant of 52:13?
The verses don't name him. They say that he "will deal wisely" and "will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high" (52:13), that "his appearance was marred more than any man" (52:14), and that "Kings will shut their mouths at him" (52:15). Paul gives words of 52:15 where he writes of preaching Christ: his aim was "to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named" (Romans 15:20), "But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.”" (Romans 15:21). The thread on this chapter follows those verses. 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 the New Testament applies 52:13-53:12 to Jesus. This chapter settles nothing more.
The verses
“Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high. Just as many were astonished at you— his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men— so he will cleanse many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for they will see that which had not been told them, and they will understand that which they had not heard.”
“yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation. But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.””
“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,”