The Suffering Servant In Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Abstrak

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 or what we have known as the Fourth Servant Song,1has been interpreted in many different ways. The Septuagint constitutes an individual and messianic translation. It means that the servant is a singular person and the servant is someone who will come from the near or far future to fulfill the prophecy.2Targum also refers the text as a prophecy of messiah.3 Rabbi Akiba (50-135 CE) considers Simeon bar Koshiba (the leader of Bar Kokhba) as the messiah who fulfill the prophecy of the text.4 John Calvin and many other Christians understand that the text refers to Christ.5 There is no uniformity regards to the figure of the servant and therefore this paper will investigate the figure of the servant according to the Hebrew text of Isaiah 52:13-53:12. First, the paper will present the readers with the Christological interpretation of the text.6 It continues with my investigation of who the servantis,according to the Hebrew text and then displaysits critical remarks on Christological interpretation that has been presented. This paper ends with my personal reflection of how one community understands and interprets Isaiah 52:13-53:12 differently, depends on their contexts and situations.