The suffering servant in Isaiah 53

[3abd Arahman]

What is meant in Isaiah 53:8 by: "For he was cut off out of the land of the living"?


Answer: "For he was cut off out of the land of the living" is not to be taken as a literal description of the death of an individual. Metaphors of this type, used to describe deep anguish and subjection to enemies, are part of the biblical idiom. Similar metaphorical language is used, for example, in Ezekiel 37 to express the condition preceding relief and rejuvenation following the end of exile. Ezekiel provides the clues needed for understanding the phraseology used by Elijah. The metaphorical images employed by Isaiah are also used in Ezekiel's description of the valley of the dry bones, where the bones symbolize the exiled Jewish people. Lost in an apparently hopeless exile, the Jewish people claim: "we are clean cut off" (Ezekiel 37:11). In reply, God promises: "And I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land" (Ezekiel 37:14). It is now clear that Isaiah's phrase, "for he was cut off out of the land of the living," refers to the deadly condition of exile. God will free the servant from this fate and restore him to the "land of the living," the Land if Israel.

Within the context of Isaiah 53 and specifically within the context of verse 8, the phrase "for he was cut off out of the land of the living," has no special literal or metaphorical application to Jesus.

[3abd Arahman]

What is meant in Isaiah 53:8 by: "And his life's history who is able to relate?"


Answer: The translation of dor, which is generally rendered as "generation" is to be understood here as meaning "life's history" or "life's cycle." What is involved here is not just the suffering servant's life-span but the entire spectrum of events contained within those years. This is similar to the use of dor in Isaiah 38:12, where Hezekiah speaks of how he felt about what was believed to be his imminent passing: "My life's cycle [dori] is pulled up and carried from me as a shepherd's tent." He bewails not just his expected loss of life but all that he could still accomplish if allowed to live. Isaiah 53:8 quotes the repentant Gentles as asking, in effect, the rhetorical Question: Who is able to properly relate all the trials and tribulations suffered by the servant during his passage through history?