RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

THE SERVANT OF SECOND ISAIAH AND THE PROPHET JEREMIAH

The life and times of Jeremiah seem to suggest the image of a prophet who suffers on behalf

of his unfaithful people and seems to echo the image of the suffering servant which was narrated

in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In this paper, I will try to present on what grounds the life of

Jeremiah can be compared with the picture of the Suffering Servant in Isa 52:13-53:12. The

research paper will try to answer the following the questions:

a) Since we will be trying to compare and contrast the life of the Prophet Jeremiah with the

picture of the suffering servant in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, it is good that we start

by asking: What does Second Isaiah try to present to its reader? Moreover, we will be

describing the fate of the Suffering Servant which Second Isaiah narrated in the book. Who

is this servant which the author described in his book? What are some of the different

interpretations that authors and commentators illustrate to describe the suffering servant?

b) Since the paper also focuses on the life of Jeremiah, this study will try to answer the

questions regarding the life and times of the Prophet. As we move on to Jeremiah’s life as

a prophet, we will try to answer what is the content of the book and to whom was it written

for? As we finish answering the preceding questions, we will try to answer the question on

what grounds can Jeremiah’s life be compared with the picture of the suffering servant?

Second Isaiah and the Servant of Yahweh

Scholars believed that the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is divided into two, the former part

(Chapter 40-66) being written by Isaiah himself and the latter part (Chapter 40-66) written by an

anonymous prophet or author. Hueman commented about this saying that, “The Prophet Isaiah

practiced his ministry between the years 742-687 B.C., and it is his work which is reflected in
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

chapters 1-39 of the book of Isaiah. The anonymous prophet we are now to consider was assuredly

a member of the “Isaian School.” But he lived and worked some 150 years later, in the time of the

Babylonian exile.”1 The person behind the oracles, sayings, and poems contained in Second Isaiah

“may well have been influenced by Isaiah himself or been understood as a latter-day follower of

Isaiah. He clearly addressed himself to the exiles in Babylon, perhaps shortly before Cyrus's

conquest of the city in 539 B.C.E. (see Isa 44:28; 45:1). His prophesying dates are usually given

as about 545-540 B.C.E., although one could give or take a few years on either side.”2

Deutero-Isaiah presented how the Prophets had already proclaimed in the past the fore

coming exile of the land of Judah and the prophecies about a new exodus and a new world order

back to the homeland (41:21-29; 44:6-8; passim). The author of the latter part of Isaiah’s book

seems to present to the reader how the one true God can announce beforehand what will be

brought about and how this has been done through the prophets, concluding that Yahweh is

God.

Within the writings of Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah, we will read references about the

famous poems about the Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 42, 1-9; 49, 1-13; 50, 4-9; 52, 13-53, 12). The

theme of the Lord’s servant is one of the most noted aspects of Deutero-Isaiah’s prophecies.

Williams commented that “whatever his own understanding of the identity of this servant, in four

poems or songs, he is despised as an individual (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) who is a

prophet. He is called to prophesy (49:1), YHWH's spirit is upon him (49:1), and his ear is "opened"

1
Huesman, 5.
2
Williams, 157-162.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

by YHWH. His calling entails speaking God's word to Israel (49:3-5). He encounters great

difficulty and persecution, but God will help him and vindicate him (50:6-9; 53).”3

Who is the servant that the author of Second Isaiah is referring to? Authors and

Commentators have presented various interpretations about who the servant is. In this part of the

paper, we will try to enumerate various interpretations which scholars have given about the

identity of the servant of the Lord.

COLLECTIVE INTERPRETATION

The most common of all and probably the oldest given interpretation for the servant in

Second Isaiah is the collective interpretation. It says that the servant refers to a group of people

and has been seen in the personification of the People of Israel. McKenzie writes that the most

obvious argument for this interpretation “rests on the fact that Israel is called the servant of Yahweh

several times in the text of Second Isaiah.”4 Ludemann also commented that the servant is Israel

or part of the whole who is experiencing exile from their land in Babylon.5

INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION

If we will not consider the servant as a group of individuals, others have interpreted it as

an individual person. McKenzie commented that he could either be “a fictitious person created by

the imagination of the prophet or he could be a historical person. As a historical person, he could

either be a figure of the past or, of the future from the prophet’s point of view; the second of these

is not the same as the fictitious character. The fictitious character does not exist, has never existed,

and is not expected to exist; the historical person is expected to exist, and when we search for the

3
Ibid.
4
Anchor Bible, xliii.
5
Ludemann, 14.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

meaning of the prophet it is irrelevant whether his expectations were ever fulfilled.”6 Ludemann

says that probably the servant would be interpreted as Isaiah himself whom God blessed with a

mouth like a sharp sword and makes a covenant like Moses.7

Fourth Song: The Suffering Servant

Chapter 52 of Isaiah presents the passage about the fourth servant song which is a kind of

antiphonal dialogue between the God of Israel and the people. The chapter reveals to us a servant

who will bear excessive iniquities, pogroms, blood libels, and continue to suffer without cause (Cf.

Isaiah 52:4) on behalf of others (Cf. Isaiah 53:7,11–12). Williams commented about this fourth

servant song, saying that “the Second Isaiah poem, which is a dramatic representation of the

Servant’s healing suffering, discloses the power of the sacrificial mechanism in the scapegoat

ritual, its foundation in contempt for the victim, its operation through oppression, the human

predicament of those who have benefitted from the suffering of the scapegoat, and God’s approval

of the one who is not simply an arbitrarily chosen victim but who offers himself when necessary

as part of his calling in order to overcome the strife and violence stemming from rivalry.”8

The Prophet Jeremiah

McConville says that the Book of Jeremiah “is one of the longest in the Bible and a favorite

for a number of reasons. It paints the most vivid picture of any Old Testament prophet, in all his

weakness as well as strength. It also contains the famous prophecy of a New Covenant (Jer 31:31-

34) […] Jeremiah’s sufferings on behalf of the people to whom he ministered illustrate the burden

6
Anchor Bible, xlv.
7
Ludemaan, 14.
8
Williams, 157-162.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

that a call to live and speak for God can place on a person. For this reason, his life can be compared

with the picture of the Suffering Servant in Isa. 52:13—53:12.”9

We already explored the context of Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah and the author’s

presentation of the Servant Songs of the Lord, especially the Suffering Servant which we will

relate to the own life of the Prophet Jeremiah later. In this part of the paper, we will probe to the

book of Jeremiah. We will try to go into the context of the book by examining the content,

structure, and composition of the book. Afterward, after illustrating the life and times of the

prophet, we will try to give some grounds of Jeremiah’s suffering in connection to the suffering

servant of the Book of Deutero-Isaiah.

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah can be divided into five different themes. These include

(1) the oracle against Judah and Jerusalem, (2) the oracle against the Nations, (3) the prophecy of

Israel’s and Juda’s salvation, (4) the story of the persecution of Jeremiah and lastly (5) the end of

the kingdom of Judah.

In his youth, God commissioned Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, placing his words

in his mouth, setting Jeremiah over the nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and break down,

to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant (Cf. Jer 1:5-7, 9-10). Birgsma and Pitre

commented that “Jeremiah’s career is described with six verbs: the first four describe judgment

(“pluck up”, “break down”, “destroy”, overthrow”), and the last two describe restoration (“build”

and “plant”). These verses, which contain both judgment and hope but put the greater emphasis on

judgment, are an apt characterization of the kind of prophetic ministry Jeremiah is going to carry

out and, indeed, of the character of the book of Jeremiah as a whole.” 10 The Book of Jeremiah is

9
McConville, 45.
10
Birgsma and Pitre, 785.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

a compilation of oracles of judgment and silver linings in every judgment that will come upon the

people.

The judgments were described in the oracles presented by the author of the Book of

Jeremiah. The oracle against Judah and Jerusalem, which Birgsma and Pitre describes as Book

ONE of Jeremiah’s prophecy, focuses on the attacks against the political and religious errors of

the chosen people and the prophet’s predestination and God’s help in the accomplishment of his

mission, which will be mainly for condemnation. This section contains many prophetic signs

“intended to effect what they signify.”11 The oracle against the nation is comprised of God’s wrath

and awaiting revenge toward the neighboring countries who have treated the chosen people

harshly, presenting God as the God of all nations and history.

The Prophet Jeremiah’s mission to prophesy does not only entail an end toward the present

evil but also builds up a promising future. However, Jeremiah was not welcomed very well by his

people who rejected his message. Birgsma and Pitre commented that “the people did not respond

well to such signs of judgment, and, in response to the final sign, they began to make plots against

Jeremiah (Jer 18:18). Eventually, Jeremiah is arrested, beaten, and placed in stocks near the

Benjamin Gate by Pashnur, the chief priest (Jer 20:1-2). This causes the prophet to curse the day

he was born in one of his most poignant laments (Jer 20:7-18).”12 Lastly, the Book of Jeremiah

ended with the appendix presenting some variants of the second book of Kings about the

destruction of Judah, illustrating the prophecy message’s fulfillment.

11
Birgsma and Pitre, 787.
12
Birgsma and Pitre, 788.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

The Prophet Jeremiah and the Prophet Isaiah

Before I proceed, I would like to present some verbal correspondences which the Book of

the Prophet Isaiah and the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah seemed to present to the readers and can

be considered main grounds in comparing Jeremiah and the Servant of Isaiah. As I was reading

the two prophetic books and researching on the subject matter, I discovered several echoing verses

and lines between Isaiah and Jeremiah:

a) Isaiah 49:1 seems to echo the calling of Jeremiah from his mother’s womb on Jeremiah 1:5
b. Isaiah 53:7 echoes how Jeremiah said to himself how he was like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent to its shearers, not opening his mouth in Jeremiah 11:19.
c) Isaiah 53:8 echoes how Jeremiah had been cut off from the land of the living, stricken for
the transgressions of his people in Jeremiah 11:19.

Jeremiah and the Suffering Servant

The life and times of Jeremiah, as mentioned above, was full of oracles of judgments and

prophetic signs which were imparted and conveyed to Israel and the nations. But as Birgsma and

Pitre described and as quoted above, the people did not respond well to such signs of judgment but

instead they mistreated, abused and lambasted Jeremiah, making him to suffer a great deal of

suffering. Bright mentions how Jeremiah, after preaching to the people, “was arrested on charges

of treason, beaten and thrown into prison, and there subjected to cruel and unusual hardships.”13

Thus, the life of Jeremiah as it was full of signs of judgment, also described how greatly

Jeremiah grieved and suffered. Though in some versions of the scriptures the suffering of Jeremiah

13
Bright, 232.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

was not explicitly described, The Jerusalem Bible plainly portrayed a collective of chapters from

Jeremiah as ‘The Sufferings of Jeremiah.” With this in mind, we will start establishing how we

will compare the suffering servant of Deutero-Isaiah to the life and times of Jeremiah, the Prophet.

In this section, we will acknowledge several scholars and authors who wrote various studies

concerning the prophet Jeremiah and his relation to the Suffering Servant.

Many scholars have interpreted that the Prophet Jeremiah echoes and mirrors the life of the

suffering servant which we have discussed above. Farley commented that “Jeremiah would

naturally be thought of as ‘The Servant of the Lord’; he would even furnish features for the picture

of the ideal ‘Servant’ or ‘prophet.”14

Blank too in his Prophetic Faith in Isaiah is of the same opinion: “The bitter experience of

Israel, whom the Second Isaiah here personified as servant-prophet, led him necessarily to

Jeremiah for the features of his personification – to that prophet within his tradition who, more

than any other, had, like Israel, endured reproach and suffering. Inevitably Jeremiah must sit model

for his portrait of God’s servant-prophet.”15 CHECK QUOTE-something may be missing

North in his book mentioned several scholars and authors who identified the prophet

Jeremiah as the suffering servant in Deutero-Isaiah:

Grotius’ theory that the servant […] was Jeremiah was revived by Baron C.C.J .
Bunsen. He referred to features in the life of Jeremiah, and tried to fit them into the passage,
which, he supposed, was written by the Prophets’s disciple Baruch. Duhm, too, in his
earlier days, thought of Jeremiah. He was already of the opinion that [parts of the Book of
the Prophet Isaiah] were not, in their original form, from the hand of Deutero-Isaiah. They
were perhaps a prophetic description of the life and work of Jeremiah, written by a younger
contemporary. They were taken over by Deutero-Isaiah, who considerably revised them,
and related them to his own servant of Yahweh, ‘the ideal Israel that has God’s word’.

14
Fred A. Farley, “Jeremiah and ‘The Suffering Servant of Jehovah’ in Deutero-Isaiah,” ExpTim 38/11
(1927): 523.
15
Sheldon H. Blank, Prophetic Faith in Isaiah (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1967), 100.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

Individual Interpretations of some scholars have concluded that Jeremiah was the suffering

servant in Second Isaiah. North commented that: “Several of the modern historical-individual

theories were anticipated by Jewish writers. Saadyah Gaon thought the Servant was Jeremiah.

Among his reasons for doing so, according to Abarnabel, were that ‘the word sucker (yoneq, 53:2)

is an allusion to his youth (Jer 1:6) … that he was “like a sheep led to the slaughter”, as he says

himself (Jer 11:19), and that the words “I will divide him a portion with the great” have reference

to the provisions with which he was everyday supplied’ (Jer 40:5).”16

Janzen in his article explicitly commented that “The suffering prophet par excellence is

Jeremiah. He is called by God against his own protestations, mocked and persecuted by his fellow

villagers of Anathoth and others, and forbidden by God to marry or have children. Beaten and put

in the stocks by the priest Pashhur, he barely escapes the death sentence demanded by a mob and

must go into hiding for his preaching during the reign of King Jehoiakim. He is accused of being

a traitor for announcing God’s judgment on Jerusalem through the Babylonians. After being

thrown into a dry well to perish, he eventually is rescued and kept in a prison, only to be carried

off to Egypt against his will.”17

The echoing of the suffering servant in the life of the prophet Jeremiah ties in the image of

obedience to Yahweh, which the servant manifested in the servant songs. Janzen commented that

“Suffering under this burden of obedience to proclaim a message painful to the prophet himself

and hateful to his hearers is portrayed most articulately in the so-called Laments of Jeremiah

16
North, 20-21.
17
Janzen, 20.
 RESEARCH PAPER [FIRST DRAFT]

(11:18-20; 12:1-6; 15:10-12,15-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18). They resemble the individual

lament psalms, but their content is tied to the specifics of Jeremiah’s life.”18

18
Ibid., 21.