Isaiah's Servants in Early Judaism and Christianity


Book Description

The Book of Isaiah describes an Israelite group called the "servants," who suffered for their righteousness and were promised vindication. This collection of essays shows how the Isaian "servants" texts were used by early Jewish and Christian readers to shape their own community identity. It includes analyses of Psalms 22, 69, and 102, Daniel, Wisdom of Solomon, Mark, Luke and Acts, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Peter, Revelation, and Targum Jonathan on Isaiah, as well as investigations into the relationship between exegesis and identity formation and into how the Isaian Servant(s) are presented within the framework of Israel's history.




Isaiah's Servants in Early Judaism and Christianity


Book Description

The Book of Isaiah describes an Israelite group called the "servants," who suffered for their righteousness and were promised vindication. This collection of essays shows how the Isaian "servants" texts were used by early Jewish and Christian readers to shape their own community identity. It includes analyses of Psalms 22, 69, and 102, Daniel, Wisdom of Solomon, Mark, Luke and Acts, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Peter, Revelation, and Targum Jonathan on Isaiah, as well as investigations into the relationship between exegesis and identity formation and into how the Isaian Servant(s) are presented within the framework of Israel's history.




The Suffering Servant


Book Description

The Servant Song of Isaiah 53 has been highly significant in both Jewish and Christian thought. Rarely, however, has it been explored from the broad range of perspectives represented in this long-awaited volume. In The Suffering Servant ten talented biblical interpreters trace the influence of the Servant Song text through the centuries, unpacking the theological meanings of this rich passage of scripture and its uses in various religious contexts. Chapters examine in depth Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in the Hebrew original and in later writings, including pre-Christian Jewish literature, the New Testament, the Isaiah Targum, the early church fathers, and a sixteenth-century rabbinic document informed by Jewish-Christian dialogue. Contributors Jostein Ådna Daniel P. Bailey Gerlinde Feine Martin Hengel Hans-Jürgen Hermisson Otfried Hofius Wolfgang Hüllstrung Bernd Janowski Christoph Markschies Stefan Schreiner Hermann Spieckermann Peter Stuhlmacher




The Gospel According to Isaiah 53


Book Description

Written by eleven biblical scholars, this study explores the theology of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 and answers a number of imporant questions: What is a Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53? What is a Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53? How did the New Testament writers understand Isaiah 53? How should forgiveness and salvation be understood in Isaiah 53? How can Isaiah 53 be used in Jewish evangelism? How do we preach Isaiah 53?




Who is the Servant of the Lord?


Book Description

Isaiah 53 has been regarded as a difficult passage within the Hebrew Bible because it describes a person who had to suffer and die vicariously in order to atone for the sins of others. Such a view is in strong contrast to the covenant theology which predominates in the Hebrew Bible and lays the foundation for the principle of retribution: Everyone must bear the consequences of his sins. It is for this reason that Klaus Koch called Isaiah 53 the "erratic block" in the Hebrew Bible. This study, the fruit of international co-operation in the network Rewritten Bible (established in 2006), consists of eleven articles on early interpretations of Isaiah 53 which is the central text in Jewish-Christian encounters through centuries. The articles are written so that they can be read independently. Nevertheless they all are interconnected and, therefore, an introduction and conclusions are included in the volume.




Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins


Book Description

In the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century, Christian scholars portrayed Judaism as the dark religious backdrop to the liberating events of Jesus' life and the rise of the early church. Since the 1950s, however, a dramatic shift has occurred in the study of Judaism, driven by new manuscript and archaeological discoveries and new methods and tools for analyzing sources. George Nickelsburg here provides a broad and synthesizing picture of the results of the past fifty years of scholarship on early Judaism and Christianity. He organizes his discussion around a number of traditional topics: scripture and tradition, Torah and the righteous life, God's activity on humanity's behalf, agents of God's activity, eschatology, historical circumstances, and social settings. Each of the chapters discusses the findings of contemporary research on early Judaism, and then sketches the implications of this research for a possible reinter-pretation of Christianity. Still, in the author's view, there remains a major Jewish-Christian agenda yet to be developed and implemented.




Jesus and the Suffering Servant


Book Description

Did Jesus of Nazareth live and die without the teaching about the righteous Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53 having exerted any significant influence on his ministry? Did the use of Isaiah 53 to interpret his mission actually begin with Jesus?




Christianity Uncovered


Book Description

Many Christians have told me to quit being so nit-picking and let by-gone be be-gones, that what happened in the past was then, and now is now and things have changed. But, that is not true. Christians still read from their so-called NEW testament that is full of Jew-bashing, so subliminal that most Christians overlook it. It is not my desire to claim Christianity is wrong and that you should not believe in your god but I want people to think. Perhaps what you have been led to believe is wrong? Think Why is it wrong for a Christian to deny the divinity of Jesus yet why do Christians turn their blind eye to Christians Missionaries trying to convert Jews against the basic tenants of Judaism? Why is it that most all pictures of the different characters in Christianity have a sun-disk above their heads? The Church made its own spin on this calling them halos, but didnt the Church change Sabbath to Sunday, the day of the sun? Who actually wrote the Christian bible that Christians all over the world swear it? The Church admits they really dont know for sure and only guessed. Did Jesus write anything in the NEW testament, or was his thoughts written by men who thought they knew? Why did it take 2,000 years before the Pope acknowledged the Christian hatred towards Jews and the need for Christians to repent? Why all of a sudden were the Church wrong and the Jews right?




Let's Get Biblical!


Book Description

Explore the Jewish and Christian Scriptures with the world renowned Bible scholar and expert on Jewish evangelism, Rabbi Tovia Singer. This new two-volume work, Let's Get Biblical! Why Doesn't Judaism Accept the Christian Messiah?, takes the reader on an eye-opening journey through timeless passages in Tanach, and answers a pressing question: Why doesn't Judaism accept the Christian messiah? Are the teachings conveyed in the New Testament compatible with ageless prophecies in the Jewish Scriptures? Rabbi Singer's fascinating new work clearly illustrates why the core doctrines of the Church are utterly incompatible with the cornerstone principles expressed by the Prophets of Israel, and are opposed by the most cherished tenets conveyed in the Jewish Scriptures. Moreover, this book demonstrates how the Church systematically and deliberately altered the Jewish Scriptures in order to persuade potential converts that Jesus is the promised Jewish messiah. To accomplish this feat, Christian "translators" manipulated, misquoted, mistranslated, and even fabricated verses in the Hebrew Scriptures so that these texts appear to be speaking about Jesus. This exhaustive book probes and illuminates this thought-provoking subject. Tragically, over the past two millennia, the church's faithful have been completely oblivious to this Bible-tampering because virtually no Christian can read or understand the Hebrew Scriptures in its original language. Since time immemorial, earnest parishioners blindly and utterly depended upon manmade Christian "translations" of the "Old Testament" in order to understand the "Word of God." Understandably, churchgoers are deeply puzzled by the Jewish rejection of their religion's claims. They wonder aloud why Jewish people, who are reared since childhood in the Holy Tongue, and are the bearers and protectors of the sacred Oracles of God, do not accept Jesus as their messiah. How can such an extraordinary people dismiss such an extraordinary claim? Are they just plain stubborn? Let's Get Biblical thoroughly answers these nagging, age-old questions.




Isaiah 53


Book Description

Who is the servant of Isaiah 52:13-53:12? Answering this question is what this study is all about. Through the centuries countless commentaries have been written, tracts have been distributed, debates have raged over the identification of the servant in this passage. Here we investigate the evidence presented over the last 2000 thousand years for the two leading candidates for this role of servant of the Lord. The two are Jesus and the Jewish people. Christians see in this passage the literal fulfillment by Jesus of all it contains. Jews see it in its plain meaning as a historical overview of Jewish history and the suffering to be endured by the nation of Israel until the final redemption. Source materials used by opposing sides in discussing this passage are thoroughly reviewed. In particular, each verse in the passage is studied in depth. But, the purpose of this volume is not simply to have an intellectual discussion of the issues involved. Its intent is to make it an unavoidable issue for Christians that there are very real disqualifications of Jesus from being the suffering servant and to identify the subject of the servant passage as none other than the nation of Israel. Furthermore, we seek to educate Jews so they do not fall prey to those who would have them believe Jesus is the Messiah.