James Trimm’s Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah Chapter 53
53:1
1 Who would have believed our report? And to whom has the arm of YHWH been revealed?
(Is. 53:1 HRV)
This prophecy was fulfilled when Yeshua came and “they did not believe in him” as Yochanan reported:
37 And though He did all these signs before them, they did not believe in Him,
38 That the word of Yesha’yahu the prophet, might be fulfilled; who said, My Adon, who, has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of YHWH been
revealed?
(Yochanan 12:37-38)
And Paul writes:
13 For all who will call on the Name of YHWH have life. (Joel 3:5 (2:32))
14 How, then will those who have no trust call on Him? Or how will they have trust toward Him whom they have not heard? Or how will they hear without a proclaimer?
15 Or how will they proclaim except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of the messengers of shalom, and of the messengers of good. (Isaiah 52:7)
16 But not all of them have obeyed the good news of the good news. For Yesha’yahu said, My Adon, who has believed our voice? (Isaiah 53:1)
(Romans 10:13-16)
53:2
2 For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground. He had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him.
Rambam says of this verse:
Regarding the mission by which Messiah will present himself
Isaiah states, “He grew like a tender plant and as a root
out of dry land” (Isaiah 53:2) “At him will kings shut their mouths,
for what had not been told unto them shall they see,
and what they never heard shall they understand (Is. 52:15).”
(On Is. 52:15-53:2)
53:3-5
3 He was despised, and forsaken of men–a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4 Surely our diseases He did bear, and our pains He carried: whereas we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of Elohim, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions; He was crushed because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our welfare was upon Him, and with His stripes, we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:3-5 HRV)
These words speak of the Messiah, as the Talmud says:
The Rabbis said that that Messiah’s name is the Suffering
Scholar of Rabbi’s House (or the Leper Scholar) for it is
written, “Surely he has born our grief and carried our sorrows,
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.” (Is. 53:4)
(b.San. 98a)
The Messiah- what is his name? The House of Rabbi Judah the
Holy One says: The Sick One? “Surely he has born our sicknesses” (Is. 53:4)
(b.San. 98b)
Rabbi Joshua came upon the prophet Elijah as he was standing
at the entrance of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai’s cave. He asked him:
“When is the Messiah coming?” The other replied: “Go and ask
him yourself.” “Where shall I find him?” “Before the gates
of Rome.” “By what sign shall I know him?” “He is sitting
among the poor people and covered with wounds.”(see Is. 53:5)
(b.San. 98a)
And as we read in the Zohar:
In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the
“hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
“Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.”
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
This prophecy was fulfilled by Yeshua both literally and on a deeper spiritual level. Literally as recorded by Mattiyahu:
16 And when it was evening, they brought to Him many, that were possessed by shadim. And He, by His word alone, cast out for them the spirits, and healed them that were in evil state,
17 To establish what was spoken by Yesha’yahu the prophet, who said, He took our diseases, and our pains He carried.
(Matt. 8:16-17 HRV)
And on a deeper, spiritual level, as Kefa writes:
21 For to this you were called! Because even the Messiah died for us, and left us this pattern: that you should walk in His footsteps.
22 He did not commit sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth, (Isaiah 53:9)
23 Who was reviled, yet did not revile, and suffered, yet did not threaten: but delivered His case to the Judge of righteousness.
24 And He bore all our sins (Isaiah 53:4, 12), and lifted them in His body, to the gallows, that being dead to sin, we might live in His righteousness: for by His wounds you were healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
25 For you were wandering like sheep, but you have now returned (Isaiah 53:6) to the Shepherd and overseer of your nefeshot.
(1Kefa 2:21-25)
53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way, and YHWH has made to light on Him, the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:6 HRV)
The servant is contrasted with the speaker who counts himself with a group (Israel) saying “we” throughout. (Is. 53:6) If “we” is Israel and “we” is being contrasted with “he” then “he” the literal servant cannot be Israel.
See citation of 1Kefa in comments to Isaiah 53:3-5)
53:7-8
7 He was oppressed, though He humbled Himself, and opened not His mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb: yes, He opened not His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and with His generation who did reason? For He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.
(Isaiah 53:7-8 HRV)
my people Hebrew: עמי this is the reading of the Masoretic Text, Aramaic Peshitta Tanak, the Aramaic of Targum Jonathan and Greek LXX. One of the two major Hebrew copies of Yesha’yah found at Qumran has עמי “his people” (although this is not noted in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible).
The servant is a voluntary sufferer (Is. 53:7, 12b) and therefore cannot simply be Israel in its primary meaning.
In Acts we read that Philip expounded these words to an Ethiopian believer returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, proclaiming to him concerning Yeshua:
26 And an angel of YHWH spoke with Philip and said to him, Arise; go to the south on the desert road, that goes down from Yerushalayim to Gaza.
27 And he arose, went, and he met a believer who had come from Ethiopia–an official of Kandake, queen of the Ethiopians. And he was in authority concerning all of her treasure, and had come to worship in Yerushalayim.
28 And as he turned to go, he was sitting in a chariot, and reading in Yesha’yahu the prophet.
29 And the Spirit said to Philip: Draw near, and follow the chariot.
30 And when he had drawn near, he heard that he was reading in Yesha’yahu the prophet, and said to him, Do you understand what you are reading?
31 And he said, How am I able to understand unless a man teaches me? And he requested from Philip that he come up and sit with him.
32 And the section of the Scripture in which he was reading was this, As a lamb, He was led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearer is silent, even thus He did not open His mouth.
33 In His humiliation He was led from prison and from judgment. And His generation, who will declare it? Because His life has been taken from the earth.
34 And that faithful one said to Philip, I ask of you, concerning whom did the prophet speak this, of his nefesh, or concerning another man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth and began from this Scripture to proclaim to him, concerning our Adon Yeshua.
(Acts 8:26-35)
He opened not His mouth. As we read in Mattityahu:
62 Then the Chief Cohen arose, and said to Him, Answer you nothing at all, concerning these things which they witness against You?
63 But Yeshua answered nothing, but was silent. Then the Chief Cohen said to Him, I adjure you, by the Living Elohim, that you tell us whether You are Messiah, the Son of Elohim.
64 And Yeshua answered and said to him: You have said. Therefore I say to you, hereafter you will see, the Son of Man, that sits here on the right hand of the Power of Elohim, (Ps. 110:1) coming in the clouds of heaven. (Dan. 7:13)
(Matt. 26:62-63 HRV)
53:9
And He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich, His tomb: although He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
(Isaiah 53:9 HRV)
And He made his grave “he” following the Masoretic Text, the Aramaic Peshitta Tanak and the Aramaic Targum Jonathan. A copy found at Qumran has “they” while the Greek LXX has “I”.
He made his grave with the wicked, This was fulfilled when he was crucified between two thieves (see comments to 53:12)
and with the rich, His tomb This was fulfilled when he was buried in the tomb of Yosef from HaRamatayim:
57 And when it was evening, there came one rich man from HaRamatayim, whose name was Yosef, and he also was a talmid of Yeshua.
58 And he approached Pilate, and asked the body of Yeshua. Then Pilate commanded the body of Yeshua to be given.
59 And Yosef took the body of Yeshua, and wrapped it in pure linen,
60 And placed it in his new sepulcher, which was cut out of the rock. Then he rolled the great stone over the door of the sepulcher, and went his way.
(Matt. 27:57-60 HRV)
The servant is an innocent sufferer (53:6, 9) but Israel has guilt. Israel suffers because we have sinned (see Deut. 28-29 and Lev. 26)
See citation of 1Kefa in comments to Isaiah 53:3-5)
53:10
Yet it pleased YHWH to crush Him. He has put Him to suffering to see if His soul would offer itself, as a guilt offering: that He might see His seed, prolong His days, and that the purpose of YHWH might prosper by His hand.
(Isaiah 53:10 HRV)
“he shall see his seed” and anti-missionaries make much of this. They say that zera cannot be used allegorically. In fact the word zera (seed) is used allegorically in Jewish literature to refer to the scattered tribes.The Targum on this passage understands “seed” allegorically and paraphrases it “the Kingdom of their Messiah”:
It is the will of the Lord to purify and to acquit
as innocent the remnant of His people, to cleanse
their souls of sin, so that they may see the Kingdom
of their Messiah, have many sons and daughters,
enjoy long life, and observe the Torah of the Lord,
prospering according to his will.
(Targum Jonathan on Is. 53:10)
Then term seed is used allegorically in the very next chapter (Is. 54:1-3)
Yeshua is actually identified with his name actually encoded in the prophecy of Isaiah 53. If we start with the sixth to the last י in Isaiah 53:10 and count every 20th letter going from left to right, we spell ישוע שמי “Yeshua is my name”.
53:11
From the travail of His soul, He shall see light, and shall be satisfied in His understanding. My Righteous servant shall justify many, and their iniquities, He bears.
(Isaiah 53:11 HRV)
In the Hebrew of the Masoretic Text Isaiah 53:11 has a serious grammatical problem.
The Hebrew of the Masoretic Text reads literally:
From the travail of his soul he shall see ________
shall be satisfied in his understanding.
My Righteous servant shall justify many
and their iniquities he bears.
There is very clearly a missing word in the Hebrew resulting in two verbs in a row “shall see” and “shall be satisfied”. What shall he see? Now the missing word “light” does appear in the Septuagint and has also now turned up in two Hebrew copies of Isaiah found at Qumran.
The passage SHOULD read (as it does in the HRV):
From the travail of his soul he shall see light
and shall be satisfied in his understanding.
My Righteous servant shall justify many
and their iniquities he bears.
(Is. 53:11 HRV translation)
53:12
Therefore will I divide Him a portion among the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the mighty, because He bared His soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:12 HRV)
The servant is a voluntary sufferer (Is. 53:7, 12b) and therefore cannot be Israel in its primary meaning.
was numbered with the transgressors This prophecy was fulfilled when Yeshua was crucified between two thieves, as we read in the Peshitta Aramaic version of Mark:
27 And they crucified with Him two robbers: one on His right and one on His left.
28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled that said, He was reckoned with the unjust.]
(Mark 15:27-28 HRV)
(Verse 28 is not found in the Old Syriac Aramaic, nor in the Oldest Alexandrian and Western type Greek Manuscripts. It does, however appear in the later Byzantine type Greek texts and the Peshitta. The observation is accurate, regardless of its originality.)
Similarly in Luke Yeshua himself prophecies:
37 For I say to you, that this also that was written, must be fulfilled in Me: I will be numbered with the unrighteous, for all things that concern Me, must be fulfilled.
(Luke 22:37 HRV)
(See citation of 1Kefa in comments to Isaiah 53:3-5)
53:13
In the Zohar we read of Isaiah 52:13:
R. Simeon further discoursed on the text: Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high (Is. 52:13). ‘Happy is the portion of the righteous’, he said, ‘to whom the Holy One reveals the ways of the Torah that they may walk in them. This verse contains an esoteric meaning. When God created the world, He made the moon, and made her small, for she possesses no light of her own, but because she accepted her diminution she receives reflected light from the sun and from the other superior luminaries.
(Zohar 1:181a)
Now to fully understand Rabbi Simeon’s meaning here, we must look to another passage in the Zohar:
It is strange that the Messiah should be called “poor” [in Zech. 9:9]. R. Simeon explained that it is because he has nothing of his own, and he is compared to the holy moon above, which has no light save from the sun. This Messiah will have dominion and will be established in his place. Below he is “poor”, because he is of the side of the moon, and above he is poor, being a “mirror which does not radiate”, “the bread of poverty”. Yet withal he “rides upon an ass and upon a colt”, to overthrow the strength of the Gentiles; and God will keep him firm.
(Zohar 1:238a)
So we can see plainly that Rabbi Simeon in the Zohar is identifying the servant of Isaiah 52:13 as the Messiah.
Now as we continue to read our initial passage of the Zohar (1:181a) the passage immediately continues with:
Now, as long as the Temple existed, Israel were assiduous in bringing offerings, which together with all the other services performed by the priests, Levites, and Israelites had for their object to weave bonds of union and to cause luminaries to radiate.
(Zohar 1:181a)
This brings us to another passage in which the Zohar alludes to the “servant” of Isaiah 52 and 53 saying:
In the Garden of Eden there is a hall that is called the
“hall of the afflicted.” Now it is into this hall that
the Messiah goes and summons all the afflictions and pains
and sufferings of Israel to come upon him. And so they all
come upon him. And had he not eased the children of Israel
of their sorrow, and taken their burden upon himself, there
would be none who could endure the suffering of Israel
in penalty of neglecting the Torah. Thus it is written:
“Surely our diseases he did bear and our pains he carried.”
(Is. 53:5) As long as the children of Israel dwelt in the
Holy Land, they averted all afflictions and sufferings from
the world by the service of the sanctuary and by sacrifice.
But now it is the Messiah who is averting them from the
habitants of the world.
(Zohar 2:212a)
Our initial passage of Zohar (1:181a-b) continues:
But after the Temple was destroyed there was a darkening of the lights, the moon ceased to receive light from the sun, the latter having withdrawn himself from her, so that not a day passes but is full of grievous distress and afflictions. The time, however, will come for the moon to resume her primordial light, and in allusion to this it is written: “Behold, my servant will prosper.” That is to say, there will be a stirring in the upper realms as of one who catches a sweet odour and stands alert. “He shall be exalted”, from the side of the most exalted luminaries; “and lifted up”, from the side of Abraham; “and shall be high”, from the side of Isaac; “very”, from the side of Jacob. At that time, then, the Holy One will cause a stirring on high with the object of enabling the moon to shine with her full splendour, as we read: “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days” (Ibid. XXX, 26). There will thus be added to the moon an exalted spirit whereby all the dead that are in the dust will be awakened. This is the esoteric meaning of “my servant”, viz. the one that has in his hand the key of his Master.
(Zohar 1:181a-181b)
The Zohar tells us that the revealing of Messiah is like the revealing of the moon. Initially the moon cannot be seen, however in time the moon is gradually restored to its full light. So it is with Messiah, and when the Messiah is fully revealed, the resurrection will take place.
We read in Matthew:
38 Behold, your house is forsaken; to you desolate.
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
Of course this is quoting Ps. 118:26:
“Blessed be he that comes in the Name of YHWH; we bless you out of the House of YHWH.” (Ps. 118:26).
Above this is the phrase “the stone the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone” (Ps. 118:22)
Now we read in the Zohar concerning the stone that the builders rejected:
David, indeed, was king in this world and will be king in the time to come; hence “the stone the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone”. For, when the sun turns away his face from the moon, and does not shine upon her, she has no light whatever and so does not shine, but is poverty-stricken and dark on all sides; but when the sun turns towards her and radiates his light upon her, then her face is illumined and she adorns herself for him as a woman for a man. She thus is then invested with the dominion of the world. So David adorned himself after this very manner. Now he would appear poor and dejected, but then again he would be revelling in riches. Hence David’s declaration, “I am small and despised, yet have I not forgotten thy precepts.” It behoves, indeed, every man to follow this example and to humble himself in every respect so as to become a vessel in which the Holy One, blessed be He, may find delight. This lesson has also been expounded in connection with the phrase, “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit’ (Isa. LVII, 15).’
(Zohar 2:232b)
The Zohar says that when this stone is rejected “the sun turns away his face from the moon, and does not shine upon her.”
Earlier the Zohar says:
So it says: AND HIS HAND HAD HOLD ON ESAU’S HEEL , i.e he put his hand on Esau’s heel in order thereby to force him down. According to another explanation, the words “and his hand had hold” imply that he could not escape him entirely, but his hand was still clinging to his brother’s heel. Esoterically speaking, the moon was obscured through the heel of Esau; hence it was necessary to deal with him cunningly, so as to thrust him downwards and make him adhere to the region assigned to him.’
(Zohar 1:138a)
The moon is obscured “through the heel of Esau”, and therefore the stone is rejected “through the heel of Esau” because the sun “turns away his face”.
And to whom does the sun refer:
Moses asked: ‘ Shall they remain in pledge for ever?’ God replied: ‘No, only Until the sun appears’ that is, till the coming of the Messiah; for it says, But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings (Mal.3:20).
(Midrash Rabba Ex. 31:10)
So what does this mean?
It points us to Gen. 25:26 which reads:
And after that, came forth his brother. And his hand had hold on Esav’s heel, and his name was called Ya’akov. And Yitz’chak was threescore years old when she bore them.
If we take the first letter of each word (a process called Notarikon) starting with the name Ya’akov (Jacob) and ending with Esav (Esau) going backwards we spell the name YESHUA, and if we continue through the next two words we read “Yeshua comes.”
So the moon is obscured in shining the light of Messiah by the heal of Esau.
Now the last letter in YESHUA in the Hebrew is an AYIN and that is the initial letter of the name ESAU in “Esau’s heel”. So if the heal of “Esau” is taken from YESHUA we have “YESHU”.
“Yeshu” is a name used in Rabbinic Judaism which refers to the anathema Rabbinic Judaism associates with Yeshua.
For Rabbinic Jews is is a acronym for a curse on the name of Yeshua meaning “may the name be blotted out forever”.
But Yeshua said:
38 Behold, your house is forsaken; to you desolate.
39 And I tell you, that you will not see Me here after,
until you say,
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!
(Matt. 23:38-39)
They will say “Blessed is He that comes in the Name of YHWH!” (Ps. 118:26) when they accept the “stone that the builder rejected” (Ps. 118:22). This happens when the AYIN is restored to the name YESHUA, the reversal of the anathema, thus the Messiah, the Sun of Righteousness, will shine his light on the moon, which was obscured by the “heel of Esau”. And when the “heel of Esau” no longer obscures the “Sun of Righteousness” and YESHU is restored to YESHUA, then we can clearly see that “Yeshua comes”!
Our original Zohar passage continues:
So, too, in the verse: “And Abraham said unto his servant, etc.” (Gen. 24:2), the servant is an allusion to the moon as already explained. Also, the servant is identical with Metatron, who is the servant and messenger of his Master, and who was, as we read further, the elder of his house, the same who is alluded to in the text: “I have been young, and now am old” (Ps. 37:25). “That ruled over all that he had”; this applies to the same Metatron by reason of his displaying the three colours, green, white, and red. “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh”; this is symbolic of the foundation of the world, for this servant was destined to bring to life again the dwellers in the dust, and to be made the messenger by the spirit from on high to restore the spirits and souls to their places, to the bodies that were decomposed underneath the dust.
(Zohar 1:181b)
The Zohar also identifies the Metatron as the “Middle Pillar”
The Middle Pillar [of the Godhead] is Metatron,
Who has accomplished peace above,
according to the glorious state there.
(Zohar 3:227)
And according to the Zohar the Middle Pillar is the Son of Yah:
Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead,
which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)
And what is the Middle Pillar? The Zohar says:
Concerning this, too, it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. I, 3). Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right. The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And Elohim separated between the light and between the darkness” (Ibid.).
(Zohar 2:167a)
And:
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)
In this passage of Zohar (1:181a-181b) we see not only that the servant of Isaiah 52-53 is the Messiah, but that the identity of Messiah is initially obscured form Israel but gradually revealed to Israel. The Zohar also tells us that this same figure is the Son of Yah and the Middle Pillar of the Godhead.