What do the Rabbis have to say about Isaiah 53?

It is quite incredible as to what you will find stated by the community of the ancient rabbinical resources of the Ancient Jews. While the very Hebrewic language of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is enough to dismiss the notion that Isaiah 53 is about Israel as a nation, what is even more incredible is that every ancient Jewish resources confirms this explanation as we will see.

Here is a listing of these ancient rabbinical commentaries.

"“Then he (my servant Messiah) will become despised, and will cut off the glory of all the Kingdoms; they will be prostrate and mourning, like a man of pains, and like One destined for sickness; and as though the presence of the Shekinah had been withdrawn from us, they will be despised, and esteemed not.”Targum JonathanBabylonian Talmud states "The Rabanan say that Messiah’s name is The Suffering Scholar of Rabbi’s House (or The Leper Scholar) for it is written, “Surely He hath born our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”[3] "The Messiah—what is his name?…The Rabbis say, The leprous one; those of the house of Rabbi [4] say, The sick one, as it is said, “Surely he hath borne our sicknesses.”[5]Midrash Siphre says "R. Yosé the Galilaean said, Come forth and learn the righteousness of the King Messiah and the reward of the just from the first man who received but one commandment, a prohibition, and transgressed it: consider how many deaths were inflicted upon himself, upon his own generations, and upon those that followed them, till the end of all generations. Which attribute is greater, the attribute of goodness, or the attribute of vengeance? He answered, The attribute of goodness is the greater, and the attribute of vengeance is less; how much more, then will the King Messiah, who endures affliction and pains for the transgressors (as it is written, “He was wounded,” etc.) justify all generations! And this is what is meant when it is said, “And the Lord made the iniquity of us all meet upon him.”[6]Midrash Thanhuma " R. Nahman say, The word “man” in the passage, every man a head of the house of his fathers (Num. i. 4), refers to the Messiah the son of David, as it is written, “Behold the man whose name is Zemah” (the branch); where Yonathan interprets, Behold the man Messiah (Zech. Vi. 12): and so it is said, “A man of pains and known to sickness.”[7]"Midrash P'siqtha "The Holy One brought forth the soul of the Messiah, and said to him…Art thou willing to…redeem my sons…? He replied, I am. God replied, If so, thou must take upon thyself chastisements in order to wipe away their iniquity, as it is written, “Surely our sicknesses he hath carried.” The Messiah answered, I will take them upon me gladly."Midrash Konen "The fifth mansion in Paradise…there dwell Messiah son of David, and Elijah, and Messiah son of Ephraim. There also is the “litter of the wood of Lebanon”…and within it Messiah son of David who loveth Jerusalem. Elijah takes him by the head, lays him down in his bosom, holds him, and says, “Bear thou sufferings and wounds wherewith the Almighty doth chastise thee for Israel’s sin;” and so it is written, He was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities, until the time when the end should come.[8] "

The Musaf Prayer states from the 7th century A.D. "Our righteous anointed[11] is departed from us; horror hath seized us, and we have none to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of our iniquities, and our transgressions, and was wounded because of our transgressions. He beareth our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by his wound, at the time the Eternal will create Him (the Messiah) as a new creature. O bring Him up from the circle of the earth. Raise him up from Seir, to assemble us the second time by the power of Yinon.[12] "The Zohar declares "There is in the garden of Eden a palace called the Palace of the sons of sickness: this palace the Messiah then enters, and summons every sickness, every pain, and every chastisement of Israel; they all come and rest upon him. And were it not that he had thus lightened them off Israel and taken them upon himself, there had been no man able to bear Israel’s chastisements for transgressions of the law: and this is that which is written, “Surely our sickness he hath carried.”[13] "Rabbi Moshe had-Darshan "This is that which is written, “I will lift mine eyes unto the hills: O whence cometh my help” (Ps. Cxxi. I)? and, “Who art thou, O great mountain” (Zech. iv. 7)? The great mountain means the Messiah, and why does he speak of him thus? Because he is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, “Behold my servant shall prosper.” I have learnt it from the words of R. Mosheh had-Darshan: The redeemer whom I shall raise up from among you will have no father, as it is written, “Behold the man whose name is Zemah [branch], and he shall branch up out of his place” (Zech. vi. 12); and so Isaiah says, “And he came up like a sucker,” etc.Says R. B’rckhyah, The Holy One said to Israel…the redeemer whom I shall raise up out of your midst will have no father also, as it is said, “Behold the man whose name is the Branch, and he shall branch up out of his place” (Zech. vi. 12); and similarly by Isaiah, “And he came up as a sucker before him.”The Holy One said…O Messiah, my righteousness, said he, the iniquities of those who are hidden beside thee will cause thee to enter into a hard yoke: thine eyes shall see no light, and thine ears shall hear great reproaches from the nations of the world; thy nostrils shall smell ill savours, thy mouth taste bitterness, and thy tongue cleave to thy gums; thy skin shall hang upon thy bones, and thy body grow weak in grief and sighing. Art thou willing to accept this? if so, it shall be well; but if not, behold, I drive them from me for ever. Said the Messiah, Lord of the world, I accept it joyfully and will endure these chastisements, upon the condition that thou givest life again to those who die in my days, and to those who died from the time of the first man until now; and that thou savest in my days not only these…but such as were born out of due time; nor again these only, but those also whom thou thoughtest to create but who were not created. The Holy One replied, I will do so: and forthwith the Messiah accepted the chastisements of love, as it is written, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted.”This is the King Messiah, who belonged to the generation of the wicked, but rejected them, and chose the Holy One and his holy name to serve him with all his heart, and applied himself to seek for mercy for Israel, and to fast and humble himself on their behalf, as it is said, “He was wounded for our transgressions,” etc. And when Israel is sinful, the Messiah seeks for mercy upon them, as it is written, “By his stripes we were healed,” and “He carried the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Every rabbi up through 800 years after the commentary of the Talmud also agrees. Until Rashi of course. But for those who are a fan of the Rashi commentary discussing that Isaiah 53 is talking about Israel, it should be paid careful attention to why this was. Rabbi ben Eliezer, a contemporary of Rashi, confirms this for us. One more point. Rabbi ben Eliezer states "15.Rashi, toward the end of the 11th century, was the first to apply Isaiah 53 to Israel. Initially, he applied it to the Messiah. (See Sanhedrin 93.) Only after the Crusades began did Rashi assert that the suffering servant was Israel.[18] However, Rashi’s new view was seen as an aberration from the traditional view (that it spoke of the Messiah). "

Thus we see, this application was solely due to the bad effect of the Crusades. This led to Rashi's argument from emotion. Isaiah 53's initial meaning to him was that it was to be applied to the Messiah, but he later reinvented the "Isaiah 53 is talking about Israel" theory. It is steeped in no historical facts, or factual details concerning the Tanakh or Talmud whatsoever.

Does this mean that the Talmudic rabbis believed Yeshua was this guy? No, and primarily because they were looking for the wrong role of the Messiah (Ben David) instead of Ben Yosef (and we will talk about the roles of the Messiah in a later article). But some very interesting information can be found on Yeshua in Sanhedrin 43a, which confirms, and does not deny, what the Brit Hadashah has to state about Yeshua. "There is a tradition (in a Barraitha): They hanged Yeshu on the Sabbath of the Passover[1]. But for forty days before that a herald went in front of him (crying), "Yeshu is to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and seduced Israel and lead them away from God[2]. Anyone who can provide evidence on his behalf should come forward to defend him." When, however, nothing favorable about him was found, he was hanged on the Sabbath of the Passover[1].Ulla[3] commented: "Do you think that he belongs among those for whom redeeming evidence is sought? Rather, he was a seducer [of whom] the All-merciful has said: 'Show them no pity... and do not shield them.' (Deut 13.8b NRSV)[4] In Yeshu's case, however, an exception was made because he was close to those who held [political/religious] authority."

So according to the Talmud, there was absolutely no reason that Yeshua (called Yeshu) should have been hung on the tree of life according to the standards of the Torah. He didn't break the Torah. What makes this more interesting is that this would have been the place within the Talmud to deny the story of Yeshua. Israel, your Messiah is crying for you (Matthew 23).

Thus we see, this application was solely due to the bad effect of the Crusades. This led to Rashi's argument from emotion. Isaiah 53's initial meaning to him was that it was to be applied to the Messiah, but he later reinvented the "Isaiah 53 is talking about Israel" theory. It is steeped in no historical facts, or factual details concerning the Tanakh or Talmud whatsoever.