Rabbinic exegesis also recognizes an individual in several passages; cf. e.g., Targum to 42:1; 52:13 (the Messiah; this is expressed even more clearly in Midrash Tanchuma to 52:13; see below); Rashi and Ibn Ezra to 49:1 (the prophet); Radak to 42:1 (the Messiah), 49:1 and 50:10 (the prophet); Abravanel to 42:1 (the Messiah), 49:1 and 50:10 (the prophet); note also that Rashi interprets 50:10 with reference to the prophets.
It is therefore inaccurate to state that traditional Jewish exegesis always recognizes Israel as the servant of the Lord in Isa 40-55, since an individual servant (either the Messiah or the prophet) is identified by the rabbis in several passages outside of Isa 53. Significantly, in 49:1-6, the Servant, who is clearly an individual, is called “Israel” in v. 3 but has the mission of restoring Jacob and regathering Israel in vv. 5-6.
As stated in Metzudat David, “Behold, before Me, you [meaning the prophet] are like the multitude of Israel [hamon yisra’el], and I will be glorified in you as in all of them” (cf. Ibn Ezra, who explained that God views the servant, who is the prophet, as if he were all Israel). Thus, the servant of the Lord, as an individual within Israel, fulfills the mission of Israel, which includes being a light to the nations (49:6-7; see also 42:3-7; remember that Israel was first a personal name before being a corporate name, just as was the case with Jacob, so a personal use of the name in 49:3 is hardly inappropriate).
Note also that while the Servant of the Lord in Isa 53 is a righteous, guiltless sufferer (see further below), Israel as the servant is often anything but righteous. Thus, in 42:24-25, it is stated that the servant Israel was exiled because of sin, incurring God’s wrath; in 43:8, servant Israel is blind and deaf (see also 42:18-19); in 43:22-28, Israel fails to call on the Lord; in 47:6, God is angry with Israel; in 48:1-6, Israel is guilty again, with the exile and return foretold (see also 48:8b-11, 17-19); and in 50:1, God’s indictment is forthright: “for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away” (Isa 50:1 ESV; being “sold” and “sent away” is synonymous with being exiled). As noted by Hugenberger, “Deutero-Isaiah repeatedly stresses that contemporary Israel is a sinful people, who suffer on account of their own transgressions (40:2; 42:18-25; 43:22-28; 47:7; 48:18f.; 50:1; 54:7; 57:17; 59:2ff.) This point is made specifically with reference to the remnant in 43:22; 46:3, 12; 48:1, 8; 53:6, 8; 55:7; 58:1ff.; 63:17; 64:5-7.”
This is in harmony with the prophetic voices like Amos (e.g., 4:4-12) and Hosea (e.g., 5:7-15), along with the explicit testimony of 2Kg 17 (see esp. vv. 7-23), stating emphatically that the Assyrian exile of the 10 northern tribes of Israel was because of Israel’s persistent, unrepentant rebellion and sin. Consequently, prophets like Jeremiah (e.g., 32:28-36) and Ezekiel (e.g., 5:5-17), along with the explicit testimony of 2Chr 36 (see esp. vv. 15-16), state emphatically that the Babylonian exile of the southern tribes of Judah was because of Judah’s persistent, unrepentant rebellion and sin. This is confirmed by the retrospective testimony of Lamentations (1:5, 8, 14, 18, 20, 22; 2:14; 3:40-42; 4:12-13; 5:7, 16), along with Ezra (9:6-7), Nehemiah (9:26-36), Daniel (9:4-13), and Zechariah (1:1-6).
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