Ok. I'll start out simply, and if necessary we'll get into it more deeply.
Isaiah 53 is an example of the sort of declaration that the nations and their kings will exclaim when they witness Israel's rejuvenation. The nations will contrast their former scornful attitude toward the Jews with their new realization of Israel's grandeur.
The servant of Isaiah 53 is the collective People of Israel.
Additionally, there are a handful of passages which are wrought with mistranslations in Christian versions of the text, which severely distort their view of this chapter... one of them being this :
Isaiah 53:8 Now that he has been released from captivity and judgment, who could have imagined such a generation? For he had been removed from the land of the living, an affliction upon them that was my people's sin.
Footnote to this verse: When Israel's exile is finally ended, the nations will marvel that such a generation could have survived the expulsion from "the land of the living", i.e. the Land of Israel, that the nations had sinfully inflicted upon it.
I want to direct your attention to something very specific.
For he had been removed from the land of the living, an affliction upon THEM that was my people's sin.
Who could "them" possibly be if we're talking about a particular individual?
Contrasted to the KJV which says:
for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Let's now focus on verses 5 and 6, because those are the ones you presented.
He was pained because of our rebellious sins and oppressed through our iniquities; the chastisement upon him was for our benefit, and through his wounds, we were healed. We have all strayed like sheep, each of us turning his own way, and the Lord inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all.
Vs your version which says:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Back to my version... footnote for verse 5: We (the gentile nations) brought suffering upon Israel for our own selfish purposes; it was not, as we had claimed, that God was punishing Israel for its own evil behavior.
Let me direct your attention to something specific: It does NOT say "pierced". I get that Christian editors would want it to because of the whole piercing of the hands and feet that accompany crucifixion... but that sort of editing is like shooting an arrow at a blank wall, drawing a target around it and saying you hit a bullseye.
The Hebrew word is m'cholal which means "makes sick", or "makes pained". There is no way, except for purposeful mistranslation, to suggest that it could be translated as "pierced".
So, in summation, this chapter is not and cannot have anything to do with Jesus because it is about the collective nation of Israel. Only through violently ripping the text out of context while applying a heaping helping of mistranslations could one conclude that the passage refers to any one individual. Especially Jesus.
Poisenedlady,
One thing I am sure of, after reading your posts; you could make a fortune as a standup comic. I have never heard such dereism.
You should understand and BELIEVE your own Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures, which you evidently do not.
At Ps 12:6,7, God promises to protect His word from adulteration. There are many experts, both secular and Theological that have translated the Hebrew Scriptures. No one today needs to go back to the original scriptures to understsand God's word. The reason God used Hebrew and Greek was because the are very easy to translate into other languages, and not lose the message from God to man.
Duet 19:15, the Hebrew scriptures tells us tha at the mouth of two or three witnesses thematter should stand good. Why do you NOT believe what your own scriptures say???
In the first century there were thousands of Jews who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, who they were looking for, at that time, Luke 3:15.
Have you ever thought why God had FOUR GOSPELS written?? It was to satisfy, beyond doubt the question, for thed Jews. And what about the other Bible writers, all being Jews??
The Hebrew Scriptures are full of prophecies about a coming Messiah.
Daniel 9:24-27, gives the exact date of the arrival of the Messiah. This 70 weeks prophecy ended 31/2 years aftyer the death of Jesus.
Notice that verse 25 says; You should know and have insight, that from the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the leader, there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks, a period of 69 weeks. In several ancient prophecies a day stood for a year, Num 14:34, and Exe 4:5,6. When you apply this prophecy to history, you will find that the time the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was 455BC, which turned out to be the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah 2:1-8. In the seven years or weeks, the temple was rebuilt, 49 years, then in the 69 weeks or years the date was 33CE, or 483 years. There was no zero year.If we were to read this prophecy before the events, we might have a problem understanding it, but not Jews, they were waiting for the Messiah. Now, when we can look back on just how the prophecy was fulfilled, we have to problem seeing what the prophecy meant.
The last week of years stood for a time that God was letting all Jewish people come into the Christian Congregation, before he opened the congregation to the gentiles. The prophecy even says, verse 27, that the covenant would be in force for the week, but that sacrifice and gift offering would cease. This stood for the death of the Messiah, as a Ransom Sacrifice, when Sacerdotalism would cease. A the end of the whole 490 years, Gentiles were accepted, for the first time into the Christian Congregation.
