“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
Acts 26:22b-23
“…I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Isaiah 49:6b
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the end of the earth.”
See also 42:6 “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light for the nations.”
Acts 13:46b-47
“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
The Messiah
and the Church are one.
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you Sir? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15)
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt. 18:20)
Objective:
To trace the roots of collective messianism in
the anonymous servant figure of Dt.-Isaiah’s ‘Ebed Yhwh songs.
the humanlike figure represented by the holy ones/ maskilim in Daniel
Princeton Symposium on Messianism, Oct. 1987
James Charlesworth (ed.), The Messiah, Developments in Early Judaism and Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.
Article: From Messianology to Christology, Problems and Prospects, 3-35.
Major conclusions of recent scholarship:
The term mashiah occurs nowhere in the whole Hebrew Bible in the technical sense that this term later acquired as a title for a coming eschatological agent of salvation. (The 39 references to an “Anointed One” denote an actual Israelite king, with the lone exception of Isa 45:1 where the title is applied to the Gentile king Cyrus. In no particular instance is the term used to refer to an eschatological figure.)
Major conclusions:
Some important texts such as Ps 2, 2 Sam 7, Isa 7, 9, and 11, Zech 9 and Dan 9:26 contain passages that may be regarded as implicitly messianic, again, not in the sense of an eschatological messiah. These texts were merely interpreted messianically, at least some 2 centuries before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
JJM Roberts, The OT Contribution to Messianic Expectations, 39-75.
“…the majority of biblical passages given a messianic interpretation by later Jewish and Christian sources do not contain the word mashiah.”
(The most popular of these passages are of course the Servant songs in Isaiah and the Son of Man in Daniel.)
MESSIANISM AND THE CHANGING HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Davidic Royal Messiah
Priestly Messiah
Prophetic Messiah
Gentile Messiah
Heavenly Messiah
Collective Messiah
COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DEUTERO-ISAIAH’S SERVANT SONGS
The four Servant songs as identified by B. Duhm:
First 42:1-4
Second 49:1-6
Third 50:4-9
Fourth 52:13-53:12
Isaiah 49:3
“You are my servant he said to me
ISRAEL through whom I show my glory. “
The Servant is identified as Israel.
The Anonymous Servant and Israel: Thematic Parallelisms:
1) “chosen by Yahweh”
(41:8-9; 45:4; 43:10; 44:1; 49:7 vs. 42:1)
2) “formed by Yahweh in the womb” (44:2; 44:21, 24 vs. 49:1,5)
3) “upheld and comforted by Yahweh” (41:10; cf. 42:6 vs. 42:1)
4) “hid in the shadow of Yahweh’s hand” (51:16 vs.
49:2)
5) “endowed with Yahweh’s Spirit” (44:3 vs. 42:1)
Thematic Parallelisms:
6) “honored by Yahweh”
(43:4 vs. 49:5)
7) “a light to the nations”
(42:6; cf. 51:4 vs. 49:6)
8) “gives Torah to the nations, establishes justice”
(51:4-8; cf. 42:21,24 vs. 42:4)
9) “in him Yahweh is glorified”
(44:23 vs. 53:10c; cf. 49:3)
Thematic Differences
1) Israel despairs (40:27; 41:8-10; 49:14). The Servant is undiscouraged (42:4; 50:7-9).
2) Israel is rebellious and sinful (48:4; cf. 43:27). The Servant is not rebellious but faithful (50:5; 53:4- 6,12).
3) Israel is characterized as blind and deaf (42:18-25) The Servant is attentive and responsive (50:4-5).
Thematic Differences:
4) Israel suffers unwillingly and seeks vindication (51:21-23). The Servant suffers patiently and willingly (50:6; 53:4-9).
5) Israel suffers for her own sins (42:24-25; 43:22-28; 47:6; 50:1) The Servant suffers innocently for the sins of others (52:13-53:12).
6) Israel is to be redeemed (43:1-7). The Servant’s mission is to redeem Israel (49:5).
CRITIQUE VS. RESTORATIONIST IDEOLOGY
The general tone of Isa. 40-55 (minus the servant songs) is exclusive, restorationist, nationalistic.
Contrast this with Isa. 56-66 whose bias is for a more inclusive, ecumenical, universal worldview.
Isa. 40-55 (minus the Servant songs)
Dream: restored nation
Agent: Cyrus, the Persian emperor
Exile viewed as punishment for sin
Restoration is forgiveness
Isa. 56-66 (along with the Servant songs)
Dream: more than restoration, to be “light to the nations”
Agent: themselves as righteous servant
Exile not viewed as punishment anymore, but as means to save “the many”
Restoration is minimum; global unity through Israel, the maximum.
Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs
Only with Trito-Isaiah in mind, can one make sense of the Servant songs in Deutero-Isaiah.
In him we have a prophet who dares to challenge the wisdom of an exclusively restorationist ideology by supporting the option of some Diaspora communities to stay in foreign lands despite the odds.
Trito-Isaiah and the Servant Songs
He is not as consumed by a nationalist agenda, as by a more universalistic mission to serve as “light to Gentiles”, as instrument of salvation for the rest of the world (Isa 49:6)
Trito-Isaiah:
student of Dt. Isaiah
balances the restorationist ideology of Dt. Isaiah
responsible for the motifs of universalism, non-violence, redemptive suffering, collective messianism
final redactor of the whole book
Isa. 49:6 Balancing restorationism with universalism
“It is too little (naqel), for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations (‘or goyim) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
How?
Not by force, but by witnessing and instruction
Not by violence but through non-violence
Not by inflicting suffering on others, but by taking it upon oneself (substitute suffering).
JUSTIFICATION
The Gentiles are the sinners and the Servant is Yahweh’s righteous instrument by whose suffering and wisdom they (the Gentiles) are justified. They will see the light and understand, and will thus be led to righteousness.
By means of Servant Israel’s affliction, the rest of the world will be healed.
COLLECTIVE MESSIANISM IN DANIEL
maskilim (the “wise”) Dan 11:33,35; 12:3,10
“And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who justify the many like the stars, forever and ever.” 12:3
masdiqe harabbim (“those who justify the many”)
Daniel 12:3 “a Midrashic reuse of Isa 52:13-53:12” (H. L. Ginsberg)
Daniel 7:13-14
“One like a Son of Man” = “the Holy Ones of the Most High”
“the Holy Ones of the Most High” = “the wise”
Mission of “the wise”: to “justify” the “many” by their instruction and self-sacrifice
THE WISE ONES and THE MANY
11:33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many.
12:2-3 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake… But the wise shall shine… and those who have led many to righteousness like the stars forever.
12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested… But the wise shall understand.
THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED
11:32-33 The nation’s wise men shall instruct the many… By his deceit, he will make some who were disloyal to the covenant apostatize; But those who know their God shall take strong action.
THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED
12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth... Some shall live forever. Others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
THE MANY: THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE WICKED
12:10 Many shall be refined, purified, and tested... The wicked shall prove wicked; none of them shall understand. The wise shall understand.
Daniel’s Messiah?
No Davidic Messiah in Daniel
2 Allusions to “anointed ones” in 9:25-26
Zerubbabel (cf. Zech 6:9-15)
Onias III (2 Macc. 4:30-38)
The only agent of Redemption mentioned is the “One like a Son of Man”, who represents the “holy ones”, who in turn are associated with the maskilim.
Conclusion
Both Dt. Isaiah and Daniel looked forward to the coming of the messianic age through the mediation of:
remnant Israel (= the Servant) on the one hand, and the Maskilim (= the Son of Man) on the other hand.
Some Implications for NT Studies
The pre-Christian individual Messianic interpretations had paved the way for the later Christian interpretation of both the SS and the SM.
The Jesus Movement espoused a collective messianic self-awareness inspired by Dt. Isaiah’s SS and Daniel’s SM.
Some Implications for NT Studies
Jesus indeed spoke of the SS and the SM in reference, not to himself but to the movement. They were to serve as an earthly anticipation of the future, heavenly Son of Man.
The shift from the collective back to the individual takes place, when the proclaimer becomes the proclaimed. Jesus is the SM.
Some Implications for NT Studies
As the early Christians move from Christology to Ecclesiology, they find themselves fusing together both individual and collective messianism. The Church becomes the historical representation of her individual Messiah.
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