Chapter 53, the Suffering servant really begins in chapter 12, verse 13. The passage on suffering Servant is never read in Jewish Synagogues, not in the triennial reading, nor at Holy days. Up to now the LORD, through the prophet Isaiah has referred to his servant Israel, and in one case, in Isaiah 45:1 Cyrus: Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, and 45:4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Here God refers to the other anointed, the Messiah. No other chapter in the Bible is quoted more in the New Testament. because of this it was more or less mathematically proven that Isaiah was edited and Isaiah 53 was added about 400 A.D. as well as a number of other prophecies. Then in 1947 they found the Dead Sea Scrolls and more than a hundred years of source critical Bible analysis had to be abandoned. The Dead Sea Scrolls had been copied from even older copies more than 140 years B.C. Let God’s word speak for itself.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 