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Hebrew Bible Studies | Shem Yeshua Mashiach | HaShem—The Name
The Two Servants in Isaiah
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by Paul Sumner
In the Hebrew Bible, the root verb avad means to work or serve. Two nouns developed from this verb: avodah, work, service, ministry, and eved, worker, servant, slave, or worshiper.
Avad as work or labor: Gen 2:5; 4:2, 12; Exod 20:9; Deut 28:39; 2 Sam 9:10. Avad as service: rendered as a servant (Exod 21:2, 6; Lev 25:39-46; Deut 15:12), political loyalty (Gen 27:29; 1 Kgs 9:21; 12:4, 7; 2 Kgs 18:7; 25:24), service to false gods (Deut 4:28) or the one true God (Exod 4:23; Deut 6:13).
Divine Servants Bless the LORD, you his angels, [Top]
Human Servants The priests who operated the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later the Jerusalem Temple are avadim (Ps 134:1; 135:1-2). Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, The prophets are servants because they hear God's "secret counsel" (Amos 3:7) and take it to the nation (2 Kgs 9:7; 2 Kgs 24:2). They are called angels or, literally, "messengers" from the heavenly court (Isa 44:26; Haggai 1:13). Throughout the days of the kings, prophets were sent to announce the divine word to the monarchs (Jer 7:25; 26:5; Ezek 38:17; Dan 9:6). The prophet Obadiah's name is literally Ovad [a form of Eved]-Yah—"servant of the LORD." According to Exodus 32:13, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob are the earliest and best-known servants of the Lord. • Abraham (Gen 26:24; Ps 105:6) [Top]
The Great Servants After Moses, God raised up other servants such as Joshua (Jos 24:29) and Caleb (Num 14:24). But after them, he promised he would "raise up a prophet" [navi] like Moses from among the Israelites who would "speak in [God's] name" (Deut 18:18). Traditionally, Jews have believed this Prophet would be the Messiah. The second and last great eved is King David of Judah. More than any other human character in the Hebrew Bible, David is known as God's Servant (1 Sam 19:4; 2 Sam 3:18; 1 Kgs 3:6; 8:66; Isa 33:21; 33:22, 26; Ps 18:1; 36:1; 78:70; 89:3 (Heb v. 4), 20 (Heb 21); 132:10; 144:10). [Top] David too was a prophet and messiah (mashiach: anointed one): David the son of Jesse declares, Centuries after David died, the prophets of Israel spoke of another "David" who will come in God's name and rule (Ezek 34:23, 24; 37:24, 25). Zechariah 3:8 records his name: "I am going to bring in Avdi Tzemach — my Servant the Branch." This is the messianic Branch from the root of David's tree (Isa 11:1; Jer 33:15; Zech 6:12). Tzemach's distinctive name and genealogical link to David form the Messianic Hope of post-biblical Israel and lay the foundations of New Testament thought about Yeshua ben David of Nazareth. [Top]
Given this established biblical pattern that God has and uses various "servants," it's important to add one more layer of truth-patterns before getting to the two servants in the book of Isaiah.
Israel, The Firstborn Because of the shared name and organic identity, God speaks to the nation as though he were a single person. Israel is, in fact, God's son: Israel is my son, my first-born [beni vechori yisrael] (Exod 4:22) [Top] Israel's Father nurtures him to grow up and become a worshiping servant (Exod 4:23 — "Let my son go that he may serve me"). As Israel's history progresses, fractures appear between Father and son. Prolonged rebellion and corrupting insolence force God to punish his progeny. Eventually the unthinkable happens. If the son refuses to be—and become—what he was created for, he loses rights to sonship. He is no better than a pagan. God warns Son Israel that he will cleanse his holy ground: "I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish" (2 Kings 21:13). God will even slay his son if he doesn't repent. And that's what he eventually does (Hosea 5:14–6:3). But the Father's fury against sin doesn't blind him to his deep love for Israel, his son. [Top]
The Second and Third Sons: The Remnant & the Mashiach Still a further distinction is drawn by Isaiah. Among these remnant disciples of God is an individual who uniquely fits the role of faithful son. God anoints him with his Spirit (11:1-2) and raises him to "judge the poor and decide . . . for the afflicted of the earth" (11:4a), and to "slay the wicked" with the breath from his mouth (11:4b). At the end of Isaiah, the anointed son (mashiach) speaks for himself. YHVH has anointed me [mashach oti]This mashiach will be visible to the entire world. Not only will he be "a signal banner for the peoples" (nes amim, of Israel), the nations (goyim) too "will resort to (darash, seek, inquire of) the Root of Jesse" (11:10). His calling is to be—as Israel was meant to be—"a light to the Gentiles" (le'or goyim, Isa 49:6).
Six passages refer to or contain the words of the Anointed Servant: Isaiah 11:1-5, 10; 42:1-4; 49:5-7; 50:4-9; 52:13–53:12; 61:1-3. [Top]
Rescues His People Read together, these texts make clear that a Plan (etzah) is in God's mind. He will use the Anointed Servant—and the Servant's circle of faithful-to-God disciples — as his agent for bringing rebellious Israel back to his sonship calling. YHVH formed me from the womb to be His Servant,The apostles Paul and Barnabas quoted this passage in reference to themselves, as members of the Messiah's Remnant Israel (Acts 13:46-48; cf. Luke 2:32). Thus, within the writings of Isaiah we observe the tensions, paradoxes, and hopes for fixing what is damaged—both within God's servant people and within creation as a whole. To accomplish the Plan there are two who serve the Lord, two with the title "Eved." Yet Isaiah lays out contrasts between the two that should be noted (see "Differences" in table below). It isn't accurate to say the Eved is only Israel the people or only the Messiah. The following tables show how the two servants in the book of Isaiah are alike and different. [Top]
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Tables adapted from: Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (4th ed., New York: Prentice-Hall, 1986), 492.
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Hebrew Bible Studies | Hebrew-Greek Transliteration [PDF] Shem Yeshua Mashiach | HaShem—The Name
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