In reading Michael Bird’s The Saving Righteousness of God, I have come to realize just how important Isaiah 53:11 is to many of Paul’s passages that formulate and utilize his doctrine of justification when dealing with his audiences and troubles, for example the Jew-Gentile divide in Romans and Galatians. I want to briefly delve into this simple text and paint a background for the many places that Paul speaks of justification that does not seem to fit neatly with the traditional Protestant view (this post follows much of what Bird said in The Saving Righteousness of God). Then in the coming posts I want to just illustrate how Isaiah 53:11 impacts those Pauline texts in his letters and in Acts that reflects this verse and understanding.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

In the larger context of the very famous passage (Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Isaiah is speaking of an annointed servant of I AM who will restore Israel, God’s elect covenant people, into relationship with I AM and all the blessings that come with that relationship as per the covenant. I AM will bruise him for the people’s iniquities and transgressions and thus the people will be restored to I AM. The servant will be unjustly treated and killed with criminals, though he himself is perfectly blameless. But by his intercession he will reconcile the people of I AM to their God.

Here in Isaiah 53:11, we have a very unique text. Upon first observation is that the ESV (as well as other translations such as NET, HCSB, NLT, NASB) follows the Masoretic Text and omits the noun “light” as the object of “see.” The LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls have this textual variant. The TNIV and NIV do include this variant reading. I follow the DSS and LXX with the NIV and TNIV in including “light” as the object of “see.” Here is why. “Light” is often a metaphor for life, as the TNIV and NIV so indicate in their translations. This is confirmed by the Old Testament and Second Temple literature in Job 33:28-30; Psalm 49:10; 1 Enoch 58:3; 92:3-5; 108:12-13; Pss. Sol. 3:12. The NT confirms this understanding in John 8:12. In Isaiah 53:10, the servant is being pictured as returning to the favor of I AM. The servant is being pictured as active in the verbs of the verse. It makes contextual sense as well as theological sense that not only “light” should be part of the text but refers to the servant being raised to life, resurrection. In other words, I would paraphrase the text as, “After the anghish of his soul, he shall see the light of life and be satisfied with/by his konwledge.” The servant sees descendants because he sees life. He is raised from the grave and returned to I AM’s favor.

In doing so, I AM now declares the servant to be “the righteous one.” The resurrection now vindicates the servant before I AM and against the enemies of I AM. His faithfully submitting to the will of I AM at the hands of his enemies earns him the status of righteous upon his resurrection. He bore the guilt of the people of I AM and died representing them before I AM. I AM raises him as the righteous one and restores the servant to his favor.

As the righteous one, the servant will make many righteous. He justifies the many. What does Isaiah mean by “justifies”? There are several uses of the Hebrew verb sdq in the Hiphil stem (see NET Bible translator note on this verb), as it appears here in the hiphil. It means to declare/pronounce innocent or to aquit (cf. 1 Kings 8:31-32 = 2 Chronicles 6:23; Isaiah 5:23); or a monarch rendering justice as a royal function (Psalm 82:1-3; 2 Samuel 15:4). In Johb 27:5 it means to “concede.” The closest to Is 52:11 textually is Isaiah 50:8 where it means to “vindicate” (this text in particular provides a background for Romans 8:33-34). I think it follows the thought of pronounce innocent and to vindicate. First reason is that is how Isaiah has used the verb and both meanings fit here. The servant has born the sins of the many and therefore the many are pronounced guilty. But the covenant people are restored to their proper covenant relationship with their God and return to participate in his blessings as per the covenant. Thus they too are vindicated by the servant’s death and ruesurrection. The second reason is that the two concept of “vindicate” and “aquit” overlap in meaning. To delcare someone innocent in a case is the same in some sense as to vindicate them in that case, to act in their favor, to declare them to be in the right. This is the case in the picture of Luke 18 and the woman asking the unrighteous judge for vegeance against her enemies. She is asking that judge to declare her to be in the right, that her enemies have no case against her, and to act on her behalf in stopping these enemies and rendering justice upon them for their actions and deeds. The same legal setting is in view in both Isaiah 5:23 and Isaiah 50:8.

It seems that the many are declared righteous on account of the righteous one. Through the representative actions of the righteous one comes righteousness. Through the representative deeds of the vindicated one comes vindication. Through him the many are made righteous because in him is righteousness. Through him restoration to blessing bedause he has the blessings and divine favor. Only by his representation before I AM and upon the vindicating verdict of I AM does divine favor come.

One final observation. The death of the servant provides atonement for sin for the many. His death represents them before I AM. His death atones for the sins of the many. Righteousness only came by the resurrection of the servant. Before Isaiah 53:11, the servant was never sdq (righteous) in this servant song. He was innocent and not guilty, but never designated righteous. Once raised, he is called the righteous one. The resurrection is I AM announcing that the servant is righteous. Righteousness comes by reusrrection. Justification comes by resurrection. As on the basis of the death of the servant the many are said to have atoned for sin, on the basis his resurrection as the righteous one the many are said to be justified and righteous. I must be careful to not create a separation between the two acts. It was the slaughtered servant that was raised righteous and blessed with divine favor. But when Isaiah says that the many are justified because the righteous servant bore their sins, he means that the bearing of their sins–which effects atonement/propitiation/expiation for those sins–is the basis of the servant’s being justified by God. Through that righteousness the many are made righteous. But, and I might be reading too much NT into this at this point, I believe that since righteousness comes by resurrection, this justification is that the many will be raised righteous as the servant is resurrected righteous. His justification in this manner secured their justification in this manner. He is the firstfruits of this justification.

There might be some Protestant objections at this pont but I will answer them in later posts. For now I will say that this eschatological justification belongs to the many now because of the righteousn one, I AM’s servant, has obtained now (now being in relation to the text).