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The Suffering Servant between the Testaments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Extract

Traditionally Christians have interpreted Isaiah 52. 13–53. 12 as a prophecy of the passion of Christ,1 but modern biblical scholars have disagreed about how this identification of the suffering servant with Jesus arose. In particular, those who have investigated the question of whether Jesus saw himself as occupying the role of the servant have reached conflicting conclusions.2 In the background of this discussion is another contentious issue, namely, whether a messianic interpretation of the suffering servant had already been adopted in pre-Christian Judaism. Representative of a negative response to this question is H. H. Rowley, who writes: ‘There is no serious evidence … of the bringing together of the concepts of the suffering servant and the Davidic Messiah before the Christian era.’3 A much more positive assessment is given by Jeremias, who has championed the view that the first and fourth servant songs were consistently interpreted messianically in Palestinian Judaism, and that it is highly probable that a messianic interpretation of the sufferings of the servant was associated with this.4

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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

Notes

[1] Cf. North's, C. R. statement, ‘Until the close of the eighteenth century Christian writers – with almost the sole exception of Grotius, who thought of Jeremiah – were unanimous that Isa. liii was Messianic prophecy’, in The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah: An Historical and Critical Study (2nd ed.; London: Oxford University, 1956) 1.Google Scholar

[2] The most notable study which argues that the suffering servant conception did not exercise a significant influence upon the self-consciousness of Jesus is Hooker, M. D., Jesus and the Servant: The Influence of the Servant Concept of Deutero-Isaiah in the New Testament (London: S.P.C.K., 1959) passim.Google Scholar The opposite position is ably defended in France, R. T., Jesus and the Old Testament: His Application of Old Testament Passages to Himself and His Mission (London: Tyndale, 1971) 110–35.Google Scholar

[3] Rowley, H. H., The Servant of the Lord, and Other Essays on the Old Testament (Oxford: Blackwell, 1956) 90.Google Scholar Cf. Moore, G. F., Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of the Tannaim (2 vols.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1927) 1, 551CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bultmann, R., Theology of the New Testament (2 vols.; New York: Scribner's, 1951) 1, 31Google Scholar; and Hooker, , Jesus 5361.Google Scholar

[4] Jeremias, J., ‘pais theou’, TDNT 5, 666700.Google Scholar Cf. Riesenfeld, H., Jésus Transfiguré: L'Arrière-Plan du Récit Evangélique de la Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1947) 8196, 314–17Google Scholar; Davies, W. D., Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology (2nd ed.; New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1967) 274–84Google Scholar; and Bruce, F. F., The New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968) 90–4.Google Scholar

[5] Cf. Oesterley, W. O. E., An Introduction to the Books of the Apocrypha (London: S.P.C.K., 1935) 225–9Google Scholar; Pfeiffer, R. H., History of New Testament Times: With an Introduction to the Apocrypha (New York: Harper, 1949) 364–7Google Scholar; and Snaith, J. G., Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach (CBC; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1974) 1.Google Scholar

[6] The Messianic hope is not prominent in Sirach, though the promises of the Abrahamic covenant are alluded to in Sir 44. 21, and those of the Davidic covenant are mentioned in Sir 4. 25; and 47. 11, 22.

[7] King, E. G. goes beyond the evidence when he concludes from this verse that ‘the thought of a Suffering Messiah was not unknown before the days of Christ’. The Yalkut on Zechariah: Translated with Notes and Appendices (Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, 1882) 97.Google Scholar Cf. Dalman, G. H., Der leidende und der sterbende Messias der Synagoge im ersten nachchristlichen Jahrtausend (Berlin: Reuther, 1888) 28Google Scholar; and Davies, , Paul 276.Google Scholar

[8] Cf. Oesterley, , Apocrypha 201–9Google Scholar; Pfeiffer, , New Testament Times 3211–8Google Scholar; and Reider, J., The Book of Wisdom: An English Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Harper, 1957) 1222.Google Scholar Recently a date between AD 37 and 41 has been advocated by Winston, D. in The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB; Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1979) 20–5.Google Scholar

[9] Suggs, M. J., ‘Wisdom of Solomon 210–5: A Homily Based on the Fourth Servant Song’, JBL 76 (1957) 29.Google Scholar Cf. pp. 30–31 for a list of the parallels between Wisdom and Isaiah.

[10] Wisdom goes beyond the LXX in that it did not sanction a collective understanding of the fourth servant song, though the insertion of ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ into Isa 42. 1 indicates such an interpretation of the first servant song.

[11] The death of the righteous is portrayed in sacrificial terms in Wis Sol 3. 6, ‘Like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.’

[12] Cf. Greenfield, J. C. and Stone, M. E., ‘The Enochic Pentateuch and the Date of the Similitudes’, HTR 70 (1977) 5165CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mearns, C. L., ‘The Parables of Enoch – Origin and Date’, ET 89 (1978) 118–19Google Scholar; Suter, D. W., Tradition and Composition in the Parables of Enoch (SBLDS 47; Missoula, Montana: Scholars, 1979) 1133Google Scholar; Charlesworth, J. H., ‘The SNTS Pseudepigrapha Seminars at Tübingen and Paris on the Books of Enoch’, NTS 25 (1979) 315–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Knibb, M. A., ‘The Date of the Parables of Enoch: A Critical Review’, NTS 25 (1979) 345–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Mearns, C. L., ‘Dating the Similitudes of Enoch’, NTS 25 (1979) 360–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Contra the position that the Parables are a Christian composition from the latter part of the third century advanced in Milik, J. T., ‘Problèmes de la Littérature Hénochique à la Lumière des Fragments Araméens de Qumrân’, HTR 64 (1971) 333–78Google Scholar; and Milik, J. T. (ed.), The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1976) 91–8.Google Scholar

[13] 1 Enoch 48. 4; Isa 42. 6; 49. 6. Additional traits common to the servant of Isaiah and Son of Man of the Parables are listed in Manson, W., Jesus the Messiah: The Synoptic Tradition of the Revelation of God in Christ, with Special Reference to Form Criticism (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1943) 173–4Google Scholar; North, , Suffering Servant 78Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou688.Google Scholar

[14] Jeremias, Contra (‘pais theou687Google Scholar) who says they ‘are undoubtedly pre-Christian’.

[15] Cf. North, , Suffering Servant 8.Google Scholar

[16] Cf. Charles, R. H., The Book of Enoch: Translated from Professor Dillmann's Ethiopic Text (Oxford: Clarendon, 1893) 131Google Scholar; Sjöberg, E., Der Menschensohn im Äthiopischen Henochbuch (Lund: Gleerup, 1946) 128–33Google Scholar; and Knibb, M. A., The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), 2.132.Google Scholar

[17] Cf. Johansson, N., Parakletoi: Vorstellungen von Fürsprechern für die Menschen vor Gott in der Alttestamentlichen Religion im Spätjudentum und Urchristentum (Lund: Gleerupska Universitetsbokhandeln, 1940) 117–18.Google Scholar

[18] Cf. Box, G. H., The Ezra-Apocalypse (London: Pitman, 1912) xxviiixxxiiiGoogle Scholar; Oesterley, W. O. E., II Esdras (The Ezra Apocalypse) (London: Methuen, 1933) xlivxlvGoogle Scholar; and Myers, J. M., I and II Esdras: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (AB; Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1974) 129–31.Google Scholar

[19] Cf. Box, , Ezra-Apocalypse 115Google Scholar; and Myers, , I and II Esdras 128.Google Scholar

[20] Cf. Jeremias, J., ‘Erlöser und Erlösung im Spätjudentum und Urchristentum’, Deutsche Theologie 2 (1929) 110–12.Google Scholar

[21] It has been suggested that ho pais mou underlies ‘my Son’ in 2 Esdras 7. 28, 29, but this is doubtful. Cf. Bloch, J., ‘Some Christological Interpolations in the Ezra-Apocalypse’, HTR 51 (1958) 8794CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Gero, S.,’ “My Son the Messiah”: A Note on 4 Esr 7 28–29’, ZNW 66 (1975) 264–7.Google Scholar

For an overview of the messianic teaching of 2 Esdras see Stone, M. E., ‘The Concept of the Messiah in IV Ezra’, Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of E. R. Goodenough (ed. Neusner, J.; Leiden: Brill, 1968) 303–10.Google Scholar

[22] Carpenter, L. L. sees an echo of Isa 42. 4 in Ps Sol 17. 43b (Primitive Christian Application of the Doctrine of the Servant [Durham, North Carolina: Duke University, 1929] 38)Google Scholar; and Ryle, H. E. and James, M. R. suggest Isa 42. 6 may have inspired Ps Sol 17. 42 (Psalms of the Pharisees: Commonly called The Psalms of Solomon [Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1891]) lv.Google Scholar

[23] Lattey, C., ‘The Messianic Expectation in “The Assumption of Moses”’, CBQ 4 (1942) 921.Google Scholar

[24] Rowley, H. H., The Relevance of Apocalyptic: A Study of Jewish and Christian Apocalypses from Daniel to the Revelation (3rd ed.; London: Lutterworth, 1963) 150.Google Scholar Cf. pp. 151–2 on additional difficulties with Lattey's theory.

[25] Jeremias, J., ‘pais theou’, TWNT 5, 685.Google Scholar All other references to this article in the notes are to the English edition.

[26] Even if the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs was not originally a Christian composition, it certainly is Christian in the form that we have it.

[27] On the former see Brownlee, W. H., ‘Messianic Motifs of Qumran and the New Testament’, NTS 3 (19561957) 19CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bruce, F. F., Biblical Exegesis in the Qumran Texts (London: Tyndale, 1960) 61Google Scholar; and Holm-Nielsen, S., Hodayot: Psalms from Qumran (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1960), 132.Google Scholar

[28] Bruce, , Biblical Exegesis 62.Google Scholar Additional possible allusions to the servant in the Hymns are discussed in Brownlee, , ‘Messianic Motifs’ 1820, 26Google Scholar; Dupont-Sommer, A., The Essene Writings from Qumran (Oxford: Blackwell, 1961) 364–6Google Scholar; and Thiering, B., ‘Suffering and Asceticism at Qumran as Illustrated in the Hodayot’, Rev Q 8 (1974) 404.Google Scholar Many of these allusions, and the importance of the servant figure in the Qumran community's understanding of its role, have been contested in Carmignac, J., ‘Les Citations de l'Ancien Testament et Spécialement des Poèmes du Serviteur dans les Hymnes de Qumran’, Rev Q 2 (1960) 357–94Google Scholar; and Garnet, P., Salvation and Atonement in the Qumran Scrolls (WUNT 2: 3; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1977) 121–3.Google Scholar

[29] So Brownlee, , ‘Messianic Motifs’ 19Google Scholar; Bruce, , Biblical Exegesis 61, 62Google Scholar; and Holm-Nielsen, , Hodayot 156.Google Scholar

[30] Translation taken from Bruce, , Biblical Exegesis 60.Google Scholar

[31] Cf. the discussions of 1QS 8. 5b–7a in Black, M., ‘Servant of the Lord and Son of Man’, SJT 6 (1953) 78CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Brownlee, W. H., ‘The Servant of the Lord in the Qumran Scrolls. II’, BASOR 135 (1954) 34–5Google Scholar; and Bruce, , Biblical Exegesis 60.Google Scholar

[32] Brownlee, W. H., ‘The Servant of the Lord in the Qumran Scrolls. I’, BASOR 132 (1953) 815.Google Scholar Cf. also Barthélemy, D., ‘Le Grand Rouleau d'Isaie Trouvé près de la Mer Morte’, RB 57 (1950) 546–7Google Scholar; Bruce, , Biblical Exegesis 56–7Google Scholar; and especially Brownlee, W. H., The Meaning of the Qumrân Scrolls for the Bible (New York: Oxford University, 1964) 204–15.Google Scholar

Other variants in 1 QIsa which may reflect a messianic interpretation are discussed in Barthélemy, , ‘Grand Rouleau’ 548Google Scholar; Chamberlain, J. V., ‘The Functions of God as Messianic Titles in the Complete Isaiah Scroll’, VT 5 (1955) 366–72Google Scholar; and Brownlee, , ‘Messianic Motifs’ 195–8.Google Scholar

[33] So Driver, G. R., ‘Isaiah 5213–5312: the Servant of the Lord’, In memoriam Paul Kahle (ed. Black, M. and Fohrer, G.; Berlin: Topelmann, 1968) 92.Google Scholar See also the criticisms of Brownlee's position in Guillaume, A., ‘Les Manuscrits Hébreux’, RB 59 (1952) 186Google Scholar; Reider, J., ‘On MŠHTY in the Qumran Scrolls’, BASOR 134 (1954) 27–8Google Scholar; Rubinstein, A., ‘Isaiah LII 14 – ηπφη – and the DSIa Variant’, Bib 35 (1954) 475–9Google Scholar; and Guillaume, A., ‘Some Readings in the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah’, JBL 76 (1957) 41–2.Google Scholar

[34] Cf. Starcky, J., ‘Les Quatre Etapes du Messianisme à Qumrân’, RB 70 (1963) 481505Google Scholar; and Starcky, J., ‘Un Texte Messianique Araméen de la Grotte 4 de Qumrân’, Mémorial du Cinquantenaire 1914–1964 de l'École des langues orientates anciennes de l'Institut Catholique de Paris (Paris: Bloud et Gay, 1964) 5166.Google Scholar

[35] Cf. Garnet, , Salvation 108–9.Google Scholar

[36] Cf. Brown, R. E., ‘J. Starcky's Theory of Qumran Messianic Development’, CBQ 28 (1966) 51Google Scholar; and Fitzmyer, J. A., ‘The Aramaic “Elect of God” Text from Qumran Cave 4’, Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament (SBLSBS 5; Missoula, Montana: Scholars, 1974) 136–7.Google Scholar The original version of Fitzmyer's article appeared in CBQ 27 (1965) 348–72.Google Scholar

[37] Cf. Fitzmyer, , ‘“Elect of God” Text’ 150–3.Google Scholar

[38] Cf. Swete, H. B., An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek (New York: Ktav, 1968 [reprint of 1902 edition]) 128Google Scholar; and the pertinent essays collected in Studies in the Septuagint: Origins, Recensions, and Interpretations (ed. Jellicoe, S.; New York: Ktav, 1974).Google Scholar

[39] Cf. Euler, K. F., Die Verkündigung vom leidenden Gottesknecht aus Jes. 53 in der griechischen Bibel (BWAT 4:14; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1934) 1629Google Scholar; and Zimmerli, W., ‘pais theou’, TDNT 5 (1967) 676–7.Google Scholar

[40] The Hebrew term for ‘root’ is the same in both cases, but not the word for ‘child’.

[41] Cf. Euler, , Verkündigung 2942Google Scholar; Jeremias, J., ‘Zum Problem der Deutung von Jes. 53 im palä-stinischen Spätjudentum’, Aux Sources de la Tradition Chrétienne: Mélanges offerts à M. Maurice Goguel à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire (Neuchatel: Delachaux & Niestlé, 1950) 115–17Google Scholar; Wolff, H. W., Jesaja 53 im Urchristentum (2nd ed.; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1950) 40–2Google Scholar; Hegermann, H., Jesaja 53 in Hexapla, Targum und Peschitta (BFCT; Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1954) 2866, 112–15Google Scholar; Fascher, E., Jesaja 53 in christlicher und jüdischer Sicht (Aufsätze und Vorträge zur Theologie und Religionswissenschaft 4; Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1958) 1314, 18–19Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou689–92.Google Scholar

[42] Cf. Hegermann, , Jesaja 53 112–14Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou689–92.Google Scholar

[43] Cf. Swete, , Old Testament 3133, 42, 431.Google ScholarJeremias, (‘Deutung von Jes. 53’ 117–18)Google Scholar suggests that Aquila's translation should be dated no later than AD 110.

[44] Cf. Jeremias, , ‘pais theou691.Google Scholar

[45] Ibid., 688–9. Cf. Hegermann, , Jesaja 53 127–8.Google Scholar

[46] Pfeiffer, R. H. (Introduction to the Old Testament [London: Black, 1952] 121Google Scholar) cites the Syriac translation of Isa 52. 15 as evidence of Christian influence.

[47] Cf. Bloch, J., ‘The Authorship of the Peshitta’, AJSL 35 (19181919) 215–22Google Scholar; and Kahle, P. E., The Cairo Geniza (2nd ed.; Oxford: Blackwell, 1959) 265–72.Google Scholar

[48] Cf. Bruce, F. F., The Books and the Parchments: Some Chapters on the Transmission of the Bible (3rd ed.; London: Pickering & Inglis, 1963) 193.Google Scholar

[49] Cf. Dalman, G., Jesus – Jeshua: Studies in the Gospels (London: SPCK, 1929) 172Google Scholar (a reversal of the position he maintained in Der sterbende Messias 47–9); Riesenfeld, , Jésus 85–6Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou695.Google ScholarRowley, Contra, Servant of the Lord 68.Google Scholar

[50] Cf. Aytoun, R. A., ‘The Servant of the Lord in the Targum’, JTS 23 (1922) 177Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou694–5, especially n. 302.Google Scholar

[51] Ibid., 693–4, n. 296.

[52] Cf. Dalman, , Der sterbende Messias 48–9Google Scholar; Jastrow, M., A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (2 vols.; London: Luzac, 1903) 2.810Google Scholar; Humbert, P., ‘Le Messie dans le Targum des Prophètes’, RTP 44 (1911) 56Google Scholar; and Seidelin, P., ‘Der Ebed Yahwe und die Messiasgestalt im Jesajatargum’, ZNW 25 (1936) 215.Google Scholar

[53] On the origin and development of the Targum on the Prophets see Aytoun, , ‘Servant of the Lord’ 172–80Google Scholar; Churgin, P., Targum Jonathan to the Prophets (New Haven: Yale University, 1927) 951Google Scholar; Stenning, J. F., The Targum of Isaiah (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949) viixiGoogle Scholar; Kahle, , Cairo Geniza 195–8Google Scholar; Jeremias, , ‘pais theou692–3Google Scholar; and Levey, S. H., ‘The Date of Targum Jonathan to the Prophets’, VT 21 (1971) 186–96.Google Scholar

[54] Cf. Aytoun, , ‘Servant of the Lord’ 176Google Scholar; North, , Suffering Servant 11Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou693.Google ScholarSeidelin, Contra, ‘’Ebed Yahwe’ 229–30Google Scholar; and Levey, , ‘Targum Jonathan’ 187, n. 2.Google Scholar

[55] Matt 16. 13–23 = Mk 8. 27–33 = Lk 9. 18–22. Cf. Mk 9. 30–32 = Lk 9. 43–45;and Lk 24. 25–27,44–47.

[56] Matt 16. 22.

[57] Cf. Brown, R. E., The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1977) 458–9.Google Scholar

[58] Ellis, E. E. (The Gospel of Luke [NCB; London: Nelson, 1966] 81)Google Scholar comments: ‘In this prophecy the concept of a suffering Messiah first appears in Luke's story.’ Cf. Brown, , Birth of the Messiah 460–2Google Scholar; and Marshall, I. H., The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 122–3.Google Scholar For different interpretations of the warning to Mary see Benoit, P., ‘“Et Toi-même, un glaive te transpercera l'Âme!” Luc 2,35’, CBQ 25 (1963) 251–61Google Scholar; and Brown, , Birth of the Messiah 462–6.Google Scholar

[59] Cf. Jones, D., ‘The Background and Character of the Lucan Psalms’, JTS n.s. 19 (1968)Google Scholar; and Brown, , Birth of the Messiah 346–55.Google Scholar

[60] Jones, , ‘Background’ 44.Google Scholar Cf. Machen, J. G., The Virgin Birth of Christ (2nd ed.; New York: Harper & Row, 1932) 66–9Google Scholar; and Marshall, , Luke 115.Google Scholar

[61] John, 1. 29, 36.Google Scholar

[62] Cf. Taylor, V., The Atonement in New Testament Teaching (London: Epworth, 1940) 201–2Google Scholar; Stanley, D. M., ‘The Theme of the Servant of Yahweh in Primitive Christian Soteriology, and its Transposition by St. Paul’, CBQ 16 (1954) 402–4Google Scholar; and Gryglewicz, F., ‘Das Lamm Gottes’.NTS 13 (19661967) 133–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

[63] Jeremias, J., ‘amnos’, TDNT 1 (1964) 338–40.Google Scholar Cf. Ball, C. J., ‘Had the Fourth Gospel an Aramaic Archetype?ET 21 (1909) 92–3Google Scholar; and Burney, C. F., The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1922) 107–8.Google Scholar

[64] Dodd, C. H., The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1953) 235–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

[65] Cf. Brown, R. E., The Gospel according to John (i–xii): Introduction, Translation, and Notes (AB; 2 vols.; Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966) 1.6061Google Scholar; and Burrows, E. W., ‘Did John the Baptist Call Jesus “The Lamb of God”?ET 85 (19731974) 245–9.Google Scholar

[66] As Jesus is not described as ‘the Lamb of God’ or ‘the One who takes away the sin of the world’ elsewhere in the Gospel, it is unlikely that these phrases were coined by the evangelist.

[67] Cf. Jeremias, , ‘pais theou689.Google Scholar

[68] Cf. Lk 23. 37–38.

[69] Acts 8. 26–40.

[70] Cf. Davies, , Paul 282, 335Google Scholar; and especially Jeremias, , ‘pais theou696.Google Scholar

[71] Cf. Strack, H. L., Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (New York: Atheneum, 1976 [reprint of 1931 edition]) 113.Google Scholar

[72] Cf. Martyr, Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew chaps 36, 39, 49, 68, 77, 89, 90.Google Scholar

[73] On the general reliability of Justin on this issue see Schürer, E., A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ (5 vols.; New York: Scribner's, n.d.) 2/2.184–6Google Scholar; Davies, , Paul 280–1Google Scholar; and Jeremias, , ‘pais theou696–7.Google Scholar For the opposite point of view see Ch. , Guignebert, The Jewish World in the Time of Jesus (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1939) 148, n. 1Google Scholar; Rowley, , Servant of the Lord 71Google Scholar; and Higgins, A. J. B., ‘Jewish Messianic Belief in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho’, NT 9 (1967) 298305.Google Scholar

[74] This would be true regardless of whether Justin's Trypho is to be identified with R. Tarphon, who is often associated with R. Akiba. In favour of this identification is Davies, (Paul 280, n. 2).Google Scholar For the opposite point of view see Krauss, S., ‘The Jews in the Works of the Church Fathers’, JQR 5 (1893) 125–6Google Scholar; Hyldahl, N., ‘Tryphon und Tarphon’, ST 10 (1956) 7788Google Scholar; and Barnard, L. W., Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1967) 24–5.Google Scholar

[75] The death of messiah ben Joseph is mentioned in b. Sukk. 52a. in a saying attributed to R. Dosa, which would put the tradition in the middle of the second century. Here, however, the concept of the dying messiah is rooted in Zech 12. 10, rather than Isaiah 53. Cf. Heinemann, J., ‘The Messiah of Ephraim and the Premature Exodus of the Tribe of Ephraim’, HTR 68 (1975) 115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

[76] b. Sanh. 98b. This translation, taken from Jeremias, , ‘pais theou690Google Scholar, is based on the text offered by Raymundus Martini. The standard text, found in Sanhedrin (Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud [ed. Epstein, I.: London: Soncino, 1969])Google Scholar, definitely is corrupt.

[77] Cf. Dalrnan, , sterbende Messias 37Google Scholar; Jeremias, , ‘pais theou690, n. 271Google Scholar; and Bonsirven, J., Palestinian Judaism in the Time of Jesus Christ (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964) 193.Google Scholar

[78] Ruth R. 5. 6. The translation is that of Rabinowitz, L. in Ruth: Midrash Rabbah (ed. Freedman, H. and Simon, M.; London: Soncino, 1939) 64.Google Scholar

[79] Cf. Jeremias, , ‘pais theou697Google Scholar; and Bonsirven, , Palestinian Judaism 193.Google Scholar

[80] Other relevant texts have been gathered together in Driver, S. R. and Neubauer, A., The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah according to the Jewish Interpreters (2 vols.; New York: Ktav, 1969 [reprint of 1877 edition])Google Scholar; and Patai, R., The Messiah Texts (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1979).Google Scholar

[81] Cf. Robinson, H. W., The Cross in the Old Testament (London: SCM, 1955) 90Google Scholar; Vermes, G., Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels (London: Collins, 1973) 140Google Scholar; and Heinemann, , ‘Messiah of Ephraim’ 810.Google Scholar

[82] Jeremias, , ‘pais theou699.Google Scholar

[83] Cf. the judgment of Longenecker, R. N. (The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity [SBT 2/17; Naperville, Ill.: Allenson, 1970] 105)Google Scholar: ‘… while “Servant of God” was thought of in some circles within late Judaism in a messianic fashion, a “suffering servant” conception had not as yet been consciously formed. It may have been in the process of crystalization in some quarters; though it seems that a “son of David” messianology in most cases negated it.’

Parallels between early Christianity and seventeenth century Sabbatianism demonstrate the folly of thinking that Judaism would necessarily be resistant to messianic conceptions similar to those found in Christianity. Cf. Davies, W. D., ‘From Schweitzer to Scholem: Reflections on Sabbatai Svi’, JBL 95 (1976) 529–58 (especially 534–43).Google Scholar