Abstract
Isaiah 42:1–9 and 49:1–6 are prophecies that describe the servant of the Lord as an entity that will bring justice and salvation for all, including being “a light to the nations.” The implications of “light to the nations” imagery have tended to include a presumption that the nations are in darkness and that darkness is an undesirable state. This expository article will consider the identity, activity, and function of the servant of the Lord in both passages, and examine imperial and racial implications of “light to the nations” imagery. It will interpret the servant’s role as enacting justice, light, among all people. Further, it will deconstruct the negative implications of darkness and its exclusive equation with the nations, as both Israel and the servant, in addition to the nations, exhibit characteristics of and parallel constructions to darkness in the passage. Instead of understanding darkness negatively and as only associated with the nations, this article will interpret the passages to present darkness as a place in which the potential of God’s transformative activity is at its height.
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