Suffering Servant Research Articles

The Old Testament Biblical Context of Jesus as Ebed Yahweh

Judaism's ideas of Ebed Yahweh and the Messiah are tasked with mending the false connection between Yahweh and his people and guiding them toward the disposition God has given them via his appointment. It's not implausible to think that the Ebed figure Deutero-Isaiah refers to lived up to his ideals and eventually went back to Jerusalem to continue his prophetic work. The qualities of Yahweh, the issue of evil, and theodicy are just a few of the topics covered in the writings of the Old Testament philosopher viewpoints on the entire ancient Israelite religion. To determine if Jesus serves as the Servant of God referred to in Deutero-Isaiah, the paper contextualizes Isaiah chapters 53 and 61. The evolution of Heilsgeschichte alludes to Ebed Yahweh’s figure. The researcher concluded that even in Palestine and mainstream crucial element thought could show that such a concept existed, it was, at best, improbable and flimsy. However, this does not change the reality that the Suffering Servant of God and the Suffering Prophet are linked. The Synoptic did apply ideas, death and Ebed's restoration covenant between God and his people to himself.

«By His Wounds you have been healed»: A Christological portrait in IPe 2:18-25

The First Peter speaks of wounded people in a Christian community living in the situation of suffering. The metaphor “a trial by fire” (1Pe 4:12) allows the reader to guess how distressed this situation is. The author draws the passion of Christ from Isaiah’s Suffering Servant song (vv. 21-22; see Isa 53:9). This portrait underlines that the salvific purpose of Jesus Christ’s historical journey gives meaning to his disciples’ sufferings and constitutes for them the foundation of their hope. Peter’s most profound Christological statement, with terms of which are not found elsewhere in Scripture, comes in Peter’s address to slaves (1Pe 2:22-25). Nonetheless, the reader today must take up this striking message, in his own context. Some questions emerge from the passage: How does Christ’s example of self-gift on the cross speaks to wounded people today? How does the call to imitate Christ offers reassurance and hope to wounded people? To answer them, this article aims to provide some elements, which are also valuable to deepen the dimensions of “atoning death, vicarious and substitutionary suffering” and “exemplarity” that the Christological portrait in the First Letter of Peter reveals.

Reconfiguring Ignacio Ellacuría’s Symbolic Conception of “the Crucified People”: Jesus, the Suffering Servant, and Abel

This article offers an appreciative but critical appraisal of Ignacio Ellacuría’s concept of “the crucified people,” which identifies the oppressed peoples of history with both Jesus and the Suffering Servant. In formulating his concept, Ellacuría does not sufficiently delineate the potential volitional differences between Jesus, the Servant, and the crucified peoples of history. As a result, the symbol of the crucified people can present potentially distorted understandings of the relationship between suffering and redemption, distortions that Ellacuría himself would disavow. After surfacing these concerns, I argue that broadening the symbolic framework of the symbol of the crucified people to include not only Jesus and the Servant but also the figure of Abel can protect against these potential distortions.

The Prophets

The Prophets Fred W. Guyette, Christopher T. Begg, Richard A. Taylor, and Thomas Hieke 978. [The Suffering Servant in Isaiah 40–55] David Wyn Williams, Conversations with a Suffering Servant (London: T&T Clark, 2020). Pp. x + 219. $120. ISBN 978-0567676108. Who is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 40–55? A Jewish "corporate" reading takes Israel to be the Suffering Servant, or perhaps "the nobler part of Israel." Traditional Christian readings see Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant and promised Messiah. Franz Delitzsch proposed a "pyramid" model of the Suffering Servant in which Israel "after the flesh" forms the wide base, Israel "after the spirit" forms the middle part, and a single mediator of redemption stands at the pinnacle. Bernhard Duhm focused attention on a single figure, someone who was a "disciple of the prophets, a teacher of the Law, and a pastor of souls." Continuing this ongoing conversation, W.'s study seeks to understand the Suffering Servant with the help of Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogical model (see Bakhtin's "The Author and the Hero in Aesthetic Activity," in Art and Answerability [Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990]). W.'s chapters are titled respectively: What Scripture Says about the Suffering Servant; What Scholars Say about the Suffering Servant; The Servant as a Polyphonic Hero; What God Says to the Servant; What the Servant Says to God; What the Servant Says about Suffering; What the Nations Say about the Servant; and The Voice-Idea of the Suffering Servant. W.'s study raises important questions around our corporate and individual responses to suffering, offering insight into how the servant's prophetic characterization dismantled an exiled nation's ideologies of suffering and called the people to understand their plight as part of a redemptive story on behalf of the nations. The last seventy pages of the book consist of interviews and dialogues between W. and "Jared," a friend who was suffering from terminal cancer, in light of what Deutero-Isaiah says about suffering.—F.W.G. [End Page 352] 979. [Jeremiah] Walter Brueggemann, Returning from the Abyss: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Jeremiah (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2022). Pp. xix + 167. $18. ISBN 9780664266868. For some 40 years, Jeremiah tried to tell the people of Judah about God's approaching judgment. Jerusalem's leaders had come to enjoy a high level of prosperity, but to gain these economic advantages they had violated their covenant with God. Injustice and idolatry permeated their way of life. Still, the Lord allowed them time to repent: "If you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, the widow, or shed innocent blood, I will dwell with you here" (Jeremiah 7). But they refused to listen. Then Jeremiah delivered a message of warning from Yhwh: Some of you are destined to perish from pestilence, some by the sword, others by famine, and still others will go into captivity (Jer 15:2). Hananiah contradicted him, saying, "No, God has promised to protect Jerusalem forever!" (Jeremiah 28). But Jeremiah knew that Hananiah was a false prophet. There were several waves of deportation to Babylon, beginning in 598 b.c.e. The worst came in 587 b.c.e., after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. This is the "abyss" referred to in B.'s title. While they were in exile, the children of Israel longed to return to the Promised Land. They even thought of fighting their way out so they could return to Jerusalem, but those dreams were unrealistic. Jeremiah wrote a letter to them: "Seek the peace of that city where you are now. The exile will be long" (Jeremiah 29). The New Covenant described in Jer 31:31-34 is a wonderful message of hope and call to trust in Yhwh's goodness. Yhwh would indeed bring his people out of the abyss of captivity, but only when the time was right. Babylon would fall eventually (Jer 51:64), though Jeremiah himself would not live to see it. Throughout this book, B. finds ways to apply the prophetic words of Jeremiah to America's public life in the twenty-first century. The book's chapters are designed for study and discussion...

Endo Šusaku - pisac inkulturacije

Endo Shusaku's oeuvre is a fascinating literary attempt at reconciliation of (Western) Christianity and Japanese culture. As a Christian and a Japanese, Endo was a living embodiment of this religious and cultural struggle, but he was also a writer and thus in a fitting position to express the agonies of identity crisis that he and his Christian compatriots had to endure for centuries. Endo was, in other words, interested in the mission process known as inculturation, which signifies specific ways in which Christianity becomes a natural part of any given culture. The success of this process depends on the identification of the most important causes of conflict between Christianity and culture, while the solutions usually tend to produce something new. In most cases of successful inculturation, new images of Christ were produced in accordance with the religious mentality of the baptized community. Throughout his writings, Endo has managed to offer several such images. His Christ is a Suffering Servant of God, similar to the one described by Isaiah, a companion figure (dohansha), and a merciful God full of motherly love. While based on the Bible, these images are, at the same time, inspired by Japanese religious traditions, specifically Buddhist notions of merciful buddhas and bodhisattvas. Several controversial details in Endo's novels have aroused suspicions among Catholic clergymen, such as the presumed justification of apostasy in Silence and the pluralist tone of Deep River, but Endo was not trying to justify Asian religious mentality to Westerners. On the contrary, he was trying to present Christianity to the Japanese audience using the religious motifs they were familiar with. Thus, one might interpret Endo's images of Christ as an "experimental" inculturation - theologically imperfect but nevertheless valuable for pointing out the most significant issues in the evangelization of Japan.

Andrew T. Abernethy, Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception

Andrew T. Abernethy, <i>Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception</i>

The Prophets

The Prophets Fred W. Guyette, Brian J. Meldrum, Timothy M. Rucker, Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, and Richard A. Taylor 2567. [The Prophets of Israel] James K. Hoffmeier, The Prophets of Israel: Walking the Ancient Paths (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2021). Pp. 398. $45. ISBN 978-0825445729. H. draws on his extensive knowledge of ANE culture, geography, and political realities to situate the prophets and their message in their historical contexts. Abraham can be thought of as the first prophet, on account of the way he pleaded as an intercessor for the lives of those in Sodom and Gomorrah. But it was Moses who became the prototype of Israel's prophets, because in Exodus 3 and 4, God gave him a message to deliver to Pharaoh: "Let My people go!" It was also Moses who taught Israel about the meaning of their covenant with God in Exodus 20, following a treaty pattern described by Kenneth Kitchen: (Preamble/Historical Prologue/Stipulations/Deposition of Text and Public Reading/Witnesses/Blessings/Curses). Speaking of generations to come, God said: "I will raise up for them a prophet like Moses, and he will tell them everything I command him" (Deut 18:18). Who were these prophets? Samuel called on Israel to always remain faithful to God as their king. He advised them not to seek a human king "like the other nations." Yet, the people did not listen, and Saul became king. Saul made a good beginning as a military leader of Israel, but he did not heed Samuel's prophetic words, so the kingdom was taken away from [End Page 962] him and given to David. It was the prophet Nathan who became the voice of conscience to King David after his affair with Bathsheba and his betrayal of Uriah. Elijah the prophet confronted the idolatry and injustices of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and he prepared Elisha, who became his worthy successor. Amos was the prophet who used a plumbline as an image of God's judgment on Israel's wicked ways. Hosea's message was: Israel has played the harlot, but God remains a faithful covenant partner to Israel. Jonah, like Hosea, knows that God is loving and forgiving, but that knowledge is problematic for him: Jonah would rather see the great city of Nineveh go up in flames. The prophet Isaiah anticipates a Messiah, a Suffering Servant who will come to save Israel, and his words are quoted in the NT more than 60 times. It took great courage for the prophet Jeremiah to keep delivering God's message to Israel, because that message was rejected over and over. Eventually, Jeremiah became a witness to historical catastrophe, as Jerusalem fell to Babylon and many of the people went into exile. Still, he anticipated a day when there would be a New Covenant between God and his people. In Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel was deeply committed to Israel's priestly traditions. Ezekiel comforted the exiles with visionary descriptions of dry bones coming back to life, a New Temple, and a River of Life. This is a book that would be very suitable for classroom use at the college level. Full-color photos, maps, and images of historical and cultural importance abound. Helpful discussion questions for students and instructors also appear at the end of each chapter.—F.W.G. 2568. [Isaiah 1–39] Matthew J. Lynch, First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods (Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible 12; University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2021). Pp. 144. Paper $39.95. ISBN 978-1-57506-839-8. Ten of the eighteen occurrences of the term ʾlylym (usually translated as "idols") in the Hebrew Bible are found in Isaiah 1–39. L. explores the possibility that First Isaiah uses the term to avoid characterizing other deities and idols as "gods" or ʾlhym. Using this linguistic phenomenon as a point of departure, L. reexamines the rhetorical strategies of First Isaiah, thereby uncovering a stronger monotheizing rhetoric than previously recognized. Standard accounts of Israelite religion frequently insist that monotheism reached its apex during the exile, and especially in Deutero-Isaiah. By contrast, L.'s study brings to light an equally...

Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception by Andrew T. Abernethy

Reviewed by: Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception by Andrew T. Abernethy Todd Hibbard andrew t. abernethy, Discovering Isaiah: Content, Interpretation, Reception (Discovering Biblical Texts; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. x + 197. Paper $24. If the number of recent introductory volumes is any indication, interest in the Book of Isaiah shows no sign of waning. Good guides for this task who have a command of the critical and exegetical issues can alert readers to important matters along the way. Abernethy proves to be a reliable and helpful guide in this new volume in the Discovering Biblical Texts series. He offers a succinct overview of the book's interpretive history, content, and theological themes in ten brisk, and at times conversational, chapters. He writes intentionally for a Christian audience, and one that might have some aversion to historical-critical issues based on the caution he raises about that approach. In a brief introductory chapter, A. lays out his approach as one that rests on threefold attention to "historical insights, literary analysis, and reception history" (p. 4). Chapters 2 and 3 selectively examine the book's reception and interpretive histories. This is an area where an author could easily get bogged down in the enormous amount of literature, but A. proves skillful at highlighting important texts and persons who have interpreted Isaiah. In chap. 4, A. presents a metahistory based on a canonical reading of Isaiah, what he calls "the history Isaiah tells" (p. 38). In this chapter, he divides Isaiah into four phases, advancing a historical and theological reading of the book oriented to its canonical shape. The discussion begins with judgment in the Assyrian and Babylonian phases, continuing into the deliverance expected through Cyrus, the new community made possible through the suffering servant, and concludes with judgment and salvation on a cosmic scale. The next five chapters highlight key themes that A. identifies in Isaiah and explores their role in the book as well as their reception throughout Christian history. Each theme is also situated within the four phases of Isaiah's story laid out in chap. 4. In chap. 5, A. demonstrates the importance of holiness in Isaiah, focusing on the trifold declaration of God's holiness in Isaiah 6 ("Holy, holy, holy") (Isa 6:3) and Isaiah's use of the title "Holy One of Israel" for God (twenty-five times in Isaiah). He concludes with an informative discussion of how Isaiah 6 has been explored and appropriated by Christian theologians and liturgists. In chap. 6, A. turns to the theme of Zion. He notes that Zion occupies both physical and [End Page 480] symbolic space in the Hebrew Bible. Finally, he explores how Zion has been understood in the Christian interpretive tradition, both symbolically and historically. In chap. 7, A. examines the idea of the messianic king in Isaiah, broadening his approach to include texts that he thinks are related to the idea of a messianic king, rather than exploring the single text that uses the term māšîaḥ (45:1, referring to Cyrus). Consequently, A. focuses on a range of texts about future Davidic kings in view of the idea of the royal messiah. While his decision to examine a broad range of texts featuring expectations about future kings makes sense, his choice not to include a discussion of the book's use of the term māšîaḥ in reference to Cyrus is regrettable. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of how early Christian apologists, later premodern interpreters, and artists understood Isa 7:14. Abernethy tackles the thorny problem of the Suffering Servant in chap. 8. He offers an overview of the present state of scholarship on the identity of the Servant in the four poems of Deutero-Isaiah (42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12) before suggesting that concentrating on the Servant's identity might not be the best approach to these passages. He then turns to a close reading of the fourth servant poem. Here, A.'s skill as an exegete is on display; indeed, this discussion provides an outstanding entry into this difficult and ambiguous text for novice readers of Isaiah (or even experienced readers!). Yet, in...

Isaac D. Blois. Mutual Boasting in Philippians: The Ethical Function of Shared Honor in Its Biblical and Greco-Roman Context

This revised University of St Andrews 2017 dissertation by Isaac Blois, under the supervision of Scott Hafemann, examines the role of mutual boasting in Philippians. Focusing on Phil 1:25–26 and 2:14–16, it argues that “Paul’s paraenesis is motivated by a mutuality of honor between God/Christ and the Philippians understood against the backdrop of Deut 26:19, but one that includes Paul within this relationship in light of his sharing the role of the Isaianic Servant in Isa 49:4, albeit now in the new eschatological reality brought about by the exaltation of Christ” (p. 163).This study consists of three parts sandwiched between an introductory and a concluding chapter. Chapter 1 defines key terms and surveys the history of research pertinent to the overall project. Part one (chs. 2–3) investigates the motif of mutual glory in the Jewish Scriptures. Chapter 2 analyzes how καύχημα functions as a sign of mutual honor in Deuteronomy. In Deut 10:21, God is declared to be Israel’s boast; in 26:19, Israel is God’s boast. Chapter 3 outlines the trifold mutuality of glory found in Isaiah, a glory that is shared between YHWH, Israel, and the Suffering Servant. Part two (chs. 4–5) explores mutual honor in Roman antiquity. Chapter 4 looks at the influence and mutuality of honor in the Greco-Roman world. Chapter 5 probes how mutual honor is used within interpersonal communications to persuade others toward appropriate action. Part three (chs. 6–8) interrogates mutual honor in Philippians. Chapter 6 exegetes 1:25–26, examining how Paul’s faithfulness and self- sacrifice garner honor for the Philippians. Chapter 7 shows how 2:14–16 offers the corresponding idea to 1:26. The Philippian’s exemplary behavior garners praise not only for themselves but also for Paul. Blois further argues that the presence of Deuteronomic and Isaianic allusions in Phil 2:12–18 directs us to read Paul’s καύχημα language in 2:16 within the scriptural framework outlined earlier in part one. The boast that accrues to Paul from the Philippians’ behavior in Phil 2:16 parallels the boast that accrues to YHWH from Israel’s behavior in Deut 26:19 (p. 143). The reason Paul dares to insert himself into this parallelism is that he understands his mission in light of the Isaianic servant (note the allusion to Isa 49:4 in Phil 2:16). As the mediator between God and his people, he shares in the honor given to the Servant. Chapter 8 examines Paul’s use of mutual honor to motivate the Philippians to act accordingly to his exhortations. Chapter 9 concludes this study.Blois’s dissertation is a welcome contribution to studies on honor motifs in Philippians. While others have called attention to the theme of reciprocal boasting between Paul and his readers in Philippians, Blois advances the discussion in two ways. First, Blois situates the reciprocal boasting discourse within its cultural context. In particular, Blois effectively shows how Paul’s use of mutual honor as a motivational tool is both similar to and different from the cultural norms within the Greco-Roman world. It is similar in that Paul uses mutual honor as a rhetorical strategy to motivate others toward appropriate behavior. It is nevertheless different in that the mutual honor in Philippians entails a “tridirectional flow of honor between Paul, the Philippians, and God/Christ” (p. 153). Second, Blois situates the reciprocal boasting in Philippians within its theological context. Specifically, he argues that both Deut 26:19 and Isa 49:4 form the scriptural background for appreciating Paul’s language of mutual boasting. He also notes that the trifold mutuality of glory in Philippians (between God/Christ, the Philippians, and Paul) parallels that found in Isaiah (between Yahweh, Israel, and the Servant). Blois has made a case for his reading. Nonetheless, his line of argument requires quite a number of moves. His reading may therefore not be compelling to some.The amount of research that Blois has put into this work is clear. The abundant footnotes show his extensive engagement not only with important primary sources but also with a wide swath of secondary literature in German, French, and Spanish. This volume will therefore benefit others who wish to study the motif of honor in the Pauline letters.

Joseph Blenkinsopp. Essays on the Book of Isaiah. FAT 128.

Joseph Blenkinsopp. Essays on the Book of Isaiah. FAT 128.

David I. Starling. Reading Ephesians and Colossians: A Literary and Theological Commentary. Reading the New Testament, second series.

David I. Starling. <i>Reading Ephesians and Colossians: A Literary and Theological Commentary</i>. Reading the New Testament, second series.

Expiation in Levinas and His Understanding of Judaism, and in the Catholic Mass

The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas describes ethical substitution as a suffering for another’s suffering. Levinas’s phenomenology would make of the act of substitution a universal calling, a calling regardless of race, culture, and ethnicity, that makes one truly human. Levinas’s ethical phenomenology, imbued with his Jewish faith tradition, provides philosophical illumination on the Christian and specifically Catholic understanding of Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant of God, as found in the New Testament and in the Liturgy of the Mass. These connections and illuminations return us to our Christian roots and re-emphasize the primordially ethical basis of Christian spirituality and worship, an ethics of vicarious substitution and expiation celebrated in the Holy Eucharist.

Velikonoční tajemství v liturgických textech arabofonní koptské církve

Coptic-Arabic liturgical texts express the Easter mysteries in the rich idiom of the Scriptures and ancient Christian tradition, as seen in the Eucharistic Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Gregory, as well as in hymns and prayers of the Sixth and the Ninth Canonical Hours. They concentrate on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as connected to that of the Holy Mass. The liturgical texts profess, in accordance to the Creed, the Divine economy of salvation in the incarnation of the Son of God and his crucifixion for human sin, his death and descent to the hell as well as ascent to the Father. Prefigured in Isaac and the Suffering Servant, he is seen as establishing the Eucharistic Sacrament on Maundy Thursday to perpetualize the effects of his sacrifice for partici- pants in the Mass. His trial and his suffering before Pontius Pilate is contem- plated, along with his crucifixion, his acceptance of the Thief on the Right. The liturgical texts essentially confess Christ’s death in the human body, his burial and descent to save the deceased, his resurrection and his ascension to sit with the Father. These points are succintly expressed in the ancient Trisagion. Fundamental is the connection between Christ’s incarnation and the redemption as well as between his past work of salvation and its present effect in the Eucharist. Coptic liturgical texts unite catechesis of faith to acting out Christ’s Easter mysteries where the salvatory events happen in the life of the participants.

The Righteous Suffering Servant: Observations about a Theological Problem in Four Individual Complaint Psalms

ABSTRACT This article examines the theological problem of a righteous sufferer in four psalms (Pss 22; 27; 69; 109), and what emerges is a coherent image. The psalmist(s) who refers to God feels himself like a righteous servant; he is a religious man, but he faces suffering. The righteous sufferer is also aware of his innocence and that his pain has no real, understandable explanation. The awareness of his innocence is also the motivation to complain and search for God because God is the only one who can give an answer and a meaning to the painful situation. In the end, the righteous sufferer also realise that he does not need to be healed from suffering, instead he had to recognise the importance of God's role in his life. This is the primary liberation that also allows him a real comprehension of his situation. Keywords: Psalms, Righteous, Suffering Servant, Individual, Complaint, Theology

La relectura del cuarto canto del Siervo en el judaísmo del Segundo Templo y en el NT

The reading of the Servant’s fourth Song in the Second Temple’s Judaism and in the NT has been a widely studied and debated issue. For this reason, based on the current status quaestionis, the essay is limited to offering two clues that contribute to place the paradigm of the Isaiah’s Servant as a first line Christological typology. In a first section, we face the difficult question of the relation to the Messiah with the Suffering Servant. In a second moment, starting for the intimate conection between the fourth Song and the other Servant’s poems, we’ll glimpe an analogous Isaian structure in the Gospels. This progression allows to draw a Christology of the Servant not limited to the suffering aspect.

Isaiah’s Suffering Servant: Before and After Christianity

The so-called “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah 52:15–53:12 takes on new meaning in each of his settings, from the exilic or early post-exilic community of Deutero-Isaiah, to the repurposing of this figure by the author of Daniel, mid-second century BCE during the persecutions of Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, through the numerous New Testament citations of and allusions to Jesus as fulfilling Isaiah’s predictions concerning this servant, and on to several post-biblical Jewish understandings of this enigmatic figure. In showing how and why the servant receives such numerous readings, we demonstrate both how readers across the centuries and within different traditions understand Isaiah through their own circumstances, and why Jews and Christians should respect each other’s readings rather than attempt to “prove” the truth of one tradition on the basis of a specific understanding of prophecy.

La muerte de Jesús y su exaltación

The death of Jesus finds in the New Testament various interpretations. For Paul, the cross of Jesus and his death on the cross constitute the center of his theology. The Power of God reveals itself in the humiliation of Jesus and his death on the cross. In Mark, not the death of Jesus leads to salvation, but the response to the call of Jesus to follow him on the way of the cross. In John, the death of Jesus as such does not seem to have a theological significance. Instead of the three announcements of the coming passion, death and resurrection of Jesus in the Synoptics we find a threefold announcement of Jesus’ coming “exaltation” in John (3,14; 8,28; 12,32.34). Jesus is for the fourth evangelist the Suffering Servant of Is 52,13 LXX who must be “exalted and glorified”. Here we are at the heart of Johannine Christology.

The Old Testament Background of “Ecce Homo” in John 19:5

Pilate’s declaration ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος found in John 19:5 has given rise to a number of interpretations that seem in basic agreement, yet, at the same time, many others of a divergent and opposing nature. Among the many treatments of this verse is a whole set of proposals that see in Pilate’s words an allusion to various Old Testament texts. The present article aims at presenting the range of these scholarly interpretations (both older and modern ones) which resort to an Old Testament background for the famous ecce homo phrase. The article then focuses the discussion on Daniel’s “Son of Man”, the Isaianic “Suffering Servant”, the messianic “man” of Zec 6:12 and Num 24:17 (LXX), Adamic typology, the king of 1 Sm 9:17, and finally the figure of the bridegroom from the Song of Songs. In each case, an evaluation of the hypothetical Old Testament background is given. The author concurs with the idea of multiple intertextual Old Testament references encapsulated in Pilate’s ecce homo utterance.

John 1:29, 36: The Meaning of ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ and John’s Soteriology

The title “Lamb of God” for Jesus in John 1:29 and 1:36 has traditionally been explained as a reference to Jesus’ sacrificial death, and the phrase “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” has mostly been interpreted in terms of Old Testament sacrifices or near-sacrifices as for example Genesis 22 (the binding of Isaac) or Leviticus 16 (the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement), the Passover lamb, or as a reminiscence to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. The aim of this article is to argue two things.BR First, that the words “lamb of God” do not refer to a sacrifical animal. They originate from Isaiah 53, not, however, as a reference to an atoning sacrifice, but as an expression of Jesus’ complete obedience to the Father and his willingness to suffer (and ultimately die) as a consequence. Secondly, that in his Gospel, the Fourth Evangelist focuses on the salvific effect of the believer’s affirmative “yes” to Jesus as the one through whom the Father can be known, rather than on Jesus’ death as saving event.

The Oldest Interpretation of the Suffering Servant

The Oldest Interpretation of the Suffering Servant