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Murky Questions

June 25, 2010 in biblical scholarship,daniel 12,difficult questions,isaiah 53,resurrection with 2 Comments

Children are full of questions. Big kids, like me, are full of questions too. Curiosity drives me. I love questions—especially the murky kind. So much so that I wrote an entire book about one major question: Is the servant in Isaiah resurrected? And if so, what does that mean for God’s people back then, and for us now?

My search became serious after reading a book by Jon Levenson.

Jon Levenson in his 2006 book, Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel, which is primarily focused on Dan 12 and other passages in Daniel that may allude to resurrection, stated in reference to Isa 52:13–53:12 the following:

Not least among the murky questions this exceedingly enigmatic and ambiguous passage poses is the postmortem fate of the servant. For the text say[s that all of the servant’s suffering] … happened, at least in part, so that “he might see offspring” (Isa 53:10). Shall we, then, add Isa 52:13–53:12 to the small list of pre-Danielic texts that speak of the resurrection of the dead? This depends, in part, on a more basic and equally murky question, whether the servant is an individual (in which case the restoration and vindication occur after his death) or the people of Israel (in which case the offspring and long life that follow his death need not be taken as a resurrection in the later and more individualistic sense of the term). Either way, of course, the God of life triumphs dramatically over death in this passage; either way, hope survives death. (pg. 188).

In essence, Levenson leaves these “murky question[s]” to the reader by never attempting to substantiate how “the God of life triumphs … over death.”

Question: What intellectual questions are you asking, and how do they connect to your everyday life?

Excerpt taken from the first chapter of my book, The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah (forthcoming in print with Paternoster and electronically for Logos Bible Software, 2010). Pre-order the print version direct from Paternoster here or buy it on Amazon.com here. Pre-order it for Logos Bible Software here. Note: Since I am the author of this book, I will receive a royalty if you purchase it. I may also receive a small amount for you making a purchase through one of my affiliate links in this post.

Resurrection in Daniel

June 16, 2010 in biblical scholarship,daniel 12,isaiah 53,resurrection with 0 Comments

Isaiah 53 is not the only passage that talks about a resurrected servant. Check out these allusions to Isaiah 53 in Daniel.

Daniel 12:1–4 supports the proposal that the servant is resurrected. It uses similar language to Isa 53:10–12. “And those who are wise” in Dan 12:3 echoes the phrase “see my servant shall prosper” in Isa 52:13. Likewise, when Dan 12:3 uses the phrase “those who lead many to righteousness” it is echoing “My righteous servant shall make the many righteous” in Isa 53:11.

In Daniel, it is a corporate servant (“the many”) who is resurrected: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life and some to reproach and contempt” (Dan 12:2). There is clearly an association of the servant with resurrection here, albeit a corporate resurrection, but nonetheless a resurrected servant.

Excerpt taken from the first chapter of my book, The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah (forthcoming in print with Paternoster and electronically for Logos Bible Software, 2010). Pre-order the print version direct from Paternoster here or buy it on Amazon.com here. Pre-order it for Logos Bible Software here. Note: Since I am the author of this book, I will receive a royalty if you purchase it. I may also receive a small amount for you making a purchase through one of my affiliate links. I truly believe, though, that exploring this passage will change the way you read the Bible, and your life in general.