The Suffering Servant: from Isaiah to the Dead Sea Scrolls

Israel Knohl*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The radical separation between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is not universal through the Hebrew Bible. The distinctions weaken in the later stages of biblical literature. There is a blurring of the realms in Isaiah 52-3, wherein the prophet describes the figure of the Suffering Servant. Far from being cut off from God after his death, the servant is divinely rewarded. Similarly, the book of Daniel forecasts a reward of eternal life for the righteous: 'many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life' (12:2); Daniel identifies these righteous ones with Isaiah's Suffering Servant and goes so far as to assign heavenly status to them. Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls show a figure who identifies himself with the Suffering Servant and at the same time claims superiority over the angels. This chapter traces the development of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, Daniel, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and examines the figure's distinctive combination of suffering and divine exaltation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationScriptural Exegesis
Subtitle of host publicationThe Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane
PublisherOxford University Press
ISBN (Electronic)9780191709678
ISBN (Print)9780199206575
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2009

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© John Wilson Foster 2009. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Daniel
  • Dead sea scrolls
  • Hebrew bible
  • Isaiah
  • Suffering servant

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