A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 52-53

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 21 December 2024 *

Fig. 1

Introduction

This study treats Isaiah 52:13-53:12 as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 predicts the coming of two messiahs: Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for the sins of man; and the Messiah of the Millennial Reign, who will rule the world for Christ.

Discussion

1. Presuppositions

We base our parse of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 on the assumption that it refers to 3 periods:

1. The Life and Death of Christ (5BC-30AD).
2. Christian Judahites are Protected During The First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD).
3. Christ and his Messiah begin their Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD).

2. Parsing the chiasmus

We will use the NIV Bible for this parse.

Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call the time of the First Coming of Christ Period 1, the First Jewish-Roman War in 70AD Period 2, and the Start of the Millennial Reign Period 3.

Categorizing Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Ch 52 vs 13-15 belong to Period 3. The coming Messiah will prosper and will be highly regarded by the leaders of the world. At the centre of this subunit, there is a passage regarding Christ in Period 1 - see commentary below for justification on why it is found in Period 3.

Ch 53 vs 1-5a belong to Period 1. Christ's life and mission at his First Coming. The reason for Christ's death. Some of the verses of this subunit are quoted as being fulfilled during Christ's First Coming in the New Testament.

Ch 53 vs 5b-6 belong to Period 2. The Judahites acknowledge that they have sinned and that they have been saved by Christ's atoning death from the Roman slaughter of the First Jewish-Roman War. We expect to see this Period in all cryptochiasmi. We categorize 5b as belonging to this Period, so we have a proper regular chiasmus in this Period.

Ch 53 vs 7-9a belong to Period 1. Christ's death and burial.

Ch 53 vs 9b-12 belongs to Period 3. The coming Messiah will be exalted after a period of suffering. Unlike Christ, the Messiah will not be killed, but instead will have a long life and offspring. This subunit begins and ends with passages regarding Christ in Period 1 - see commentary below for justification on why it is found in Period 3.

Original text

We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2 and green for Period 3. We have retranslated parts of the text.

Isaiah 52 13 See, my servant will prosper [a]; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness— 15 so now many nations will marvel at him. Kings will be speechless with amazement, for they will see things they have never been told about, and perceive things they have never heard about before [b].

Retranslation notes for Isaiah 52
[a] vs 13 "prosper" instead of "act wisely", assuming a parallelism in the verse. Based on the NASB.
[b] vs 15 "so now many nations will marvel at him. Kings will be speechless with amazement, for they will see things they have never been told about, and perceive things they have never heard about before" instead of "so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand". Partially based on the Good News Bible.


Isaiah 53 1 Who has believed the message sent to us [a] and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; [b] he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Nevertheless he took up our pain and bore our suffering. We [c] considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5a But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.
5b The [d] punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way. The [e] Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 Through a coerced judgement he was taken away.[f] Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; through the rebellion [g] of my people he was punished. 9a He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.
9b Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, 10 it [h] was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. Though [i] you make [j] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see [k] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many. He [l] will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong. Because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors, he bore the sin of many and made intercession for sinners [m].

Retranslation notes for Isaiah 53
[a] vs 1 "the message sent to us" instead of "our message".
[b] vs 3 "And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;" instead of "Like one from whom people hide their faces". From the KJV.
[c] vs 4 "Nevertheless he took up our pain and bore our suffering. We considered" instead of "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered". In keeping with the interpretation in Matthew 8:16,17.
[d] vs 5 "iniquities. The" instead of "iniquities; the". For the chiastic structure.
[e] vs 6 "way. The" instead of "way; and the". For the chiastic structure.
[f] vs 8 "Through a coerced judgement" instead of "By oppression and judgment".
[g] vs 8 "through the rebellion" instead of "for the transgression".
[h] vs 9-10 "death. Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, 10 it" instead of "death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.10 Yet it". Modified punctuation to align with the parse.
[i] vs 10 "suffer. Though" instead of "suffer, and though". Modified punctuation to align with the parse.
[j] vs 10 "you make" instead of "the Lord makes", as in the Hebrew.
[k] vs 11 "see" instead of "see the light of life", as in the Hebrew.
[l] vs 11 "many. He" instead of "many, and he".
[m] vs 12 "strong. Because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors, he bore the sin of many and made intercession for sinners" instead of "strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors".

3. Building the reconfigured text

From this parse, it appears that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 forms a cryptochiasmus as below:

A1   Ch 52 vs 13-15 Period 3. The Messiah will prosper and will be honoured
  B1   Ch 53 vs 1-5a Period 1. Christ's life, the reason for his death
    X   Ch 53 vs 5b-6 Period 2. Christian Judahites are saved by Christ's atoning death
  B2   Ch 53 vs 7-9a Period 1. Christ's death and burial
A2   Ch 53 vs 9b-12 Period 3. The Messiah will be exalted after suffering

We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of a cryptochiasmus [1].

We lead with central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For example; subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For example, A1,A2 is a unit ) so that we get a list of such units.

The sequence selected for rearrangement is:

X  [A1,A2]  [B1,B2]        (1)

Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:

Ch 53 vs 5b-6   [Ch 52 vs 13-15, Ch 53 vs 9b-12]   [Ch 53 vs 1-5a, Ch 53 vs 7-9a]        (2)

We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).

4. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Reconfigured

Christian Judahites are Protected During The First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (Ch 53 vs 5b-6)



Christ and his Messiah begin their Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (Ch 52 vs 13-15, Ch 53 vs 9b-12)

Chiasmus 1: Christ and his Messiah are exalted


Chiasmus 2: Christ and his Messiah are victorious after they endure a time of suffering



The Life and Death of Christ (5BC-30AD) (Ch 53 vs 1-5a, Ch 53 vs 7-9a)

5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text

5.1 Christian Judahites are Protected During The First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (Ch 53 vs 5b-6)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 53:5b Christ's death atones for the sins of the Christian Judahites
    X 53:6a The Judahites acknowledge that they have sinned
A2 53:6b Christ's death atones for the sins of the Christian Judahites

We propose that the passages of this Period are quotes from the Christian Judahites, while they were being protected from the Roman slaughter of this war.

Subunit A1: Christ's death atones for the sins of the Christian Judahites (53:5b)

Chapter 53 5b The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Christian Judahites, who fled the land as Jesus had advised, escaped the Roman massacre ("brought us peace"), and later recovered from the devastation of the war ("healed"), because Christ bore the punishment for their sins through his suffering and death (Matt 24:15-18, 1 Peter 2:24). ( See our parse of the 70 Weeks of Daniel [2] for details on this Period. )

Pivot X: The Judahites acknowledge that they have sinned (53:6a)

6a We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.

The Judahites confess that they had been led astray into false doctrines, idol-worship and against Christ by the corrupt teachings of their shepherds, the Pharisee leadership (see Matthew 23, John 12:42). For their wickedness, the Lord used the Romans to slaughter the Judahites who did not believe in Christ.

Subunit A2: Christ's death atones for the sins of the Christian Judahites (53:6b)

6b The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Through his suffering and death, Christ atoned for the sins of the Judahites who believed in him and repented (see also 1 Cor. 15:3).

5.2 Christ and his Messiah begin their Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (Ch 52 vs 13-15, Ch 53 vs 9b-12)

This Period is structured as a sequence of 2 chiasmi.

In this Period, the topics of the reign of the Messiah of the Millennial Reign and of Christ's death at his First Coming are combined (as in a few other chiasmi - see also Period 2 of our parses of Matthew 24 [3] and Luke 17 [4]), presumably to indicate that it was Christ's sacrificial death on the cross that paved the way to his Millennial Reign through his Messiah (see Rev. 5:8-14). In Chiasmus 1, the pivot alludes to Christ's suffering, while in Chiasmus 2, the subunits are regarding his suffering and death.

Chiasmus 1: Christ and his Messiah are exalted

The passage below in 52:13-15 is structured in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 52:13 The Messiah of the Millennial Reign is exalted
    X 52:14-15a Christ, who was disfigured at his First Coming, is now marvelled at
A2 52:15b The Messiah of the Millennial Reign is exalted

God is the speaker in this Chiasmus 1.

Subunit A1: The Messiah of the Millennial Reign is exalted (52:13)

Chapter 52 13 See, my servant will prosper; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

God appoints his Servant, the coming Messiah, to represent Christ during the Millennial Reign (Rev. 2:25-26). The Messiah will prosper and will be raised to an exalted position, for he will be de facto ruler of the world, the King of Kings, during the Millennial Reign (see also Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 11:1-10, Jer. 23:5).

Pivot X: Christ, who was disfigured at his First Coming, is now marvelled at (52:14-15a)

Chapter 52 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15a so now many nations will marvel at him.

This pivot connects Christ's appalling condition at his death in Period 1 to a global awakening to his greatness at the start of the Millennial Reign (see also Matthew 24:14). Christ had been scourged, tortured and crucified, all of which disfigured his body to such an extent that he was rendered unrecognizable ("marred beyond human likeness") (see for example, Mark 10:34). While his followers mourned Christ's death, the non-believers of the time were repelled at the state of the "King of the Jews"; but now around the world many non-believing peoples will consider Christ with awe and wonder.

Subunit A2: The Messiah of the Millennial Reign is exalted (52:15b)

Chapter 52 15b Kings will be speechless with amazement, for they will see things they have never been told about, and perceive things they have never heard about before

The leadership ("kings") of the world will clearly see that the Messiah is an awesome representative of God and Christ, because of the unprecedentedly wonderful things associated with him. ( Paul quotes from the LXX rendering of vs 52:15b in another context in Romans 15:21.)

Chiasmus 2: Christ and his Messiah are victorious after they endure a time of suffering

The passage below in 53:9b-12 is structured in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 53:9b-10a Christ suffers and dies for the sins of mankind
    X 53:10b-12a The Messiah reigns victoriously after a time of tribulation
A2 53:12b Christ suffers and dies for the sins of mankind

Subunit A1: Christ suffers and dies for the sins of mankind (53:9b-10a)

Chapter 53 9b Though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, 10a it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

Christ was meek and pure (1 Peter 2:20-24, 2 Corinthians 10:1), yet he was falsely charged (Matt 26:59-66) and suffered a cruel death, by divine purpose. It was Christ's blameless death in Period 1 that made him eligible to reign in this Period (Rev. 5:12, Psalm 110:1)

Pivot X: The Messiah reigns victoriously after a time of tribulation (53:10b-12a)

All three passages of this pivot have the same design: they predict the suffering/burden of the Messiah, and then his elevation to the highest office on earth.

Chapter 53 10b Though you make his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

The Messiah will apparently have a difficult life before he is elevated and acknowledged, and this suffering is, in some way, an offering for the sin of the Judahites ("you"). ( The Messiah must endure a preparation period of 7 "sevens" or 49 years before he is anointed - see parse of Daniel 9 [2]. All three Periods of Daniel 9 - 62,1,7 "sevens" - were times of atonement for sin.) However, unlike Jesus, who suffered unto death and died without offspring, the Messiah will live a long life and have children; for he and his descendants will be representatives of God and Christ on earth during the Millennial Reign (see Isaiah 22:23-24).

Chapter 53 11a After he has suffered, he will see and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many.

After his time of suffering, the Messiah will be compensated with knowledge and understanding ("he will see"). The Messiah will be a messenger of truth from God and Christ, acting as a teacher and guide who leads the people of the world into righteousness ("justify many") (the Messiah is the Comforter/Advocate who will explain all things - John 14:26, John 16:1).

Chapter 53 11b He will bear their iniquities. 12a Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong.

After the Messiah suffers for the iniquity of the Judahites, he is made the king of the New Israel. And since the New Israel will be a world hegemon under God, its king will effectively be the ruler of the world ("a portion among the great", "divide the spoils with the strong").

Subunit A2: Christ suffers and dies for the sins of mankind (53:12b)

Chapter 53 12b Because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors, he bore the sin of many and made intercession for sinners.

Because Christ willingly endured the suffering and death meted out to the worst criminals ("transgressors"), he bore the sins of mankind, and his death was effectively an intercession for the forgiveness of sinful humans. ( Christ quoted the text, "[he] was numbered with the transgressors", as applying to himself in Luke 22:37.)

5.3 The Life and Death of Christ (5BC-30AD) (Ch 53 vs 1-5a, Ch 53 vs 7-9a)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 53:1-4a Christ's First Coming: His Life and Mission
    X 53:4b-5a The reason for Christ's death on the cross
A2 53:7-9a Christ's First Coming: His Death and Burial

Note that for the first subunit and the pivot, Isaiah speaks from the point of view of the Judahites of Christ's time, and for the second subunit he speaks as God.

Subunit A1: Christ's First Coming: His Life and Mission (53:1-4a)

Chapter 53 1 Who has believed the message sent to us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

These rhetorical questions introduce the subunits of this Period. Christ is called the "Arm of the Lord" in this Period, because he acts as a human implementer of God's will (cf. Isaiah 51:9).

Only a minority of the Judahites - a third of them according to Zech, 13:8 - believed in Christ and his message. Most of the Judahites were hostile towards him, even though he preached to them first and performed many astonishing miracles (see John 12:37-38) - they had been led astray by the false doctrines or had been blinded to the truth because of their sins. ( The prophecy of this passage is deemed to be fulfilled in Christ's time in John 12:38, cf. Romans 10:16.)

Chapter 53 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

According to God's will ("before Him"), Jesus was born in a humble home, without much power or privilege ("tender shoot", "root out of dry ground") (see also Luke 2:7). The Judahites had been expecting a powerful, majestic king like David as Messiah, based on many Old Testament prophecies (for ex., Isaiah 4:2). But Jesus did not acquire earthly power at his First Coming - he was outwardly ordinary, the son of a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) from forsaken Nazareth (John 1:46) (we do not believe this passage is regarding Jesus' physical features).

Chapter 53 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Christ was rejected (John 1:11), because the wicked Judahite leadership led the people against him (see for ex. Mark 14:53-64), and because he was not the powerful Messiah (as in Isaiah 9:6,7) the Judahites were expecting. A loving Christ was in pain throughout his ministry, because the majority of the Judahites shunned him (they "hid their face from him" so they could better ignore his message), and Christ knew that all who rejected him would die in the war of Period 2 (Matthew 23:37,38).

Chapter 53 4a Nevertheless he took up our pain and bore our suffering.

Christ performed many miracles that mitigated the pain and suffering of the Judahites (see the interpretation of this passage in Matthew 8:16,17). It should have been clear to the Judahites that he was from God, but their hearts remained hardened against him.

Pivot X: The reason for Christ's death on the cross (53:4b-5a)

Chapter 53 4b We considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5a But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.

The wicked among the Judahites considered Christ's suffering and death on the cross a punishment from God for his own sins. But Christ died for the sins of man (Matt. 27), so as to establish a New Covenant between God and all mankind (see 1 Peter 2:24). According to this New Covenant, Christ's atoning death took the place of the sin offering in the Old Covenant, so that all may be redeemed through faith (Hebrews 9:22, Romans 3:24-26...).

Subunit A2: Christ's First Coming: His Death and Burial (53:7-9a)

This subunit continues with the narrative of Christ's First Coming from 53:4a in the corresponding subunit A1 above. God is the speaker.

Chapter 53 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Christ was arrested by the Jewish leadership, humiliated and tortured without cause; he was submissive and made no effort to defend himself before the Sanhedrin (see Matt. 26:62-67,1 Peter 2:23, Acts 8:32).

Chapter 53 8 Through a coerced judgement he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; through the rebellion of my people he was punished.

After the Judahites coerced the Romans into executing Jesus (Matt, 27:11-26), he was led away to be tortured and killed. Yet because they feared the Pharisees, none of his followers protested ("generation" refers to a class of people - cf. Matt 12:34). Christ was crucified (see Matt. 27:27-56, Dan. 9:25, see also Acts 8:33), and the Judahites who rebelled against their God were responsible for his death (see Matt. 27:24,25).

Chapter 53 9a He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.

Christ was crucified with the wicked, and his body would have normally been thrown into a pit outside the city, but Joseph of Arimathea claimed his body and buried him in a rich man's grave (see Matthew 27:57-66). For with Christ's death, his period of suffering and humiliation had ended, and his time of glory had begun. We propose that the phrase, "grave with the wicked", is a poetic, obscured allusion to the cross; for Christ's body had been on the cross at least for a short time (often the bodies of the crucified were left to rot on the cross, so it was a sort of "grave").

Conclusion

With this chiastic reconstruction of the text, we have shown that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 contains prophecies on three distinct Periods. This passage predicts the coming of two messiahs around two millennia apart. But the focus of this prophecy, in all three Periods, is Christ's atoning death at his First Coming.

References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The Olivet Discourse" in Matthew 24
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The Condensed Olivet Discourse" in Luke 17:22-37





* First version published on 13 January 2022.