Who was the intended audience of Isaiah 53?

Question

When the author was writing Isiah 53, who was he writing it to?

Answer 1

God's people, Israel, are the intended audience. Look at the setting in which Isaiah 53 occurs. Earlier on in Isaiah, God had predicted exile and calamity for the Jewish people. Chapter 53, however, occurs in the midst of Isaiah's "Messages of Consolation", which tell of the restoration of Israel to a position of prominence and a vindication of their status as God's chosen people. In chapter 52, for example, Israel is described as "oppressed without cause" (v.4) and "taken away" (v.5), yet God promises a brighter future ahead, one in which Israel will again prosper and be redeemed in the sight of all the nations (v.1-3, 8-12).

http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/jewishpassion/documents/pt_isaiah53.html
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Answer 2

Thinking Isaiah 53 refers to Jesus is a common mistake. Chapters 40-55 of Isaiah were written by Second Isaiah i.e. after southern kingdom was destroyed in 586 BCE and the surviving Israelites had been taken into captivity. Like all the prophets, he was writing for his own time, not future generations. He was trying to explain to the nation of Israel why they suffered and why they should yet have hope. Here's why that interpretation is correct: 1) There is no use of the word “messiah” in the passage at all. Moreover, the Jewish idea of a messiah was not someone who suffered, but rather a mighty leader. Therefore it is clear that the “servant” who has suffered is not meant to be any type of messiah. 2) The servant is crushed, the opposite of stretched or crucified, which is what happened to Jesus. 3) Most fundamentally, the author specifically identifies the “servant” as the nation of Israel in 41:8 and 49:3. The sufferings of the servant are said to be in the past, not in the future. This is consistent with the timing of the writing, i.e. after the destruction of the nation of Israel has occurred and the captivity is underway. The suffering of Jesus, by contrast, occurs in the future.

Answer 3

The bible readers of the day !!! Somehow the description didn't fit what they were looking for in Isaiah 53. It happens all the time in our lives. We have an idea in our head on how something should work an lo and behold it doesn't work or fit when we really believed earnestly that it should!!!

Answer 4

Hi Elizabeth F. In Isiah 53 God is speaking to those who will be saved from Judgment. He is telling us about Jesus Christ. When God says in Isiah 53:5:

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."

God uses the same language "by His stripes we were healed" to describe Jesus in 1 Peter 2:24:

"who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed."

We know from these scriptures that Isaiah 53 is speaking about the coming of Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

Jerusalem. Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem.

Answer 6

The questions are asked by the prophet, and the answer is "no one or few." Quoted in John 12:38, Rom 10:16.

Jhn 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Esaias, Isaiah

Jhn 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,

Jhn 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

spirit of stupor, or slumber Rom 11.7

Answer 7

As we can see from the previous chapter,the Prophet Isaiah called out to 'Zion' and 'Jerusalem'....I would assume that this means the people of Zion....the Israelites............Isa. 52:1 ¶ Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Answer 8

To all of God's people. Christ himself refers to Isaiah 53.Jesus said: "For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was reckoned with transgressors’; for what is written about me has its fulfilment" (Luke 22:37, RSV). The quoted verse is Isaiah 53:12.
Jesus agreed with the prohesies of Isaiah 53 which predates him and we have written record of it from 250 BC..Jesus was in agreement with the prophets before him and did fufill the prohesies of Isaiah which foretold of him as Savior who would atone for sin with his life.
Isaiah 800 years before Christ made prophesies of the coming Messiah that he would be a Savior and atone for the sins of his people with his blood. Christ did teach from Isaiah and referenced Isaiah 53 as the prophesy he must fufill.

Answer 9

Isaiah is talking to the people of Israel, and at that time, directing it to the people of Israel. It is directed at all who hear though and was a prophecy of the coming Messiah, hundreds of years before Christ Jesus was born.

Answer 10

Judah and Jerusalem