Isaiah 50

Chapters 40–55 of Isaiah are commonly read together as a section offering comfort to the people during the Babylonian exile. Chapter 50 belongs to this section. In Isaiah 49, Zion laments, "The LORD hath forsaken me," and chapter 50 continues the LORD's answer to that lament.

Structure

• Verses 1–3: The LORD asks, "Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement?" and "Which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?" He answers that the people were sold and their mother put away because of their own sins. He then points to his power to dry up the sea and clothe the heavens with blackness, showing that he has the power to redeem.
• Verses 4–9: The Servant speaks in the first person. Because the LORD gives him "the tongue of the learned" and wakens his ear morning by morning, the Servant does not rebel. He gives his back to the smiters and his cheeks to those who pluck off the hair. Because the LORD helps him and the One who justifies him is near, he declares that his adversaries will wax old as a garment.
• Verses 10–11: Those who fear the LORD and heed the voice of his Servant are urged to trust in the LORD even in darkness. Those who kindle their own fire and compass themselves about with sparks are warned that they will lie down in sorrow.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 50:4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned … he wakeneth morning by morning" — The Servant first listens and learns, and only then sustains the weary with his words.
• Isaiah 50:6 "I gave my back to the smiters" — The Servant accepts insult and suffering rather than avoiding them.
• Isaiah 50:8 "He is near that justifieth me" — A confession of confidence in God's vindication even in the midst of suffering.

People and Places

• The LORD — The speaker in verses 1–3 and verse 11.
• The Servant of the LORD — The first-person speaker in verses 4–9. See also Suffering Servant.
• Your mother — The community figuratively portrayed as the mother of the people, commonly understood as Zion, that is, Jerusalem.

Points for Reflection

• The identity of the Servant: Jewish tradition has identified the Servant with the people of Israel or with the prophet himself. Christian tradition reads the passage as foreshadowing the sufferings of Jesus Christ. This song is linked to the Fourth Servant Song in Isaiah 53.
• The bill of divorcement: Verse 1 presupposes the regulation concerning a certificate of divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1–4. The question is understood as rhetorical, implying that the LORD never formally severed the relationship.
• Date of composition: Some scholars regard chapters 40–55 as the work of a different author writing during the exile. The traditional view, by contrast, attributes them to the prophet Isaiah.
• Connections with the New Testament: Verse 6, in which the Servant is struck and spat upon, is often read alongside the account of Jesus' Passion in Matthew 26:67. The courtroom language of verses 8–9 resembles "Who is he that condemneth?" in Romans 8:33–34. Some interpreters also connect "I set my face like a flint" in verse 7 with Luke 9:51.

In the Korean Church

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) assigns verses 4–9 as the Old Testament reading for Palm Sunday and for Wednesday of Holy Week, so churches that follow the lectionary read this passage during that season. The phrase "he wakeneth morning by morning" in verse 4 is frequently cited in discussions of meditation on the Word and of the proper disposition of preachers and teachers.