{"id":67363,"date":"2019-12-21T10:02:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T08:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67363"},"modified":"2023-07-16T10:01:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T07:01:20","slug":"who-is-gods-servant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-is-gods-servant\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is God\u2019s Servant?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one, in whom I delight. I have put My spirit upon him, He shall teach the true way to the nations (42:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

The exegetes differed widely regarding this servant\u2019s identity. Rashi named him as either Jacob or Israel, which usually is synonymous with the whole nation of Israel. R. Eliezer of Beaugency, a later French exegete, said it was the prophet himself, and Radak identified him with the messiah. Ibn Ezra provided a potpourri of interpretations, saying \u201cmost commentators said that [God\u2019s] servants are the righteous of Israel. Saadia Gaon said it was Cyrus (see 45:1), and in my opinion, it is the prophet speaking about himself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Malbim\u2019s interpretation* combined elements of his predecessors:<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, he began to explain who the person is about whom all the preceding chapter spoke\u2026 He is to be My servant, the King Messiah. The conditions of prophecy\u2014particularly if the prophet is to be suffused with it sufficiently to influence others and to be an instructor of many nations\u2014are two:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Selective preparation, that the prophet prepares himself by purifying and sanctifying himself through study, which was the way of the prophetic disciples. Of this it says \u201cthis is My servant\u201d who serves me faithfully, unlike other servants whose master cannot depend on them not to turn against him at some time. Rather \u201cI will uphold him\u201d to insure he does not renege on his loyalty.<\/span>\n

    <\/span><\/li>\n

  2. Natural preparation, for which he is made ready from birth and conception. As explained in Part Two of the \u201cGuide,\u201d this means prenatal appreciation leading to his birth complete with everything required for the ethereal light to suffuse him, as in \u201cBefore you were formed in [your mother\u2019s] abdomen I knew you and before you left her womb I sanctified you\u201d (Jeremiah 1:5).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In his commentary on Jeremiah 1, Malbim added that these conditions are not absolute prerequisites and that God, at a critical moment, may yet appoint a prophet to deliver words of warning or rebuke who lacks one or the other, or even both. Men like Gideon and Manoah, the father of Samson, he said, were such prophets.<\/span><\/p>\n

    *For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67364,"id":67364,"title":"is42-messiah","filename":"is42-messiah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is42-messiah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-is-gods-servant\/is42-messiah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is42-messiah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67363,"date":"2019-12-21 08:02:02","modified":"2023-07-30 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