Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9a

Experiences of shame, bullying, or malicious discrediting usually leave people with a sense of humiliation, personal hurt, and despair. On the other hand, moments of affirmation and advocacy can bring a sense of relief, inner peace, and a genuine sense of belonging or confidence that everything will fare well even during hostile times. Isaiah 50:4–9a is the third of the Servant Songs in Second Isaiah presenting similar experiences in the life of an unnamed suffering servant.

The first two songs (Isaiah 42:1–4 and 49:1–6) focus on the mission of the servant, and the last one (Isaiah 52:13–53:12), on the vicarious nature of the servant’s suffering. These texts are frequently applied to the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some verses from Isaiah suggest that this “servant” figure is a prophet (Isaiah 49:6). However, the complex hermeneutics of the texts reveal multiple levels of interpretation for this “servant,” including a community of survivors from Judah and Israel (Isaiah 41:8–9; 44:1–2, 21; 49:3) and even an anonymous group (Isaiah 52:5).

Composed in the late sixth or early fifth century BCE, the text is closer to the restoration after the devastation of the Assyrian and Babylonian imperial conquests. It evokes the impact of imperial violence, oppression, and injustice on nations and individuals who resist.¹ The servant is targeted with unjust public shaming, much like the increasing social media trend in our time that humiliates, offends, and discredits selected persons or groups.² In such a world, the “servant” is a model of resistance to this factual abuse.

The passage moves from the way the Lord awakens and tasks the servant (verses 4–5), to the servant’s suffering and shaming at the hands of his adversaries (verses 6–7), to a courtroom confrontation (verses 8–9a). Throughout the text, the writer affirms the servant’s confidence in the Sovereign Lord and his determination in the face of the adversaries.

Like undocumented or unhoused persons and other groups, the servant experiences systemic injustice, economic depression, cultural disgrace, and theological abuse. Israel’s land has been devastated, their kingdom destroyed, and their status relegated to exiles. God seems to have abandoned them.³ In this context it makes sense that the servant is awakened, stirred up by the Lord not once but twice, to sustain his people! He is incited to give prompt assistance to the weary and to speak at the right moment (verses 4–5), consoling and sharing their pains and hopes.

This servant’s purpose seems to challenge the powers that be as his adversaries strike, pluck, spit, shame, and accuse him (verses 6, 8). He suffers stigmatic shaming, which labels the individual not only as someone who has done something bad but also as someone who is bad.⁴ In ancient Israelite culture, honor was associated with social standing, reputation, and the fulfillment of communal and covenantal expectations, while shame was associated with the body and sexuality, to the violation of social norms;⁵ or linked to sin, failure, or divine judgment in the private and public spheres.⁶

Bodily images—face, cheeks, and back—are used to reflect the physical abuse of the beatings, the pulling of his beard, and the humiliation of being spit on. These acts are designed to degrade and erase any sense of honor and worth (verses 6–7). It is not surprising that the Christians of the first era saw the parallels with the Passion of Jesus Christ, humiliated in a similar way.

Verse 7 functions as a pivot, changing the tone from an apparent submission to the adversaries, to a legal challenge dignifying the servant and his call. A collision occurs between the adversaries intending to rip the servant from his worth and the servant’s trust in the Lord. Setting his “face like flint” carries the sense of unyielding resolution, endurance, and strength. Jesus (Luke 9:51–53) and other individuals and groups have shown the same determination.

The stance of the servant and the literary atmosphere change in verse 8. The writer employs the language of the courtroom through rhetorical questions, daring the adversaries to dispute and to accuse the servant.⁷ The adversaries’ implicit silence validates the power of the Sovereign One who vindicates. In contexts where hope is almost lost, this raw faith gives respite, strength, and a renewed sense of possibilities.

How is it that this servant manages to save face, defend himself, and challenge his adversaries when the odds are completely against him? Verse 9a presents the root affirmation of the passage: “The Sovereign Lord helps me.” “Sovereign,” used four times and placed alongside the verb ‘azar, meaning “to help, support, assist,” often in times of need or distress, now defines who is in power.

The verb also means “to gird” or “to belt.” The fact that girding is related to fortifying, tightening, and encircling our core brings up the image of a weightlifter. The belt supporting the core muscles helps one to lift more weight and maintain better form. It stabilizes one’s spine and protects one’s lower back from injuries.

Refusing to give up in hostile times is a remarkable stand to take amid systems of structural injustice built upon everyday enslavement, exploitation, extermination, and exclusion. The servant calls us to remain steady and firm in every adversity. Even when the Lord plays the long game, we, like the servant, refuse to give up. If the Lord girds us, we have mental fortitude and hope to look forward with determination.

Notes

1. Justin Tse, “Doing Prophetic Theology After Empire: On the Isaiah Readings at Sixth Hour for the Fast,” Eastern Catholic Person, April 19, 2019, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/ecperson/2019/04/19/doing-prophetic-theology-after-empire-on-the-isaiah-readings-at-sixth-hour-for-the-fast/.
2. Gretchen Kerr, Ellen MacPherson, and Sophie Wensel, “Online Public Shaming of Women Athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics Highlights Gender-Based Violence,” The Conversation, September 12, 2024, https://theconversation.com/online-public-shaming-of-women-athletes-at-the-2024-paris-olympics-highlights-gender-based-violence-237104.
3. Elizabeth M. Ross, “What Is Causing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and How Can We Fix It?” Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education, October 25, 2024, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it.
4. Rodger A. Bates and Bryan LaBrecque, “The Sociology of Shaming,” The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology, 12, no. 1, July 2020, https://doi.org/10.62915/2154-8935.1162.
5. K. C. Hanson, “How Honorable! How Shameful! Matthew’s Makarisms and Reproaches,” accessed March 25, 2024, www.kchanson.com/ARTICLES/mak.html. See also Lyn Bechtel, “Rethinking the Interpretation of Genesis 2.4b–3.24,” A Feminist Companion to Genesis, ed. Athalya Brenner (Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 77–117.
6. Jerry Hwang, “How Long Will My Glory,” Old Testament Essays 30, no. 3, 2017.
7. G. S. Ogden and J. Sterk, A Handbook on Isaiah vols. 1 and 2 (United Bible Societies, 2011), 1425.