Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-9

In Isaiah 42:1–9, God presents the servant as “my chosen, in whom my soul delights” and gives him the charge to bring justice to nations (verse 1). The servant executes this task nonviolently: He does not cry aloud, nor does he crush those already at the breaking point, but continues his work until justice is established throughout the world (literally, “in the coastlands”). God then reaffirms the servant’s mission by giving him as a “covenant to the people, a light to the nations” (verse 6). With a resounding series of epithets proclaiming God’s glory, the unit concludes with God’s declaration that “former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare” (verse 9). 

The lectionary’s pairing of this reading with the account of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew creates intriguing resonances. Both the servant and Jesus are beloved of God, and in each case, their appearance is marked with the gift of God’s Spirit. Also, in each case, their work marks the beginning of a new era of salvation. The parallels are so intriguing that the servant in Isaiah is often understood as a kind of precursor or foreshadowing of Jesus. 

Salvation is clearly the theme in both texts; the question is, who is the agent of salvation in Isaiah 42? Specifically, are we to understand the servant as a unique individual, like Jesus? Although the Christian answer to that question has usually been a firm “yes,” there is abundant evidence in Isaiah 40–55 to indicate that the servant is Israel, the covenant people of God. 

Throughout Isaiah 40–44, the term “servant” signifies Israel’s unique covenantal relationship with God. As such, it is often employed in connection with expressions of divine favor. God calls, chooses, and strengthens Israel (41:8–10); does not forget Israel (44:21); guides and directs the course of human events for Israel’s sake (45:4); and, most importantly, declares God’s love for Israel (43:3). 

These aspects of God’s love and care for Israel are repeated in Isaiah 42:1. The servant is God’s chosen one, in whom God’s very being delights. God reaffirms this commitment in verse 6. God has called the servant in “righteousness,” a term indicating that God has acted in fulfillment of the commitment God made long ago, to be in covenant relationship with Jacob/Israel. 

To be sure, Israel is also presented as weak, in despair, and doubting God’s presence, even to the point of complaining of divine mistreatment:

Why do you say, O Jacob,
          and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
          and my right [mispati] is disregarded by my God”? (40:27)

Elsewhere, God draws attention to Israel’s unfaithfulness (43:22–24), as well as to Israel’s inability to perceive the ways of God (42:18–25).  

Even so, it is this servant whom God calls to “bring forth” justice to the nations. This expression, “bring forth justice,” occurs twice in this unit and appears to be illustrated by the servant’s actions in verses 2–3. The expression is unusual, since it implies that justice is already present, though perhaps hidden from view. 

Although the servant is introduced in verse 1 with royal language, his task is not to establish justice through royal fiat or decree. Not only does he not speak with royal authority; he does not speak at all. In verse 2, for example, he does not cry out or lift up his voice. Such an outcry can be understood as a demand for justice, as in 40:27, quoted above. Such cries of protest are well known in the biblical complaint tradition (see, for example, Psalm 22:1; Jeremiah 15:10–21; Habakkuk 1:2–4).  

Such a cry is characteristic of a petitioner making a complaint, not of a king or judge ruling on that complaint. The servant’s right to cry out may also be reflected in verses 3–4, which employ the imagery of bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks to characterize the vulnerability of those who have reached a breaking point. Although the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition’s translation of verse 3 obscures this point, the servant shares this vulnerability but, nevertheless, silently and patiently perseveres: “He does not burn dimly, nor is he broken.” 

The servant’s acceptance of his situation without either complaint or recrimination is presented as an example of how he “brings forth justice.” Although the poem does not explain how this passive silence does that, his actions do not take the form of blaming, recrimination, or retaliation. Perhaps the quelling of complaint allows other voices, other perspectives, to be heard and creates space for the emergence of new insights, even perhaps into the ways of God. Previously impervious to God’s defense of the “former things,” Servant Israel’s silence now creates the space for new understanding. 

These insights are the theme of the second stanza in the poem. Subtle differences in language and style between verses 1–4 and 5–9 have led some interpreters to suggest that the latter verses were composed as commentary and interpretation of the former. These latter verses emphasize the uniqueness of Israel’s covenant with God in two ways. First, the stanza underscores the importance of Israel’s status as God’s beloved by exalting God as creator of the heavens and the earth. It is this God who calls, sustains, and keeps Israel. 

Second, the stanza boldly articulates a new vision and meaning of the covenant by declaring that Israel does not have a covenant with God so much as it is God’s covenant to the nations (berit ‘am, verse 6b). As such, Israel exists for the sake of the nations, serving as their light and thereby illuminating the ways of God in the world. In contrast to the systems of power and domination that have subjected the peoples of the nations to diaspora and dissolution, this Servant Israel becomes a testimony to another way to forge a cohesive communal identity besides the acquisition of power and control.

If this servant poem has any links with the Christian message, it is by way of a new understanding of the meaning and purpose of God’s covenant with Israel, the descendants of Jacob. The link is less with Jesus himself than with his message. No longer a kingdom seeking to share or imitate the power of the nations, Servant Israel begins to chart another, nonviolent way in the world. Servant Israel is, in effect, salt and light, the leaven in the lump, a messenger bearing silent witness to another realm of justice and right. Israel knows this before the world does; as God says, “New things I now declare; / before they spring forth, / I tell you of them.”