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BERND JANOWSKI and PETER STUHLMACHER (eds.), The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources (trans. Daniel P. Bailey; Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2004). Pp. xxviii + 520. Paper $45.
The present volume was originally published in German as Der leidende Gotiesknecht: Jesaja 53 und seine Wirkungsgeschichte (ed. B. Janowski and P. Stuhlmacher; FAT 14; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1996). It grows out of a Tubingen faculty and student seminar in 1991 led by Martin Hengel that examined the idea of vicarious suffering of the Servant of G-d in Isa 52:13-53:12, in relation to its presentation in the Hebrew Bible and in relation to "effective history" (German Wirkungsgeschichte, perhaps better, "application history") in later NT, Christian, and Jewish sources. The essays by Hermisson, Janowski, Stuhlmacher, Hofius, Adna, Markschies, and Schreiner all appeared in the original German volume but have been translated and sometimes updated to varying degrees for the English edition. The essay by Spieckermann appeared originally in German as "Konzeption und Vorgeschichte des Stellvertretungsgedankens im Alien Testament," in Congress Volume: Cambridge 1995 (ed. J. A. Emerton; VTSup 66; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 281-95. The essay by Bailey was written in English specifically for this volume.
Hermann Spieckermann, in "The Conception and Prehistory of the Idea of Vicarious Suffering in the Old Testament" (pp. 1-15), asserts that the vicarious role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah is unique, but he attempts to trace its roots in earlier prophetic literature. The visions of Amos display an interest in the prophet's role in asking forgiveness for the people, which must be placed in the sixth century. Selected texts from Jeremiah point to intercession as a standard feature of the prophetic role immediately prior to the exile, although Yhwh prohibits Jeremiah from interceding on Judah's behalf. Even though Ezekiel is prepared to intercede, he can no longer obtain any reprieve. Perhaps Spieckermann is too quick to dismiss priestly influence, but he points to the Fourth Servant Song's conception of prophetic suffering as a new element in Judean thought.
Hans-Jurgen Hermisson, in "The Fourth Servant Song in the Context of second Isaiah" (pp. 16-47), maintains that the Fourth Servant Song transcends previous conceptions of prophecy in presenting both the prophet and Israel as G-d's...