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Page 27
Rabbi Isaac, author of the famous Munimen Fidei#, renders the
original--�on account of impieties was he given to his sepulchre,
and on account of his riches was his death, because he did no
violence, neither was deceit in his mouth�--which he interprets
thus:--We (the former speakers) raised against them false
accusations of impiety, on account of their religion, and refusing to
worship our idols; but their riches was the real cause why we put
them to death. Nevertheless, they used no violence in opposition
to our oppressions, neither would they forsake their religion, and
deceitfully assent to ours in hypocrisy.*
�Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him: he hath put him to grief.
When thou shalt make his soul a propitiation for sin, he shall see
his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hands.� [This proves that this prophecy cannot
refer to any individual, but may refer to the Jewish nation, because
one individual cannot be put to death, and yet �see his seed,� and
�prolong his days.�] �After [or on account of] the travail of his
soul, seeing he shall be satisfied, by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant make many righteous [or show them
righteousness,] and he shall bear the burden of their iniquities.�
That is--After and for their sufferings, they shall be abundantly
rewarded; by their superior knowledge of religious truth, shall they
make many wise, �for many nations shall go, and say, come ye,
and let us ascend to the mount of the Lord, and to the house of the
God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways�--Mic. iv. ch.
�Wherefore, I will give him a portion with the great, and with the
mighty shall he divide the spoil, because he poured out his life
unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, and himself
bear the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.�
Interpretation--Therefore, their reward shall be exceeding great,
because for the sake of their duty, they willingly exposed
themselves to death, and were accounted as transgressors, and bore
the cruel afflictions inflicted by many, and made intercession for
them who afflicted them.
Such is the explication given by the Jews of this prophecy. I have
made no important alterations of the common English translation;
except, that in some passages, I have made it more conformable to
the original by substituting a verb in the past tense, instead of
leaving it in the future, as in the English version. Those translators
have taken certain liberties in this respect to make this prophecy
(and several others) more accordant to their own views, which are
not supported by the Hebrew: many of these expressions, however,
we have left unaltered, as they are quite harmless. But if any of our
readers desire further information with regard to the propriety of
this interpretation of this prophecy of Isaiah, we refer him to the
�Munimen Fidei,� contained in Wagenseil's �Tela Ignea,� where
he will find it amply illustrated, and defended. Here, in this work,
we shall content ourselves with proving, that this prophecy can by
no means relate to Jesus, from these circumstances:--1. Jesus
certainly was not exalted and magnified, and made very great upon
earth, which, as has been shown, was to be the scene of the
exaltation of the Old Testament Messiah; but was put to a cruel
and disgraceful death. 2. He was not oppressed by pecuniary
exactions, as is said of the subject of this prophecy. 3. He was
never taken from prison to die, for he was never in one. 4. He did
not �see his seed,� nor �prolong his days,� since he died childless;
and we will not permit the word �seed� to be spiritualized on this
occasion, for the word �seed� in the Old Testament, means
nothing else, than literally �children,� which it is not pretended he
ever had; and how could he �prolong his days,� when he was cut
off in his 33d year. 5. Besides, who were �the strong and mighty,�
with whom he divided the spoil? Were they the twelve fishermen
of Galilee? and what was the spoil divided? In a word, the literal
application of this prophecy to Jesus is now given up by the most
learned Hebrew scholars, who allow, that the literal sense of the
original can never be understood of him. [See Priestley�s notes on
the scriptures, in loco; and the context before and after.]
We have now come to the last subject proposed to be considered in
this chapter, viz., Daniel�s prophecy of the seventy weeks, the
�instar omnium� of the prophetical proofs of Christianity, and
which was for ages held up to the view of �the unbelieving race,�
as cutting off beyond doubt their �hope of Israel� from ever
appearing, since the time so distinctly foretold had elapsed. But
such is the instability of human opinions, that it was at length
suspected, and at last ascertained-by the learned, that �the stubborn
Israelites� had some reason for denying that prophecy, any voice in
the affair.
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