Why is isaiah 53 written in the past tense

Was it not realy written for them, but for those who would read it later that is much later? Re: Isa 53 in past tense Quote Post by steve » Fri Mar 18, pm That makes a lot of sense from our perspective for sure, but I wonder how the original recipients of the letter would have understood it?

I believe they generally see the suffering servant of Isa 53 as the nation of Israel and that in the future Israel would suffer for the sins of others.

Some see it as a different suffering servant in each future generation , so in each case i believe they see it as at least partly a future event. God did call Abram "Abraham" , father of numerous decendents therefore the style of God speaking of things that are not yet as though they are is not an unusual way for God to speak, as Paul said.

Re: Isa 53 in past tense Quote Post by steve » Fri Mar 18, pm Isaiah was a prophet, and, in my opinion, would have been understood to be describing future events despite his use of the perfect tense. For example, Micaiah the prophet spoke in the past tense, in 1 Kings about the death of Ahab, which Ahab recognized it as a prediction of the future.

As I said, this was common prophetic style. The prophets even vacillate between the past and the future tenses while describing the same event. See, for example, Jeremiah describing the devastation in the past tense and Jeremiah using the future tense.

David Kimchi, Sefer Mikhlol. Cited in Waltke, Bruce K. Saperstein, Marc. Isaac b. Cited in Rosenberg, A. Jeremiah: A New English Translation. New York: The Judaica Press, , vol. Hebrew Tenses Sometimes it is claimed that the messianic prophecies cited by Christians are in the past tense. Medieval Jewish grammarian and commentator David Kimchi on the prophets' use of the perfect for future events: "The matter is as clear as though it had already passed. Until when will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Exod With an accidental perfective a speaker vividly and dramatically represents a future situation both as complete and as independent.

And concerning Ishmael I will bless him. We are lost , we are all lost. I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob Num. The assumption that Isaiah 53 points to the past because it used the past tense is not linguistically correct. However, modern Hebrew does have tenses. Biblical Hebrew verbs are conjugated according to completion, in-completion, and in-process. This means that the same form of a verb can be translated as either past, present, or future.

The interpretation of the verse relies on the context and different grammatical signs. Isaiah 53 clearly points to the Messiah. No other sacrifice would have been sufficient to the redemption of man John ; ; 2 Corinthians ; 1 Peter