2019, April 14 ~ Isaiah 50:4-9a and Philippians 2:5-11
Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile.
Today’s reading is from “Second Isaiah.” In it, the prophet affirmed loyalty to YHWH and asserted that his words were from YHWH. The last part of the reading (vv. 6 to 9) recounted the prophet’s suffering and is sometimes called the “Third Suffering Servant Song.” The prophet recounted suffering similar to that of the Prophet Jeremiah (v.6) and asserted that the LORD God would vindicate him so he would not be put to shame (v.7).
The longer Fourth Suffering Servant Song begins in Isaiah 53:13. Many of its images were used in the Gospel According to Mark to describe the suffering of Jesus of Nazareth.
Philippians 2:5-11
Philippi was a major city in Macedonia on the Roman road to Byzantium (Istanbul) and most of its inhabitants were Roman citizens. Paul has a deep affection for the Jesus Followers in Philippi, and thanked them for gifts sent to him in prison (4:18).
Today’s reading is the best-known part of this Epistle. It emphasized the divinity of Jesus the Christ (v.6), the self-emptying love of Jesus (v.7), his servant ministry (v.7), and that (like all human beings) he was subject to death, even a degrading death on a cross (v.8).
The phrases “every knee should bend” (v.10) and “every tongue confess” (v.11) were echoes of Isaiah 45:23 in which the prophet (speaking for YHWH) asserted YHWH had power to free the Judeans from Babylon and “to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
The Letter to the Philippians contains some of Paul’s strongest assertions about Jesus the Christ as “Lord” and equivalent to YHWH.
The NRSV translates the Greek word Kyrios in the Christian Scriptures (which were written in Greek) as “Lord” with a capital “L.” When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the period from 300 to 200 BCE, the name for God, YHWH, was also translated as “Kyrios.”
The NRSV translates the letters “YHWH” from the Hebrew Scriptures (which were written in Hebrew) as “LORD” with all capital letters.