Continued from Part 23
53:10: “he shall see seed”
Zer‘a
The expression in the verse is “see seed” (yireh zer‘a) and appears only here. The absence of a possessive pronominal suffix is a common feature in biblical Hebrew and is understood from the context (e.g. Isaiah 25:11, 59:2, 49:16, 32:11, 33:24, 41:1, 49:22, 65:21). Zer‘a, refers to actual physical offspring or descendants (Psalms 22:31, Isaiah 54:3). It is never used symbolically in the Jewish Scriptures.
Christians claim that “he shall see seed” is symbolic and refers to the increase in number of those who believe in Jesus. Christians interpret certain verses in the Scriptures (Genesis 3:15, 38:8; Isaiah 1:4, 57:4; Malachi 2:15; Psalms 22:31; Proverbs 11:21) as referring only symbolicallyto “bodily seed.” The Christian interpretation is unwarranted, since in each of these verses “seed” is better taken in its usual literal physical sense. For example, Isaiah 57: There the prophet castigates certain individuals (not the nation as a whole) for perpetuating the idolatrous practices of their parents. These verses are a scathing denunciation of wicked offspring who uphold the sinful ways of their parents. Isaiah calls them “sons of the sorceress, the seed of adulterers and the harlot” (verse 3). He then asks: “Are you not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood?” (verse 4), that is, children of parents who live lives of falsehood. They are what the prophet has earlier termed a “seed of evil-doers” (Isaiah 1:4), that is, children of parents who do evil deeds. The people spoken to in Isaiah 57 were conceived in adultery and harlotry; they are the resultant products of transgression and falsehood. Literally, they are children born as a result of parental transgression, a seed born as a result of parental falsehood. When referring to the sins of the parents, the word zer‘a is used since they are literally the physical children of these transgressors. But, these same children are also the disciples, banim (“sons”), of the sorceress (that is, practitioners of sorcery and divination).
Banim
The word bein (literally “son”) may figuratively mean “disciples” (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15). Zer‘a (“seed”) is never used in this sense. For example: “And Abram said: ‘Behold to me You have given no seed [zer‘a], and, see the son [ben] of my house is my heir.’ And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying: ‘This man shall not be your heir, but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir’” (Genesis 15:3-4). Zer‘a must always be taken literally to mean physical descendants. Since zer‘a refers to one’s physical descendants the servant must have children. Since Jesus had no children of his own, the promise that the servant “shall see seed” rules out the possibility that Jesus is the servant.
Continued...
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