This article explores the multifarious identities of the 'suffering servant' of Isaiah 52.13-53.12. A reading sensitive to the historical context of the original authors more sensibly identifies the servant with Israel. Nevertheless, the Christological reading is a valid (albeit oblique) one, which can shift in and out of focus depending on one's hermeneutical lens.

Those who contend for the singular authorship of Isaiah, argue on the basis that the historical Isaiah wrote chapters 40-55 adopting a perspective from a future point in time. While this view cannot …