The Theological Message of the Fourth Servant Song (Isa 52:13–53:12) in Light of Its Structure

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the structure of Isa 52:13–53:12 deploying elements of the analysis of the biblical and Semitic rhetoric developed by Roland Meynet. The article begins with an overview of earlier scholarly suggestions concerning the structure of the Fourth Servant Song, including Meynet’s. The major part of the article constitutes a rhetorical analysis of the song, first as a whole and then within its individual rhetorical units. In the final part of the article, major theological motifs of the song are presented, which are part of a new vision of suffering and death in the context of the Old Testament.