Isaiah 53:10: A Question of Sacrifice or Also an Attempt to Legitimize Authority?

Abstract

El artículo analiza Isaías 53:10 en el contexto del “Cuarto Canto del Siervo”, planteando si su sentido es únicamente sacrificial o si también constituye una estrategia para legitimar la autoridad en el Israel postexílico. A partir de una metodología que combina reflexión diacrónica y análisis sincrónico, la autora reconstruye el trasfondo histórico neobabilónico y persa, identificando tensiones sociales, políticas y religiosas que influyeron en la redacción del libro de Isaías. Se demuestra que el texto redefine el sacrificio fuera del ámbito cultual, legitimando a un grupo profético-escribal como mediador de salvación, desplazando el monopolio sacerdotal y proponiendo la entrega de la vida como núcleo teológico de la expiación y la restauración comunitaria.

This article analyses Isaiah 53:10 in the context of the so‑called ‘Fourth Servant Song’, ex‑ ploring whether its meaning is exclusively sacrificial or whether it also responds to a strat‑ egy of legitimizing authority in post‑exilic Israel. Through a methodology that combines synchrony with diachronic reflection, the Neo‑Babylonian and Persian historical back‑ ground is reconstructed, identifying the social, political, and religious tensions that influ‑ enced the writing of the book of Isaiah. The study examines how the centrality of Jerusalem, the fracture between deportees and the indigenous population, and the struggle for the legitimization of religious authority are reflected in the text. The sacrificial vocabulary, especially the term אָשׁ͏ָם , and its metaphorical use in Isaiah 53:10, as well as the dynamics of guilt and benefit transfer, are analyzed in detail. The article concludes that the passage not only redefines sacrifice outside the cultic and priestly sphere, but also legitimizes a prophetic–scribal group as mediators of salvation, displacing the priestly monopoly and proposing the surrender of life as the theological core of atonement and restoration of the community.