For centuries, the Christian Church has regarded this fourth Servant Song in Second Isaiah as a prophecy that foretells the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainly the New Testament uses portions of it in connection with our Lord (cf. John 12:38; Acts 8:32-33; 1 Peter 2:24-25, et al.). And yet a great air of mystery surrounds this passage. Who finally is the servant? Why has he been the object of shame and suffering all of his life? Why was he judged and killed? How did others come to recognize that he was serving God’s merciful purposes? How was he exalted over death? The poem itself does not spell out the detailed answers to all of those questions. Indeed, there are even lines in the poem that defy certain translation, as scholars have long recognized. And cer…