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The Book of Isaiah describes an Israelite group called the'servants,'who suffered for their righteousness and were promised vindication. This collection of essays shows how the Isaian'servants'texts were used by early Jewish and Christian readers to shape their own community identity. It includes analyses of Psalms 22, 69, and 102, Daniel, Wisdom of Solomon, Mark, Luke and Acts, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Peter, Revelation, and Targum Jonathan on Isaiah, as well as investigations into the relationship between exegesis and identity formation and into how the Isaian Servant(s) are presented within the framework of Israel's history.

The book of Isaiah is a product of history. The nature of that history and what it means that Isaiah is a product of it are hardly matters of consensus in the field. Nonetheless, Isaianic scholarship has put its collective finger on the crux of the methodological problem. At the heart of an historical understanding of this prophetic book lies a consideration of the word'history'in two distinct but related applications. First, what historical processes led to the book's final form? How did Isaiah become a book? And second, what kind of historical representation does the book offer to the reader? How does Isaiah present the past? For most scholars, answering either question involves asking the other. To understand better the history of Isaiah, this volume of essays devotes itself to these two lines of inquiry and their relationship.