Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Cryptic Hint

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2

Hebrew: "He grew up before him like a TENDER SHOOT, and like a root out of dry ground."

A Rabbi once said that there was here a cryptic hint of the Messiah’s miraculous birth, in that he will be born, as it were, from ground "which has not yet been ploughed and in which no seed has been planted". Anyone who does not understand the figurative language behind those words cannot understand the nature of the Old Testament Messianic hope.

(Santala, Risto. 1992. The Messiah in the Old Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings. Jerusalem: Yanetz Limited., pg 197)

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this insight! Will I ever be able to pull out such ideas from the Old Testament prophets without help? I think not.

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