The Ramban on Isaiah 53

CLAIM: The Ramban (Nachmonides) believed that Isaiah 53 refers

to the Messiah.

The Ramban (Nachmonides) is one of the most popular Rabbis for
missionaries. What makes his popularity so strange is that he is quite
famous because of his taking part in a forced debate. He was the
protagonist in the famous debate at arcelona. !t that debate his
antagonist" #ather $aul" a con%erted &ew" quoted many passages from
the Talmud and 'idrash to try and con%ince those listening (and the
Ramban) that the ancient Rabbis agreed with the (hristians and that
the &ews should therefore con%ert. )n a famous retort" the Ramban
asked how these Rabbis could ha%e belie%ed as the (hristians did and
still remain &ews all these years" #ather $aul ignored his question. We
can then restate the question* if the Ramban belie%ed that )saiah +,
was about the 'essiah dying etc" then why did he not con%ert-- The
answer is that there is something wrong with the argument.

The missionary.s knowledge of this commentary is because it appears
in /ri%er
012
page 34 5 4+. Howe%er what is missing is the history of this
commentary. When we ha%e it" the whole picture is different. We need
to go back to his debate in arcelona where the issue came up. There
we read*
062
*

(6+) That person ('aster 7illam) argued* ehold in the chapter
of 8ehold 'y 9er%ant will prosper:
0,2
it relates about the death of
the 'essiah" and how he was gi%en to his enemies and how he
was placed with the wicked ;ust as it was done with &esus. /o
you belie%e that this speaks about the 'essiah-

(6<) ) said to him* !ccording to the truthful meaning it is only
speaking of the &ewish people in general. The prophet
continually calls them 8)srael 'y ser%ant.
0=2
8&acob 'y ser%ant.
0+2

(63) #ather $aul said* ) will show from the words of their sages
that it speaks of the 'essiah.

(64) ) said to him* )t is true that our Rabbis" their memory is for a
blessing" in their works of Haggadah
0<2
" ha%e a /rash
032
that it is
about the 'essiah> howe%er they don.t e%er say that he is killed
by his enemies. We do not find anywhere in the books" the
&ewish books" neither the Talmud nor the Haggadah that
'essiah the son of /a%id will be killed" ne%er. Nor that he would
be gi%en into the hands of his enemies" or buried with the
wicked. ?%en the 'essiah that you ha%e made for yoursel%es
was not buried. ) will e@plain this chapter (according to the
'idrash) if you wish" with a good e@planation. There is no
indication there at all that he will be killed as was done with your
'essiah. Howe%er they did not want to listen to me.

#rom this we see a few things*

1. The Ramban.s %iew is that the truthful interpretation of )saiah +, is that it
refers to all of )srael and NAT to the 'essiah.
6. There are 'idrashim that do state that it refers to the 'essiah" but the
Ramban makes clear they are not the true understanding" i.e. pshat.
,. The Ramban can pro%ide an e@planation according to 'idrashic %iew"
but was not allowed to at arcelona.

Bater he did" in fact" produce such an e@planation" and that is the one
that missionaries refer to. Here is what he says*
042

ehold 'y ser%ant shall prosper. The proper way to understand
this parsha is that it refers to the whole &ewish people according
to the language" 8/o not fear 'y ser%ant &acob.
0C2
" 8!nd He said
to me" you are 'y ser%ant" )srael" through whom ) will be
glorified".
01D2
and so in many places. Howe%er according to the
'idrash it is applied to the 'essiah. ) am forced to e@plain it
according to the words of the books ('idrashim). With total
agreement they say that the 'essiah the son of /a%id" about
whom these words are written" will not be defeated" will not die in
the hands of his enemies" and so the writings show this
e@planation.

We see that the Ramban did not change his %iew at all. He still
maintains that the true meaning of )saiah +, is that it refers to )srael.
!ll he is doing is showing that the (hristians use of this 'idrash was
not a proof of their %iew. The 'idrash does not gi%e support to the
(hristian %iew of )saiah +,. He is not changing his mind as to the real
meaning of the passage.

Bet.s say that based on a few comments of the (hristians" ) decide to
write an e@planation of $salm 66" and show how the (hristians can
understand that the whole $salm refers to &esus" e%en though ) belie%e
the truth is that the whole $salm is about Eing /a%id. )f someone
would then say that ) belie%ed $salm 66 was about &esus that would
be a lie and a distortion of fact. ) am ;ust showing how $salm 66 could
be understood so that the sub;ect was &esus.

The same is with the Ramban and )saiah +,. He does NAT belie%e
)saiah +, is about the 'essiah. He said that e@plicitly on more then
one occasion. He was confronted with a 'idrash" which he personally
held was not pshat. He wished to show how one could use the %iew of
that 'idrash to e@plain )saiah +, without contradiction to what &udaism
teaches" and in contradiction to the (hristian assertions. )t is not
rele%ant to the %iew of the Ramban. )t is not H)9 %iew. He does not
belie%e )saiah +, is about the 'essiah.

Moshe Shulman 2010 http*FFwww.;udaismsanswer.com
For more information, questions answered, or help with missionaries you can reach
Moshe Shulman at outreachG;udaismsanswer.com.
012
The 9uffering 9er%ant of )saiah +," /ri%er H Neubauer" reprinted by Wipf and 9tock
$ublishers 1CCC.
062
$aragraph numbers come from the Hebrew edition of this printed in The Writings of the
Ramban of (haim /o% (ha%ell %olume 1 published by 'osod HaR!% Eook" pages ,D6 5 ,6D.
The (ommentary itself appears after the debate on pages ,61 5 ,6<. There is an ?nglish
translation in the &udaism on Trial by Hyam 'accoby published by the Bittman Bibrary of &ewish
Biterature 1CC<" on pages 1D6 5 1=<. The translation here is mine.
0,2
He is referring to )saiah +," and this is from %erse +6*1,.
0=2
)saiah =1*4
0+2
)saiah ==*1
0<2
This refers to the nonIlegal works of the Rabbis as he states later in paragraph ,C" where he
states that these are sermons and we are not required to accept them as literal.
032
He later e@plains a /rash as a sermon.
042
) am translating directly from the Hebrew.
0C2
)saiah ==*6
01D2
)saiah =C*,