Say goodbye to the confused, vengeful, wild-eyed prophecies of the first half of the book. Isaiah has calmed down, offering hymns of praise rather than orgies of damnation. Chapter 40 is probably the ...

I got lots of great mail about the last entry, in which I asked if Jews, like Christians, believe the suffering "servant" in Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. The short answer is: no. For Jews, the servant is ...