Isaiah 42 is the forty-second chapter of the Book of Isaiah in both the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is a part of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter contains a poem known as the first of the "Servant songs" about the servant, whom Jewish tradition holds that Isaiah identifies as either the Israelites themselves or Cyrus.
The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter.
The servant songs are four songs in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, which include Isaiah 42:1–4; Isaiah 49:1–6; Isaiah 50:4–11; and Isaiah 52:13–53:12. The songs are four poems written about a certain "servant of YHWH". Yahweh calls the servant to lead the nations, but the servant is horribly abused by them. In the end, he is rewarded.
Carving from the Way of the Cross in St. Mel's Cathedral, Ireland
16th-century Dutch engraving of the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus; under the Crucifixion image is a quotation from the servant song in Latin translation: Vere languores nostros ipse tulit et dolores nostros ipse portavit et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum et percussum a Deo et humiliatum (NIV: "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.")
