No one. Read the passage: "We have all strayed like sheep each of us turning his own way and HaShem inflicted upon him (or, accepted his prayers for) the iniquity of us all." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:6. When the Jews sinned by allowing the creation of the golden calf Moses offered to give his life to atone for the people. G-d refused. "the next day that Moses said to the people: "You have committed a grave sin. And now I will go up to the L-rd; perhaps I will obtain atonement for your sin." And Moses returned to the L-rd and said: "Please! This people has committed a grave sin. They have made themselves a god of gold. And now, if You forgive their sin But if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written." And the L-rd said to Moses: "Whoever has sinned against Me, him I will erase from My book!"" Sh'mot / Exodus 32:30=34. No one can die for your sins. In the Talmud, Sotah 14a, the sages actually compare Moses' offer of atonement in Sh'mot / Exodus 32:30=34 to that of Isaiah's suffering servant -- but note that Moses' offer is soundly rejected by G-d. Repentance (being truly sorry for what you did) is at the heart of atonement. G-d forgives those who turn to Him and seek forgiveness (both from those they wrong and G-d) and to try to not repeat the sins. Atonement is an ongoing process throughout our lives -- and it is for a reason. Only through making mistakes, getting up and learning from them, do we grow in knowledge, wisdom and holiness. Do you see why no one else can do it for you? When man repents, G-d forgives. G-d has given us the means to overcome sin. This is accomplished the holy acts of prayer (תפלה / tefillah), contrite personal repentance (תשובה / teshuva) , and good deeds (צדקה / tzedakah). We have been given the ability to choose between good and evil, so that assuredly, by choosing good we will live. Atonement is given when we repent, so that G-d forgives us our trespasses, and choosing good, mankind is freed from the unhappy state of sinfulness. Read Bamidbar / Numbers 35:33 "And you shall not corrupt the land in which you live, for the blood corrupts the land, and the blood which is shed in the land cannot be atoned for except through the blood of the one who shed it." Thus Jesus' blood could not atone for anything -- human blood corrupts the land! Read D'varim / Deuteronomy 24:16 "Fathers shall not be put to death because of sons, nor shall sons be put to death because of fathers; each man shall be put to death for his own transgression." and M'lachim / II Kgs 14:6 "But the sons of the assassins he did not execute, as it is written in the book of the Torah of Moses, which the Lord commanded saying: "Fathers shall not be put to death for sons, nor shall sons be put to death for fathers, but each man shall be put to death for his own sin." and Yirmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:29 [30 in Christian Bibles] "But each man shall die for his iniquity; whoever eats the unripe grapes- his teeth shall be set on edge." Along with these read Y'chezkel / Ezekiel 18 and T'hillim / Psalm Ps 49:7 -- all state clearly that we are responsible for our own sins, no one can die for your sins and human blood (sacrifice) is forbidden -- human blood corrupts the land. If no one can atone for the sins of others (we are speaking of individual sins, not communal sins. Communal sins would be those of the nation as a whole).. . . what is the meaning of "We have all strayed like sheep each of us turning his own way and HaShem inflicted upon him (or, accepted his prayers for) the iniquity of us all." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:6? Remember, the speaker of this verse are the gentile nations who formerly thought the servant was disgusting, subhuman and rejected by G-d. They have come to realize that the opposite is true -- the subject is the servant of G-d, now raised to heights in the messianic age. They also realize (in this verse) that the servant bore the punishments that should have happened to them. The gentile nations thrived by abusing the servant (the Jewish people -- taking their money, their homes -- deporting the Jews from their lands, stealing from them and even killing them). They prospered on the backs of the Jews -- and they blamed G-d saying the Jews were cursed by G-d for killing Jesus. "His blood is on us and on our children!" Matthew 27:25. Notice the words "accepted his prayers for" as an alternative translation for "inflicted upon him." The verb in question is הִפְגִּ֣יעַ / hiffGi'a is third person singular, masculine -- past conjugation. Ibn Ezra wrote "Some explain הפגיע he caused to pray; עון has, according to their opinion, the usual meaning iniquity; and the sense of the whole phrase is: G-d will accept the prayer of Israel, that peace shall be on earth. . . "If פגע ב means to pray to, the meaning of the Hiphil הפגיע ב is, to cause to pray to, and also, to accept the prayer, if the noun governed by the preposition ב is the same as the subject to the verb הפגיע; and הפגיע בר is to be translated, He caused to pray to Himself; if, therefore, the phrase הפגיע בו is followed by a noun in the accusative, this must express either the person who is caused to pray, or the object of the prayer. The accusative עון is neither the one nor the other, since in the latter case, not the iniquity but the atonement for the iniquity, not the punishment, but the cancelling of the punishment, (not עון but כפרת עון) is the object of the prayer." The verb פגע can be translated as "inflict", "hit", "hurt", "pray", "request (to intercede" and "supplicate) and all those uses are found in the T'nach. The prayers of the Jewish people kept the world from destruction. There is precedent. G-d is more loving than He is judging -- think back to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. G-d would have saved those cities full of evil people if only ten righteous people could have been found. The LIVES (not deaths) of those righteous people could have saved the evil ones. Good outweighs evil. This is found in B'reshit / Genesis chapter 18. Either interpretation makes sense. G-d uses the gentile nations to punish the Jewish nation in other biblical passages. "Since the days of our forefathers, we are in great guilt until this day, and because of our iniquities, we were delivered-we, our kings, our priests-into the hands of the kings of the lands by the sword, in captivity, and with plunder and with shame-. . And after all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and because of our great guilt, because You our G-d, have punished us less than our inequities deserve" Ezra 9:8 - 14. G-d has used the gentile nations (the speakers in this verse) to punish the Jews when we have strayed -- as a parent punishes a child. However, the nations did not treat the Jews fairly and were often cruel beyond reckoning. Even through all our trials and troubles the righteous remnant of the Jewish nation has prayed to G-d for the world -- not just for ourselves. G-d did punish the Jews. He punished us with exile. However, it is due to the misuse of free will that the gentile nations abused our exile with evils far beyond that of punishment. Why does G-d punish the Jewish nation? Jews are tasked with being a light to the other nations -- a nation of priests who bring global knowledge of G-d to the world. While some Jews are Torah observant and do their best to fulfill the role given by G-d, others turn their back on Him. A parent punishes a child, not for the joy of inflicting pain, but in the hope that the punishment will act as a deterrent so the child will learn to do good and avoid evil. G-d's motivation is the same as the parent's. G-d wants the Jewish people to perfect itself and as a result the rest of the world will follow. G-d teaches us that all humans have the ability to rise above our sins, our baser natures. This is why no one can die for your sins -- what lesson would you learn from such a thing? What might seem, on its face, a kindness, is actually cruel. If the lessons are not learned, you do not grow to rise above your own baser emotions and actions. Mankind can and will perfect and redeem itself. G-d believes in mankind -- even as we betray His trust time and again. He tells us that we are created in His image -- and the time will come when we will rise above our own evil and fulfill our purpose on this earth. Here is a translation along with the Artscroll Stone Edition footnotes at the bottom of each response to aid in your understanding of the passage. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. 14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) "His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human, 15 so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) for they will see that which had never been told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard. 53:1 Who would believe what we have heard! For whom has the arm of HaShem been revealed? 2 In the past he grew like a sapling or like the root from dry ground; he had neither form nor beauty. We saw him, but without a desirable appearance. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and accustomed to being sick. As one from whom we would hide our faces; he was despised and we had no regard for him. 4 But in truth it was our ills and he carried our pains -- but we had regarded him diseased, stricken by G-d and afflicted! 5 He was wounded as a result (because of) our rebellious transgressions, and oppressed as a result our iniquities. The chastisement upon him was for our benefit, and through his wounds we were healed. 6 We have all strayed like sheep each of us turning his own way and HaShem inflicted upon him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was persecuted and afflicted but did not open his mouth; like a sheep being led to the slaughter or a ewe that is silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 he was removed far away from the land where they lived and a plague came upon them (לָֽמוֹ / lamo) through the transgression of my people (the gentile nations). He submitted to the grave with the wicked and joined with the wealthy in his executions (בְּמֹתָ֑יו / b'motav) 9 He submitted himself to his grave like evil men; and the wealthy (submitted) to his executions for committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth. 10 HaShem desired to oppress him and He afflicted him; if his physical being would acknowledge guilt he would see offspring and live long days and the desire or HaShem would succeed in his hand. 11. He (he servant) would see (the purpose) and be satisfied with his life's (not immortal soul) distress. With his knowledge My servant will cause the multitudes to be righteous; it is their וַעֲוֹנתָם / iniquities (for impulsive, lustful wrongdoings) that he will carry. 12. Therefore, I will assign him a portion in public and he will divide the mighty as spoils -- in return for having poured out his life for death and being counted among the wicked, for he bore the sin of the many, and prayed for the wicked. Footnotes from Artscroll Stone Edition: Isaiah 52:13 i.e. G-d's servant the people of Israel (Rashi) 52:15 Just as Israel had once been astonishingly degraded, so it will astonish the nations by its exaltedness when the time of redemption arrives. 53:1-3 this is the prophecy foretelling what the nations and their kings will exclaim when they witness Israel's rejuvenation. The nations will contrast their former scornful attitude toward the Jews (vv. 1-3) with their new realization of Israel's grandeur (vv 4-7). 53:5 we brought suffering upon Israel for our own selfish purposes; it was not, as we had claimed, that G-d was punishing Israel for its own evil behavior. 53:6 We sinned by inflicting punishment upon Israel. Such oppression is often described as "Hashem's punishment" (see 10:5, Habakkuk 1:12), for He decreed that it should happen (Abarbanel). 53:8 When Israel's exile is finally ended the nations will marvel that such a generation could have survived the expulsion from "the land of the living, i.e. Israel, that the nations had sinfully inflicted upon it. 53:9 Ordinary Jews chose to die like common criminals, rather than renounce their faith; and wealthy Jews were killed for no reason other than to enable their wicked conquerors to confiscate their riches (Radak). 53:10 That is, Israel. G-d replies to the nations that Israel's suffering was a punishment for its own sins; and when the people realize this and repent, they will be redeemed and rewarded. 53:11 Israel will teach the nations of G-d's righteousness.
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