and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.

 

• I ask: Can national Israel bear our griefs and carry our sorrows? (no)

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

 

• I ask: Can national Israel be pierced and incur wounds?  If so, can they be pierced for our transgressions--in such a way that brings us peace and healing? (no; how could that be possible?)

 

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

 

• I ask: Can our iniquities be laid upon national Israel? (certainly not)

 

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.

 

• I ask: Can it be said of national Israel that he opened not his mouth...twice? (not reasonably)

 

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?

 

• I ask: Can national Israel be stricken? (yes)  But can they be stricken for the transgression of themselves? (I think not.)

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

 

• I ask: Can it be said of national Israel that they had done no violence and deceit? (absolutely not; they had done much violence both to other nations and to their own people; and they had been deceitful both to themselves and to the LORD himself, e.g. lying to God.)

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

 

• I ask: Can national Israel's soul be made an offering for guilt? (no)

 

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.

 

• I ask: Can national Israel make many to be accounted righteous?  Is there something vicariously meritorious about national Israel that can be somehow applied to others to make them righteous, especially considering their own unrighteousness before a Holy LORD? (certainly not)
• Can national Israel bear the iniquities of others...of many? (not in the least)

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

 

• I ask: Can national Israel pour out his soul to death? (an individual person can, but there was never a time when all Israelites died.)
• Can they bear the sin of many, or of anyone at all? (no; they have their own sin to account for)  
• Does national Israel make intercession for the transgressors? (Certainly the Prophets and other righteous exemplars did so, e.g. Moses, the priests, etc. But aside from this minority, the vast majority of Israelites did not have this practice.)

Therefore, based on my analysis of this passage we should conclude that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 does not refer to national Israel, but rather to the Suffering Servant as seen in the 9 other previous verses--the Messiah.  And even if some of those may be taken to refer to national Israel, the servant of this passage cannot be taken as such.

By the way, today I conducted an interesting experiment in the library.  I approached a Muslim student and told him I wanted to read a Bible passage to him from the Prophet Isaiah (this one, chapters 52/53). I told him I would have two questions for him: the first in advance--whether he thought the passage referred to a nation or a person; the second that I would ask him after reading the passage. Then I read the passage to him. To the first question he said that it seems to refer to a person. Then I asked him the second question: "To whom do you think this passage refers?" Guess who he said?  That's right...to Jesus. Then I asked him why he thought so, and he said "because of the references to his suffering and his bearing the sins of others, etc."  

Isaiah 52/53 refers to the person of the Messiah. 

Scott