Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

2 For he went up like [a] shoot before him, and like [a] root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that we should see him, and no appearance that we should take pleasure in him.

3 [He was] despised and rejected [by] men, a man of suffering, and acquainted with sickness, and like {one from whom others hide their faces}, [he was] despised, and we did not hold him in high regard.

4 However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses, and he carried our pain, yet we ourselves assumed him stricken, struck down [by] God and afflicted.

5 But he [was] pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace [was] upon him, and by his wounds {we were healed}.

6 All of us have wandered about like sheep; we each have turned to his own way; and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was brought like [a] lamb to [the] slaughter, and like a sheep is dumb before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth.

8 He was taken by restraint of justice, and who concerned himself with his generation? For he was cut off from the land of [the] living; he [received a] blow because of the transgression of my people.

9 He made his grave with [the] wicked, and with [the] rich in his death, although he had done no violence, and [there was] no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet Yahweh was pleased to crush him; he {made him sick}. If she places his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong days, and the will of Yahweh will succeed in his hand.

11 From the trouble of his life he will see; he will be satisfied. In his knowledge, [the] righteous [one], my servant, shall declare many righteous, and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore, I will divide to him [a portion] among the many, and with [the] strong ones he will divide bounty, {because} he poured his life out to death and was counted with [the] transgressors; and he was the one who bore the sin of many and will intercede for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53 Commentary

Chapter 53

The person. (1-3) sufferings. (4-9) humiliation, and exaltation of Christ, are minutely described; with the blessings to mankind from his death. (10-12)

Verses 1-3 No where in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied, that Christ ought to suffer, and then to enter into his glory, as in this chapter. But to this day few discern, or will acknowledge, that Divine power which goes with the word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners, through the Son of God, is disregarded. The low condition he submitted to, and his appearance in the world, were not agreeable to the ideas the Jews had formed of the Messiah. It was expected that he should come in pomp; instead of that, he grew up as a plant, silently, and insensibly. He had nothing of the glory which one might have thought to meet with him. His whole life was not only humble as to outward condition, but also sorrowful. Being made sin for us, he underwent the sentence sin had exposed us to. Carnal hearts see nothing in the Lord Jesus to desire an interest in him. Alas! by how many is he still despised in his people, and rejected as to his doctrine and authority!

Verses 4-9 In these verses is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ's head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the distempers of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him, and to love him who has first loved us.

Verses 10-12 Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put him in our stead, but he put himself. Thus he took away the sin of the world, by taking it on himself. He made himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin. Observe the graces and glories of his state of exaltation. Christ will not commit the care of his family to any other. God's purposes shall take effect. And whatever is undertaken according to God's pleasure shall prosper. He shall see it accomplished in the conversion and salvation of sinners. There are many whom Christ justifies, even as many as he gave his life a ransom for. By faith we are justified; thus God is most glorified, free grace most advanced, self most abased, and our happiness secured. We must know him, and believe in him, as one that bore our sins, and saved us from sinking under the load, by taking it upon himself. Sin and Satan, death and hell, the world and the flesh, are the strong foes he has vanquished. What God designed for the Redeemer he shall certainly possess. When he led captivity captive, he received gifts for men, that he might give gifts to men. While we survey the sufferings of the Son of God, let us remember our long catalogue of transgressions, and consider him as suffering under the load of our guilt. Here is laid a firm foundation for the trembling sinner to rest his soul upon. We are the purchase of his blood, and the monuments of his grace; for this he continually pleads and prevails, destroying the works of the devil.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "And"
• [b]. Or "grew"
• [c]. Or "and"
• [d]. Or "and"
• [e]. Or "knowledgeable of"
• [f]. Literally "hiding of face from him"
• [g]. Or "and"
• [h]. Or "And"
• [i]. Or "wounded"
• [j]. Or "of"
• [k]. Or "healing"
• [l]. Hebrew "wound"
• [m]. Literally "it was healed for us"
• [n]. Or "and"
• [o]. Or "and"
• [p]. Or "gave"
• [q]. Or "And"
• [r]. Literally "he made sick"
• [s]. Or "you"
• [t]. Or "makes"
• [u]. Or "compensation"
• [v]. Or "soul"
• [w]. Dead Sea Scrolls add "light"
• [x]. Or "right"
• [y]. Or "great"
• [z]. Literally "Instead of that"
• [aa]. Or "yet"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 53

This chapter treats of the mean appearance of Christ in human nature, his sufferings in it, and the glory that should follow. It begins with a complaint of the small number of those that believed the report concerning him, the power of God not being exerted, Isa 53:1, the reason of this general disbelief was the meanness of his outward circumstances, and the want of comeliness in him; hence he was treated with general neglect and contempt, Isa 52:2,3 was the more unkind and ungenerous, since it was the griefs and sorrows of others he bore, and their sins also, for which he was wounded and bruised, that they might have healing, Isa 53:4-6, yet he took and bore all patiently, like a lamb at the slaughter, and the sheep under the shearer, Isa 53:7, which was the more extraordinary, since he was used, both in life and at death, in so rigorous and barbarous a manner, and all for the sins of others, having been guilty of none himself, Isa 53:8,9, and, what is most amazing, the Lord himself had a hand in grieving and bruising him, Isa 53:10, though for his encouragement, and a reward to him, as man and Mediator, for all his sufferings, it is intimated that he should succeed and prosper, have a numerous issue, should justify many, and have a portion and spoil divided with the great and mighty, Isa 53:10-12.