Isaiah 53 Footnotes

53:3 In the Gospel narratives, Jesus was not “despised and rejected” by everyone; until the events just before his crucifixion he was regarded by many as a popular teacher and miracle worker, and even as the “Son of David” (Mk 10:47-48). It was the religious leaders of the community—the scribes, Pharisees, and priests—who, on the whole, despised him (Mt 12:14; Mk 14:1; Jn 11:53) as well as those who beat and crucified him (Mk 14:65; 15:15,19).

53:7 Jesus did not always remain silent before his accusers, for he did answer Pilate’s questions (Mk 14:62; Lk 23:2; Jn 18:33-37). But Jesus was silent when the chief priest made accusations against him (Mt 27:12-14; Mk 15:1-4), and his few words to Pilate did not refute his accusers. The silence was concerning those who would accuse him (see 1Pt 2:23).

53:9a Isaiah saw, in generalities, what would be more precisely revealed in the circumstances of Jesus’s death. The two clauses of this half-verse should be understood as poetically parallel phrases, intended to suggest the same idea about the servant’s death. In the view of the prophets of Israel, the rich were often equated with the wicked. The authorities no doubt intended to dispose of Jesus’s body in a common pit with criminals. But, though he died with “the wicked” (two brigands or revolutionaries, often erroneously called mere “thieves”), his burial was in the tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea (Mk 15:45-46).

53:9b The servant “had done no violence,” although Jesus drove the money changers from the temple (Mt 21:12-13; Mk 11:15-18; Jn 2:14-16). The two clauses of this verse are in poetic parallel; the violence of the first line is defined as speaking “deceitfully” in the second. Jesus was stern with those who defiled the temple, but his words on that occasion—being a quotation, in fact, from the books of Isaiah (Is 56:7) and Jeremiah (Jr 7:11)—were anything but deceitful. But since the temple was a major financial institution under watchful Roman supervision, Jesus’s disturbance of its activities was perceived as violence and a threat to an already unstable political situation. In Roman eyes it might have been enough to justify his execution, even without the accusations brought by the Jewish authorities.

53:10 Isaiah declared that the servant of the Lord “will prolong his days.” Clearly, the servant of this passage was being persecuted to his death (v. 9). His days could be prolonged only through being raised from the dead. Isaiah’s words describe the outcome of Jesus’s passion, his vindication by the Father (Ac 2:23-24).