Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servant

1 ¹Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a ²tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has ³no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was ⁴despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and ⁵acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was ⁶despised, and we did not ⁷esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself ⁸bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of ⁹God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for ¹⁰our transgressions, He was crushed for ¹¹our iniquities; The ¹²chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by ¹³His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not ¹⁴open His mouth; ¹⁵Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

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 ¹⁶For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a ¹⁷rich man in His death, ¹⁸Because He had ¹⁹done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the LORD was pleased To ²⁰crush Him, ²¹putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt ²²offering, He will see ²³His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good ²⁴pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will ²⁵see it and be satisfied; By His ²⁶knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will ²⁷bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a ²⁸portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because * He poured out ²⁹Himself to death, And was ³⁰numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself ³¹bore the sin of many, And interceded 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.

Cross References

• 1. John 12:38; Romans 10:16
• 2. Isaiah 11:1
• 3. Isaiah 52:14
• 4. Psalms 22:6; Isaiah 49:7; Luke 18:31-33
• 5. Isaiah 53:10
• 6. Mark 10:33, 34
• 7. John 1:10, 11
• 8. Matthew 8:17
• 9. John 19:7
• 10. Isaiah 53:8; Hebrews 9:28
• 11. Isaiah 53:10; Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3
• 12. Deuteronomy 11:2; Hebrews 5:8
• 13. 1 Peter 2:24, 25
• 14. Matthew 26:63; Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 14:61; Mark 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9
• 15. Acts 8:32, 33; Revelation 5:6
• 16. Isaiah 53:5, 12
• 17. Matthew 27:57-60
• 18. Isaiah 42:1-3
• 19. 1 Peter 2:22
• 20. Isaiah 53:5
• 21. Isaiah 53:3, 4
• 22. Isaiah 53:6, 12; John 1:29
• 23. Psalms 22:30; Isaiah 54:3; Isaiah 61:9; Isaiah 66:22
• 24. Isaiah 46:10
• 25. John 10:14-18
• 26. Isaiah 45:25; Romans 5:18, 19
• 27. Isaiah 53:5, 6
• 28. Isaiah 52:13; Philippians 2:9-11
• 29. Matt 26:38, 39, 42
• 30. Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37
• 31. Isaiah 53:6, 11; 2 Corinthians 5:21

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "suckling"
• [b]. Lit "desire"
• [c]. Or "pains"
• [d]. Or "sickness"
• [e]. Or "sickness"
• [f]. Or "pains"
• [g]. Or "Struck down by"
• [h]. Or "wounded"
• [i]. Or "peace"
• [j]. Lit "encounter Him"
• [k]. Or "life"
• [l]. Lit "He made Him sick"
• [m]. Lit "His soul"
• [n]. Lit "seed"
• [o]. Or "will of"
• [p]. Or "toilsome labor"
• [q]. Another reading is "light"
• [r]. Lit "His soul"

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.