Isaiah 53:1-12 NOTES

ISAIAH 53:1-12 - EXEGESIS (Donovan)

IMMEDIATE CONTEXT-ISA. 52-53: This passage presents us with challenges typical of poetry. It uses words and phrases rich in meaning but capable of more than one interpretation. "My servant" is a case in point. Is this servant the nation Israel-or the prophet-or the messiah? Does the word "servant" mean one thing in one place and something else in another place? Did God intend Israel to understand "my servant" one way in its original context and the church to understand it another way? How did the author understand it? How does God intend us to understand it?

Another challenge is to determine who is speaking. When the prophet writes, "See, my servant shall deal wisely," is this the prophet's voice or God's voice? Is the voice that we hear in 52:12 the same voice that we hear throughout this passage-throughout the book?

Scholars differ considerably on these matters. Because of the poetic nature of this passage, scholars have debated and written at length over the centuries about such questions. "It is one of the great oddities of Old Testament studies that the very text that is taken to be abundantly rich and theologically suggestive is at the same time undeniably inaccessible and without clear meaning (Brueggemann, 141).

ISAIAH 53:1-3. HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of dry ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we would look at Him, Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. 3 He was despised and abandoned by men, A man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. The voice changes here from Yahweh to the people of the community, who stand in awe of the servant's sacrifice-and the failure of the community to acknowledge the servant's holiness.

"Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?" (v. 1). Who has believed? "The expected answer is 'no one'" (Muilenburg, 618). Who could believe that a mere boy could defeat a giant? No one! That a man with no army could bring the Egyptians to heel? No one! That three hundred Israelites could defeat an army as "countless as the sand on the seashore" (Judges 7:12)? No one!
• Who could believe that God would raise up a Persian king (Cyrus) who would free the Jewish exiles and help to finance the rebuilding of their temple? No one!
• Who could believe that a man who died on a cross-his death attested by Roman soldiers and witnessed by crowds-would rise from the dead? No one!
But those to whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed could believe! Those who have seen the Lord God come with might (40:10) could believe! Those who have seen the Lord use his arm against the Chaldeans (48:14) could believe! Those who have seen the Lord rule the peoples with his arm (51:5) could believe!
• As it turns out, the Lord has revealed the strength of his arm to people in every land under the sun-billions of people-over a period of many centuries. Those billions of people have believed, and have done/are doing mighty deeds in the name of the Lord.

"For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (v. 2). There are certain characteristics that distinguish powerful leaders. Many of them are physically imposing-tall, strong, handsome. If they are not physically imposing, we expect to see some compelling aspect in them-a sense of presence, a riveting glance, a sonorous voice, a persuasive manner, a towering intellect.
• But we aren't impressed by a young plant that might or might not live through the day-that might or might not produce a harvest in some distant future. We aren't impressed with a root out of dry ground-struggling against the odds for survival-destined by circumstances never to amount to much. We aren't likely to expect much from a person from a poor and humble background. We aren't likely to desire someone with no desirable aspect to his appearance. We would not have picked David or Moses or Gideon or Israel or Jesus or the church to be the instruments to carry out God's work. But "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).

"He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease" (v. 3a). He was despised in the sense that people considered him as having no prospects-worthless. Having made that judgment, they placed him in the "reject" bin to prevent him from diluting the pool of more promising people.

"He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn't respect him" (v. 3b). Where possible, we avoid contact with no-prospect people. We prefer that they live in ghettos where we won't have to see them. We avert our eyes as we pass them on the street. We wish only that they would go away. So it will be with this servant of God. People will hide their faces from him-despise him-hold him to be of no account-judge him worthless.

ISAIAH 53:4-6.HE HAS BORNE OUR SICKNESS

4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. 5 But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds 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 wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him.

"Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering" (v. 4a). But if this servant appears to be crushed and broken, it is because he "has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering." It isn't his own poverty that grinds him down, but ours. It isn't his own brokenness that cripples him, but ours. It isn't his own illness that disfigures him, but ours. It isn't his own sins that damn him, but ours.

"yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted" (v. 4b). But we have not returned the favor. He has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases, but we have not acknowledged his help. We see only the unattractive quality of his life and suppose that he has gotten what he deserved-God's judgment for some terrible thing that he has done.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities" (v. 5a). This reiterates what was said in verse 4, but transforms illness language (infirmities and diseases) into sin language (transgressions and iniquities). This is closer to the crux of the matter. While we might or might not need help with a physical illness, we do need help with our spiritual sickness-our sins.

• In verse 4b, we noticed that the servant was stricken and afflicted, and we thought that he was getting what he deserved. Now we learn that the truth is quite different. The transgressions for which he was wounded are ours. The iniquities for which he was crushed are ours. We are the ones who deserve to be stricken, struck down, and afflicted (v. 4b). We are the ones who deserve to be wounded and crushed (v. 5a). Once we realize that "there but for the grace of God go I"-that if justice were rendered, we would be stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted like the servant-then the seriousness of our sinful condition becomes apparent, probably for the first time. We have thought ourselves to be good citizens-not perfect, of course, but better than most. The servant, however, gives us a God's-eye view of our condition, allowing us to see the spiritual cancer at the core of our being.

"The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed" (v. 5b). "The servant did not submit to affliction through apathetic resignation but as a bold choice" to break the back of sin (Hanson, 159-160).
• How can the servant, by taking our punishment, make us whole? How can he, by accepting our bruises as his own, heal us? Why would God not simply wave a wand over us and pronounce us whole?
Verses 7-12 will give us some poetic glimpses into the answers to these questions, but it will help to review here the idea of substitutionary atonement that pervades both Old and New Testaments.
• Atonement has to do with making amends for sin or repairing the spiritual damage caused by sin. It also has to do with restoring relationships that were broken by sin-in particular the relationship that we enjoyed with God prior to the introduction of sin into the world. Our sin (our failure to do God's will-our willful disobedience) broke that relationship, because God is holy (morally and spiritually perfect) and expects us to be holy as well (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15).
• Our sin, therefore, creates a conflict for God. On the one hand, God is repulsed by our sin, but on the other hand, he loves us. On the one hand, he cannot bring himself to invite us into full fellowship while we are tainted with sin, but on the other hand, he cannot bring himself to dismiss us totally.
• So, in keeping with his holiness (which demands that we be punished) and his love (which demands that we be reconciled), God devised a process by which he can make us holy once again so that he might receive us into full fellowship-a process known as substitutionary atonement-"substitutionary" meaning that God will accept a substitute to absorb the punishment for our sins and "atonement" meaning that we can be restored to full fellowship with God.
• Christians sometimes speak of atonement as "at-one-ment," to convey the idea that atonement has to do with reconciling people to God. This is in keeping with the Latin word, adunamentum, which has to do with establishing unity and is the Latin word behind our English word, atonement (Encarta).
In the Old Testament, atonement took the form of animal sacrifices. God required Israelites to sacrifice animals in a sacred ritual to atone (make amends) for their sins (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 1:4; 4:20-21, etc.). The idea was that people deserved to die for their sins, but God permitted them to sacrifice animals in their place. The death of the animals satisfied God's need for justice, which in turn made it possible for him to forgive the people's sins.
• This idea of substitutionary atonement is also prevalent in the New Testament, and is the rationale behind the death of Jesus:
· "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).
· Jesus is "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29, 36).
· "Being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God's wrath through him" (Romans 5:9).
· Christ is our "Passover"-our Paschal lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).
· "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures," a matter regarded by Paul as supremely important" (1 Corinthians 15:3).
· Christ "died for all" (2 Corinthians 5:14).
· "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
· Christ "loved (us), and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance" (Ephesians 5:2).
• Substitutionary atonement not only satisfies God's needs for both justice and mercy, but also dramatizes the dreadful nature of our sin and its consequences. It helps us to see that our sins are not just minor mistakes for which a passing apology is all that is needed. It helps us to understand that "the wages of sin is death" and that we are in desperate need of "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way" (v. 6a). In a pastoral economy, people raise sheep for meat, milk, hides, and wool. Sheep are the opposite of street-smart-wandering at will-nibbling their way apart from the flock-unaware of potential danger-innocent but stupid. Sheep are also used as sacrificial animals in Jewish temple worship.

"and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (v. 6b). Again, the prophet makes allusion to substitutionary atonement (see above on v. 5). The Lord has laid our iniquity on the servant.
• In the New Testament, Paul uses different words to express the idea that the prophet expresses here in verse 6: "For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24).

ISAIAH 53:7-9. HE WAS OPPRESSED AND AFFLICTED

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like 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 from the land of the living, For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due? 9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

"He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth" (v. 7). A lamb is a young sheep, defenseless, the epitome of innocence, and therefore especially fitting for ritual sacrifice (Exodus 12:1-13; 29:38-42; Leviticus 9:3; 12:6, etc.). The New Testament refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36).
• This verse says that the servant is like a lamb and sheep-oppressed and afflicted-silent. Twice it says, "He didn't open his mouth." He neither protested his unjust punishment nor spoke in his own defense. This description "is not characteristic of the O.T. sufferers" (Muilenburg, 624). However, Jesus in his trial before the high priest will remain silent when invited to defend himself (Matthew 26:62-63).

"He was taken away by oppression and judgment" (v. 8a). The servant is innocent, so any oppression or affliction that he might suffer is inherently unjust.

"and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living" (v. 8b). This could have several meanings, any or all of which could be intended here:
• First, being cut off from the land of the living could mean that the servant is numbered among the transgressors and is therefore forced to live in isolation and is denied the spiritual comforts of religious practice.
• Second, being cut off from the land of the living could refer to his death. The mention of the servant's grave in verse 9 confirms that this is one of the intended meanings.
• Third, this could mean that "the Servant was left without children in a culture where to die childless was to have lived an utterly futile existence" (Oswalt, 395).

"and stricken for the disobedience of my people?" (v. 8d). Again the prophet raises the issue of substitutionary atonement (see comments on v. 5 above).

"They made his grave with the wicked" (v. 9a). Even if we have failed to honor people during their lifetimes, we seek to honor them when they die. We speak nicely about them at their funerals and bury them with solemn ceremony. People often choose to be buried in a military cemetery or a church burial ground as an expression of their identity or to be laid to rest with like-minded people. We are careful not to disturb final resting place, whether in a formal cemetery, an ancient burial ground, or a sunken ship.
• But the servant who has been oppressed and afflicted in life will be denied an honorable burial in death. He will not be buried among honorable people, but among the wicked-a final affront-a last and lasting indignity.

"and with a rich man in his death" (v. 9b). We aren't certain of the meaning here, but the context makes it clear that it isn't positive. It probably refers to rich people who have come by their money dishonestly or by taking advantage of vulnerable people. If this is the meaning, it is saying that the guiltless servant will be laid to rest with the guiltiest of the guilty.

"although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" (v. 9c). This reaffirms the servant's innocence and the perversion of justice (v. 8) that led to his death.

ISAIAH 53:10-12. I WILL DIVIDE HIM A PORTION WITH THE GREAT
(The voice changes once again. Now it is God who speaks.)

10 But the LORD desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, For He will bear their wrongdoings. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the plunder with the strong, Because He poured out His life unto death, And was counted with wrongdoers; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the wrongdoers.

"Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him" (v. 10a). We would think that the Lord would be outraged at the perversion of justice visited upon the servant, but that isn't the case. Nor has the Lord been absent or disinterested, permitting an evil that should never have happened. Instead, the Lord willed that the servant be crushed with pain. The Lord willed it, and that is why it happened. The Lord takes responsibility for what appears to be an evil deed, because he intends to make something good of it-something redemptive.

"He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days" (v. 10b). The Bible includes many divine reversals. "Yahweh upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground" (Psalm 147:6). "But many will be last who are first; and first who are last" (Matthew 19:30). "He has put down the princes from their thrones. And exalted the lowly" (Luke 1:52; see also Matthew 5:3-9; Luke 6:25; 16:25).
• Now the prophet promises that when the servant's life is offered up as a sin offering (see Leviticus 5:1-13), the Lord will launch a great reversal where the servant will see his offspring and enjoy prolonged days. This fulfills the promise of 52:13.
• It isn't immediately apparent how the Lord will accomplish that, because we have just now seen the servant's grave (v. 9)-"Once dead, always dead," they say. But the Lord claims here that he will rectify the awful perversion of justice about which we have been reading, and we can be sure that the Lord will do what he has promised.

"and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand" (v. 10c). In verse 10b, the promise was that the servant would prosper (see his offspring and enjoy prolonged days). Now the promise is that, through the servant's work, "the will of the Lord shall prosper." What is God's will? Jesus tells us that it is God's will that the world might be saved (John 3:16-17)-"that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life" (John 6:40).
• How can the perversion of justice about which we have been reading cause the will of the Lord to prosper? The answer has to do with substitutionary atonement (see comments on v. 5). The servant, though innocent, has borne the suffering of the guilty so that the guilty might be absolved of their sins. God has transformed an evil deed to achieve a good outcome.

"After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied" (v. 11a). The servant will not remain in the darkness of anguish, but will see light. He will know the good outcome of his suffering, and will find satisfaction in the knowledge of what he has accomplished.

"My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities" (v. 11b). What the servant (now known as "my righteous servant") has accomplished is the transformation of many from an unrighteous to a righteous state. He has accomplished this by bearing their iniquities. "Whoever he is, the Servant stands in the place of God, pronouncing a pardon that the Sinless One alone can offer (51:4-6)" (Oswalt, 405). See also the comments on verse 5 about substitutionary atonement.

"Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong"(v. 12a). Paul expresses this same thought in the New Testament: "Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9).
• As a consequence of the servant's faithfulness, God will reward him. Where the servant has been oppressed, afflicted, and cut off from the land of the living, he will now be given "a portion with the great" and "shall divide the spoil with the strong." These are poetic expressions that intend to describe the high and lofty estate that the servant will enjoy as a reward of his faithfulness. "Yahweh intends the servant who gave all now to receive all" (Brueggemann, 148).

"because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors" (v. 12b). This is the price that the servant paid to carry out God's will.

"yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (v. 12c). This is what the servant accomplished by pouring himself out to death and allowing himself to be numbered among the transgressors. In that process, he saved many-made intercession for transgressors-delivered many from the consequences of their sins. It is a great achievement-one that will bring the servant great satisfaction.

POSTSCRIPT: While this text does not specifically mention the messiah, Christians have seen Jesus Christ as its obvious fulfillment. On several occasions, Jesus made statements that link him to this text:
• "For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
• "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many" (Mark 14:24; see also Luke 22:20).
• "For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: 'He was counted with transgressors.' For that which concerns me had an end" (Luke 22:37).
• Matthew, Luke and Paul also link Jesus to this text (Matthew 8:17; 12:17-21; Acts 8:32-33; Romans 15:21).

The Suffering Servant Of The Lord (Isa 53:1-12)

(A) The humble root: lowly and despised, we did not desire Him (Isa 53:1-3)

At the beginning of this chapter, in Isa 53:2a, 2 word pictures are used to describe how the Servant was perceived. We are told that this Servant was like a "young plant" and "a root out of dry ground". This is one that looks nothing special since it has not fully developed, like a young plant, and the root description paints for us a picture of malnourishment. The root is also often a part of the tree that we disregard.

Isa 53:2b also further describes the servant as one who had "no form, no majesty that we should look at him" and "no beauty we should desire him". This was one whose demeanor, style, view of life and money and possessions, would be different from what we expected. None of it would endorse our own way of living. People did not feel endorsed around Jesus. He was so lowly and unimpressive that our aspirations in life of power and reputation would stand in stark contrast to Him. In fact, His happy poverty made our wanting more feel foolish. It makes us uncomfortable and the easiest thing to do is to not think of him at all. Perhaps a more common way for us to react to the suffering servant is to disregard him and ignore him.

This is precisely what verse 3 tells us. This Servant would be despised (detested, hated, loathed, abhorred) and rejected(discarded, abandoned, cut off). He would be a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief".

(B) The slaughtered lamb: in our place condemned He stood (Isa 53:4-9)

In Isa 53:4-6, we have a series of causes and effects.

What we have committed (Isa 53:5)
Transgressions
Iniquities

The Servant receives (Isa 53:4-6)
Piercing
Crushing
Chastisement
Wounds

We receive (Isa 53:4-6)
Peace
Healing

Instead of collapsing in grief over our rejection, he bears our griefs. Instead of increasing our sorrows, he carried our sorrows. Instead of avenging our transgressions, he is pierced for them in our place. Instead of crushing us for our iniquities, he is crushed for them as our substitute. And all the chastisement and whipping that belong to us for our rebellion he takes on himself in order that we might have peace and be healed.

Isa 53:7 continues to give us 2 more word pictures that help us see more of this Servant. He is likened to a lamb being led to the slaughter, reminding the readers of the Passover lamb slain to die in place of every Jewish firstborn. We know that Christ is that spotless Lamb that is lead to the slaughter. The shedding of his blood atones for our sins. He would also be like a sheep before its shearer is silent, indicating complete acceptance full submission to the shearer. Christ did not open his mouth to defend against accusations before Pilate and Herod.

These suffering were no small feats. He would suffer extensively and be cut off from the land of the living (Isa 53:8). The land had great significance to the Jews as it is wrapped up in God's promises to them in the covenant. To be cut off from the land is to also lose your inheritance. The Servant stands in our place to suffer and be condemned to the point of death. The point is that the Servant is to die, an innocent one in place of the guilty.

(C) The suffering servant: He does God's will in suffering for others but there is hint of His vindication (Isa 53:10-12)

You know someone's heart when you know their deepest desires and what pleases them. In some translations Isa 53:10a is phrased as "it pleased the Lord to bruise him" In this verse we see God the father's heart. He crushed His Son, not merely as a symbolic gesture, but it was God's heart to put the full weight of sin upon His Son. He did it intentionally and completely, from designing it to its eventual execution. It was no mistake.

How did the Servant react? He is one who knows what is going on as he bears the iniquities of the world. (Isa 53:11b). The Servant's work is a work of knowing the plans of God. It was not an accidental unfolding of events that lead the Servant to justify the many, but he knew exactly what he was supposed to do. "as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied". He sees the will of the Lord accomplished through his own anguish and he is pleased. We see both the hearts of God and Christ working in unity -- God pleased to crush Christ, and Christ pleased to obey.

God will also give the Servant 3 things (Isa 53:3). He promises that He will see his offspring, prolong his days, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. What does this mean for us today? Because He was promised that the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, all of God's purposes in the death of Christ will succeed and bear fruit. Because He was promised that His days will be prolonged, God will raise Christ from the dead! He will live again! Because He was promised that He will see His offspring, those that were previously justified through Christ's substitutionary death, will now be born again into his family. A legal, judicial expression of the Servants work will also be turned into a relational expression, that all who believe can be called children of God!

This gives us great hope today! That means Christ's life did not end in death but He is now risen to life, and is interceding for us (Isa 53:12). He stands between God and us today, and despite our rebellion against God, we are also brought into God's family, in a relationship with God, given access to God. Isaiah 53 give us a beautiful picture of this Suffering Servant, who was so humble and obedient to the Father's will, "therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:9-11). How does the revealing of God's Servant as a humble root, a man full of sorrow and grief speak into your life today? How does the heart of the Gospel as revealed in this chapter it change the way you see suffering today, and give you hope this Christmas?

Isaiah 53:1-12 - Commentary

Isaiah 53 is a prophetic commentary on how Jesus engineers His own death on the cross to pay the death penalty due for our sins. This commentary echoes the prophecy recorded in Psalm 22 (see Psalm 22 commentary).

ISAIAH 53:1: 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Who is talking about what "report" (Isaiah 53:1)?
Prophet Isaiah is lamenting via a rhetorical question that Israel has not heeded what its prophets have prophesied about the coming Messiah, including what he - Isaiah - had just prophesied about Him as recorded in Isaiah 52:13-15.

ISAIAH 53:2: 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

Was Jesus handsome?
No: "... He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2).

Then why is Jesus portrayed as handsome in paintings and movies?
They are unbiblical fabrications to appeal to the human flesh. And Jesus was a Middle Easterner who looked more like Saddam Hussein than Jeffrey Hunter, the blue-eyed Caucasian actor who played the role of Jesus in the movie, King of Kings.

Why wasn't Jesus handsome?
Jesus shaped world history, which is divided into the period before and after His arrival, which the year of your birth also references. Jesus accomplished what He accomplished not by physical beauty or strength, wealth or political connections - all sources of earthly power, but by the power of His love and truth. And He wants us to worship Him not in the flesh, but in spirit and truth: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).

ISAIAH 53:3: 3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Is it true that Jesus was "despised and rejected by men" (Isaiah 53:3)?
When given the choice of freeing Barabbas, a murderer, or Jesus, the people chose Barabbas and told the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to kill Jesus: "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, "Barabbas!" Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!" (Matthew 27:21-22)

ISAIAH 53:4-5: 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Why did people think Jesus had been crucified?
They thought that God the Father had "stricken" (Isaiah 53:4) Him for claiming to be someone He wasn't: Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews"'" (John 19:19-21).

Why had Jesus been crucified?
To pay for us the death penalty due for our sins: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5). Also see John 18.

ISAIAH 53:6: 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.

How many of us are sinners?
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "We like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).

Onto Whom did God the Father transfer our sins?
Jesus: "the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

Why Him?
Only someone who is sinless can pay the death penalty due for others' sins, for sinners pay the death penalty due for their own sins. Only Jesus was sinless (see I am the way the truth and the life).

ISAIAH 53:7: 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
Is it true that Jesus "opened not His mouth" and was "silent" (Isaiah 53:7)?
When Pilate sent Jesus to Herod and Herod questioned Jesus, Jesus "answered him nothing" (Luke 23:9, see My kingdom is not of this world). When Herod returned Jesus to Pilate, the Jews cornered him into crucifying Jesus: The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" (John 19:7-10)

Why didn't Jesus beg for His life to Pilate and Herod?
Pontius Pilate was a tool Jesus used to bring about His own death on the cross for our sins. Herod didn't have the power to crucify anyone, so he wasn't worth Jesus' time or words (see Jesus And Herod).

ISAIAH 53:8-9: 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked - But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Did Jesus really die on the cross?
Yes: "He was cut off from the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8). Also see Broken Legs and Blood and Water.

How did they make "His grave with the wicked" (Isaiah 53:9)?

They crucified Him in between two robbers: "Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left" (Matthew 27:38, see Golgotha).

What is meant by "with the rich at His death" (Isaiah 53:9)?
He was buried by a rich man (see Joseph of Arimathea).

ISAIAH 53:10-12: 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Are we sure on why Jesus died on the cross?
He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12, also see Blood and Water).

Was this the will of God the Father?
Yes, "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him" (Isaiah 53:10) and "the labor of His soul... satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11) the death penalty God the Father required for our sins: "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is everlasting life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Did Jesus sacrifice Himself willingly?
Yes: "He poured out His soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12). Jesus also said, "... I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself" (John 10:17-18, see Hireling).

Why did He do that?
Because He loves the Father, and He loves you (see John 18)

ISAIAH 53:1-12-PULPIT COMMENTARY EXPOSITION

THE PASSIONAL, OR THE GREAT PROPHECY OF THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, AND OF HIS LATER EXALTATION. Polycarp the Lysian calls this chapter "the golden passional of the Old Testament evangelist." Delitzsch says of it, "It is the centre of this wonderful book of consolation (ch. 40-66), and is the most central, the deepest, and the loftiest thing that the Old Testament prophecy, outstripping itself, has ever achieved". Mr. Urwick remarks on it, "Here we seem to enter the holy of holies of Old Testament prophecy-that sacred chamber wherein are pictured and foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow".

The Messianic interpretation of the chapter was universally acknowledged by the Jews until the time of Aben Ezra. It was also assumed as indisputable by the Christian Fathers. Almost all Christian expositors down to the commencement of the nineteenth century took the same view. It was only under the pressure of the Christian controversy that the later Jews abandoned the traditional interpretation, and applied the prophecy
(1) to Jeremiah;
(2) to Josiah;
(3) to the people of Israel.

In the present century a certain number of Christian commentators have adopted one or other of the late Jewish theories, either absolutely or with modifications. It is impossible to examine and refute their arguments here. We must be content to repeat what was urged in the introductory paragraph to Jeremiah 42:1-22; namely:
(1) that the portraiture of "the Servant of the Lord" in this place has so strong an individuality and such marked personal features that it cannot possibly be a mere personified collective-whether Israel, or faithful Israel, or ideal Israel, or the collective body of the prophets; and
(2) that it goes so infinitely beyond anything of which a mere man was ever capable, that it can only refer to the unique Man-the God-Man-Christ. It is, moreover, applied directly to Christ in Matthew 8:17; Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37; John 12:37, John 12:38; Acts 8:32, Acts 8:33; Romans 10:16; and 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 2:25. The Messianic interpretation is maintained, among moderns, by Hengstenberg, Keil, Umbreit, (Ehler, Delitzsch, Kay, Cheyne, Henderson, Alexander, Urwick, and others.

Isaiah 53:1: Who hath believed? Isaiah felt that he spoke, mainly, to unbelieving ears (see above, Isaiah 28:9-15; Isaiah 29:10-15; Isaiah 30:9-11; Isaiah 42:23, etc.). The unbelief was likely to be intensified when so marvellous a prophecy was delivered as that which he was now commissioned to put forth. Still, of course, there is rhetorical exaggeration in the question, which seems to imply that no one would believe. Our report; literally, that which has been heard by us. But the word is used technically for a prophetic revelation (see Isaiah 28:9, Isaiah 28:19; Jeremiah 49:14). Here it would seem to refer especially to the Messianic prophecies delivered by Isaiah. To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The "arm of the Lord," which has been "made bare in the eyes of all the nations" (Isaiah 52:10), yet requires the eye of faith to see it. Many Jews would not see the working of God's providence in the victories of Cyrus, or in the decision to which he came to restore the Jews to their own country. Unbelief can always assign the most plainly providential arrangements to happy accident.

Isaiah 53:2: For he shall grow up; rather, now he grew up. The verbs are, all of them, in the past, or completed tense, until Isaiah 53:7, and are to be regarded as "perfects of prophetic certitude." As Mr. Cheyne remarks, "All has been finished before the foundations of the world in the Divine counsels." Before him; i.e. "before Jehovah"-under the fostering care of Jehovah (comp. Luke 2:40, Luke 2:52). God the Father had his eye ever fixed upon the Son with watchfulness and tenderness and love. As a tender plant; literally, as a sapling, or as a sucker (comp. Job 8:16; Job 14:7; Job 15:30; Psalms 80:12; Ezekiel 17:4, Ezekiel 17:22; Hosea 14:6). The "branch" of Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 11:10-a different word-has nearly the same meaning. The Messiah will be a fresh sprout from the stump of a tree that has been felled; i.e. from the destroyed Davidic monarchy. As a root (so Isaiah 11:10; Revelation 5:5). The "sapling" from the house of David shall become the "root" out of which his Church will grow (comp. John 15:1-6). Out of a dry ground. Either out of the "dry ground" of a corrupt age and nation, or out of the arid soil of humanity. In the East it is not unusual to see a tall succulent plant growing from a soft which seems utterly devoid of moisture. Such plants have roots that strike deep, and draw their nourishment from a hidden source. He hath no form nor comeliness; rather, he had no form nor majesty. It is scarcely the prophet's intention to describe the personal appearance of our Lord. What he means is that "the Servant" would have no splendid surroundings, no regal pomp nor splendour-nothing about him to attract men's eyes, or make them think him anything extraordinary. It is impossible to suppose that there was not in his appearance something of winning grace and quiet majesty. but it was of a kind that was not adapted to draw the gaze of the multitude. And when we shall see him. Some connect this clause with the preceding, and translate, "He hath no form nor comeliness, that we should regard him; no beauty, that we should desire him" (Lowth, Vitringa, Gesenius, Ewald, Knobel, Henderson, Urwick. But Stier, Delitzsch, Kay, and Mr. Cheyne prefer the construction found in the Authorized Version). No beauty; literally, no sightliness; i.e. nothing to attract the eye or arrest it. The spiritual beauties of holy and sweet expression and majestic calm could only have ben spiritually discerned.

Isaiah 53:3: He is despised; rather, was despised (comp. Isaiah 49:7 and Psalms 22:6). Men's contempt was shown, partly in the little attention which they paid to his teaching, partly in their treatment of him on the night and day before the Crucifixion. Rejected of men; rather, perhaps, forsaken of men-"one from whom men held themselves aloof" (Cheyne); comp. Job 19:14. Our Lord had at no time more than a "little flock" attached to him. Of these, after a time, "many went back, and walked no more with him" (John 6:66). Some, who believed on him, would only come to him by night (John 3:2). All the "rulers" and great men held aloof from him (John 7:48). At the end, even his apostles "forsook him, and fled" (Matthew 26:56). A Man of sorrows. The word translated "sorrows" means also pains of any kind. But the beautiful rendering of our version may well stand, since there are many places where the word used certainly means "sorrow" and nothing else (see Exodus 3:7; 2 Chronicles 6:29; Psalms 32:10; Psalms 38:17; Ecclesiastes 1:18; Jeremiah 30:15; Jeremiah 45:3; Lamentations 1:12, Lamentations 1:18, etc.). Aquila well translates, ἄνδρα ἀλγηδόνων The "sorrows" of Jesus appear on every page of the Gospels. Acquainted with grief; literally, with sickness; but as aeger and aegritudo are applied in Latin both to the mind and to the body, so kholi, the word here used, would seem to be in Hebrew (see Jeremiah 6:7; Jeremiah 10:19).The translation of the Authorized Version may therefore be retained. We hid as it were our faces from him; literally, and there was as it were the hiding of the face from him. Some suppose the hiding of God's face to be intended; but the context, which describes the treatment of the Servant by his fellow-men, makes the meaning given in our version far preferable. Men turned their faces from him when they met him, would not see him, would not recognize him (comp. Job 19:13-17; Job 30:10). Despised. A repetition very characteristic of Isaiah (see Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 3:12; Isaiah 4:3; Isaiah 6:11; Isaiah 14:25; Isaiah 15:8; Isaiah 17:12, Isaiah 17:13, etc.).

Isaiah 53:4: Surely he hath borne our griefs; or, surely they were our griefs which he bore. The pronouns are emphatic. Having set forth at length the fact of the Servant's humiliation (Isaiah 53:2, Isaiah 53:3), the prophet hastens to declare the reason of it. Twelve times over within the space of nine verses he asserts. with the most emphatic reiteration, that all the Servant's sufferings were vicarious, borne for him, to save him from the consequences of his sins, to enable him to escape punishment. The doctrine thus taught in the Old Testament is set forth! with equal distinctness in the New (Matthew 20:28; John 11:50-52; Rom 3:25; Rom 5:6-8; Rom 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 2:24, etc.), and forms the hope, the trust, and the consolation of Christians. and carried our sorrows. The application which St. Matthew makes of this passage to our Lord's miracles of healing (Matthew 8:17) is certainly not the primary sense of the words, but may be regarded as a secondary application of them. Christ's sufferings were the remedy for all the ills that flesh is heir to. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God. They who saw Christ suffer, instead of understanding that he was bearing the sins of others in a mediatorial capacity, imagined that he was suffering at God's hands for his own sins. Hence they scoffed at him and reviled him, even in his greatest agonies (Matthew 27:39-44). To one only, and him not one of God's people, was it given to see the contrary, and to declare aloud, at the moment of the death, "Certainly this was a righteous Man" (Luke 23:47).

Isaiah 53:5: But he was wounded for our transgressions. This verse contains four asseverations of the great truth that all Christ's sufferings were for us, and constituted the atonement for our sins. The form is varied, but the truth is one. Christ was "wounded" or "pierced":
(1) by the thorns;
(2) by the nails; and
(3) by the spear of the soldier.
▪ The wounds inflicted by the nails caused his death, He was bruised; or, crushed (comp. Isaiah 3:15; Isaiah 19:10; Isaiah 57:15.Psalms 72:4; Psalms 72:4). "No stronger expression could be found in Hebrew to denote severity of suffering-suffering unto death" (Urwick). The chastisement of our peace was upon him; i.e. "the chastisement which brought us peace," which put a stop to the enmity between fallen man and an offended God-which made them once more at one (comp. Ephesians 2:15-17, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the Law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off;" Colossians 1:20, "Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself"). With his stripes we are healed; rather, we were healed. Besides the blows inflicted on him with the hand (Matthew 26:27) and with the reed (Matthew 27:30), our Lord was judicially scourged (Matthew 27:26). Such scourging would leave the "stripe-marks" which are here spoken of.

Isaiah 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray. "All we" means either the whole nation of Israel, which "went astray" in the wilderness of sin (Psalms 107:4; Psalms 119:176; Ezekiel 34:6), or else the whole race of mankind, which had wandered from the right path, and needed atonement and redemption even mere than Israel itself We have turned every one to his own way. Collectively and individually, the whole world had sinned. There was "none that did good" absolutely-"no, not one" (Psalms 14:3). All had quitted "the way of the Lord" (Isaiah 40:3) to walk in their "own ways" (Isaiah 66:3). The Lord hath laid on him; literally, the Lord caused to light upon him. God the Father, as the primary Disposer of all things, lays upon the Son the burden, which the Son voluntarily accepts. He comes into the world to do the Father's will. He prays to the Father, "Let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39). So St. John says that the Father "sent the Son to be the Propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). And St. Paul tells us that God (the Father) "made him to be sin for us who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21). It does not lessen the Son's exceeding mercy and loving-kindness in accepting the burden, that it was laid upon him by the Father. The iniquity of us all (compare the initial "All we"). The redemption is as universal as the sin, at any rate potentially. Christ on the cross made "a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice ... for the sins of the whole world."

Isaiah 53:7: He was oppressed. As Israel under the Egyptian taskmasters (Exodus 3:7). The cruel ill usage in the high priest's house, and before Herod is, perhaps, specially pointed at. He was afflicted; rather, he abased himself (comp. Isaiah 31:4 and Exodus 10:3). The position of the emphatic pronoun (hu') between the first participle and the second detaches the second clause from the first and conjoins it with the third. Otherwise the rendering of the Authorized Version might stand. Translate, He was oppressed, but he abased himself and opened not his mouth. The silence of Jesus before his judges (Matthew 26:22, Matthew 26:23; Matthew 27:14), when he could so easily have vindicated himself from every charge, was a self-abasement. It seemed like an admission of guilt. He opened not his mouth (comp. Psalms 38:13, Psalms 38:14; Psalms 39:2, Psalms 39:9). The contrast of the Servant's silence and passivity with men's ordinary vehemence of self-assertion under ill usage is most striking. Who was ever silent but he under such extremity of provocation? He is brought as a lamb; rather, as the lamb. The Paschal lamb is, perhaps, intended, or, at any rate, the lamb of sacrifice. The prophet has often seen the dumb, innocent lamb led in silence to the altar, to be slain there, and thinks of that touching sight. It was probably the use of this imagery here which caused the Baptist to term our Lord "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). As a sheep before her shearers. A second image, a reflex of the first, somewhat weaker, as so often in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:22, Isaiah 1:30; Isaiah 5:18, Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 10:24, Isaiah 10:27, Isaiah 10:34; Isaiah 11:8; Isaiah 13:14; Isaiah 24:13; Isaiah 25:7, etc.).

Isaiah 53:8: He was taken from prison and from judgment; rather, by oppression and a judgment was he taken away; i.e. (us Dr. Kay says) "by a violence which cloaked itself under the formalities of a legal process." The Septuagint Version, which is quoted by Philip the deacon in the Acts (Isa 8:1-22 :33), must have been derived from quite a different text. It preserves, however, the right rendering of the verb, "was he taken away," i.e. removed from the earth. Who shall declare his generation? literally, his generation who considereth? The meaning is obscure. Dr. Kay understands by "his generation," his lifetime or his life, comparing Isaiah 38:12, "Mine age is departed," where the same word is used and accompanied by a pronominal suffix. Mr. Urwick suggests that it includes
(1) his origin;
(2) his earthly life; and
(3) his everlasting reign in heaven.
▪ Others (Delitzsch, Gesenius, Cheyne) take "his generation'' to mean "the men of his generation," and join the clause with what follows: "As for those of his generation, which of them considered that he was cut off," etc.? He was cut off; i.e. taken away before his time, cut down like a flower (comp. Job 14:2; Lamentations 3:54; Ezekiel 37:11). The land of the living. The present world, the earth (see Isaiah 38:11; and comp. Job 28:13; Psalms 27:13; Psalms 52:5; Psalms 116:9; Psalms 142:1-7 Psalms 142:2; Jeremiah 11:19). For the transgression of my people was he stricken. The sentiment is the same as in Isaiah 38:5, but with the difference that there it was suffering only, here it is death itself, which the Servant endures for man. "My people" may be either "God's people" or "the prophet's people," according as the speaker is regarded as Isaiah or Jehovah. Jehovah certainly becomes the Speaker in verses 11, 12.

Isaiah 53:9: And he made his grave with the wicked; rather, they assigned him his grave with the wicked. The verb is used impersonally. Those who condemned Christ to be crucified with two malefactors on the common execution-ground-"the place of a skull"-meant his grave to be "with the wicked," with whom it would naturally have been but for the interference of Joseph of Arimathaea. Crucified persons were buried with their crosses near the scene of their crucifixion by the Romans. And with the rich in his death; or, and (he was) with a rich one after his death. In the preceding clause, the word translated "the wicked" is plural, but in the present, the word translated "the rich" is singular. The expression translated "in his death" means "when he was dead," "after death". The words have a singularly exact fulfilment in the interment of our Lord (Matthew 27:57-60). Because. The preposition used may mean either "because" or "although." The ambiguity is, perhaps, intentional. He had done no violence; or, no wrong (see Genesis 16:5; 1 Chronicles 12:17; Job 19:7; Psalms 35:11 (margin); Proverbs 26:6). The LXX. give ἀνομία while St. Peter renders the word used by ἀμαρτία (1 Peter 2:22). The sinlessness of Christ is asserted by himself (John 8:46), and forms the main argument in the Epistle to the Hebrews for the superiority of the new covenant over the old (Hebrews 7:26-28; Hebrews 9:14). It is also witnessed to by St. Peter (1 Peter 2:22), by St. Paul (2 Corinthians 5:21), and by St. John (1 John 3:5). As no other man was ever without sin, it follows that the Servant of the present chapter must be Jesus.

Isaiah 53:10: Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him (see the comment on Isaiah 53:6, ad fin.). The sufferings of Christ, proceeding from the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23), and being permitted by him; were in some sort his doing. It "pleased him," moreover, that they should be undergone, for he saw with satisfaction the Son's self-sacrifice, and he witnessed with joy man's redemption and deliverance effected thereby. He hath put him to grief; rather, he dealt grievously-a sort of hendiadys. "He bruised him with a grievous bruising." When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. It is proposed (Ewald, Cheyne), by the alteration of a letter, to make the passage run thus: "When he shall make his soul an offering," etc; and argued that "he who offers the Servant's life as a sacrifice must be the Servant himself, and not Jehovah" (Cheyne). No doubt the Servant did offer his own life (see Matthew 20:28," He gave his soul a ransom for many"); but that fact does not preclude the possibility of the Father having also offered it. "Believest thou not," said our Lord to Philip, "that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10). This perienchoresis, as the ancient theologians called it, makes it possible to predicate of the Father almost all the actions which can be predicated of the Son-all, in fact, excepting those which belong to the Son's humanity, or which involve obedience and subordination. As the Father had "laid on Christ the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6), as he had "bruised him and put him to grief," so he might be said to have "made his soul an offering for sin." All was settled in the Divine counsels from all eternity, and when the ideal became the actual, God the Father wrought with God the Son to effectuate it. "Offerings for sin," or "guilt offerings," were distinct from "sin offerings." The object of the former was "satisfaction," of the latter "expiation." The Servant of Jehovah was, however, to be both. "As in Isaiah 53:5 the Divine Servant is represented as a Sin Offering, his death being an expiation, so hero he is described as a Guilt Offering, his death being a satisfaction ". He shall see his seed. The "seed" of a teacher of religion are his disciples. St. Paul speaks of Onesimus as one whom he had "begotten in his bends" (Philemon 1:10). He calls himself by implication the "father" of his Corinthian converts (1 Corinthians 4:15). Both he and St. John address their disciples as "little children" (Galatians 4:19; 1 John 2:1, John 2:18, John 2:25; John 3:7, John 3:18; John 4:4; John 5:21). It had long previously been promised that "a seed should serve" Messiah (Psalms 22:30). Our Lord himself occasionally called his disciples his "children" (Mark 10:24; John 21:4). He has always "seen his seed" in his true followers. He shall prolong his days. A seeming contradiction to the statement (verse 8) that he should be "cut off" out of the land of the living; and the more surprising because his death is made the condition of this long life: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering [or, 'sacrifice'] for sin," then "he shall prolong his days." But the resurrection of Christ, and his entrance upon an immortal life (Romans 6:9), after offering himself as a Sacrifice upon the cross, exactly meets the difficulty and solves the riddle (comp. Revelation 1:18). The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. "In his hand" means "by his instrumentality." The "pleasure of the Lord" is God's ultimate aim and end with respect to his universe. This would "prosper"-i.e. be advanced, wrought out, rendered effectual-by the instrumentality of Christ. "Taking the verse as a whole, it sets forth:
(1) the origin,
(2) the nature, and
(3) the result of the Saviour's sufferings.
▪ Taking the last clause by itself, we have
(1) the Divine complacency in the purpose of human salvation; and
(2) the successful issue of that purpose as administered by the Messiah".

Isaiah 53:11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; rather, because of the travail of his soul he shall see, and be satisfied (comp. Philippians 2:7-11, "He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"). No cross-no crown. First, suffering, then glory. Because Christ suffered, and was bruised, and put to grief, and made a sacrifice for sin; because of all this "travail of his soul,"-therefore it was given him to see the happy results of his sufferings-the formation of that Church which will live with him for ever in heaven (Revelation 7:4-17), and therewith to be "satisfied." By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; i.e. "by his knowledge of the Divine counsels and purpose, which he will impart to his disciples, shall my righteous Servant justify many" (literally, the many), or, in other words, "turn them from sin to righteousness" (comp. Daniel 12:3). Nothing is so effectual in turning men to righteousness as teaching them the true knowledge of God-his nature, his purposes with regard to them, his feelings towards them. Christ, from his own knowledge, gave men this knowledge, and so did all that could be done to draw them to his Father. And his efforts were not without result. The fruit of his teaching has been the justification of many-ay, of "the many," as both Isaiah and St. Paul (Romans 5:19) testify. For he shall bear their iniquities; rather, and their iniquities he himself shall bear. The initial part of the clause is not "causal," but merely connective. There are two main things which Christ does for his people-he makes them righteous by infusing into them of his own righteousness; and he bears the burden of their iniquities, taking them upon himself, and by his perpetual intercession obtaining God's forgiveness of them. As Delitzsch says, "His continued taking of our trespasses upon himself is merely the constant presence and presentation of his atonement, which has been offered once for all. The dead yet living One, because of his one self-sacrifice, is an eternal Priest, who now lives to distribute the blessings which he has acquired".

Isaiah 53:12: Therefore (see the comment on Isaiah 53:11, sub init.). Will I divide him a portion with the great; i.e. "I will place him among the great conquering ones of the earth"-an accommodation to human modes of thought analogous to the frequent comparison of Christ's kingdom with the kingdoms of the earth (Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:9-14. etc.). The apostle goes deeper into the true nature of things when he says, "Therefore also hath God highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). He shall divide the spoil with the strong. A repetition of the thought in the preceding clause (comp. Proverbs 16:19). Because he hath poured out his soul unto death. Christ not only died for man, but, as it were, "poured out his soul" with his own hand to the last drop. The expression emphasizes the duration and the voluntariness of Messiah's sufferings. And he was numbered with the transgressors; rather, and he was reckoned with transgressors (see Luke 22:37, Μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη where our Lord applies the words to himself). Christ was condemned as a "blasphemer" (Matthew 26:65), crucified with malefactors (Luke 23:32), called "that deceiver" (Matthew 27:63), and regarded generally by the Jews as accursed (Deuteronomy 21:23). And he bare the sin of many; rather, and himself bare the sin of many (compare the last clauses of Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 53:11; and see also Hebrews 9:27). And made intercession for the transgressors. The future is used, with van conversive, instead of the preterite, to mark that the act, though begun in the past, is inchoate only, and not completed. The "intercession for transgressors" was begun upon the cross with the compassionate words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). But it has continued ever since, and will continue until the last day (see Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).