Isaiah 53:1–6

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^53:1Who would have believed¹ what we² just heard?³

When⁴ was the Lord’s power⁵ revealed through him?

^53:2He sprouted up like a twig before God,⁶

like a root out of parched soil;⁷

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,⁸

no special appearance that we should want to follow him.⁹

^53:3He was despised and rejected by people,¹⁰

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him;¹¹

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.¹²

^53:4But he lifted up our illnesses,

he carried our pain;¹³

even though we thought he was being punished,

attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.¹⁴

^53:5He was wounded because of¹⁵ our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well;¹⁶

because of his wounds we have been healed.¹⁷

^53:6All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.¹⁸

Read in Logos

Isaiah 53:3: He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Footnotes

1 The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.
2 The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1–6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.
3 The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13–15.
4 Heb “to whom” (so , , , ).
5 Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9–10; 63:5–6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.
6 Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40–66 (), 173–74.
7 The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.
8 Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See §166.a.
9 Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See §166.a.
10 Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 [39:4 ]).
11 Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see 712 מַסְתֵּר).
12 The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.
13 Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11–12 make clear.
14 The words “for something he had done” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The group now realizes he suffered because of his identification with them, not simply because he was a special target of divine anger.
15 The preposition מִן (min) has a causal sense (translated “because of”) here and in the following clause.
16 Heb “the punishment of our peace [was] on him.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is here a genitive of result, i.e., “punishment that resulted in our peace.”
17 Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4) resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.
18 Elsewhere the Hiphil of פָגַע (paga’) means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here. Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning, “encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the preposition -בְּ (bet, see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative Hiphil has a double object—the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the object attacked is introduced by the preposition -בְּ. In their sin the group was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

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.

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.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Who has believed what we have heard?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a young plant

and like a root out of dry ground.

He didn’t have an impressive form

or majesty that we should look at him,

no appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.

He was like someone people turned away from;

he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,

and he carried our pains;

but we in turn regarded him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced because of our rebellion,

crushed because of our iniquities;

punishment for our peace was on him,

and we are healed by his wounds.

We all went astray like sheep;

we all have turned to our own way;

and the Lord has punished him

for the iniquity of us all.

NLTNew Living Translation

Who has believed our message?

To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?

My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,

like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,

nothing to attract us to him.

He was despised and rejected—

a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him

the sins of us all.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Who has believed our message,

and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

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.

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.

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.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

crushed because of our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we were healed.

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.

KJV 1900King James Version

Who hath believed our report?

And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of a dry ground:

He hath no form nor comeliness;

And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men;

A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:

And we hid as it were our faces from him;

He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs,

And carried our sorrows:

Yet we did esteem him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities:

The chastisement of our peace was upon him;

And with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned every one to his own way;

And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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