King James Version
Isaiah 53
12 verses with commentary
The Suffering Servant
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? report: or, doctrine?: Heb. hearing?
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KJV Study Commentary
'Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?' The chapter opens with prophetic lamentation over widespread unbelief. The Hebrew 'shemu'ah' (report/message) is literally 'what we have heard.' The 'arm of the LORD' - divine power in salvation - remains hidden to most. John 12:38 and Romans 10:16 cite this to explain Jewish rejection of Jesus.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**LIII.**
(1) **Who hath believed our report? . . .**—The question has been variously interpreted as coming from the lips of the prophet or of Israel. The former view commends itself most, and the unusual plural is explained by his mentally associating with himself the other prophets, probably his own disciples, who were delivering the same message. The implied answer to the question may be either...
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**8. groves--**A symbolical tree is often found in Assyrian inscriptions, representing the hosts of heaven ("Saba"), answering to Ashteroth or Astarte, the queen of heaven, as Baal or Bel is the king. Hence the expression, "image of the grove," is explained (2Ki 21:7).
**images--**literally, "images to the sun," that is, to Baal, who answers to the sun, as Astarte to the hosts of heaven (2Ki 23:...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
'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.' The Servant's humble origins: 'tender plant' (yoneq - suckling, sapling), 'root out of dry ground' (unlikely place for growth). No external attractiveness draws attention. The Hebrew 'hadar' (majesty/beauty)...
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(2) **For he shall grow up . . .**—The Hebrew tenses are in the perfect, the future being contemplated as already accomplished. The words present at once a parallel and a contrast to those of Isaiah 11:1. There the picture was that of a strong vigorous shoot coming out of the root of the house of David. Here the sapling is weak and frail, struggling out of the dry ground. For “before Him” (*i.e., ...
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**9. forsaken bough--**rather "the leavings of woods," what the axeman leaves when he cuts down the grove (compare Is 17:6).
**which they left because of--**rather, "which (the enemies) shall leave for the children of Israel"; literally, "shall leave (in departing) from before the face of the children of Israel" [Maurer]. But a few cities out of many shall be left to Israel, by the purpose of Go...
Read full commentary →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. we hid: or, he hid as it were his face from us: Heb. as an hiding of faces from him, or, from us
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KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic description of the suffering Servant (fulfilled in Christ) reveals His rejection and sorrows. 'Despised' (bazah) means treated with contempt, regarded as worthless. 'Rejected' (chadal) conveys being forsaken, abandoned by others. 'A man of sorrows' shows His intimate acquaintance with grief—not occasional sadness but one whose life was characterized by suffering. 'We hid as it were ...
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(3) **He is despised and rejected.**—Better, for the last word, *forsaken. *This had been the crowning sorrow of the righteous sufferer of the Old Testament (Job 17:15; Job 19:14). It was to complete the trial of the perfect sufferer of the New (Matthew 26:56).
**A man of sorrows . . .**—The words “sorrow” and “grief” in the Heb. imply the thought of bodily pain or disease. (Comp. Exodus 3:7; Lame...
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**10. forgotten ... God of ... salvation ... rock--**(De 32:15, 18).
**plants--**rather, "nursery grounds," "pleasure-grounds" [Maurer].
**set in--**rather, "set them," the pleasure-grounds.
**strange slips--**cuttings of plants from far, and therefore valuable.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse reveals the substitutionary nature of Christ's suffering—He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. The Hebrew 'nasah' (bore) means to lift, carry, take away—depicting Jesus taking upon Himself what we deserved. 'Griefs' (choli) refers to sicknesses, pains, and 'sorrows' (makob) to emotional and physical anguish. Yet observers misinterpreted His suffering: 'we did esteem him stricken, ...
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(4) **Surely he hath borne our griefs . . .**—The words are spoken as by those who had before despised the Servant of Jehovah, and have learnt the secret of His humiliation. “Grief” and “sorrow,” as before, imply “disease” and “pain,” and St. Matthew’s application of the text (Matthew 8:17) is therefore quite legitimate. The words “stricken, smitten of God,” are used elsewhere specially of leprosy...
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**11. In the day ... thy plant--**rather, "In the day of thy planting" [Horsley].
**shalt ... make ... grow--**Maurer translates, "Thou didst fence it," namely, the pleasure-ground. The parallel clause, "Make ... flourish," favors English Version. As soon as thou plantest, it grows.
**in the morning--**that is, immediately after; so in Psa 90:14, the Hebrew, "in the morning," is translated "ea...
Read full commentary →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. wounded: or, tormented stripes: Heb. bruise
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse stands at the heart of Isaiah's fourth Servant Song, providing the Old Testament's clearest prophecy of Messiah's substitutionary atonement. Every phrase drips with theological significance.<br><br>"He was wounded"...
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(5) **He was wounded . . .***—Bruised. *Both words refer to the death which crowned the sufferings of the Servant. That also was vicarious.
**The chastisement of our peace**—*i.e.,* the punishment which leads to peace, that word including, as elsewhere, every form of blessing. (Comp. the “reproof of life” in Proverbs 15:31.) In Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:8-9, we have the thought which is the compleme...
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**12. Woe ... multitude--**rather, "Ho (Hark)! a noise of," &c. The prophet in vision perceives the vast and mixed Assyrian hosts (Hebrew, "many peoples," see on Is 5:26): on the hills of Judah (so "mountains," Is 17:13): but at the "rebuke" of God, they shall "flee as chaff."
**to the rushing ... that make--**rather, "the roaring ... roareth" (compare Is 8:7; Jr 6:23).
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. laid: Heb. made the iniquity of us all to meet on him
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> This verse appears at the heart of Isaiah's fourth Servant Song (52:13-53:12), providing a comprehensive statement of human sinfulness and divine substitutionary atonement. It moves from universal condemnation to universal provision through the sufferi...
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(6) **All we like sheep have gone astray . . .**—The confession of repentant Israel (Psalm 119:176), of repentant humanity (1Peter 2:25), was also the thought present to the mind of the Servant, as in Matthew 9:36; John 10:11.
**Hath laid on him.**—Better, as in the margin, *hath made to light on him. *The words express the fact, but do not explain the mystery, of the substitutive satisfaction. Th...
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**13. shall ... shall--**rather, "God rebuketh (Psa 9:5) them, and they flee--are chased"; the event is set before the eyes as actually present, not future.
**chaff of ... mountains--**Threshing floors in the East are in the open air on elevated places, so as to catch the wind which separates the chaff from the wheat (Psa 88:13; Ho 13:3).
**rolling thing--**anything that rolls: stubble.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
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KJV Study Commentary
'He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.' The Servant's silence under suffering is emphasized twice: 'opened not his mouth.' The Hebrew 'nagas' (oppressed) indicates harsh treatment. The lamb imagery points to sacrificial death - not resisting, not protest...
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(7) **He was afflicted . . .**—More accurately, *He let himself be afflicted, *as implying the voluntary acceptance of the suffering.
**Opened not his mouth.**—The silence of absolute acquiescence, as in Psalm 38:14; Psalm 39:9.
**As a lamb to the slaughter.**—It is suggestive, as bearing both on the question of authorship, and that of partial fulfilment, that Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:19) appropriate...
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**14. eventide ... before morning--**fulfilled to the letter in the destruction "before morning" of the vast host that "at eveningtide" was such a terror ("trouble") to Judah; on the phrase see Psa 90:6; 30:5.
**he is not--**namely, the enemy.
**us--**the Jews. A general declaration of the doom that awaits the foes of God's people (Is 54:17).
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. from prison: or, he was taken away by distress and judgment: but, etc was he: Heb. was the stroke upon him
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KJV Study Commentary
'He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.' Legal injustice ('from prison and from judgment') leads to death. 'Cut off from the land of the living' means killed. The reason: 'for the transgression of my people' - substitutionary suffering for others' sins.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **He was taken from prison . . .**—The Hebrew preposition admits of this rendering, which is adopted by many commentators, as describing the oppression and iniquitous trial which had preceded the death of the servant. It admits equally of the sense, *through oppression and through judgment; *and, on the whole, this gives a preferable sense. The whole procedure was tainted with iniquity.
**Who ...
Read full commentary →And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. death: Heb. deaths
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KJV Study Commentary
'And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.' The expected grave is with the wicked (criminals' burial). Yet He's with 'the rich' in death. The Hebrew 'ashir' (rich) was fulfilled when wealthy Joseph of Arimathea provided his tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Complete innocence: no violence, no deceit.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **And he made his grave . . .**—Literally, *one *(or, *they*)* assigned him a grave **. . .*** The words are often interpreted as fulfilled in our Lord’s crucifixion between the two robbers and his burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. It has to be noted, however, (1) that this requires an inversion of the clauses; (2) that it introduces a feature scarcely in harmony with the general drif...
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CHAPTER 18
Is 18:1-7.
Isaiah announces the overthrow of Sennacherib's hosts and desires the Ethiopian ambassadors, now in Jerusalem, to bring word of it to their own nation; and he calls on the whole world to witness the event (Is 18:3). As Is 17:12-14 announced the presence of the foe, so Is 18:1-7 foretells his overthrow.
**1. Woe--**The heading in English Version, "God will destroy the E...
Read full commentary →Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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. thou: or, his soul shall make an offering
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KJV Study Commentary
'Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt 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.' The Hebrew 'chaphets' (pleased) doesn't mean God enjoyed the suffering but that this was His sovereign will for redemption. 'Asham' (guilt/sin offering) - specific sacrificial ...
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(10) **Yet it pleased the Lord . . .**—The sufferings of the Servant are referred not to chance or fate, or even the wickedness of his persecutors, but to the absolute “good-pleasure” of the Father, manifesting itself in its fullest measure in the hour of apparent failure. (Comp. Psalm 22:15.)
**When thou shalt make . . .**—Better, *if his soul shall make a trespass offering, he will see his seed;...
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**2. ambassadors--**messengers sent to Jerusalem at the time that negotiations passed between Tirhakah and Hezekiah against the expected attack of Sennacherib (Is 37:9).
**by ... sea--**on the Nile (Is 19:5): as what follows proves.
**vessels of bulrushes--**light canoes, formed of papyrus, daubed over with pitch: so the "ark" in which Moses was exposed (Ex 2:3).
**Go--**Isaiah tells them to...
Read full commentary →He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
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'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.' The Servant sees the fruit of His suffering and is 'satisfied' (savea - filled, content). 'Justify many' - legal acquittal - through His 'knowledge' (either the Servant's knowledge or knowledge of Him). Iniquity-bearing completes the subst...
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(11) **He shall see of the travail . . .**—Better, *On account of the travail of his soul, he shall see, and be refreshed. *We may find the truest explanation in the words, “To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). The refreshment *after *travail, *because *of the travail, was already present to the sufferer’s consciousness.
**By his knowledge . . .**—The phrase admits of two meanin...
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**3. see ye ... hear ye--**rather, "ye shall see ... shall hear." Call to the whole earth to be witnesses of what Jehovah ("He") is about to do. He will "lift up an ensign," calling the Assyrian motley hosts together (Is 5:26) on "the mountains" round Jerusalem, to their own destruction. This (the eighteenth chapter) declares the coming overthrow of those armies whose presence is announced in Is 1...
Read full commentary →Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.' Victory language: portion, spoil - the Servant triumphs. Four reasons: poured out soul unto death, numbered with transgressors, bor...
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(12) **Therefore will I divide . . .**—The “great” and the “powerful” are words which describe the kings and rulers of mankind. The Servant, once despised and forsaken, takes his place with them, though not in the same manner, or by the same means. We may have echoes of the words in our Lord’s language as to the “spoiling of the strong man” (Matthew 12:29) as to the contrast between the greatness ...
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**4. take ... rest ... consider--**I will calmly look on and not interpose, while all seems to promise success to the enemy; when figuratively, "the sun's heat" and "the night dews" ripen their "harvest"; but "before" it reaches its maturity I will destroy it (Is 18:5; Ec 8:11, 12).
**like a clear heat--**rather, "at the time of the clear (serene) heat" [Maurer].
**upon herbs--**answering to "...
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