seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 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.
3 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.
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 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.
3 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.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 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.
6 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.
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 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.
6 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.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
a. Isaiah 53:8 Or From arrest
b. Isaiah 53:8 Or generation considered / that he was cut off from the land of the living, / that he was punished for the transgression of my people?
c. Isaiah 53:10 Hebrew though you make
d. Isaiah 53:11 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text does not have the light of life.
e. Isaiah 53:11 Or (with Masoretic Text) 11 He will see the fruit of his suffering / and will be satisfied
f. Isaiah 53:11 Or by knowledge of him
g. Isaiah 53:12 Or many
h. Isaiah 53:12 Or numerous
I had to search for bible-studys.org this morning. There are a lot of commentaries about this chapter.... for consistency.
In these verses, we see the personal Messiah, the Son of God, who alone can atone for sin. His message is rejected; His person is refused; and His mission is misunderstood. Nevertheless, His vicarious suffering provides atonement for our sins; and though He suffers; death; and burial, He will ultimately be exalted.
To miss the fact that Jesus Christ is the central figure in this passage is to stumble in unbelief over the cornerstone and foundation of all the gospel. The rhetorical question “Who hath believed our report?” is more of an exclamation than an interrogation. Speaking for all the prophets, Isaiah calls attention to the world’s lack of faith in general.
“The arm of the Lord” is the emblem of divine power. The Servant is described as a “tender plant” (yoneq, “suckling” or “shoot”), and “a root out of a dry ground,” which has already been described as springing from the stump of Jesse (hence the Davidic line).
“No form nor comeliness” denotes His humble origin rather than His personal appearance. “Beauty” may be read “elegance.” This description does not mean that He will be homely or ugly, but that He will not appear on the scene in the regalia of a king. He will come as one who is common. Nothing could better describe the humble appearance of Jesus as a common rabbi.
Bible-studys.org continues.To provide a detailed description of His suffering, the prophet uses a series of verbs with an assumed subject (the Servant). “Despised” (from bazah, “to disdain or scorn”), and “rejected” (chadal, “abandoned”), “of men.” He is further described as a “man of sorrows” (Mak obot, severe pains), and “acquainted with grief” (choli, “injuries”).
Because of His severe personal suffering “we hid as it were, our faces from him”. The description of Christ’s suffering in the New Testament Gospels clearly indicated the severity of His physical suffering. The agony in the garden, His battered face, the severe scourging, and the torture of the crucifixion itself.
His substitutionary atonement is clearly taught. “He hath borne our griefs (literally, “spiritual sickness”). The New Testament says that He Himself “bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Thus, He was “stricken, smitten,” and “afflicted.” “We” (mankind in general), thought He was judged “of God.” But “he was wounded” (or “pierced through”), “for our transgressions” (sins).
The verb “bruised” translates daka, meaning “to be utterly crushed.” “Our iniquities” (awon), means moral “evils”. “Chastisement” (musar, “correction” or “discipline”), “of our peace” refers to that which procured our peace with God. “With His stripes (or “wounds”), “we are healed” (rapa, to mend or cure), refers to our spiritual condition being made whole. In Isaiah, the term is always used of spiritual healing and forgiveness.
“All we” (“literally all of us”), are compared to “sheep … gone astray” to illustrate the desperate condition of mankind, lost, without a Shepherd (Matt. 9:36). “All” and “every” are used in parallel, emphasizing the totality of sinful humanity. “Laid on him” is a causative verb meaning “to strike violently.”
Thus Christ propitiates the violent wrath of God for us. The fact that He opened not His mouth is illustrated by a “lamb” being brought to “the slaughter” (see John 1:29 and Revelation 5:6, 12).
This is the portion of Scripture read by the Ethiopian eunuch and subsequently explained to him By Philip as referring to Jesus (Acts 8:32-33).
“He was taken from prison and from judgment” (justice), refers to the illegitimate trials to which Jesus was subjected. “Who shall declare” reads better “who has considered.” “His generation” refers to His potential life. The verb “was cut off” refers here to a violent death.
The reference to the Servant making “his grave with the wicked” was certainly fulfilled in Christ’s crucifixion between two thieves (see Matt. 27:38). The additional phrase “and with the rich in his death” refers to Jesus’ burial in the tomb of the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27:57).
“it pleased the Lord to bruise” (from daka, “to crush”) “him”, refers to the same condition. “Put him to grief” reads “pierce” Him in the Dead Sea Scroll copy of the text. “His seed refers to those who will come to believe in Him. An offering for sin” (asham, “guilt offering”), involves the trespass offering described (in Numbers 5:5-10).
The phrase “he shall prolong his days” indicated that the Servant’s ministry will not end with His violent death, and which will be accomplished by the atoning death and resurrection of the Servant. The chapter ends with the glorification and exaltation of the Servant of the Lord. His “intercession” refers to His high priestly ministry, by which He makes intercession on the basis of His own substitutionary death.
Now Isaiah talked about Cyrus sending the descendants of Jacob [Israel] back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. That happened just as described a couple of hundred years later..... but Jesus........ According to the Bible.... Jesus was born about 700 years after Isaiah lived..... and yet Isaiah described Him and the trials He went through in detail. I wish people could really see all the blood and bruises. Pictures of the crucifixion is so sanitized.... Jesus could have jumped off the cross.... with only a couple holes in His hands and feet. Isaiah is describing a man who was beaten so severely.... it would have been difficult to recognize Him.
I have a lot of neighbors who talk "Bible". When ever Heaven is brought up..... one of the ladies will inevitably jump and shout "We'll get new bodies!"..... that's what she likes about all the Heaven stories..... the "new bodies".
I wish I could tell her to look at Isaiah 53..... for us to have that "new body"..... Jesus had to be beaten almost beyond recognition.
Jesus came to give me the gift of Eternal Life..... and He was beaten to a bloody pulp and hung on a cross to die..... in the desert sun.
