Isa 53:4, 6, 12 | JFB | STEP | 4. Surely . . . our griefs —literally, " But yet He hath taken (or borne ) our sicknesses, " that is, they who despised Him because of His human infirmities ought rather to have esteemed Him on account of them; for thereby "Himself took OUR infirmities " (bodily diseases). So quotes it. In the Hebrew for "borne," or took, there is probably the double notion, He took on Himself vicariously (so ), and so He took away; His perfect humanity whereby He was bodily afflicted for us, and in all our afflictions ( ) was the ground on which He cured the sick; so that Matthew's quotation is not a mere accommodation. See Note 42 of ARCHBISHOP MAGEE , Atonement. The Hebrew there may mean to overwhelm with darkness; Messiah's time of darkness was temporary ( ), answering to the bruising of His heel; Satan's is to be eternal, answering to the bruising of his head (compare ). carried . . . sorrows —The notion of substitution strictly. "Carried," namely, as a burden. "Sorrows," that is, pains of the mind; as "griefs" refer to pains of the body ( ). might seem to oppose this: "And bare our sicknesses. " But he uses "sicknesses" figuratively for sins, the cause of them. Christ took on Himself all man's "infirmities;" so as to remove them; the bodily by direct miracle, grounded on His participation in human infirmities; those of the soul by His vicarious suffering, which did away with the source of both. Sin and sickness are ethically connected as cause and effect ( ). we did esteem him stricken —judicially [LOWTH ], namely, for His sins; whereas it was for ours. "We thought Him to be a leper" [JEROME , Vulgate ], leprosy being the direct divine judgment for guilt ( ). smitten —by divine judgments. afflicted —for His sins; this was the pointin which they so erred ( ). He was, it is true, "afflicted," but not for His sins.

Isaiah 53:4

4. Surely . . . our griefs—literally, "But yet He hath taken (or borne) our sicknesses," that is, they who despised Him because of His human infirmities ought rather to have esteemed Him on account of them; for thereby "Himself took OUR infirmities" (bodily diseases). So Mt 8:17 quotes it. In the Hebrew for "borne," or took, there is probably the double notion, He took on Himself vicariously (so Isa 53:5, 6, 8, 12), and so He took away; His perfect humanity whereby He was bodily afflicted for us, and in all our afflictions (Isa 63:9; Heb 4:15) was the ground on which He cured the sick; so that Matthew's quotation is not a mere accommodation. See Note 42 of ARCHBISHOP MAGEE, Atonement. The Hebrew there may mean to overwhelm with darkness; Messiah's time of darkness was temporary (Mt 27:45), answering to the bruising of His heel; Satan's is to be eternal, answering to the bruising of his head (compare Isa 50:10).

carried . . . sorrows—The notion of substitution strictly. "Carried," namely, as a burden. "Sorrows," that is, pains of the mind; as "griefs" refer to pains of the body (Ps 32:10; 38:17). Mt 8:17 might seem to oppose this: "And bare our sicknesses." But he uses "sicknesses" figuratively for sins, the cause of them. Christ took on Himself all man's "infirmities;" so as to remove them; the bodily by direct miracle, grounded on His participation in human infirmities; those of the soul by His vicarious suffering, which did away with the source of both. Sin and sickness are ethically connected as cause and effect (Isa 33:24; Ps 103:3; Mt 9:2; Joh 5:14; Jas 5:15).

we did esteem him stricken—judicially [LOWTH], namely, for His sins; whereas it was for ours. "We thought Him to be a leper" [JEROME, Vulgate], leprosy being the direct divine judgment for guilt (Le 13:1-59; Nu 12:10, 15; 2Ch 26:18-21).

smitten—by divine judgments.

afflicted—for His sins; this was the pointin which they so erred (Lu 23:34; Ac 3:17; 1Co 2:8). He was, it is true, "afflicted," but not for His sins.

Isaiah 53:6

6. Penitent confession of believers and of Israel in the last days (Zec 12:10).

sheep . . . astray— (Ps 119:176; 1Pe 2:25). The antithesis is, "In ourselves we were scattered; in Christ we are collected together; by nature we wander, driven headlong to destruction; in Christ we find the way to the gate of life" [CALVIN]. True, also, literally of Israel before its coming restoration (Eze 34:5, 6; Zec 10:2, 6; compare with Eze 34:23, 24; Jer 23:4, 5; also Mt 9:36).

laid—"hath made to light on Him" [LOWTH]. Rather, "hath made to rush upon Him" [MAURER].

the iniquity—that is, its penalty; or rather, as in 2Co 5:21; He was not merely a sin offering (which would destroy the antithesis to "righteousness"), but "sin for us"; sin itself vicariously; the representative of the aggregate sin of all mankind; not sins in the plural, for the "sin" of the world is one (Ro 5:16, 17); thus we are made not merely righteous, but righteousness, even "the righteousness of God." The innocent was punished as if guilty, that the guilty might be rewarded as if innocent. This verse could be said of no mere martyr.

Isaiah 53:12

12. divide—as a conqueror dividing the spoil after a victory (Ps 2:8; Lu 11:22).

him—for Him.

with . . . great—HENGSTENBERG translates, "I will give Him the mighty for a portion"; so the Septuagint. But the parallel clause, "with the strong," favors English Version. His triumphs shall be not merely among the few and weak, but among the many and mighty.

spoil . . . strong— (Col 2:15; compare Pr 16:19). "With the great; with the mighty," may mean, as a great and mighty hero.

poured out . . . soul—that is, His life, which was considered as residing in the blood (Le 17:11; Ro 3:25).

numbered with, &c.—not that He was a transgressor, but He was treated as such, when crucified with thieves (Mr 15:28; Lu 22:37).

made intercession, &c.—This office He began on the cross (Lu 23:34), and now continues in heaven (Isa 59:16; Heb 9:24; 1Jo 2:1). Understand because before "He was numbered . . . He bare . . . made intercession." His meritorious death and intercession are the cause of His ultimate triumph. MAURER, for the parallelism, translates, "He was put on the same footing with the transgressors." But English Version agrees better with the Hebrew, and with the sense and fact as to Christ. MAURER'S translation would make a tautology after "He was numbered with the transgressors"; parallelism does not need so servile a repetition. "He made intercession for," &c., answers to the parallel, "He was numbered with," &c., as effect answers to cause, His intercession for sinners being the effect flowing from His having been numbered with them.