Isa 53:4-5 | 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 53:4-5

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.

5. wounded—a bodily wound; not mere mental sorrow; literally, "pierced"; minutely appropriate to Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were pierced (Ps 22:16). The Margin, wrongly, from a Hebrew root, translates, "tormented."

for . . . for— (Ro 4:25; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:28; 1Pe 2:24; 3:18) —the cause for which He suffered not His own, but our sins.

bruised—crushing inward and outward suffering (see on Isa 53:10).

chastisement—literally, the correction inflicted by a parent on children for their good (Heb 12:5-8, 10, 11). Not punishment strictly; for this can have place only where there is guilt, which He had not; but He took on Himself the chastisement whereby the peace (reconciliation with our Father; Ro 5:1; Eph 2:14, 15, 17) of the children of God was to be effected (Heb 2:14).

upon him—as a burden; parallel to "hath borne" and "carried."

stripes—minutely prophetical of His being scourged (Mt 27:26; 1Pe 2:24).

healed—spiritually (Ps 41:4; Jer 8:22).