Isa 53:5-6, 8, 12 | JFB | STEP | 5. wounded —a bodily wound; not mere mental sorrow; literally, "pierced"; minutely appropriate to Messiah, whose hands, feet, and side were pierced ( ). The Margin, wrongly, from a Hebrew root, translates, "tormented." for . . . for — ( ) — the cause for which He suffered not His own, but our sins. bruised —crushing inward and outward suffering (see on ). chastisement —literally, the correction inflicted by a parent on children for their good ( ). 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; ) of the children of God was to be effected ( ). upon him —as a burden; parallel to "hath borne" and "carried." stripes —minutely prophetical of His being scourged ( ). healed

Isaiah 53:5-6

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).

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 53:8

8. Rather, "He was taken away (that is, cut off) by oppression and by a judicial sentence"; a hendiadys for, "by an oppressive judicial sentence" [LOWTH and HENGSTENBERG]. GESENIUS not so well, "He was delivered from oppression and punishment" only by death. English Version also translates, "from . . . from," not "by . . . by." But "prison" is not true of Jesus, who was not incarcerated; restraint and bonds (Joh 18:24) more accord with the Hebrew. Ac 8:33; translate as the Septuagint: "In His humiliation His judgment (legal trial) was taken away"; the virtual sense of the Hebrew as rendered by LOWTH and sanctioned by the inspired writer of Acts; He was treated as one so mean that a fair trial was denied Him (Mt 26:59; Mr 14:55-59). HORSLEY translates, "After condemnation and judgment He was accepted."

who . . . declare . . . generation—who can set forth (the wickedness of) His generation? that is, of His contemporaries [ALFORD on Ac 8:33], which suits best the parallelism, "the wickedness of His generation" corresponding to "oppressive judgment." But LUTHER, "His length of life," that is, there shall be no end of His future days (Isa 53:10; Ro 6:9). CALVIN includes the days of His Church, which is inseparable from Himself. HENGSTENBERG, "His posterity." He, indeed, shall be cut off, but His race shall be so numerous that none can fully declare it. CHYRSOSTOM, &c., "His eternal sonship and miraculous incarnation."

cut off—implying a violent death (Da 9:26).

my people—Isaiah, including himself among them by the word "my" [HENGSTENBERG]. Rather, JEHOVAH speaks in the person of His prophet, "My people," by the election of grace (Heb 2:13).

was he stricken—Hebrew, "the stroke (was laid) upon Him." GESENIUS says the Hebrew means "them"; the collective body, whether of the prophets or people, to which the Jews refer the whole prophecy. But JEROME, the Syriac, and Ethiopiac versions translate it "Him"; so it is singular in some passages; Ps 11:7, His; Job 27:23, Him; Isa 44:15, thereto. The Septuagint, the Hebrew, lamo, "upon Him," read the similar words, lamuth, "unto death," which would at once set aside the Jewish interpretation, "upon them." ORIGEN, who laboriously compared the Hebrew with the Septuagint, so read it, and urged it against the Jews of his day, who would have denied it to be the true reading if the word had not then really so stood in the Hebrew text [LOWTH]. If his sole authority be thought insufficient, perhaps lamo may imply that Messiah was the representative of the collective body of all men; hence the equivocal plural-singular form.

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.