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Isaiah 53

KJV · Chapter 53/66

1Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2For 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.

3He 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.

4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5But 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.

6All 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.

7He 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.

8He 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.

9And 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.

10Yet 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.

11He 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.

12Therefore 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The most famous and detailed Song of the Suffering Servant: he is despised, rejected, wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, led like a lamb to the slaughter without opening his mouth, bearing the sin of many and interceding for the transgressors.

Explanation

This chapter is one of the most read and debated texts in all of biblical literature, describing a figure who voluntarily suffers for the sin of others, something with virtually no parallel in other religions of antiquity. The Christian New Testament sees in it a detailed prophecy of Jesus's crucifixion, quoted extensively in texts such as Acts 8:32-33 (when Philip explains this passage to an Ethiopian eunuch) and 1 Peter 2:22-25. Jewish scholars have also traditionally debated this passage, some interpreting the "Servant" as representing the people of Israel itself suffering in exile, while other ancient Jewish readings also recognized an individual messianic sense. Regardless of interpretation, the central message of someone who suffers unjustly to bring healing and reconciliation to others is universally powerful. The application today is to reflect on how voluntary suffering out of love for others can carry a redemptive purpose greater than it appears.

Fun facts

  • Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered at Qumran starting in 1947, there is an almost complete copy of the book of Isaiah (the "Great Isaiah Scroll") dated to around 125 BC — more than a thousand years earlier than any other known copy — which contains this chapter nearly identical to the text we know today, one of the strongest confirmations of the careful preservation of the biblical text.
  • This chapter is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more than any other chapter of Isaiah, appearing in references from all four Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 Peter, and other apostolic letters.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaiah 53:1The question “Who hath believed our report?” opens the chapter by acknowledging that the message about this suffering figure is hard to accept, something no one would expect to see as a sign of God’s power.
  2. Isaiah 53:2“A tender plant” and “a root out of a dry ground” describe a humble, unremarkable growth, with no beauty to draw attention. It’s the opposite of the image of a glorious king one might expect from someone exalted in the previous chapter.
  3. Isaiah 53:3Being despised, the kind of person people avoid looking straight at, describes complete social rejection. The central figure of this chapter, called the Servant, suffers with no status and no recognition at all.
  4. Isaiah 53:4“He hath borne our griefs” is one of the most debated phrases in the chapter: onlookers assume the suffering is personal punishment, but the text already signals that it is actually something carried on behalf of others.
  5. Isaiah 53:5Wounded and bruised describe the chapter’s central idea: the Servant’s suffering benefits other people, carrying a weight that was not his own. Jewish readers traditionally read this figure as the people of Israel itself suffering for the nations; Christian readers read it as a reference to Jesus — the original text does not resolve this divergence.
  6. Isaiah 53:6Comparing the people to sheep gone astray, each one following its own way, contrasts with the idea that it is on this single figure that the collective weight of everyone’s wanderings falls, a summary of the entire chapter.
  7. Isaiah 53:7The Servant’s suffering is compared to that of a lamb led to the slaughter, killed without resisting or defending itself. It’s an image of total submission in the face of violence.
  8. Isaiah 53:8“He was cut off out of the land of the living” is an expression for death, and the closing phrase ties this suffering to the people’s transgression, not to any guilt of the figure’s own, the central idea of the whole chapter.
  9. Isaiah 53:9Being buried as a criminal and, at the same time, associated with a rich man is a strange combination. Some scholars read this as two different situations happening, without certainty about the exact details the original Hebrew describes.
  10. Isaiah 53:10Prolonging his days after the Servant’s life has already been given as an offering is one of the most debated verses in the chapter, because it speaks of continuity after death without detailing how. It closes by saying that this suffering will justify many, giving meaning to everything that came before.
  11. Isaiah 53:11“Shall see... and shall be satisfied” suggests an outcome beyond the suffering itself, something that continues after the ordeal, and “justify many” extends the effect of this suffering beyond the one who suffered.
  12. Isaiah 53:12“Divide him a portion with the great” and dividing the spoil with the strong are images of reward after victory, applied here to someone who died numbered among transgressors, and yet intercedes for them.

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