Isaiah 53

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 53:3

THE MAN OF SORROWS‘A Man of sorrows.’ Isaiah 53:3 I. His own personal life was a sorrowful one.—He was away from home, from His Father’s presence. He was a Stranger in a strange land. From His childhood He was full of thoughts which He could not utter, because, if uttered, they were not understood. He was a lonely Man. His sympathy with others by no means implied their sympathy with Him. II. But His sorrows, like His labours, were for others.—(1) Jesus Christ sorrowed over bodily suffering;... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53

Chapter 53 The Demise And Rising Again of the Servant. The chapter that follows overflows with examples of all the extremes of suffering and condemnation that could be poured out on someone. Commentators regularly try to select one aspect or another as being the overriding factor, but by doing so fail to recognise the point that the writer is making, which is that He suffered all that could possibly be laid on or experienced by someone of all the ills of the world. He piles word upon word in... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:1

‘Who could have believed what we have heard? And who could have seen in this the arm of Yahweh?’ The blank astonishment of Isaiah, Israel and the world is here clearly expressed. To attribute what will happen to this One, by the arm of Yahweh, seems beyond belief. It will go against all that men had expected of the Davidic king and Servant. But note carefully this reference to the ‘arm of Yahweh’. The arm of Yahweh usually refers to Yahweh acting in power to bring about His purposes. And then... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:2

‘For he grew up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of out of a dry ground, He has no form nor comeliness, And when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.’ In His growing up this supreme Servant will not be the kind of king expected. He will not follow man’s pattern. He will be like a plant growing out of dry land, wispy, struggling, fighting for life, a tender plant indeed, not growing in surroundings of wealth and opulence, but in surroundings where everything... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:3

‘He was despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrows, and humiliated by grief, And as one from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we esteemed him not.’ He will not only be unattractive humanly speaking, but also despised and rejected. When He reveals Himself men will laugh and deride (compare the use of the root of ‘despised’ in Isaiah 37:22), they will sneer at Him, they will dismiss His words and His claims. He will be written off by ‘those who know’ as a charlatan. ‘Rejected by... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:4-5

‘Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace was on him, And with his stripes (‘open wounds’) we are healed.’ There are always two ways of looking at things. Men will esteem Him as stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, considering that it must be because He was paying for His own sins. But God will see Him as... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:6

‘All we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned every one to our own way, And Yahweh has laid on him, The iniquity of us all.’ Here we have stress laid on each individual. It is not just the group that have failed, it is all the group including each individual. And they are described in total as ‘we’, thus including Isaiah, Israel and all men in contra-position to the One. The picture is of sheep-headedness, wandering aimlessly, heedless of instruction, going their own way without thought... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:7-8

‘He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself, And did not open his mouth, As a lamb who is led to the slaughter, And as a sheep which before her shearers is dumb, Yes, he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, And as for his generation, Who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken.’ A fuller explanation is now given of how the Servant would suffer. Not only would He face the woes of... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:9

And they made his grave with the wicked ones, And with a rich man in his death (literally ‘deaths’). Although he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth.’ The wicked and the rich are often looked at synonymously (compare Psalms 52:7). The rich tended to behave wickedly, and especially dishonestly and deceitfully (Micah 6:12). That is regularly how they became and stayed rich (compare Proverbs 18:23; Proverbs 28:6; Proverbs 28:20; Jeremiah 17:11). Thus the idea here is that... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:10

‘Yet it pleased (‘it was the will of’) Yahweh to bruise him. He put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin He will see his seed, he will prolong his days, And the pleasure of Yahweh will prosper in his hand.’ Now the situation is made quite plain. All that has happened to the Servant has happened in the will of God. It was not just allowed to happen, it happened at His pleasure. He chose to crush Him. He chose to put Him to suffering. Not because He was angry at Him or because... read more

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 53:3

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:1

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:2

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:3

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:4-5

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:6

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:7-8

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:9

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 53:10

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