Isaiah 53 The Suffering Servant
Written some seven centuries before Christ, this chapter describes a suffering servant with such precision that the early church saw in it a portrait of the cross. It is perhaps the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New.
Despised and Rejected
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. Isaiah 53:1-3 ยท KJV
The servant has "no form nor comeliness" that would draw people to Him โ His glory is hidden. He is "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," one from whom people hide their faces. The world's measures of greatness are entirely overturned here: the one God exalts is the one the world overlooks.
He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions
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. Isaiah 53:4-6 ยท KJV
The heart of the chapter is the doctrine of substitution. He bore our griefs; He was wounded for our transgressions; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. The famous image of verse 6 captures it: "All we like sheep have gone astray," each turning to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The innocent suffers so the guilty may go free.
Silent Before His Shearers
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. Isaiah 53:7 ยท KJV
"As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." The servant's silence under suffering is not weakness but a willing surrender. The Gospels record that Jesus, before His accusers, answered nothing โ and Philip would later use this very verse to explain the gospel to the Ethiopian official.
He Shall See His Seed
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. Isaiah 53:10-12 ยท KJV
The chapter does not end in defeat. After the anguish comes vindication: "he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days," and "he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." The suffering was not the end of the story but the means of a great harvest โ "he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Study notes original to Bible Navigator, offered freely for personal study. Scripture quotations are from the public-domain King James Version.