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The Suffering Servant

53 (A)Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a (B)tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has (C)no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should desire Him.
He was (D)despised and forsaken of men,
A man of [b]sorrows and (E)acquainted with [c]grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was (F)despised, and we did not (G)esteem Him.

Surely our [d]griefs He Himself [e](H)bore,
And our [f]sorrows He [g]carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
[h]Smitten of (I)God, and afflicted.
But He was [i]pierced through for (J)our transgressions,
He was crushed for (K)our iniquities;
The (L)chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
And by (M)His [j]wounds we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all
To [k]fall on Him.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not (N)open His mouth;
(O)Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of [l]the living,
(P)That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him?
So His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a (Q)rich man in His death,
(R)Because He had (S)done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But [m]Yahweh was pleased
To (T)crush Him, [n](U)putting Him to grief;
If You would place His soul as a guilt (V)offering,
He will see (W)His seed,
He will prolong His days,
And the [o]good (X)pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand.
11 As a result of the [p]anguish of His soul,
He will (Y)see [q]it and be satisfied;
By His (Z)knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will [r]justify the many,
As He will (AA)bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will divide for Him a (AB)portion with the many,
And He will divide the spoil with the strong;
Because He poured out (AC)His soul to death,
And was (AD)numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself [s](AE)bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:2 Lit suckling
  2. Isaiah 53:3 Or pains
  3. Isaiah 53:3 Or sickness
  4. Isaiah 53:4 Or sickness
  5. Isaiah 53:4 Or carried
  6. Isaiah 53:4 Or pains
  7. Isaiah 53:4 Or bore
  8. Isaiah 53:4 Or Struck down by
  9. Isaiah 53:5 Or wounded
  10. Isaiah 53:5 Lit wound
  11. Isaiah 53:6 Lit encounter Him
  12. Isaiah 53:8 Or life
  13. Isaiah 53:10 Or it was the desire of Yahweh, cf. Ps 40:6
  14. Isaiah 53:10 Or He put Him to grief; lit He made Him sick
  15. Isaiah 53:10 Or will of, desire of; cf. Ps 40:6
  16. Isaiah 53:11 Or toilsome labor
  17. Isaiah 53:11 Or light
  18. Isaiah 53:11 Or declare the many righteous, cf. 53:11a; 5:23
  19. Isaiah 53:12 Or carried

53 Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the Zero’a Hashem [Yeshayah 52:10] revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a Shoresh (Root, Shoresh Yishai, Moshiach, Yeshayah 11:10, Sanhedrin93b) 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 [Chaggai 2:7] him.

He is despised and chadal ishim (rejected by men); a man of sorrows, and acquainted with suffering; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our sufferings, and nasah (carried [Vayikra 16:22; Yeshayah 53:12)] our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, [i.e., like a leper is stricken] smitten of G-d, and afflicted [see verse 8 below].

But he was pierced [Yeshayah 51:9; Zecharyah 12:10 Sukkah 52a, Tehillim 22:17 Targum Hashivim] for our transgressions, he was bruised mei’avonoteinu (for our iniquities); the musar (chastisement) (that brought us shalom [Yeshayah 54:10] was upon him [Moshiach]; and at the cost of his (Moshiach’s) chaburah (stripes, lacerations) we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own derech (way; see Prov 16:25); and Hashem hath laid on him [Moshiach] the avon (iniquity, the guilt that separates from G-d) of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a seh (lamb; see Shemot 12:3) to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who of his generation declared? For he was cut off [Daniel 9:26; Vayikra 17:10] out of Eretz Chayyim [this refers to the mot of Moshiach Ben Dovid, see v.12] mipesha ami (for the transgression of my people [Yisroel]) nega (plague cf Ps 91:10) lamo ([fell] on him [i.e., Moshiach; in light of Ps 11:7 and Job 22:2 we are warranted in saying the suffix is a singular, "him," not "them". Cf Gen 9:26-27; Deut 33:2; Isa 44:15; also compare Divrey Hayamim Alef 21:17]).

And he made his kever (grave) with the resha’im, and with the oisher (rich man; see Mt 27:57-60) bemotayv (in his deaths, intensive plural should be translated singular, death); because he had done no chamas (violence), neither was any mirmah (deceit) in his mouth. T.N. We stray as sheep; we return in Moshiach as children (zera); the Techiyas HaMoshiach (Resurrection of Moshiach) predicted in v. 10 [Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah Scroll says Moshiach "will see the light [of life];" see also the Targum HaShivim]

10 Yet it pleased Hashem to bruise him; He hath put him to suffering; when Thou shalt make his nefesh an asham offering for sin, he (Moshiach) shall see zera [see Psalm 16 and Yn 1:12 OJBC], He shall prolong his yamim (days) and the chefetz Hashem (pleasure, will of Hashem) shall prosper in his [Moshiach’s] hand.

11 He [Hashem] shall see of the travail of his [Moshiach’s] nefesh, and shall be satisfied; by knowledge of him [Moshiach] shall Tzadik Avdi ["My Righteous Servant," Moshiach, Zecharyah 3:8, Yirmeyah 23:5; Zecharyah 6:11-12, Ezra 3:8 Yehoshua, Yeshua shmo] justify many (Ro 5:1); for he [Moshiach] shall bear their avon (iniquities).

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his nefesh unto mavet (death); and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he nasah (Lv 16:22, carried) (like the Yom Kippur scapegoat) the sin of many, and made intercession [did the work of a mafgi’a, intercessor] for the transgressors [see Lk 23:34 OJBC].

53 Who hath believed [a]our message? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; [b]and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised, and [c]rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with [d]grief: and [e]as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our [f]griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem 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 upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath [g]laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. [h]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 [i]living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; [j]although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath [k]put him to grief: [l]when thou shalt make his soul [m]an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. 11 [n]He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: [o]by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant [p]justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and [q]made intercession for the transgressors.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 53:1 Or, that which we have heard
  2. Isaiah 53:2 Or, that we should look upon him; nor beauty etc.
  3. Isaiah 53:3 Or, forsaken
  4. Isaiah 53:3 Hebrew sickness.
  5. Isaiah 53:3 Or, he hid as it were his face from us
  6. Isaiah 53:4 Hebrew sicknesses.
  7. Isaiah 53:6 Hebrew made to light.
  8. Isaiah 53:8 Or, From
  9. Isaiah 53:8 Or, living? for the transgression of my people was he stricken
  10. Isaiah 53:9 Or, because
  11. Isaiah 53:10 Hebrew made him sick.
  12. Isaiah 53:10 Or, when his soul shall make an offering
  13. Isaiah 53:10 Hebrew a trespass-offering.
  14. Isaiah 53:11 Or, He shall see and be satisfied with the travail etc.
  15. Isaiah 53:11 Or, by his knowledge
  16. Isaiah 53:11 Or, make many righteous
  17. Isaiah 53:12 Or, maketh