Isaiah · Chapter 53

ver. 1-10. His exaltation and glory, ver. 11, 12.

V. 1. Who-Who, not only of the Gentiles, but even of the Jews, will believe the truth of what I say? And this premonition was highly necessary, both to caution the Jews that they should not stumble at this stone, and to instruct the Gentiles that they should not be seduced with their example. The arm-The Messiah, called the arm or power of God, because the almighty power of God was seated in him. Revealed-Inwardly and with power.

Verse 1. Who hath believed our report? — The prophet having, in the last three verses of the former chapter, made a general report concerning the great and wonderful humiliation and exaltation of the Messiah, of which he intended to discourse more largely in this chapter, thought fit, before he descended to particulars, to use this preface. Who, not only of the Gentiles, but even of the Jews, will believe the truth of what I have said, and must further say? Few or none. The generality of them will never receive, nor believe in, such a Messiah as this. Thus this place is expounded by Christ himself, John 12:38, and by St. Paul, Romans 10:16. And this premonition was highly necessary, both to caution the Jews that they should not stumble at this stone, and to instruct the Gentiles that they should not be surprised nor seduced with their example. And to whom — Hebrew, ym l[, because, or, in behalf of whom, namely, to deliver them from the guilt and dominion of their sins, and other spiritual enemies; is the arm — That is, the power; of the Lord revealed? — This is only revealed, or displayed, for the deliverance of those who, with a lively and divine faith; believe the report: for the gospel is the power of God unto salvation only to him that believeth, Romans 1:16.

Verse 1. Who hath believed our report; and to whom is (the Messiah) the mighty arm of the Lord revealed? This complaint of the servants is but the plaintive echo of their Master’s voice. He had said in the Spirit, “I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is with my God.” But he spake not in despair; his righteousness sustained him. “Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.” He was answered with the Father’s voice, “It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will give thee for a light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation to the ends of the earth:” Isaiah 49:4, 6. Ministers of Jesus, learn here to bewail your barrenness, and want of success in the ear of heaven, and the consolations of the Saviour shall be your consolation. The final songs of angels shall heal the sorrows of the saints. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. Revelation 11:15.

Nor should it escape remark, that the heralds of the gospel preached a crucified Redeemer, Messiah, the arm of the Lord, Christ the wisdom, and Christ the power of God, whose own arm brought salvation. Of the people there was none with him, none to uphold. Their ministry had three characters: they made a full report of the glory and grace of Christ; they required faith, a full consent of heart, that men should believe their report; and that their converts should receive the seal of God in the regeneration of their hearts.

1. Who — Who among this class of Israel. The question denotes a prophetic anticipation of a renewed lapse on the part of the Jews from a full faith in the true Messiah when he comes; and the “who” refers to this. Hath believed our report — Or, the doctrine received by us, the heralds, (Isaiah 52:15,) announcing the oncoming servant of Jehovah, the Messiah, now sadly marred in aspect — this the lapsed ones of Israel will find difficult to understand and to receive. Arm of the Lord — A figure for that of which the arm is the symbol — the almighty power of God, (Isaiah 52:10,) or the divine power inwardly revealed. The question is: Among whom is this taking place, and resulting in salvation? See John 12:28; Romans 10:16.

V. 2. As a root-And the reason why the Jews will generally reject their Messiah, is, because he shall not come into the world with secular pomp, but he shall grow up, (or spring up, out of the ground) before him, (before the unbelieving Jews, of whom he spake ver. 1, and that in the singular number, as here, who were witnesses of his mean original; and therefore despised him) as a tender plant (small and inconsiderable) and as a root, or branch, grows out of a dry, barren ground. No form-His bodily presence shall be mean and contemptible. No beauty-This the prophet speaks in the person of the unbelieving Jews. We-Our people, the Jewish nation.

Verses 2, 3. For he shall grow up, &c. — And the reason why the Jews will generally reject their Messiah is, because he shall not come into the world with secular pomp, but he shall grow up, (or, spring up, out of the ground,) before him, (before the unbelieving Jews, of whom he spake, verse 1, and that in the singular number, as here, who were witnesses of his mean original; and therefore despised him,) as a tender plant, (small and inconsiderable,) and as a root, or branch, grows out of a dry, barren ground, whose productions are generally poor and contemptible. He hath no form, &c. — His bodily presence and condition in the world shall be mean and despicable. And when we see him, there is no beauty, &c. — When we, that is, our people, the Jewish nation, shall look upon him, expecting to find incomparable beauty and majesty in his countenance and demeanour, we shall be altogether disappointed, and shall meet with nothing desirable in him. This the prophet speaks in the persons of the carnal and unbelieving Jews. There was a great deal of true beauty in him, the beauty of holiness, and the beauty of goodness, enough to render him the desire of all nations; but the far greater part of those among whom he lived and conversed saw none of this beauty; for it was spiritually discerned. Observe, reader, carnal minds see no excellence in the Lord Jesus; nothing that should induce them to desire an acquaintance with, or interest in him. Nay, he is not only not desired, but he is despised and rejected — As one unworthy of the company and conversation of all men; despised as a mean man, rejected as a bad man, a deceiver of the people, an impostor, a blasphemer, an associate of Satan. He was the stone which the builders refused; they would not have him to reign over them. A man of sorrows — Whose whole life was filled with, and, in a manner, made up of, a succession of sorrows and sufferings; and acquainted with grief — Who had constant experience of, and familiar converse with, grievous afflictions. And we hid, &c. — We scorned to look upon him; or we looked another way, and his sufferings were nothing to us; though never sorrow was like unto his sorrows.

Ver. 2. 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. At the time of our Saviour’s birth, a misguided and blind theology directed the comments of the rabbins, that the Messiah should fill the throne of David, “and abide for ever.” Whereas the prophets had other ideas, just the reverse of those who expected a worldly kingdom. David had said, “Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth, (as a root out of a dry ground) and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” Rejoice, oh daughter of Zion, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation; lowly, riding upon an ass’s colt. He is not of the order of belligerent kings. He shall break the bow of Ephraim, and turn away the battle-horse from Jerusalem; he shall publish peace to the heathen, and make wars to cease to the ends of the earth.

2, 3. The point of view appears to be, when Messiah’s sufferings are over, and he about entering into his glory. He shall grow up — The verb in Hebrew is, as usual, in the prophetic past. Growth has been from the first Messianic germ, (Genesis 3:15,) till fully realized in Jesus Christ. Through all its history, the Messianic conception has been as a tender plant, nourished by Jehovah indeed, but very little by men. Its root, the root of Jesse, in itself was vigorous, advancing to the Davidic kingship, itself thus asserting herein its own type of ultimate royalty; then it retired long from view, yet still growing feebly as in a parched land — that of the impure soil of men’s hearts. Except a humble few, men look away from him. He is not of their sort, their character. He is not their ideal Messiah; they do not sympathize with his griefs; they abandon him. Rejected — Literally, ceased from men. He thoroughly knows the world’s sins, and its sicknesses, pains, calamities which come therefrom. But he finds few to feel with him. All repel him, turn away the face, despise him. But is this sufferer really the Messiah of the old prophets? So even the old Jews all interpreted till after the Christian era, when their interpretation was cited against them, and they were pressed in self-defense to change it. Even then some fair-minded Jews have continued to regard the passage as descriptive only of Messiah. More, however, apply the passage to the Jews as a body, now in a state of dispersion and affliction. Some hold Jeremiah, and others Isaiah, to be the person meant. These views are upheld by the weakest of arguments. Of course, also, all who deny supernatural prophecy refuse altogether to see any Messianic reference here. But this reference is sustained by the sound sense of all candid interpreters and disinterested sensible readers. Esteemed him not — Undervalued him.

V. 3. We hid-We scorned to look upon him.

Verse 3. Acquainted with grief] For [wdyw vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have [ryw veyada, and knowing grief; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it [dwyw veyodea. We hid as it were our faces from him— “As one that hideth his face from us”] For rtsmkw uchemaster, four MSS. (two ancient) have rytsmkw uchemastir, one MS. rytsmw umastir. For פנים panim, two MSS. have wynp panaiv; so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate. Mourners covered up the lower part of their faces, and their heads, 2 Samuel 15:30; Ezekiel 29:17; and lepers were commanded by the law, Leviticus 13:45, to cover their upper lip. From which circumstance it seems that the Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, and the Jewish commentators have taken the word [wgn nagua, stricken, in the next verse, as meaning stricken with the leprosy: enafh onta, Sym.; afhmenon, Aq.; leprosum, Vulg. So my old MS. Bible. I will insert the whole passage as curious:— There is not schap to him, ne fairnesse,

And we seegen him, and he was not of sigte,

And we desiriden him dispisid; and the last of men:

Man of souaris and witing infirmitie;

And he hid his cheer and despisid;

Wherfor ne we settiden bi him:

Verili our seeknesse he toke and our sorewis he bair, And we helden him as leprous and smyten of God, and meekid; He forsoth wounded is for our wickednesse,

Defoulid is for our hidous giltis

The discipline of our pese upon him,

And with his wanne wound we ben helid.

Verses 2, 3. For he shall grow up, &c. — And the reason why the Jews will generally reject their Messiah is, because he shall not come into the world with secular pomp, but he shall grow up, (or, spring up, out of the ground,) before him, (before the unbelieving Jews, of whom he spake, verse 1, and that in the singular number, as here, who were witnesses of his mean original; and therefore despised him,) as a tender plant, (small and inconsiderable,) and as a root, or branch, grows out of a dry, barren ground, whose productions are generally poor and contemptible. He hath no form, &c. — His bodily presence and condition in the world shall be mean and despicable. And when we see him, there is no beauty, &c. — When we, that is, our people, the Jewish nation, shall look upon him, expecting to find incomparable beauty and majesty in his countenance and demeanour, we shall be altogether disappointed, and shall meet with nothing desirable in him. This the prophet speaks in the persons of the carnal and unbelieving Jews. There was a great deal of true beauty in him, the beauty of holiness, and the beauty of goodness, enough to render him the desire of all nations; but the far greater part of those among whom he lived and conversed saw none of this beauty; for it was spiritually discerned. Observe, reader, carnal minds see no excellence in the Lord Jesus; nothing that should induce them to desire an acquaintance with, or interest in him. Nay, he is not only not desired, but he is despised and rejected — As one unworthy of the company and conversation of all men; despised as a mean man, rejected as a bad man, a deceiver of the people, an impostor, a blasphemer, an associate of Satan. He was the stone which the builders refused; they would not have him to reign over them. A man of sorrows — Whose whole life was filled with, and, in a manner, made up of, a succession of sorrows and sufferings; and acquainted with grief — Who had constant experience of, and familiar converse with, grievous afflictions. And we hid, &c. — We scorned to look upon him; or we looked another way, and his sufferings were nothing to us; though never sorrow was like unto his sorrows.

Ver. 3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. What was the Saviour’s life on earth? It was a life sought as soon as he was born! Expatriated in infancy, concealed at Nazareth, in the retreats of Galilee. What were the scenes of his public ministry? Stretching out his hands all the day long to a gainsaying and disobedient people. A man of sorrows, weeping in Galilee, weeping in Bethany, weeping over Jerusalem, weeping in the temple. We say nothing of his agony in the garden, when the sorrows of death compassed him about; those were scenes of anguish surpassing the comprehension of man. Was there any sorrow like to his sorrow?

And we hid as it were our faces from him. As though his very name had utterly disgraced us; as though his crimes had appalled us. He was despised, spit upon and buffeted, and we esteemed him not. When the bacchanalians were suppressed at Rome, an orator advised their relatives not to know them. So the Saviour was treated by his own nation.

2, 3. The point of view appears to be, when Messiah’s sufferings are over, and he about entering into his glory. He shall grow up — The verb in Hebrew is, as usual, in the prophetic past. Growth has been from the first Messianic germ, (Genesis 3:15,) till fully realized in Jesus Christ. Through all its history, the Messianic conception has been as a tender plant, nourished by Jehovah indeed, but very little by men. Its root, the root of Jesse, in itself was vigorous, advancing to the Davidic kingship, itself thus asserting herein its own type of ultimate royalty; then it retired long from view, yet still growing feebly as in a parched land — that of the impure soil of men’s hearts. Except a humble few, men look away from him. He is not of their sort, their character. He is not their ideal Messiah; they do not sympathize with his griefs; they abandon him. Rejected — Literally, ceased from men. He thoroughly knows the world’s sins, and its sicknesses, pains, calamities which come therefrom. But he finds few to feel with him. All repel him, turn away the face, despise him. But is this sufferer really the Messiah of the old prophets? So even the old Jews all interpreted till after the Christian era, when their interpretation was cited against them, and they were pressed in self-defense to change it. Even then some fair-minded Jews have continued to regard the passage as descriptive only of Messiah. More, however, apply the passage to the Jews as a body, now in a state of dispersion and affliction. Some hold Jeremiah, and others Isaiah, to be the person meant. These views are upheld by the weakest of arguments. Of course, also, all who deny supernatural prophecy refuse altogether to see any Messianic reference here. But this reference is sustained by the sound sense of all candid interpreters and disinterested sensible readers. Esteemed him not — Undervalued him.

V. 4. Yet-Our people believed that he was thus punished by the just judgment of God.

Verse 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs— “Surely our infirmities he hath borne”] Seven MSS. (two ancient) and three editions have wnyylj cholayeynu in the plural number.

And carried our sorrows— “And our sorrows, he hath carried them”] Seventeen MSS. (two ancient) of Dr. Kennicott’s, two of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and two editions have the word awh hu, he, before µlbs sebalam, “carrieth them,” in the text; four other MSS. have it in the margin. This adds force to the sense, and elegance to the construction.

Verses 4, 5. Surely he hath borne our griefs — Whereas it may seem an incredible thing, that so excellent and glorious, and so innocent and holy a person should meet with this usage, it must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake, but wholly for the sake of sinful men, in whose stead he stood, and for whose sins he suffered: yet we did esteem him — Yet our people, the Jews, were so far from giving him the glory and praise of such astonishing condescension and compassion, that they made a most perverse construction of it; and so great was their prejudice against him, that they believed he was thus disgraced and punished, and, at last, put to death, by the just judgment of God, for his blasphemy and other manifold acts of wickedness. But, &c. — This was a most false and unrighteous sentence. He was wounded — Which word comprehends all his pains and punishments, and his death among the rest; for our transgressions — The prophet does not say by, but for them, or, because of them, namely, for the guilt of our sins, which he had voluntarily taken upon himself, and for the expiation of our sins, which was hereby purchased. The chastisement of our peace — Those punishments by which our peace, our reconciliation to God, was to be purchased, were laid upon him, by God’s justice, with his own consent. With his stripes we are healed — By his sufferings we are saved from our sins, and from the dreadful effects thereof.

Ver. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. The Chaldaic reads, “Surely he shall pray for our sins; and our iniquities shall be forgiven for his sake.” The style is highly ceremonial. The priest bare the iniquity of the people; it was laid by confessions on the head of the victim, as is repeated below. On the subject, that the Messiah was to be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” Dr. Lightfoot quotes the Talmud, where one asks, What is the name of the Messiah. Some answered, Leprous, and the Messiah sitting in the gate of the city. It was asked again, By what token may he be known? Answer. He sitteth among the diseased poor. Where else should the physician be, but with the sick?

4. Another turn occurs here. Already it seems to have been implied that when, in the prophetic outlook, the Messiah should come, he would not come in the form or aspect expected. Now the confession is: Surely — That is, actually. He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows — It is, indeed, an actual burden he has borne — that of our sorrows; also, that of expiation for our sins. Did esteem him — Our opinion was, indeed, that he was, or had been, stricken. But struck with leprosy, as it were, for so the original may mean, or what was equal to the worst of diseases. He knew in his experience the suffering due to every form of evil. Smitten of God — Visited of God, and thus to be looked upon as worthy to be despised and rejected.

V. 5. Wounded-Which word comprehends all his pains and punishments. For our iniquities-For the guilt of their sins, which he had voluntarily taken upon himself, and for the expiation of their sins, which was hereby purchased. The chastisement-Those punishments by which our peace, our reconciliation to God, was to be purchased, were laid upon him by God’s justice with his own consent. Healed-By his sufferings we are saved from our sins.

Verse 5. The chastisement of our peace— “The chastisement by which our peace is effected”] Twenty-one MSS. and six editions have the word fully and regularly expressed, wnymlv shelomeynu; pacificationum nostrarum, “our pacification;” that by which we are brought into a state of peace and favour with God. Ar. Montan.

Verses 4, 5. Surely he hath borne our griefs — Whereas it may seem an incredible thing, that so excellent and glorious, and so innocent and holy a person should meet with this usage, it must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake, but wholly for the sake of sinful men, in whose stead he stood, and for whose sins he suffered: yet we did esteem him — Yet our people, the Jews, were so far from giving him the glory and praise of such astonishing condescension and compassion, that they made a most perverse construction of it; and so great was their prejudice against him, that they believed he was thus disgraced and punished, and, at last, put to death, by the just judgment of God, for his blasphemy and other manifold acts of wickedness. But, &c. — This was a most false and unrighteous sentence. He was wounded — Which word comprehends all his pains and punishments, and his death among the rest; for our transgressions — The prophet does not say by, but for them, or, because of them, namely, for the guilt of our sins, which he had voluntarily taken upon himself, and for the expiation of our sins, which was hereby purchased. The chastisement of our peace — Those punishments by which our peace, our reconciliation to God, was to be purchased, were laid upon him, by God’s justice, with his own consent. With his stripes we are healed — By his sufferings we are saved from our sins, and from the dreadful effects thereof.

Ver. 5. 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. The sufferings of the Redeemer were vicarious. About forty of those are named in the prophets. The kings of the earth took counsel against the Lord, and against his anointed. He that ate bread at his table, lifted up the heel against him. He was sold for money. He hid not his face from shame and spitting. He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to those that plucked off the hair. They pierced his hands and his feet, nailing him to the cross. They elevated him, as Moses elevated the serpent in the wilderness. The rulers wagged their heads, and cried, Aha, aha! They mocked him as a prophet, and a Saviour of others. His very bones were dislocated, and might be counted while extended on the cross. They offered him the stupifying potion of vinegar and gall. The sword awoke against the shepherd, and pierced Jehovah’s fellow. The mind, fainting at the scene, can only be revived by his conquering voice, when he cried, It is finished, and gave up the ghost.

5. He was wounded — Either bodily, very much crushed, or mentally, broken in spirit. (Gesenius.) Gesenius refers it to the second; Furst, in general, to the first, which is perhaps the true sense. The suffering for the most part is external, yet not without terrible internal feeling. The Sufferer dies under it, though an innocent, not a guilty, sufferer. In the nature of the case, then, it is unresisted suffering, hence voluntarily endured. He was bruised — Applied to the body, crushed; applied to the mind, severe inward agony is implied. Chastisement — A burden of woe, whatever it was, assumed to secure our reconciliation and peace. Stripes — Or, something analogous thereto. The nearest to reaching the meaning here is, to suppose marks by blows upon his person substitutively received by him for us. In virtue of these we are healed. The first severe physical act of suffering on the part of our Saviour was the scourging he endured prior to execution on the cross. The word “stripes,” then, must be a collective term, (representing the first stage of his substitution,) figuring what he thus far had endured as our substitute. By “his stripes,” as a whole, that is, by his sufferings collectively considered, we are healed, reconciled, and saved. Is not this the meaning of the second member of the parallelism?

V. 6. We-All mankind. Astray-From God. Have turned-In general, to the way of sin, which may well be called a man’s own way, because sin is natural to us, inherent in us, born with us; and in particular, to those several paths, which several men chuse, according to their different opinions, and circumstances. Hath laid-Heb. hath made to meet, as all the rivers meet in the sea. The iniquity-Not properly, for he knew no sin; but the punishment of iniquity, as that word is frequently used. That which was due for all the sins of all mankind, which must needs be so heavy a load, that if he had not been God as well as man, he must have sunk under the burden.

Verse 6. The iniquity of us all.] For ˆw[ avon, “iniquity,” the ancient interpreters read twnw[ avonoth, “iniquities,” plural; and so the Vulgate in MS. Blanchini. And the Lord hath wb [ygph hiphgia bo, caused to meet in him the iniquities of us all. He was the subject on which all the rays collected on the focal point fell. These fiery rays, which should have fallen on all mankind, diverged from Divine justice to the east, west, north, and south, were deflected from them, and converged in him. So the Lord hath caused to meet in him the punishment due to the iniquities of ALL.

Verse 6. All we — All mankind; like sheep — Which are exceedingly apt to go astray, and lose themselves; have gone astray — From God, and from the way of truth and duty; of wisdom, piety, and virtue; of holiness and happiness. We have turned every one to his own way — In general, to the way of sin, which may well be called a man’s own way, because sin is natural to us, inherent in us, born with us; and, in particular, to those several paths which several men choose, according to their different opinions and circumstances. And the Lord hath laid — Hebrew, hath made to meet on him, as all the rivers meet in the sea. The iniquity of us all — Not properly, for he knew no sin; but the punishment of iniquity, as the word ˆw[ is frequently used. That which was due for all the sins of all mankind, which must needs be so heavy a load, that if he had not been God as well as man he must have sunk under the burden.

Ver. 6. All 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, making him the vicarious sacrifice for a guilty race. When the Redeemer was before the council of the Jews, it was their aim to convict him of blasphemy; but unable to do it, the highpriest, contrary to all law, adjured him by the living God to say whether he were the Christ. He confessed, and denied not, saying, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.” On hearing this, Caiaphas rent his robe, laid the guilt of blasphemy on the Redeemer’s head, and condemned him as worthy of death. Thus the Lord of glory was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Thus it was, he, ov outov, who himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree, redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us.

6. The sufferings described in verse 5 were those endured by Jehovah’s innocent and righteous Servant, such as he took on himself; and this voluntary endurance in our stead became the source of our healing. The confession still is, He actually suffered. We, the restored ones of Israel, see the case differently from what we did in verses 1-3. We also see that he suffered on our account. All we like sheep have (stupidly) gone astray — We have selfishly sought our own pleasure; have recklessly forgotten God’s commands. This comparison is not unusual. (See Ezekiel 34:5; Matthew 9:36; 1 Peter 2:25.) The statement here gives the reason for sufferings inexpressible voluntarily endured on our behalf. He suffered to bring reconciliation and peace. As a sinless one he did not, he could not, suffer our own penalty. But his sufferings were an equivalent therefor, in consideration of the greatness and holiness of his person. He suffered in full measure what became an expression of the punishment which as a race we deserve. In this sense the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He caused to meet in, or to rush upon, his incarnated self, such amount of suffering as should express the fact or consideration of a suffering of penalty due to us on account of our sins; and this by the cordial acceptance of the Sufferer himself. The Messianic Sufferer became the ideal personal Saviour or Atoner typified by the great sacrificial system of the Old Testament. He became the antitypical declaration to the universe of an eternally competent vicarious sacrifice for the sins of this fallen world. The infinitely Just One hovered over (Hebrew, l[, Greek, uper the unjust, (clear before law,) and meekly willed to take the required blow upon his own head. Still He became not a sinner thereby. He suffered merely as if he were the world’s concentrated body of sinners. In undertaking to save, he encountered the power of sin and broke it; wrought ample expiation for sin, and connected therewith a new covenant of forgiveness for penitent souls. He made his sufferings vicarious, in that himself, who was not in his own person subject to death, did die unto sin as head of a race that was subject so to die.

V. 7. He opened not-He neither murmured against God, nor reviled men.

Verse 7. He was oppressed — By the intolerable weight of his sufferings, and he was afflicted — By the most pungent pain and sorrow. Or, as the Hebrew hn[n awh vgn, is rendered by Bishop Lowth and others, It was exacted, and he answered, or, was made answerable. God’s justice required satisfaction from us for our sins, which, alas! we were incapable of making, and he answered the demand; that is, became our surety, or undertook to pay our debt, or suffer the penalty of the law in our stead. Yet he opened not his mouth — He neither murmured against God for giving him up to suffer for other men’s sins, nor reviled men for punishing him without cause, nor used apologies or endeavours to save his own life; but willingly and quietly accepted the punishment of our iniquity, manifesting, through the whole scene of his unparalleled sufferings, the most exemplary patience and meekness, and the most ready and cheerful compliance with his heavenly Father’s will.

Ver. 7. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Perfect in every active and passive grace, he offered himself without spot to God. He was silent, for we were guilty; defence being of no avail with wolves predetermined to destroy. He was taken from prison and from judgment, dragged from one tribunal to another. He was distressed, he was afflicted; in his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and no one appeared in his defence.

7. He was oppressed, etc. — This verse expresses the treatment he received and his conduct under it. He opened not his mouth — The prophet observes the scene in perspective vision, and so uses the future in the words. He will not open his mouth. The prophetic past thus employs the future tense. The silence of Messiah under cruelties is, not unaptly, compared to that of the innocent lamb — a comparison much maintained throughout the New Testament. (See case of Jesus before Pilate.)

V. 8. Taken away-Out of this life. By distress and judgment-By oppression and violence. and a pretence of justice. His generation-His posterity. For his death shall not be unfruitful; when he is raised from the dead, he shall have a spiritual seed, a numberless multitude of those who shall believe in him. Cut off-By a violent death. And this may be added as a reason of the blessing of a numerous posterity conferred upon him, because he was willing to be cut off for the transgression of his people.

Verse 8. And who shall declare his generation— “And his manner of life who would declare”] A learned friend has communicated to me the following passages from the Mishna, and the Gemara of Babylon, as leading to a satisfactory explication of this difficult place. It is said in the former, that before any one was punished for a capital crime, proclamation was made before the prisoner by the public crier, in these words: wyl[ dmlyw aby twkz wl [dwyv ym lk col mi shioda lo zachoth yabo vayilmad alaiv, “whosoever knows any thing of this man’s innocence, let him come and declare it.” Tract. Sandhedrim. Surenhus. Part iv. p. 233. On which passage the Gemara of Babylon adds, that “before the death of Jesus this proclamation was made for forty days; but no defense could be found.” On which words Lardner observes: “It is truly surprising to see such falsities, contrary to well-known facts.” Testimonies, Vol. I. p. 198. The report is certainly false; but this false report is founded on the supposition that there was such a custom, and so far confirms the account given from the Mishna. The Mishna was composed in the middle of the second century according to Prideaux; Lardner ascribes it to the year of Christ 180. Casaubon has a quotation from Maimonides which farther confirms this account:—Exercitat. in Baronii Annales, Art. lxxvi. Ann. 34. Num. 119. Auctor est Maimonides in Perek xiii. ejus libri ex opere Jad, solitum fieri, ut cum reus, sententiam mortis passus, a loco judicii exibat ducendus ad supplicium, præcedoret ipsum zwrkj khrux, præco; et hæc verba diceret: Ille exit occidendus morte illa, quia transgressus est transgressione illa, in loco illo, tempore illo, et sunt ejus ret testes ille et ille. Qui noverit aliquid ad ejus innœentiam probandam, veniat, et loquatur pro eo. “It was customary when sentence of death was passed upon a criminal, and he was led out from the seat of judgment to the place of punishment, a crier went before, and spoke as follows:—’This man is going out to suffer death by ——— because he has transgressed by ——— such a transgression, in such a place, in such a time; and the witnesses against him are ———. He who may know any thing relative to his innocence let him come and speak in his behalf.’”

Now it is plain from the history of the four Evangelists, that in the trial and condemnation of Jesus no such rule was observed; though, according to the account of the Mishna, it must have been in practice at that time, no proclamation was made for any person to bear witness to the innocence and character of Jesus; nor did any one voluntarily step forth to give his attestation to it. And our Saviour seems to refer to such a custom, and to claim the benefit of it, by his answer to the high priest, when he asked him of his disciples and of his doctrine: “I spoke openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? ask them who heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said,” John 18:20, 21. This, therefore, was one remarkable instance of hardship and injustice, among others predicted by the prophet, which our Saviour underwent in his trial and sufferings.

St. Paul likewise, in similar circumstances, standing before the judgment seat of Festus, seems to complain of the same unjust treatment; that no one was called, or would appear, to vindicate his character. “My manner of life (thn biwsin mou, yrwd dori, ‘my generation’) from my youth, which was at the first among my own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews, who knew me from the beginning, if they would testify; that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee;” Acts 26:4, 5. rwd dor signifies age, duration, the time which one man or many together pass in this world, in this place; the course, tenor, or manner of life. The verb rwd dor signifies, according to Castell, ordinatam vitam sive ætatem egit, ordinavit, ordine constituit. “He passed a certain course of life, he ordained,” &c. In Arabic, curavit, administravit, “he took care of, administered to.” Was he stricken— “He was smitten to death”] The Septuagint read twml lemaveth, eiv qanaton, “to death.” And so the Coptic and Saidic Versions, from the Septuagint; MSS. St. Germain de Prez. “Origen,” (Contra Celsum, lib. i. p. 370, edit. 1733,) after having quoted at large this prophecy concerning the Messiah, “tells us, that having once made use of this passage in a dispute against some that were accounted wise among the Jews, one of them replied, that the words did not mean one man, but one people, the Jews, who were smitten of God and dispersed among the Gentiles for their conversion; that he then urged many parts of this prophecy to show the absurdity of this interpretation, and that he seemed to press them the hardest by this sentence, apo twn anomiwn tou laou mon hcqh eiv qanaton, ‘for the iniquity of my people was he smitten to death.’” Now as Origen, the author of the Hexapla, must have understood Hebrew, we cannot suppose that he would have urged this last quotation as so decisive if the Greek Version had not agreed here with the Hebrew text; nor that these wise Jews would have been at all distressed by this quotation, unless their Hebrew text had read agreeably to eiv qanaton, “to death,” on which the argument principally depended; for, by quoting it immediately, they would have triumphed over him, and reprobated his Greek version. This, whenever they could do it, was their constant practice in their disputes with the Christians. Jerome, in his Preface to the Psalms, says, Nuper cum Hebræo disputans, quædam pro Domino Salvatore de Psalmis testimonia protulisti: volensque ille te illudere, per sermones fere singulos asserebat, non ita haberi in Hebræo, ut tu de LXX. opponebas. “Lately disputing with a Hebrew,—thou advancedst certain passages out of the Psalms which bear testimony to the Lord the Saviour; but he, to elude thy reasoning, asserted that almost all thy quotations have an import in the Hebrew text different from what they had in the Greek.” And Origen himself, who laboriously compared the Hebrew text with the Septuagint, has recorded the necessity of arguing with the Jews from such passages only as were in the Septuagint agreeable to the Hebrew: ina prov Ioudaioiv dialegomenoi mh proferwmen autoi ta mh keimena en toiv antigrafoiv autwn, kai ina

sugcrhswmeqa toiv feromenoiv par~ ekeinoiv. See Epist. ad African. p. 15, 17. Wherefore as Origen had carefully compared the Greek version of the Septuagint with the Hebrew text, and speaks of the contempt with which the Jews treated all appeals to the Greek version where it differed from their Hebrew text; and as he puzzled and confounded the learned Jews by urging upon them the reading eiv qanaton, “unto death,” in this place; it seems almost impossible not to conclude, both from Origen’s argument and the silence of his Jewish adversaries, that the Hebrew text at that time actually had twml lemaveth, “to death,” agreeably to the version of the Septuagint.—Dr. Kennicott.

Verse 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment — As we do not find that imprisonment was any part of Christ’s sufferings, the marginal reading seems to be preferable here. He was taken away by distress and judgment; that is, he was taken out of this life by oppression, violence, and a pretence of justice: or, as Bishop Lowth has it, By an oppressive judgment he was taken off. In Acts 8:33, where we find this passage quoted, the reading of the LXX. is followed exactly, En th tapeinwsei h krisiv autou prqh, In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; that is, in his state of humiliation he had no justice shown him; to take away a person’s judgment, being a proverbial phrase for oppressing him. Or, as Dr. Doddridge explains it, “Jesus appeared in so humble a form, that, though Pilate was convinced of his innocence, he seemed a person of so little importance that it would not be worth while to hazard any thing to preserve him.” They who prefer the translation given in our text, as Beza and many other commentators do, think the words refer to Christ’s being taken, by his resurrection, from his confinement in the grave, (which they suppose to be here called a prison, as it is termed a house, Job 30:23, and a pit, Psalm 69:15,) and from the judgment, or sentence, which had been executed upon him: “agreeable to which Mr. L’Enfant renders it, His condemnation was taken away by his very abasement; that is, his stooping to death gave occasion to his triumph.” And who shall declare his generation — “This is one of the many passages of the Old Testament prophecies,” says Dr. Doddridge, “in which it is not so difficult to find a sense fairly applicable to Christ, as to know which to prefer of several that are so. Many ancient, as well as modern writers, have referred it to the mystery of his Deity,” his eternal generation, “or his incarnation,” his miraculous conception. “But Calvin and Beza say, this was owing to their ignorance of the Hebrew, the word rwd not admitting such a sense; and it is certain it very ill suits the connection with the following clause.” Some understand it as referring to his not having any witnesses to appear for him and give an account of his life and character. This interpretation is preferred by Bishop Lowth, who therefore renders the clause, And his manner of life who would declare? Others again, among whom are Calvin and Beza, think it is as if the prophet had said, “Who can declare how long he shall live and reign, or count the numerous offspring that shall descend from him?” But, “not to say that this idea is much more clearly expressed by the prophet, verse 10, which, on this interpretation, is a tautology,” it does not appear that rwd, generation, and [rz, seed, are ever used as synonymous terms. The former of these words, in the Hebrew, signifies the same with a generation of men, in English, who are contemporaries; (see Genesis 7:1; Judges 2:10; Psalm 95:10, and 109:13;) and genea, in the LXX., by which it is here rendered, has most frequently this sense. “Therefore, I suppose,” says Dr. Doddridge, “with Dr. Hammond, the sense to be, ‘Who can describe the obstinate infidelity and barbarous injustice of that generation of men, among whom he appeared, and from whom he suffered such things?’” For he was cut off — Namely, by a violent death; out of the land of the living — By the wicked hands of those whom he came to save: see Acts 2:23. For the transgression — Or, as some render, ym[ [vpm, By the transgression of my people was he stricken — Hebrew, wml [gn, the stroke was on him; that is, he was stricken, was crucified and slain, by or through the wickedness of the Jews. The former, however, is doubtless the sense intended, for, as the angel testified to Daniel, (Daniel 9:24, 26,) the Messiah was to be cut off, not for himself, but for the sins and salvation of mankind. And this, though asserted verses 4-6, is here repeated as a doctrine that cannot be too frequently inculcated, or too much regarded; and to prevent men’s mistakes about, or stumbling at, the humiliation of Christ, as though he had suffered and died for his own sins.

Ver. 8. Who shall declare his generation; for he was cut off; was crucified in haste, as the paschal lamb was eaten. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. The manner of the Hebrews was, as in oriental nations, when the more distinguished criminals were executed, to publish their pedigree; as Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. Joshua 7:1. Leviticus 24:11. But who shall declare the generation of Him, whom the Lord possessed in the beginning of his ways, before his works of old. Who from the womb of the morning, has the dew of his youth; and whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting. Proverbs 8:22. Micah 5:2. He is the true Melchizedek, without beginning of days or end of life. Hebrews 7:3. Who shall declare his generation, of whom it is said, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee. Hebrews 5:4. St. Paul, who repeatedly cites this text, disdains to attempt exposition, in reply to an infidel philosophy. The above is the true sense of the primitive church. Irenæus, speaking against the errors of the Gnostics, says, Propheta quidem ait de eo, generationem ejus quis enarabit? Vos autem generationem ejus ex Patre divinantes, et Verbi hominem per linguam factam prolationem transferentes in Verbum Dei, juste detegimini à nobis, quod neque humana, nec divina noveritis, &c.

To declare the generation, the dignity, the essence, and nature of Christ, no language is adequate; in regard of which the Holy Ghost says in the prophets, His generation who shall declare? For no man knoweth the Son but the Father. Christ is that light which shone before the world; that intellectual and essential wisdom that was before all ages. The living God, the Word who was in the beginning with the Father; whom the Father alone can fully and perfectly comprehend. Him who is prior to every creature and production, whether visible or invisible, the first and only-begotten Son of God. The great Captain of all the celestial intelligences in the deathless hosts of heaven; the Angel of the great council, the consummator of all the Father’s secret pleasure, the maker and framer of all things in unison with the Father; who, after the Father, is the cause and maker of all things, the true and only-begotten Son of God; yea, Lord and God; the sovereign of all creatures, receiving dominion and power from the Father, together with divinity, power, and honour.—Hist. Ecclesiastes lib.

1. cap. 2.

How noble and ingenuous are these declarations, compared with the artifices and evasions of our new translators, who say in succession, Who shall declare the wickedness of the age in which the Saviour lived? Our dignitaries, our rational divines, have the effrontery to ask this question! The age in which he lived was the serpent’s age, a generation of vipers. Inspired men use the interrogative forms of speech for things which cannot be uttered. Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear—who shall be able to stand—who shall declare his generation? It is unutterable, it is ineffable, it is eternal.

8. From prison and from judgment… who shall declare, etc. — Among multifarious interpretations here, that which is least often adopted seems the best, (Lowth,) namely, Deprived of proper legal detainment and trial — the usual prior summoning of witnesses, according to Jewish law — who can have the requisite knowledge of his teaching and way of life in such a precipitate condemnation? The Hebrew preposition mem, (English, from,) before the words rendered “prison,” and “judgment,” denotes the unjust privative fact, or legal right denied to him; and Christ’s own reference when before Pilate (John 18:20, 21) to the Jewish law of trial, adds force to this interpretation, which is further sustained by the following clause. For he was cut off out of the land of the living — And this with indecent haste; with no chance for a proper trial: all this, too, because he was willing to suffer for the sins of the people of Israel and of the world. Was he stricken — Hebrew, The stroke was upon him.

V. 9. With the wicked-This was a farther degree of humiliation. He saith, he made his grave, because this was Christ’s own act, and he willingly yielded up himself to death and burial. And that which follows, with the wicked, does not denote the sameness of place, as if he should be buried in the same grave with other malefactors, but the sameness of condition.

Verse 9. With the rich in his death— “With the rich man was his tomb”] It may be necessary to introduce Bishop Lowth’s translation of this verse before we come to his very satisfactory criticisms:— And his grave was appointed with the wicked;

But with the rich man was his tomb:

Although he had done no wrong,

Neither was there any guile in his mouth.

Among the various opinions which have been given on this passage, I have no doubt in giving my assent to that which makes the b beth in wytwmb bemothaiv radical, and renders it excelsa sua. This is mentioned by Aben Ezra as received by some in his time; and has been long since approved by Schindler, Drusius, and many other learned Christian interpreters. The most simple tombs or monuments of old consisted of hillocks of earth heaped up over the grave; of which we have numerous examples in our own country, generally allowed to be of very high antiquity. The Romans called a monument of this sort very properly tumulus; and the Hebrews as properly twmb bamoth, “high place,” for that is the form of the noun in the singular number; and sixteen MSS. and the two oldest editions express the word fully in this place, wytwmb bamothaiv. Tumulus et collem et sepulchrum fuisse significat. Potest enim tumulus sine sepulchro interpretatione collis interdum accipi. Nam et terræ congestio super ossa tumulus dicitur. “Tumulus signifies a sepulchre with a hillock of earth raised over it. The word is sometimes restrained to the bank of earth; for the heaping up of the earth over the bones is named the tumulus.”— Servius, Æn. iii. 22. And to make the tumulus still more elevated and conspicuous, a pillar or some other ornament was often erected upon it:— Tumbon ceuantev, kai epi sthlhn erusantev,

Phxamen akrotatw tumbw euhrev eretmon.

Odyss. xii. 14.

“A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace,

Fast by the roarings of the main we place;

The rising tomb a lofty column bore,

And high above it rose the tapering oar.”

POPE.

The tomb therefore might with great propriety be called the high place. The Hebrews might also call such a tomb twmb bamoth, from the situation, for they generally chose to erect them on eminences. The sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Christ was laid, was upon a hill, Mount Calvary. See Isaiah 22:16, and the note there. “It should be observed that the word wytwmb bamothaiv is not formed from twmb bamoth, the plural of hmb bamah, the feminine noun, but from במותים bamothim, the plural of a masculine noun, twmb bamoth. This is noted because these two nouns have been negligently confounded with one another, and absurdly reduced to one by very learned men. So Buxtorf, lex. in voc. hmb bamah, represents ytwmb bamotey, though plainly without any pronoun suffixed, as it governs the word xra arets following it, as only another form of twmb bamoth; whereas the truth is, that twmb bamoth and במותים bamothim are different words, and have through the whole Bible very different significations; hmb bamah, whether occurring in the singular or plural number, always signifying a place or places of worship; and במותים bamothim always signifying heights. Thus in Deuteronomy 32:13; Isaiah 58:14; Amos 4:13; and Micah 1:3, xra ytwmb bamothey arets signifies ‘the heights of the earth;’ Isaiah 14:14, b[ ytwmb bamothey ab, ‘the heights of the clouds;’ and in Job 9:8, ים ytwmb bamothey yam, ‘the heights of the sea,’ i.e., the high waves of the sea, as Virgil calls a wave præruptus aqua mons, ‘a broken mountain of water.’ These being all the places where this word occurs without a suffix, the sense of it seems nearly determined by them. It occurs in other instances with a pronoun suffixed, which confirm this signification. Unluckily, our English Bible has not distinguished the feminine noun hmb bamah from the masculine singular noun twmb bamoth; and has consequently always given the signification of the latter to the former, always rendering it a high place; whereas the true sense of the word appears plainly to be, in the very numerous passages in which it occurs, ‘a place of worship,’ or ‘a sacred court,’ or ‘a sacred inclosure;’ whether appropriated to the worship of idols or to that of the true God, for it is used of both, passim. Now as the Jewish graves are shown, from 2 Chronicles 32:33, and Isaiah 22:16, to have been in high situations, to which may be added the custom of another eastern nation from Osbeck’s Travels, who says, vol. i. p. 339, ‘the Chinese graves are made on the side of hills;’ ‘his heights’ becomes a very easy metaphor to express ‘his sepulchre.’”—JUBB.

The exact completion of this prophecy will be fully shown by adding here the several circumstances of the burial of Jesus, collected from the accounts of the evangelists:—

“There was a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, a member of the sanhedrin, and of a respectable character, who had not consented to their counsel and act; he went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus: and he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock, near to the place where Jesus was crucified; having first wound it in fine linen with spices, as the manner of the Jews was to bury the rich and great.” It has been supposed that wrbq kibro, his grave, and wytmb bemothaiv, in his death, may have been transposed, as also the prefix b be originally placed before רשעים reshaim, the wicked. Thus:—

wytm ta ברשעים ויתנ

mothaiv eth bireshayim vaiyitten

wrbq ryv[ taw

kibro ashir veeth

Yea, his death was appointed among the wicked,

And with a rich man, his tomb.

By these alterations it is supposed the text would be freed from all embarrassment. But see the preceding notes of Bishop Lowth, and the various readings of Deuteronomy Rossi, in loc.

Verse 9. And he made his grave with the wicked — And although he did not die for his own sins, but only for those of mankind, yet he was willing to die like a malefactor, or like a sinner, as all other men are, and to be put into a grave as they use to be; which was a further degree of his humiliation. He saith, he made his grave, because this was Christ’s own act, and he willingly yielded up himself to death and burial. And that which follows, with the wicked, does not denote the sameness of place, as if he should be buried in the same grave with other malefactors, but the sameness of condition. But the words may be rendered, A grave was appointed for him with the wicked; but he was with the rich at his death. Or, as Bishop Lowth reads it, His grave was appointed with the wicked; but with the rich man was his tomb. See his notes. “As our Lord was crucified between two thieves, it was doubtless intended he should be buried with them. ‘Thus his grave was appointed with the wicked;’ but Joseph of Arimathea came and asked for his body, and Pilate, convinced that he had committed no crime, readily granted Joseph’s request. Thus ‘he was with the rich at his death,’ that is, till his resurrection: and this took place contrary to the intention of his enemies, because he had done no violence, &c., for otherwise Joseph would scarcely have requested Pilate, and probably Pilate would not have consented, to deliver up the body of a crucified malefactor.” — Scott. But this latter clause may be connected with the following verse, and rendered, Although he had done no violence, &c., yet it pleased the Lord, &c. In this light it is considered by Bishop Lowth and many others.

Ver. 9. He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death. The Versions vary; the Hebrew being brief, is rather obscure. The Vulgate reads, Et dabit impios pro sepultura, et divitem pro morte sua. The comments are, I will make thy death like that of Samson, a final stroke at principalities and powers. I will make Jerusalem the grave of its inhabitants, and destroy Pilate and the proud council of the Jews by the Romans, both root and branch. But others read, His grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the rich man was his tomb. In this view the text is a luminous prophecy of all that occurred in his burial. His glory, and his illustrious virtues, procured him this honourable sepulchre. He had done no violence against the Romans, neither was deceit before the council found in his mouth.

9. Made his grave with the wicked… with the rich — How

circumstantial the facts in this verse! As if himself were a malefactor, he suffered and died with malefactors. But from the first moment afterward, not the indecencies common to malefactors’ burials attended his dead body, but honour in a high degree; his burial was most honourable. His spirit, also, (1 Peter 3:19,) rose to more than its normal vigour; then body and spirit were reunited in immortal resurrection. Because — Here is a sudden change in the thought directed to a re-attestation of the sufferer’s innocence.

V. 10. He-God was the principal cause of all his sufferings, tho’ mens sins were the deserving cause. When-When thou, O God, shalt have made, thy son a sacrifice, by giving him up to death for the atonement of mens sins. His soul is here put for his life, or for himself. Shall see-He shall have a numerous issue of believers reconciled by God, and saved by his death. Prolong-He shall live and reign with God for ever. The pleasure-God’s gracious decree for the salvation of mankind shall be effectually carried on by his ministry and mediation.

Verse 10. To grief— “With affliction”] For yljh hecheli, the verb, the construction of which seems to be hard and inelegant in this place, the Vulgate reads yljb bocholi, in infirmitate, “with infirmity.” When thou shalt make his soul— “If his soul shall make”] For µyct tasim, a MS. has µct tasem, which may be taken passively, “If his soul shall be made— “agreeably to some copies of the Septuagint, which have dwtai. See likewise the Syriac.

When thou shalt make his soul an offering] The word vpn nephesh, soul, is frequently used in Hebrew to signify life. Throughout the New Testament the salvation of men is uniformly attributed to the death of Christ.

He shall see his seed] True converts, genuine Christians. He shall prolong his days] Or this spiritual progeny shall prolong their days, i.e., Christianity shall endure to the end of time. And the pleasure of the Lord] To have all men saved and brought to the knowledge of the truth.

Shall prosper in his hand.] Shall go on in a state of progressive prosperity; and so completely has this been thus far accomplished, that every succeeding century has witnessed more Christianity in the world than the preceding, or any former one.

Verses 10, 11. It pleased the Lord to bruise him — Although he was perfectly innocent, it pleased God, for other just and wise reasons, to expose him to sufferings and death. He hath put him to grief — His God and Father spared him not, though he was his only and beloved Son, but delivered him up for us all, to ignominy and torture, delivered him by his determinate counsel and foreknowledge, (Acts 2:23,) into the power of those whose wicked hands he knew would execute upon him every species of cruelty and barbarity. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin — When thou, O God, shalt have made thy Son a sacrifice, by giving him up to death for the atonement of men’s sins. His soul is here put for his life, or for himself, or his whole human nature, which was sacrificed, his soul being oppressed with a sense of the wrath of God due to our sins, his body crucified, and his soul and body separated by death. Or, the words, wvpn µva µyvt µa, may be rendered, when, or, if his soul shall make an offering for sin, or, a propitiatory sacrifice: whereby it may be implied, that he did not lay down his life by compulsion, but willingly. He shall see his seed — His death shall be glorious to himself and highly beneficial to others, for he shall have a numerous seed of believers, reconciled to God, and saved by his death. He shall prolong his days — He shall be raised to immortal life, and live and reign with God for ever. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand — God’s gracious decree, for the salvation of mankind, shall be effectually carried on by his ministry and mediation. He shall see of the travail of his soul — He shall enjoy the comfortable and blessed fruit of all his hard labours and grievous sufferings: and shall be satisfied — He shall esteem his own and his Father’s glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompense. By his knowledge — By the knowledge of, or an acquaintance with himself, that knowledge which is accompanied with faith, love, and obedience to him; shall my righteous servant justify many — Shall acquit them that believe in and obey him from the guilt of all their sins, and save them from the dreadful consequences thereof. Justification is here, as in most other places of the Scriptures, one or two excepted opposed to condemnation: and Christ is said to justify sinners, because he does it meritoriously, procuring justification for us by his sacrifice; as God the Father is commonly said to justify authoritatively, because he accepted the price paid by Christ for that blessing, and the pronouncing of the sentence of absolution is referred to him in the gospel dispensation. For he shall bear their iniquities — For he shall satisfy the justice and law of God for them, by bearing the punishment due to their sins; and therefore, on the principles of reason and justice, they must be acquitted, otherwise the same debt would be twice required and paid.

Ver. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Our redemption is constantly ascribed to the good pleasure of the Father: he spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all. He hath put him to grief; to such grief as no one besides ever endured, and such as no finite mind can comprehend. His soul was made an offering for sin, not his body only; and hence that bitter exclamation in Gethsemane, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.

He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. When great kings and conquerors die, their sun goes down, the monuments decay, and their histories recede. But with the death of Christ the sun rose to set no more. Immortality and life were demonstrated; righteousness was published to the gentiles, and the world invited from all the darkness of crime and misery, to life and righteousness in the Lord. Rejoice then, ye heavens; be glad, oh earth; and let the nations stretch out their hands to the Lord.

The clouds of death being chased away, a flood of evangelical light broke in upon the prophet’s mind. He saw the rejected stone made the head of the corner; he saw the Redeemer’s enemies put under his feet, and the nations converted to the Lord. He saw the joys of earth swell the joys of heaven.

10, 11. It pleased the Lord to bruise him — Notwithstanding his innocence. His bruising thus accords with the divine idea of permitting (Acts 2:23) an expression of love through suffering, which expression Messiah alone is competent to make. The time of being pleased with Old Testament sacrifices is proleptically past, as brought out in Psalm 40:6-8, (Lo, I come, etc.) But the time of receiving reward for suffering is now at hand. He shall see his seed — Love declared to the world through a suffering self-offering, is to reap fruit in a long line of spiritual children whose own deserved penal sufferings are offset by Messiah’s free suffering instead. He shall prolong his days — This he is to do in the great mediatorial aion — the period of the great Christian dispensation that is to follow — during which his joy shall abound more and more through the vast increase of redeemed ones coming into his kingdom. A fitting and satisfying reward shall this prove to be. The same idea is expanded in verse

11. By his knowledge — His “knowledge,” probably, of the eternal plan to save men; “knowledge” of the how, and why, and extent, of such a plan, possibly not fully contemplated till his glorification began, just prior to his priestly sufferings, and continuing to his exaltation. See Matthew 24:36. Such knowledge was relief to those sufferings. He saw from the cross “the glory that should follow,” and in a sense was thereby sustained. In such case he could freely and joyfully interpose for a world of sinners with sufferings due only to them, and of such a character that divine justice and government might accept his suffering in lieu of theirs, and be in no jeopardy.

V. 11. Shall see-He shall enjoy. The travel-The blessed fruit of all his labours, and sufferings. Satisfied-He shall esteem his own and his father’s glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompence. By his knowledge-By the knowledge of him. Justify-Acquit them from the guilt of their sins, and all the dreadful consequences thereof. And Christ is said to justify sinners meritoriously, because he purchases and procures it for us. Many-An innumerable company of all nations. For-For he shall satisfy the justice of God, by bearing the punishment due to their sins.

Verse 11. Shall be satisfied— “And be satisfied”] The Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and a MS. add the conjunction to the verb, [bcyw vaigisba.

Shall my righteous servant justify— “Shall my servant justify”] Three MSS., (two of them ancient,) omit the word qydx tsaddik; it seems to be only an imperfect repetition, by mistake, of the preceding word. It makes a solecism in this place; for according to the constant usage of the Hebrew language, the adjective, in a phrase of this kind, ought to follow the substantive; and ydb[ qydx tsaddik abdi, in Hebrew, would be as absurd as “shall my servant righteous justify,” in English. Add to this, that it makes the hemistich too long.

Verses 10, 11. It pleased the Lord to bruise him — Although he was perfectly innocent, it pleased God, for other just and wise reasons, to expose him to sufferings and death. He hath put him to grief — His God and Father spared him not, though he was his only and beloved Son, but delivered him up for us all, to ignominy and torture, delivered him by his determinate counsel and foreknowledge, (Acts 2:23,) into the power of those whose wicked hands he knew would execute upon him every species of cruelty and barbarity. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin — When thou, O God, shalt have made thy Son a sacrifice, by giving him up to death for the atonement of men’s sins. His soul is here put for his life, or for himself, or his whole human nature, which was sacrificed, his soul being oppressed with a sense of the wrath of God due to our sins, his body crucified, and his soul and body separated by death. Or, the words, wvpn µva µyvt µa, may be rendered, when, or, if his soul shall make an offering for sin, or, a propitiatory sacrifice: whereby it may be implied, that he did not lay down his life by compulsion, but willingly. He shall see his seed — His death shall be glorious to himself and highly beneficial to others, for he shall have a numerous seed of believers, reconciled to God, and saved by his death. He shall prolong his days — He shall be raised to immortal life, and live and reign with God for ever. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand — God’s gracious decree, for the salvation of mankind, shall be effectually carried on by his ministry and mediation. He shall see of the travail of his soul — He shall enjoy the comfortable and blessed fruit of all his hard labours and grievous sufferings: and shall be satisfied — He shall esteem his own and his Father’s glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompense. By his knowledge — By the knowledge of, or an acquaintance with himself, that knowledge which is accompanied with faith, love, and obedience to him; shall my righteous servant justify many — Shall acquit them that believe in and obey him from the guilt of all their sins, and save them from the dreadful consequences thereof. Justification is here, as in most other places of the Scriptures, one or two excepted opposed to condemnation: and Christ is said to justify sinners, because he does it meritoriously, procuring justification for us by his sacrifice; as God the Father is commonly said to justify authoritatively, because he accepted the price paid by Christ for that blessing, and the pronouncing of the sentence of absolution is referred to him in the gospel dispensation. For he shall bear their iniquities — For he shall satisfy the justice and law of God for them, by bearing the punishment due to their sins; and therefore, on the principles of reason and justice, they must be acquitted, otherwise the same debt would be twice required and paid.

Ver. 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Faint are the joys of a woman when a son and heir is born, compared with those of Christ. His triumph over principalities and powers on the cross, his removal of guilt by the sacrifice of himself, his opening life and righteousness to a guilty world, the conversion of nations unnumbered in multitude, filled his mind with unutterable delight. “Father, behold me, and the children whom thou hast given me.” A progeny ransomed from Satan, sin, and death, now made heirs of righteousness and eternal joy. Filled with the glorious designations of Deity, he despised the cross, endured the shame, and took his session on the mediatorial throne.

By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Surely these are glad tidings to sinners. The unsearchable riches of the knowledge of Christ are obtained by hearing the gospel, their sin is removed by an all sufficient sacrifice, and the gift of righteousness is poured into the heart. Who is he that condemneth? It is God that justifieth, it is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again. The creditor has no claims, the holiness of God has no impeachment; rebels are reconciled in a way perfectly honourable to the divine government, and sinners are made saints and sons of God. Haste then, haste to embrace the righteousness of God our Redeemer.

10, 11. It pleased the Lord to bruise him — Notwithstanding his innocence. His bruising thus accords with the divine idea of permitting (Acts 2:23) an expression of love through suffering, which expression Messiah alone is competent to make. The time of being pleased with Old Testament sacrifices is proleptically past, as brought out in Psalm 40:6-8, (Lo, I come, etc.) But the time of receiving reward for suffering is now at hand. He shall see his seed — Love declared to the world through a suffering self-offering, is to reap fruit in a long line of spiritual children whose own deserved penal sufferings are offset by Messiah’s free suffering instead. He shall prolong his days — This he is to do in the great mediatorial aion — the period of the great Christian dispensation that is to follow — during which his joy shall abound more and more through the vast increase of redeemed ones coming into his kingdom. A fitting and satisfying reward shall this prove to be. The same idea is expanded in verse

11. By his knowledge — His “knowledge,” probably, of the eternal plan to save men; “knowledge” of the how, and why, and extent, of such a plan, possibly not fully contemplated till his glorification began, just prior to his priestly sufferings, and continuing to his exaltation. See Matthew 24:36. Such knowledge was relief to those sufferings. He saw from the cross “the glory that should follow,” and in a sense was thereby sustained. In such case he could freely and joyfully interpose for a world of sinners with sufferings due only to them, and of such a character that divine justice and government might accept his suffering in lieu of theirs, and be in no jeopardy.

V. 12. I-God the father. A portion-Which is very commodiously supplied out of the next clause. With the strong-God will give him happy success in his glorious undertaking: he shall conquer all his enemies, and set up his universal and everlasting kingdom in the world. Because-Because he willingly laid down his life. Transgressors-He prayed upon earth for all sinners, and particularly for those that crucified him, and in heaven he still intercedes for them, by a legal demand of those good things which he purchased; by the sacrifice of himself, which, though past, he continually represents to his father, as if it were present.

Verse 12. He bare the sin of many] רבים rabbim, the multitudes, the many that were made sinners by the offences of one; i.e., the whole human race; for all have sinned-all have fallen; and for all that have sinned, and for all that have fallen, Jesus Christ died. The רבים rabbim of the prophet answers to the oi polloi, of the apostle, Romans 5:15, 19. As the polloi of the apostle means all that have sinned; so the רבים rabbim of the prophet means those for whom Christ died; i.e., all that have sinned. And made intercession for the transgressors.] For [ygpy yaphgia, in the future, a MS. has [ygph hiphgia, preterite, rather better, as agreeable with the other verbs immediately preceding in the sentence.

He made intercession for the transgressors.—This was literally fulfilled at his death, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do!” Luke 23:34. And to make intercession for transgressors is one part of his mediatorial office. Hebrews 7:25; 9:24.

IN this chapter the incarnation, preaching, humiliation, rejection, sufferings, death, atonement, resurrection, and mediation of Jesus Christ are all predicted, together with the prevalence of his Gospel, and the extension of his kingdom through all ages.

ISAIAH

Verse 12. Therefore will I — Namely, God the Father; divide him a portion — This word portion (though there is nothing for it in the Hebrew) is properly supplied out of the next clause, where a word, which answers to it, rendered the spoil, is expressed; with the great — Or, among the great — such as the great and mighty potentates of the world use to have after a short combat and a glorious victory. Though he be a very mean and obscure person, as to his outward condition in the world, yet he shall attain to a greater pitch of glory than the greatest monarchs enjoy. He shall divide the spoil with the strong — The same thing repeated in other words. The sense of both clauses is, I will give him great and happy success in his undertaking: he shall conquer all his enemies, and lead captivity captive; and he shall set up and establish his kingdom among and over all the kingdoms of the world: see Ephesians 1:20, &c.; and Philippians 2:8, 9. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death — Because he willingly laid down his life in obedience to God’s command, and in order to the redemption of mankind. And he was numbered with the transgressors — He was willing, for God’s glory, and for man’s salvation, to be reproached and punished, like a malefactor, in the same manner and place with them, and between two of them, Mark 15:27, 28. And made intercession for the transgressors — He prayed upon earth for all sinners, and particularly for those that crucified him, and in heaven he still intercedes for them, by a legal demand of those good things which he purchased by the sacrifice of himself, which, though past, he continually represents to his Father as if it were present.

Ver. 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. The prophet Daniel illustrates this text by adding, after the succession of the four great empires, the Babylonian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, “But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, yea, for ever and ever.” The Messiah’s kingdom shall not be left to other people; the Father having said, I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Psalm 2:8. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death, laying down his life for us. St. Paul, alluding to this passage, says, Because he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And if his mediatorial glory surpass that of angels, what must his divine and essential glory be? He was numbered with the transgressors. He was classed with them in the criminal courts, and associated with them when crucified on Calvary. And he bare the sin of many. µybr rabbim, the multitudes. One victim died, bearing the sins of the whole nation, as in ver. 6, and Romans 5:15, 18. And made intercession for the transgressors: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The Saviour stands between the offended God and the offending world, and solicits our salvation on the ground of mediatorial right, and covenant engagements.

12. Therefore — That is, for all this mediatorial suffering and work; for this whole victorious combat with the powers of sin. Will I divide him — Hebrew, to him. With the great — Or, among the great. The figure is, of spoils from great conquests, and its meaning as applied to a suffering Messiah is, that his victories shall be very great. The language is mixed with ellipses, and is therefore obscure. To arrange it into orderly thought is difficult. A fair theory of the course of thought in the verse is, that it runs on a line of glorious promise between Messiah, humiliation, and exaltation, just now to be entered on. Out of trial, suffering, and combat, he is to come forth victorious. He shall build up a spiritual kingdom that is to crush all other powers, that is never to be diminished, and is to be unending. And all this, because, first, he freely poured out his life, that is, his blood, for life is in the blood, (Leviticus 17:11;) second, because he submitted to an ignominious death; and third, because he is an effective intercessor for men. The first two are already accomplished, and the third he is still acting. These constitute him a perfect mediator. The time when intercession shall cease is yet to come, and then he shall deliver up his kingdom with triumph eternally complete.