Isaiah 53

This chapter belongs to the prophecies of comfort and restoration that run from chapter 40 of Isaiah onward. It continues and completes the song about the "servant of the LORD" that begins in Isaiah 52:13–15. Scholars commonly call this song the "Fourth Servant Song."

Outline

• Verses 1–3: "We" make a confession. The servant was like a root out of dry ground, with no form or comeliness; he was despised and rejected, and he was not esteemed.
• Verses 4–6: The griefs and sorrows the servant bore were in fact on account of "our" transgressions and iniquities. The LORD laid on him the iniquity of a people who, like sheep, had gone astray.
• Verses 7–9: Like a lamb brought to the slaughter, the servant did not open his mouth. He was cut off out of the land of the living, and although he had done no violence, he made his grave with the wicked.
• Verses 10–12: The LORD speaks. He declares that if the servant makes his soul a guilt offering (an offering that makes restitution for sin), he will see his seed, will justify many, and will make intercession for the transgressors.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded for our transgressions" — the verse that most concisely expresses substitutionary suffering.
• Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray" — a confession that the cause of the suffering lies with "us."
• Isaiah 53:11 "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many" — showing that the suffering leads to justification.

People and Places

• The servant of the LORD: An unnamed figure, referred to as the Suffering Servant.
• "We": The speakers, who misunderstood the servant and came to realize the truth only later.
• No specific places are mentioned.

Points to Consider When Reading

• Christian tradition reads this servant as Jesus Christ and regards the chapter as a preeminent messianic prophecy. In Jewish tradition, a widely known interpretation reads the servant as the suffering people of Israel as a whole.
• Views differ on the authorship of chapters 40 onward. Conservative scholars hold that the prophet Isaiah himself wrote them, while critical scholarship sometimes posits a different author from around the time of the Exile.
• Interpretations also differ regarding the "healing" in verses 4–6. Pentecostal and Full Gospel traditions, citing Matthew 8:16–17, hold that it includes physical healing (divine healing). Other denominations, following the context of 1 Peter 2:24, tend to read it as centered on restoration from sin.
• The New Testament quotes this chapter several times. Verse 1 appears in John 12:38 and Romans 10:16; verses 7–8 appear in the account of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:32–35; and verse 12 appears in Luke 22:37.

In the Korean Church

The chapter is frequently read and preached during Holy Week and in Good Friday services. Handel's Messiah includes choruses and a solo set to verses 3–6 of this chapter, and church choirs sometimes perform them in seasonal concerts.