With regard to this, the following is the translation from the Revised Version, together with the corresponding events. It will be observed that the sufferings of the Servant are usually expressed in the past tense, and his triumph in the future, the prophet placing himself, as it were, between the two. But the Hebrew tenses are rather uncertain, and what is translated as past in the Revised Version is translated as future in the Authorised (e.g., 53. 2).
| 52. 13. 'Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. | The excellence of Christ's teaching and conduct is now generally admitted; while as to His exalted position, He is worshipped by millions of men. |
| 14. 'Like as many were astonied at thee (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men) so shall he sprinkle many nations; | Yet at the time of His death, which was public so that many saw Him, the cruel treatment He had received must have terribly disfigured His face and body. |
| 15. 'Kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand. | But now even Kings are silent with reverence,[366] when contemplating such a wonderful life. |
| 53. 1. 'Who hath believed our report? | Indeed what the prophet is about to declare, is so marvellous that it can scarcely be believed. |
| 'and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? | The Arm of the Lord evidently means some instrument, or Person, which God uses for His work, as a man might use his arm.[367] And here it must be a Person, from the following words, 'For he grew up,' etc. It is thus a most suitable term for the Messiah, who was to be recognised by hardly anyone. |
| 2. 'For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: | This was because He lived at a place (Nazareth) which was always regarded as dry ground so far as anything good was concerned.[368] |
| he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. | Moreover, His appearance was humble, and when at His trial, Pilate presented Him to the people, they did not desire Him. |
| 3. 'He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not. | But they at once rejected Him as they had done often before. |
| 4. 'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. | While His life was not only one of grief and sorrow, but such a death seemed to show that He was accursed of God, for the Jews so regarded anyone who was crucified.[369] |
| 5. '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. | The scourging and other ill-treatment is here referred to; including probably the nails, and spear, for the word translated wounded is literally pierced. |
| 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. | |
| 7. 'He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened not his mouth. | Christ, who is sometimes called the Lamb of God, not only bore His ill-treatment patiently, but refused to plead at either of His trials (the verse repeats twice He opened not His mouth) to the utter astonishment of His judges.[370] |
| 8. 'By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? for the transgression of my people was he stricken. | He was not killed accidentally, or by the mob, but had a judicial trial; and was most unjustly condemned. While few, if any, of His contemporaries understood the real meaning of His death. |
| 9. 'And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death (i.e., when he was dead. Comp. Ps. 6. 8); | He was appointed to die between two robbers, and would doubtless have been buried with them, had not Joseph of Arimathea intervened; when, in strange contrast with His ignominious death, He was honourably buried, with costly spices, and in a rich man's tomb. |
| although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. | Although His judge repeatedly declared that He was innocent. |
| 10. 'Yet 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. | Yet after His death He was to see His seed, and prolong His days, i.e., rise again from the dead. The word seed cannot mean here, actual children,[371] since He was to obtain them by His death. But it may well refer to the disciples, whom Christ saw after His Resurrection, and called His children.[372] |
| 11. 'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities. | And this is confirmed by their being spoken of as the travail of His soul, not body. While the latter expression also implies that He had had some intense mental struggle comparable to the bodily pains of childbirth; which is very suitable to His mental agony in the Garden and on the Cross. |
| 12. 'Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; | His subsequent triumph in the Christian Church is here alluded to. |
| because he poured out his soul unto death, | This implies that His sufferings were of some duration; and is thus very appropriate to a lingering death like crucifixion. |
| and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.' | While the closing words exactly agree with His dying a shameful death between two robbers; yet praying for His murderers, 'Father, forgive them.' |
[366] Comp. Job 29. 9.
[367] Comp. Isa. 40. 10; 51. 9.
[368] John 1. 46.
[369] Deut. 21. 23; Gal. 3. 13.
[370] Matt. 26. 62; 27. 14.
[371] Comp. Isa. 1. 4.
[372] Mark 10. 24; John 21. 5.
It seems hardly necessary to insist on the agreement shown above; it is indisputable. The sufferings and the triumph of the Lord's Servant are foretold with equal confidence and with equal clearness, though they might well have seemed incompatible.