Isaiah 53

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 700 BC – 538 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

12 verses · 382 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen

The Suffering Servant

Acts 8:26–40; 1 Peter 2:21–25

¹Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

²He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no stately form or majesty to attract us,

no beauty that we should desire Him.

³He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

Like one from whom men hide their faces,

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

⁴Surely He took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows;

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

struck down and afflicted.

⁵But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed.

⁶We all like sheep have gone astray,

each one has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid upon Him

the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open His mouth.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

⁸By oppression and judgment He was taken away,

and who can recount His descendants?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

A Grave Assigned

Matthew 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42

⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with a rich man in His death,

although He had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in His mouth.

¹⁰Yet it was the Lordʼs will to crush Him

and to cause Him to suffer;

and when His soul is made a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,

and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

¹¹After the anguish of His soul,

He will see the light of life and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many,

and He will bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great,

and He will divide the spoils with the strong,

because He has poured out His life unto death,

and He was numbered with the transgressors.

Yet He bore the sin of many

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Footnotes (11)

a v1 Cited in John 12:38and Romans 10:16
b v4 LXX This One bears our sins and is pained for us; cited in Matthew 8:17and 1 Peter 2:24
c v5 Cited in 1 Peter 2:24
d v6 Cited in 1 Peter 2:25
e v8 LXX In humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth; cited in Acts 8:32–33.
f v9 Cited in 1 Peter 2:22
g v10 Or and though He makes His life a guilt offering
h v11 DSS (see also LXX); MT does not include the light of life.
i v12 Or many
j v12 Or numerous
k v12 Cited in Luke 22:37

Study notes on this chapter · 7

Type / patternTraditional reading

The scapegoat carrying sins away

On the Day of Atonement the high priest laid the people's sins on a live goat and sent it into the wilderness. The New Testament does not cite the scapegoat by name, but Christian tradition has linked it with Christ bearing sin (as in Isaiah 53:6, 12), alongside the goat that was slain.

When: Leviticus (Sinai era).

Original passageLeviticus 16:7–10Leviticus 16:20–22

Echoed inIsaiah 53:6John 1:29

Ways people read this (3)

The two goats together illustrate Christ's death and the removal of sin (a common patristic reading).
The goat for Azazel is seen by some as sent to a demonic figure; by others as a symbol of sin's removal.
Jewish tradition reads the ritual as atonement and forgiveness for the people, without a messianic dimension.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentDebated

He will be called a Nazarene

Matthew says that by settling in Nazareth, Jesus fulfilled what was spoken 'by the prophets', yet no Old Testament verse says these words. Matthew uses the plural 'prophets', so he may be summarizing a theme rather than quoting one text. Interpreters propose several links, none certain.

When: Matthew's account of Jesus' childhood; written c. AD 60–85.

Original passageIsaiah 11:1Isaiah 53:3Judges 13:5

Where the New Testament applies itMatthew 2:23

Ways people read this (4)

A wordplay on the Hebrew 'netzer' (branch, shoot) in Isaiah 11:1, so 'Nazarene' recalls the Davidic Branch.
An allusion to the despised status of Nazareth and of the suffering servant (compare John 1:46 and Isaiah 53:3).
A reference to Nazirite-like holiness (Judges 13:5), though Jesus is not described as a Nazirite.
Matthew cites a prophetic theme (contempt and lowliness) rather than a specific verse, or a source we no longer have.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

Who has believed our message?

John explains the crowds' unbelief despite Jesus' many signs by quoting Isaiah's question 'Who has believed our message?' and, with it, Isaiah's commission to a hardened people. Paul uses the same verse for Israel's response to the gospel.

When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; John's gospel, c. AD 80–95.

Original passageIsaiah 53:1Isaiah 6:10

Where the New Testament applies itJohn 12:37–41Romans 10:16

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

The suffering servant

A servant despised and rejected, wounded for the transgressions of others, silent like a lamb before its shearers, who bears the sin of many and is 'numbered with the transgressors'. The New Testament quotes or alludes to this passage more than any other to explain Jesus' death: healing (Matthew 8), silence before accusers (Acts 8), substitutionary suffering (1 Peter 2), being counted among criminals (Luke 22).

When: Isaiah 40–55 (composition dated to c. 700 BC by some scholars, c. 540 BC by others); quoted in the New Testament c. AD 30–95.

Original passageIsaiah 53:1–12

Where the New Testament applies itMatthew 8:16–17John 12:37–38Acts 8:32–35Luke 22:371 Peter 2:21–25Romans 10:16

Ways people read this (3)

Christian reading: a prophecy of Jesus' atoning death.
Traditional Jewish reading: the servant is Israel, suffering for the nations.
Some scholars see both an original corporate meaning and a later individual reading.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

He took our infirmities

After Jesus heals many at Capernaum, Matthew says this fulfilled Isaiah's words about the servant bearing infirmities and diseases. Matthew applies the verse to Jesus' healing ministry, while other writers (such as Peter) apply the same chapter to his death for sin.

When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Jesus' healings in Galilee, c. AD 28–30.

Original passageIsaiah 53:4

Where the New Testament applies itMatthew 8:16–17

Echoed in1 Peter 2:24

Ways people read this (2)

Matthew applies the verse to physical healing during Jesus' ministry; others see healing as a foretaste of what the cross secures.
Some traditions teach that physical healing is guaranteed in the atonement; many others say complete healing awaits the resurrection.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

Like a sheep led to slaughter

An Ethiopian official is reading Isaiah 53 and asks Philip whom the prophet is talking about, himself or someone else. Philip begins with that passage and tells him the good news of Jesus. It is one of the clearest New Testament cases of the servant song being applied to Jesus, and the question itself shows how the passage was read.

When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Philip on the Gaza road, c. AD 33–35.

Original passageIsaiah 53:7–8

Where the New Testament applies itActs 8:30–35

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentLinked by the New Testament

Numbered with the transgressors

On the night he is arrested, Jesus quotes the last line of the servant song, that the servant was numbered with transgressors, and says it must be fulfilled in him. The gospels record that he was crucified between two criminals.

When: Isaiah, c. 700–540 BC; Jesus' last night and crucifixion, c. AD 30–33.

Original passageIsaiah 53:12

Where the New Testament applies itLuke 22:37Mark 15:27–28

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

See all prophecy & fulfillment notes →

Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servantⓘ

A Grave Assignedⓘ

Study notes on this chapter · 7

The scapegoat carrying sins away

He will be called a Nazarene

Who has believed our message?

The suffering servant

He took our infirmities

Like a sheep led to slaughter

Numbered with the transgressors

The Suffering Servant

A Grave Assigned