Isaiah 53:3

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
despised	נִבְזֶה֙ niv.Zeh	H959	to disesteem · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
rejected	וַחֲדַ֣ל va.cha.Dal	H2310	vacant · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular construct
men	אִישִׁ֔ים 'i.Shim	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine plural absolute
man	אִ֥ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
sorrows	מַכְאֹב֖וֹת makh.'o.Vot	H4341	anguish or (figuratively) affliction · noun, common feminine plural absolute
acquainted	וִיד֣וּעַ vi.Du.a'	H3045	to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal passive participle, masculine singular construct
grief	חֹ֑לִי Cho.li	H2483	malady · noun, common masculine singular absolute
were	וּכְמַסְתֵּ֤ר u.khe.mas.Ter	H4564	properly · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
faces	פָּנִים֙ pa.Nim	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
despised	נִבְזֶ֖ה niv.Zeh	H959	to disesteem · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
esteemed	חֲשַׁבְנֻֽהוּ cha.shav.Nu.hu	H2803	properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Matthew 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
Hebrews 12:2-3 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and…
Isaiah 53:10 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, h…
Isaiah 49:7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of…
Psalms 22:6-8 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Mark 14:34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 53:1-3

The prophet, in the close of the former chapter, had foreseen and foretold the kind reception which the gospel of Christ should find among the Gentiles, that nations and their kings should bid it welcome, that those who had not seen him should believe in him; and though they had not any prophecies among them of gospel grace, which might raise their expectations, and dispose them to entertain it, yet upon the first notice of it they should give it its due weight and consideration. Now here he foretels, with wonder, the unbelief of the Jews, notwithstanding the previous notices they had of the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament and the opportunity they had of being personally acquainte…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 53:3

rejected--"forsaken of men" [GESENIUS]. "Most abject of men." Literally, "He who ceases from men," that is, is no longer regarded as a man [HENGSTENBERG]. (See on Isa 52:14; Isa 49:7). man of sorrows--that is, whose distinguishing characteristic was sorrows. acquainted with--familiar by constant contact with. grief--literally, "disease"; figuratively for all kinds of calamity (Jer 6:14); leprosy especially represented this, being a direct judgment from God. It is remarkable Jesus is not mentioned as having ever suffered under sickness. and we hid . . . faces--rather, as one who causes men to hide their faces from Him (in aversion) [MAURER]. Or, "He was as an hiding of the face before…

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Adam Clarke on Isaiah 53:3

Acquainted with grief - For וידוע vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have וירע veyada, and knowing grief; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it ויודע veyodea. We hid as it were our faces from him "As one that hideth his face from us" - For וכמסתר uchemaster, four MSS. (two ancient) have וכמסתיר uchemastir, one MS. ומסתיר umastir. For פנים panim, two MSS. have פניו panaiu; so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate. Mourners covered up the lower part of their faces, and their heads, Sa2 15:30; Eze 29:17; and lepers were commanded by the law, Lev 13:45, to cover their upper lip. From which circumstance it seems that the Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, and the Jewish commentat…

The Church Fathers

Christ's deformity is what gives form to you. If he had been unwilling to be deformed, you would never have got back the form you lost. So he hung on the cross, deformed; but his deformity was our beauty.
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 27:6

Nor is even his death passed over in silence: on the contrary, it is referred to in the divine Scriptures, even exceedingly clearly.… He suffers it not for his own sake but for the immortality and salvation of all, and the counsels of the Jews against him and the indignities offered him at their hands.… O marvel at the loving-kindness of the Word, that for our sakes he is dishonored, that we may be brought to honor.
— Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word 34:1-2

One of the holy Evangelists said that when our Lord's time of suffering drew near, he began to weep and grew sad. Yet by nature he was the only-begotten Word of the Father, being immune from sufferings and grief and the like. Nevertheless, he accommodated himself to our nature and showed himself empty of all [his divine qualities] in the face of the anxiety of the threatening onslaught of his trials. Through all these trials he declared himself to be similar to us, so that he emerges not (as some are fond of saying) as a shadow or specter seen on the earth but as a real human being.
— Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:1.53:3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Humiliation of Christ — (Phil. 2:8), seen in (1) his birth (Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7; John 1:46; Heb. 2:9), (2) his circumstances, (3) his reputation (Isa. 53; Matt. 26:59, 67; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:68), (4) his soul (Ps. 22:1;…
Nazarene — This epithet (Gr. Nazaraios) is applied to Christ only once (Matt. 2:23). In all other cases the word is rendered “of Nazareth” (Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67, etc.). When this Greek designation was at…
Prophecy — Or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human…
Contempt · The wicked exhibit towards: Christ — The wicked exhibit towards: Christ
Human Nature Of Christ, The · Is proved by his: Being a man of sorrows — Is proved by his: Being a man of sorrows
Humility Of Christ, The · Exhibited in his: Exposing himself to reproach and contempt — Exhibited in his: Exposing himself to reproach and contempt
Jews, The · Christ: Rejected by — Christ: Rejected by
Offence · The wicked take, at: The low station of Christ — The wicked take, at: The low station of Christ
Persecution · OF JESUS — OF JESUS
Prophecies Respecting Christ · His visage being marred

Isaiah 53:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 53:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 53:3

Adam Clarke on Isaiah 53:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 53:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 53:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 53:3

Adam Clarke on Isaiah 53:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Isaiah 53:3

John Calvin on Isaiah 53:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 53:3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 53:3

Rashi on Isaiah 53:3