Isaiah 53:3 · Bible study
Isaiah 53:3 Commentary: The Rejected Servant's Identity and Mission
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 53:3 reveals the Messiah despised, rejected, and acquainted with grief.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Servant of the Lord is completely rejected by humanity, defined by pain and considered worthless, yet this is the path to salvation.
- Key words: נִבְזֶה (bazah, despised), חֲדַל אִישִׁים (chadal ishim, forsaken by men of rank), מַכְאֹבוֹת (mach'ovot, pains), יָדוּעַ חֹלִי (yadua choli, acquainted with sickness).
- Main debate: Does the Servant refer to Israel as a nation (collective) or to an individual Messiah (messianic)? Christian tradition reads it as Jesus; some Jewish interpretation applies it to Israel.
- Theological theme: Vicarious suffering, the innocent one takes on the consequences of others' sin, reversing the world's judgment.
- Best use: Explaining the humility of Christ in New Testament fulfillment; encouraging those suffering unjust rejection.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He 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.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
KJV King James Version 1769
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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
He is despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom [men] hide their faces; — despised, and we esteemed him not.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Despreciado y desechado entre los hombres, varón de dolores, experimentado en quebranto: y como que escondimos de él el rostro, fué menospreciado, y no lo estimamos.
Ele era desprezado e rejeitado entre os homens, era homem de dores, e experiente em enfermidade; ele era como alguém de quem os outros escondiam o rosto; era desprezado, e não lhe estimávamos.
Méprisé et abandonné des hommes,
Er war der Allerverachtetste und Unwerteste, voller Schmerzen und Krankheit. Er war so verachtet, daß man das Angesicht vor ihm verbarg; darum haben wir ihn für nichts geachtet.
Hij was veracht, en de onwaardigste onder de mensen, een Man van smarten, en verzocht in krankheid; en een iegelijk was als verbergende het aangezicht voor Hem; Hij was veracht, en wij hebben Hem niet geacht.
Disprezzato e abbandonato dagli uomini, uomo di dolore, familiare con il patire, pari a colui dinanzi al quale ciascuno si nasconde la faccia, era spregiato, e noi non ne facemmo stima alcuna.
Najwzgardzeńszy był, i najpodlejszy z ludzi, mąż boleści, a świadomy niemocy, i jako zakrywający twarz swoję; najwzgardzeńszy mówię, skądeśmy go za nic nie mieli.
Он был презрен и умален пред людьми, муж скорбей и изведавший болезни, и мы отвращали от Него лице свое; Он был презираем, и мы ни во что ставили Его.
他被藐視，被人 厭棄； 多受痛苦，常經 憂患。他被藐視，好像被人掩 面不看的一樣；我們也不 尊重他。
Men made sport of him, turning away from him; he was a man of sorrows, marked by disease; and like one from whom men's faces are turned away, he was looked down on, and we put no value on him.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 53:3
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse paints a stark portrait of the Servant's complete social abandonment and relentless suffering. Barnes notes that the phrase 'rejected of men' (חֲדַל אִישִׁים) condenses the whole history of human treatment of the Redeemer. Gill expands on the Hebrew chadal ishim: the Servant ceased from the company of men of rank; he was accounted a worm and no man. Keil and Delitzsch press the meaning of ishim as 'persons of rank,' so the Servant lacked support from the great, no one of standing stood with him. JFB agrees that 'rejected' means 'forsaken of men,' the most abject. On 'a man of sorrows,' the consensus is that sorrow was his constant companion, as Gill says: 'his life was one continued series of sorrow, from the cradle to the cross.' The shared point is unmistakable: the Servant's lowly appearance triggered contempt, yet this very rejection was the divinely chosen path for salvation. The 'we' of the verse, whether prophet or people, confesses that they failed to esteem him, a failure the text treats as both historical and penitential.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Individual Messianic (Christian): The passage's language matches New Testament accounts of Jesus: rejected by leaders, crucified, buried with the rich. The shift to exaltation in 52:13–15 also points to a single figure resurrected.
- Collective (Jewish interpretation): Other Servant songs (Isa 49:3) call Israel 'my servant.' The 'we' who speak could be the prophet identifying with the nation's suffering. The despised condition fits the Jewish experience in exile.
What is clear: The figure described suffers intense rejection and sorrow at human hands, and his suffering is somehow redemptive for others.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the Servant | The figure suffers intensely and is rejected by people, yet ultimately exalted by God. | Christians read the Servant as Jesus, the individual Messiah. Some Jewish interpreters see the Servant as Israel as a whole, suffering among the nations. Both sides find support in other passages (e.g., Isaiah 49:3 identifies the Servant as Israel; 52:13, 15 describes exaltation that points to a distinct individual). |
| Nature of the 'Rejection' | The Servant was abandoned and held in contempt by society. | Keil and Delitzsch argue the rejection specifically lacks support from men of rank (<em>ishim</em>). Others (Gill, Barnes) extend it to all humanity. The debate centers on whether the Hebrew <em>chadal ishim</em> means 'ceasing from men' (most abject) or 'forsaken by leading men.' |
| Acquaintance with 'Disease' | The Servant experienced deep suffering, physical and emotional. | Some read <em>choli</em> (sickness) literally, connecting it to leprosy (Clarke). Others interpret it metaphorically for all calamity, noting Jesus is not recorded as suffering from a specific disease (JFB). Both see it as reflecting the Servant's identification with human affliction. |
| The 'We' Who Speak | The speaker is one who witnessed the Servant's suffering and failed to recognize his true worth. | Some see the 'we' as the prophet speaking for Israel (Geneva, Matthew Henry). Others see it as the prophet merging with his nation (Cambridge Bible). Both agree it expresses corporate guilt. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 53:3 sits within the fourth Servant Song (52:13, 53:12), a unit that Hebrew and Christian readers have long seen as the peak of Old Testament prophecy about vicarious suffering. The preceding chapters (40, 55) address a people in Babylonian exile, promising restoration through an enigmatic figure called 'my Servant.' In 52:13, 15, the Servant is exalted and astonishes nations; then 53:1, 9 pivots to his humiliation. The prophet speaks in the first-person plural, identifying himself with Israel: 'we hid our faces from him.' This 'we' likely represents the nation that failed to recognize its deliverer when he came. Poole's annotations note that the rejection stemmed from the Servant's lack of 'secular pomp', the opposite of what Jews expected in a Messiah. Culturally, covering one's face (מַסְתֵּר פָּנִים) evoked mourning rituals and the treatment of lepers (Leviticus 13:45); Adam Clarke connects the Hebrew nagua (stricken) with leprosy, a divine judgment in Israel's mind. Poetic parallelism structures the verse: 'despised' frames the first and final lines, emphasizing the theme. The Hebrew verb forms are past tense in the speaker's perspective, looking back on the Servant's life as a completed tragedy. Matthew Henry captures the irony: the One who came to heal was treated as a plague. This cultural background, a people longing for a conqueror, finding instead a sufferer, explains the intensity of rejection described.
Textual Notes
Adam Clarke notes two textual variants from supplied manuscripts. For 'acquainted with grief' (וִידוּעַ חֹלִי), some MSS read ויודע (v. yode'a) instead of וידוע (v. yadua), yielding 'knowing grief' rather than 'acquainted with grief.' For 'one from whom men hide their face' (וּכְמַסְתֵּר פָּנִים מִמֶּנּוּ), four MSS read וּכְמַסְתִּיר (uchemastir, 'like one hiding' active) instead of וּכְמַסְתֵּר (uchemaster, 'like a hiding' concealed object). Neither variant changes the overall picture of the Servant's rejection and suffering. The consulted sources note no other significant variants.
Reception History
From the earliest Christian writings, Isaiah 53:3 has been read as a direct prophecy of Jesus's rejection. New Testament authors quote the passage (John 12:38, Acts 8:32, 33) to explain why many did not believe in Christ. The early fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Augustine, used it to argue that the Messiah's lowliness did not contradict his divinity, but rather fulfilled Scripture. In Jewish tradition, many commentators applied the suffering to the nation of Israel in exile (Rashi), or to the righteous within Israel, a view that persists in some rabbinic circles today. During the Reformation, the verse was central to debates about Christ's substitutionary work: Luther and Calvin saw it as proof of penal suffering. Across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, the verse has shaped liturgy for Holy Week, especially in readings for Good Friday. Its raw depiction of rejection continues to comfort believers who experience ostracism for their faith.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Reality of His Rejection. The Servant was contemptuously regarded, not merely overlooked. The Hebrew bazah (despised) and chadal (rejected/forsaken) point to active disdain and abandonment.
- The Depth of His Sorrow. He was 'a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.' Not occasional sadness, but a life defined by pain, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
- The World's Misjudgment. People hid their faces, thinking him struck by God. They esteemed him worthless. But their judgment was reversed: his suffering bore their peace.
Five-point outline
- Despised: the emphatic opening and closing word, framing the whole description.
- Rejected of men: lacking support from the great and the ordinary alike.
- Man of sorrows, acquainted with disease: constant, intimate contact with pain and infirmity.
- Hiding faces: the visceral reaction of disgust or shame that keeps distance.
- Esteemed not: counted as nothing, a zero in the ledger of human value.
Illustration hooks
- A caregiver who spends years nursing a chronic illness in a loved one, invisible work that others avoid, yet it holds the family together.
- A leader who refuses to defend his reputation when attacked, absorbing slander for the sake of others' unity.
- A person who is dismissed at work for not looking 'the part' of success, only to later be recognized as the real source of the company's growth.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If the Messiah was so rejected, how can I be sure of His identity when popular opinion dismissed Him?
- Does the Servant's suffering mean that God was punishing Him for His own sins? (The text anticipates this: 'we considered him plagued, struck by God,' but verse 4 corrects it.)
- What does this verse mean for my own experiences of rejection or chronic pain? Does God value suffering in itself?
Leading a Discussion
Isaiah 53:3 forces us to set aside our natural expectations. The deliverer came not with glory but with grief; not with applause but with contempt. As a group, sit with the discomfort of this verse before jumping to the atonement it introduces. Notice the raw honesty of the 'we', the speaker includes himself in the failure to recognize worth.
Discussion questions
- Observe each phrase: what does it tell you about the Servant's experience? Which phrase hits you hardest?
- Why did people 'hide their faces'? What does that reaction say about human nature when faced with suffering?
- The Hebrew word chadal (rejected) can mean 'forsaken, lacking.' How does that deepen your understanding of the Servant's isolation?
- How does this verse challenge the ways we evaluate people's value, especially those who are suffering or marginalized?
- If the Servant is Jesus, why do you think God chose this path of rejection and sorrow over a path of visible power?
- What comfort or challenge does this verse offer to someone in your group who feels 'despised' or 'acquainted with grief' today?
- How does seeing this verse as part of the whole chapter (down to verse 6) change your reading of the rejection?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:15 | But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. |
| Psalms 22:6 | But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. |
| Psalms 22:8 | “He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.” |
| Psalms 69:10 | When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach. |
| Psalms 69:12 | Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards. |
| Psalms 69:19 | You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you. |
| Psalms 69:20 | Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none. |
| Psalms 69:29 | But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the Hebrew word for "rejected," noting it means to cease or be forsaken—not just scorned, but cut off from human fellowship entirely. He also observes that Jesus was "acquainted with grief" yet there is no evidence he was ever personally sick, making his sorrows the result of bearing others' suffering rather than his own illness.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible commentary argues that the prophet himself speaks throughout this passage, using first-person plural to associate with his generation as a spectator. The sufferings are described as completed while the Servant's exaltation remains future, and the people's change comes from reflecting on his patient endurance of harsh treatment, not from witnessing his glory.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The note emphasizes the utter contempt shown toward Christ: people deliberately hid their faces from him, refusing even to look at him. He was not just rejected but despised, a man who knew constant sorrow and weakness firsthand, and was considered worthless by those who saw him.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the Hebrew wording behind "rejected of men," showing it can mean one who ceases from or is destitute of human company, especially people of rank. He stresses that Christ's entire life, from infancy to the cross, was a single unbroken experience of sorrow, making grief his constant, familiar companion.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that calling the Servant "rejected" means He was no longer regarded as a man, one from whom people turned away in disgust. His "sorrows" were His defining trait, and "grief" is likened to disease, a direct judgment from God. Notably, Jesus is never recorded as having suffered from sickness itself.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch emphasize that "despised and forsaken by men" means Jesus lacked support from people of rank and authority, not just common people. They see His suffering as an experiential knowledge of grief and a self-consuming conflict with sin. His appearance was so repulsive that people turned their faces away and valued Him at nothing.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry marvels that the Jewish people, who possessed the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah and the chance to see him in person, still refused to believe, while Gentiles who had none of those advantages readily accepted the gospel. This contrast highlights the surprising stubbornness of unbelief despite every spiritual advantage.