Isaiah 53:9 · Bible study
Isaiah 53:9 Commentary: Intended for the Wicked, Buried with the Rich
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 53:9 describes the Servant’s burial: assigned with wicked, but with a rich man. Its fulfillment in Jesus’ burial is a key gospel prophecy.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Servant was intended for a criminal’s grave, but God provided an honourable burial with a rich man because of his innocence.
- Key words: assigned (vayittein, H5414, to give/appoint); rich (ashir, H6223, wealthy); violence/deceit (chamas and mirmah), the Servant’s defining innocence.
- Main debate: Does the second clause contrast the first (wicked intention vs. rich fulfilment) or parallel it (rich = wicked)? The majority of Christian commentators prefer the contrast, strengthened by the gospel accounts.
- Theological theme: Divine overruling of human rejection; the Servant’s vindication begins before the resurrection; innocent suffering is seen and honoured by God.
- Best use: A prophecy that clarifies what kind of Messiah Jesus was, one who was shamed but exalted, and whose burial was as significant as his death.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He 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.
WEB World English Bible 2000
They made his 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.
KJV King James Version 1769
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And it appointeth with the wicked his grave, And with the rich are his high places, Because he hath done no violence, Nor is deceit in his mouth.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And [men] appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y dispúsose con los impíos su sepultura, mas con los ricos fué en su muerte; porque nunca hizo él maldad, ni hubo engaño en su boca.
E puseram sua sepultura com perversos, e com um rico em sua morte; pois ele nunca fez injustiça, nem houve engano em sua boca.
On a mis son sépulcre parmi les méchants,
Und man gab ihm bei Gottlosen sein Grab und bei Reichen, da er gestorben war, wiewohl er niemand Unrecht getan hat noch Betrug in seinem Munde gewesen ist.
En men heeft Zijn graf bij de goddelozen gesteld, en Hij is bij den rijke in Zijn dood geweest, omdat Hij geen onrecht gedaan heeft, noch bedrog in Zijn mond geweest is.
Gli avevano assegnata la sepoltura fra gli empi, ma nella sua morte, egli è stato col ricco, perché non aveva commesso violenze né v’era stata frode nella sua bocca.
Który to lud podał niezbożnym grób jego, a bogatemu śmierć jego, choć jednak nieprawości nie uczynił, ani zdrada znaleziona jest w ustach jego.
Ему назначали гроб со злодеями, но Он погребен у богатого, потому что не сделал греха, и не было лжи в устах Его.
他雖然 未 行 強暴，口中 也沒有 詭詐，人還使他 與 惡人 同埋；誰知死的時候 與 財主同葬。
And they put his body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 53:9
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators broadly agree that Isaiah 53:9 turns on a surprise. The verb vayittein (‘and he gave,’ from nathan) means ‘assigned’ or ‘appointed’, not ‘he made’ as older translations have it. The subject is intentionally vague: ‘they’ (the Servant’s contemporaries) intended his grave to be with criminals. But the second clause jars. Barnes, Gill and JFB all argue that the parallelism is one of contrast: the intended shameful burial was overturned so that he was buried with a rich man. Keil and Delitzsch likewise see a reversal forced by the fulfilment in Joseph of Arimathea. The alternative view, that ‘rich’ simply means ‘wicked’, receives little support from the lexicon (ashir never means ungodly on its own). What is not in doubt: the Servant died innocent, ‘he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.’
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Contrast view (majority Christian reading): The second clause reverses the first: intended for a criminal's grave, he was given a rich man's tomb. Matthew 27:57–60 provides the fulfilment.
- Synonymous/parallel reading: Both 'wicked' and 'rich' refer to the same group (oppressors), so no reversal. Cites possible occasional use of 'rich' as 'oppressor' in other OT passages.
What is clear: The Servant died innocent — no violence, no deceit — and his burial was a point of controversy that the prophet addresses directly.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'rich' (ashir) | All traditions agree the word means 'wealthy' in standard Hebrew usage. | Christians usually see it positively as Joseph of Arimathea; some interpreters argue it can be a synonym for 'wicked' (rich oppressors) to keep the parallelism strict. |
| Who assigned the grave? | The verb is impersonal ('they assigned' or 'it was assigned'), not referring to God. | Some commentators think it refers to the Servant's contemporaries (the Jewish authorities or Romans); others leave the agent indefinite. |
| Relationship of the two clauses | Both clauses describe where the Servant was buried; the word 'with' (et) frames the location. | Protestant interpreters often see a contrast (intended shame vs. actual honour); Catholic and some other traditions also read it as contrast, though a few patristic sources took it as synonymous. The debate is whether 'and with a rich man' continues the ignominy or reverses it. |
Historical & Cultural Context
In ancient Israel, burial among family in a rock-hewn tomb was an honour; to be buried with criminals was a final shaming. The writer of Isaiah 53 would have known that the Servant’s death like a condemned man (crucified between two thieves) would normally mean a pauper’s grave in an unmarked plot. Such treatment is implied by earlier passages: Absalom was thrown into a pit (2 Samuel 18:17), and Jehoiakim’s body was given a donkey’s burial (Jeremiah 22:19). By adding ‘and with a rich man in his death,’ the prophet either contrasts this ignominy with an unexpected honour, or he equates wealth with oppression (a minority view). The Hebrew bemothaiv (plural, ‘in his deaths’) is unusual; some take it as an intensification of the death experience (physical and spiritual), but the LXX and later Christian commentators read it as singular. The surrounding context in Isaiah 53 stresses that the Servant was ‘cut off from the land of the living’ (v.8) yet his days would be prolonged (v.10), a motif of vindication beyond the grave. Buried with a rich man, whether Joseph of Arimathea or another, signals that God overruled human intentions. The rich man’s new tomb (Matthew 27:60) fulfils this promise of honour after shame.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew text is stable, but two lexical details have generated discussion. The word bemothaiv (בְמֹתָיו) is ambiguous: it can be read as 'in his deaths' (plural of mavet, H4194) or as 'his high places' (from bamah, a mound for a tomb, as Clarke and Lowth propose). The LXX reads the singular θανάτῳ ('death'), which simplifies the clause. Most modern editions and translators follow the Masoretic vocalization as 'in his deaths,' understanding an intensification. No manuscript variants affect the sense of the overall verse; the debated variants are lexical in nature and do not change the main interpretative challenge.
Reception History
From the early church onward, this verse was read as a direct prophecy of Jesus' burial by Joseph of Arimathea. Matthew 27:57, 60, Mark 15:43, 46, and Luke 23:50, 53 all echo the language. The majority of Christian interpreters (Chrysostom, Jerome, and later Reformers like Calvin) saw a contrast: the Servant was numbered with transgressors in death, but honoured with a rich man’s tomb. Jewish exegetes historically applied the passage to Israel or to the prophet Jeremiah, reading the 'rich' as a figure for the wicked. In the medieval period, both traditions recognized the difficulty of the parallelism. Modern scholarship, informed by the Gospel accounts, tends to favour the contrast reading, while acknowledging that the text could originally have been a simple statement of ignominious burial.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The intended burial: Human plans sought to finish the Servant with shame, burying him among criminals as a final condemnation.
- The overruling burial: God’s providence gave him an honourable tomb, with a rich man, fulfilling the hint of vindication.
- The innocent Servant: This honour came ‘because’ (or ‘although’) he had done no wrong, his innocence was not a mistake but the grounds for his exaltation.
Five-point outline
- Assigned to the wicked, ‘They’ (the authorities) intended a common criminal’s grave.
- Buried with the rich, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus provided a new tomb and costly spices (John 19:39).
- No violence, no deceit, The Servant’s moral innocence is the hinge of the passage.
- Death in the plural, The Hebrew ‘deaths’ may point to the depth of his suffering (physical and spiritual).
- From shame to honour, The verse models the gospel pattern: humiliation followed by exaltation.
Illustration hooks
- A falsely accused employee is fired and shamed, but later the truth comes out and the employer publicly apologises and gives a generous severance. The burial with the rich is that kind of reversal.
- Imagine a funeral for a man who had been publicly disgraced. Only a handful attend. In this verse, the Servant’s funeral is quietly but powerfully attended by two wealthy dignitaries, an honour his peers never intended.
- Think of a child who is blamed for something he did not do, then later vindicated by a parent. The Servant’s innocence was always known to the Father, and that truth shaped his burial.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does the prophet mention a ‘rich man’ specifically? Is that supposed to be Joseph of Arimathea, or is it a symbol?
- If Jesus’ death was so shameful, why did the wealthy Joseph risk his reputation to ask for the body?
- Does this verse mean that Jesus was literally buried in a rich man’s tomb, or is it just poetic language?
Leading a Discussion
Isaiah 53:9 sits at a pivot in the Suffering Servant song. The Servant’s death was already described in shame; now his burial is at stake. Open your group by reading the verse slowly. Then ask: ‘What do you think the prophet is saying about how the Servant died and was buried?’ Let the tension between ‘wicked’ and ‘rich’ sit on the table before you go to the fulfilment.
Discussion questions
- In your own words, what does the first line of the verse claim about the Servant’s burial? Who is ‘they’?
- The Hebrew word for ‘assigned’ (nathan) can mean ‘gave,’ ‘set,’ or ‘appointed.’ How does this affect your reading compared to the older translation ‘made’?
- What do you make of the parallel between ‘with the wicked’ and ‘with a rich man’? Are they saying the same thing, or are they contrasting human intention with divine outcome?
- How do the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb (Matthew 27:57, 60) match or challenge the prophecy?
- Verse 9 ends with a statement of the Servant’s innocence. Why is that so important here, especially after verses 5, 6 where he bears others’ sins?
- How does knowing the historical custom of dishonourable burial help you understand the weight of this verse?
- What does this verse teach us about God’s ability to turn human rejection into honour? How might that apply to someone in your life?
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)
| Isaiah 42:1 | “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. |
| Isaiah 42:3 | He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. |
| Matthew 27:57 | When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who himself was also Jesus’ disciple, came. |
| Matthew 27:60 | and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock. Then he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. |
| Mark 15:43 | Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. |
| Mark 15:46 | He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. |
| Luke 23:50 | Behold, there was a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man |
| Luke 23:53 | He took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut in stone, where no one had ever been laid. |
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
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes argues that the Hebrew word translated “he made” means “gave” or “appointed,” so the verse describes an intended insult: that the Messiah would be buried with criminals. But the adversative “but” signals a remarkable reversal—instead of that dishonor, he was buried with a rich man, exactly as the prophecy foretold.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentator argues the prophet speaks throughout the passage, resisting the common assumption that the speaker changes. He merges his voice with his generation as a spectator in earlier verses, then shifts to a less subjective description. The language consistently looks back on the Servant's completed suffering while his exaltation remains future.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight the striking contrast: Christ was buried as if He belonged among the wicked, yet also with a rich man, all while being utterly innocent. The comment emphasizes that He suffered the disgrace of a criminal's grave despite having done no violence and spoken no deceit.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes several possible meanings: the common view that Christ died with criminals but was buried in a rich man's tomb, or that both rich and wicked men had roles at his burial. He also suggests the Jews intended a disgraceful grave, but God overruled by providing Joseph's tomb. A further reading from a Hebrew word places
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights a deliberate contrast: human authorities intended Jesus to share a grave with criminals, but God overruled so that rich men honored Him in burial. The Hebrew plural "deaths" points to Christ enduring both physical death and the spiritual death of temporary abandonment by the Father, though He was innocent.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch insists that the rich man in this verse is not a synonym for the wicked, but an ethical antithesis. They see the fulfillment in Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man who gave Jesus an honorable burial instead of the criminal's grave the Jewish rulers intended. This ironic reversal, they argue, could only be the work of the God of prophecy and its fulfillment.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that Christ did not merely endure suffering from a distance but fully acquainted himself with grief, carrying the heavy load without shrinking or sinking. His point is that the Savior persevered willingly, never growing weary of sorrow or blaming his lot, right up until he declared it finished.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley distinguishes the meaning of "with the wicked" in this passage. He argues it refers not to sharing the same grave with criminals but to being counted in the same condition as the wicked. This was a further humiliation, and Christ willingly yielded to death and burial.