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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 53

1 Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lord’s power revealed through him? 2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.⁠ 3 He was despised and rejected by people,⁠ one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain;⁠ even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.⁠ 5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.⁠ 6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. 7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth.⁠ Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,⁠ like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.⁠ 8 He was led away after an unjust trial—but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded. 9 They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully. 10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,⁠ once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life,⁠ and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.⁠ 11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.⁠ “My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.⁠ 12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death⁠ and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 53:4 and Matthew 8:17

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew 8 shows how the Gospels use Isaiah 53 to explain Jesus’ healings, interpreting the servant’s bearing of pain as support for others. This contrasts with later interpretive traditions that use Isaiah 53 to explain Jesus’ death.

Passages

Isaiah 53:4

Hebrew Bible
3 He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. 5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. 6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Matthew 8:17

New Testament
15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve them. 16 When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. 17 In this way what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.” 18 Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake. 19 Then an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The references to what is usually called the Servant Song are absent from the earliest strata of the New Testament. It can thus be argued that the initial notion of Jesus’ beneficiary death—to the extent that it was linked to Jesus’ own views—seems not to have derived from Isaiah 53. For this investigation, which focuses not on the “earliest strata” but rather on the attitude characteristic of Luke/Acts, it is important that there are only scanty references to Isaiah 53 elsewhere in the Gospels—and not necessarily with an eye to the vicarious aspect of suffering! A brief review of relevant passages in the Gospels outside Luke will help to achieve a better appreciation of the latter’s contribution. First, a passage from Matthew 8:17 represents an instructive case of restricting the exegetical potential of the Servant Song to providing a justification for Jesus’ healing activities—in contradiction or at best only in anticipation of its function as a biblical proof text for the salvific meaning of the cross ..."
Serge Ruzer, Mapping the New Testament: Early Christian Writings as a Witness for Jewish Biblical Exegesis (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 207.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 53:4 and Matthew 8:17

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