Isaiah 53:3–6
The despised servant carries our sorrows and sicknesses
Study it word by word3Despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and acquainted with sickness; and like one from whom the face is hidden, despised, and we did not esteem him.
4Surely our sicknesses he carried, and our pains he bore them; yet we considered him stricken, struck by Elohim and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the correction of our peace was upon him, and by his wound we were healed.
6All of us like sheep went astray; each to his own way we turned; and YHWH caused to fall on him the iniquity of us all.
In its context
1Who has believed our message? And the arm of YHWH, upon whom has it been revealed?
2And he grew up like a young shoot before him, and like a root from a dry land; he had no form nor majesty that we should look at him, nor appearance that we should desire him.
…
7He was mistreated, and he humbled himself, and he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a ewe that before her shearers is silent, and he did not open his mouth.
8By oppression and by judgment he was taken away; and his generation, who will consider it? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people the blow was for him.
Its words in the original
- נִבְזֶהnivze· despise
Despise, think little of.
- חֲדַלchadal· fleeting
Fleeting, transient: what lasts a short time and ceases.
- אִישִׁיםishim· man, husband, each
Man, male; with a possessive, husband. Also "each one", "anyone". It is "ish", distinct from "adam" (human being); it is used for the man in contrast with the woman ("ishah").
- מַכְאֹבוֹתmachovot· pain
Pain, suffering.
- ידוּעַydua· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- חֹלִיcholi· sickness
Sickness, disease; also suffering.
- מַסְתֵּרmaster· hiding (the face)
A hiding (of the face), turning away from someone.
- פָּנִיםpanim· face, presence
Face. From there "surface" (the face of something) and "presence" (being before someone's face); with a preposition it means "before" or "in front of".
- חֲשַׁבְנֻchashavnu· think, count, devise
Think, consider; count something as something else ("count as", "credit as"). Also devise, design, plan, often evil: "the work of a skilled craftsman" is, literally, "the work of one who designs".
- אָכֵןachen· surely; but
Surely, truly; but.
- נָשָׂאnasa· lift, carry, bear
Lift up, carry, bear. "Bear sin" is to suffer its consequences; said of God, "taking away" sin is forgiving it. "Lift up the eyes" is to look.
- סְבָלָsevala· carry, bear a load
Carry a load, bear a burden.
- נָגוּעַnagua· touch
Touch; also reach, or strike.
- מֻכֵּהmuke· strike
Strike, hit, wound; often, kill; also strike down, defeat.
- אֱלֹהִיםelohim· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- מְעֻנֶּהmeune· afflict
Afflict, oppress, make suffer; in a reflexive form, humble oneself, submit.
- מְחֹלָלmecholal· begin, profane
Begin, start doing something. In other forms the same verb means "profane", treat as common what is holy; also pierce.
- פְּשָׁעֵpeshae· transgression
A serious wrong against someone: rebellion, transgression.
- מְדֻכָּאmeduka· crush
To crush, to grind, to break in pieces. Said of things that crumble and of people who are oppressed or beaten down.
- עֲוֺנֹתֵיavonote· iniquity
Iniquity: wickedness, a serious wrong. The same word covers the wrong, the guilt it leaves and the punishment it brings.
- מוּסַרmusar· discipline, correction
Discipline: teaching that straightens, sometimes with punishment; it comes from the verb "discipline."
- שְׁלוֹמֵshelome· peace, well-being
"Shalom": peace in a wide sense; not only the absence of war, but being whole and well: health, safety, good relations. It is also the Hebrew greeting.
- חֲבֻרָתchavurat· bruise
Blow, bruise, welt.
- נִרְפָּאnirpa· heal
Heal, cure; restore.
- צֹּאןtson· flock
Flock of sheep and goats, small livestock; figuratively, a people led like a flock.
- תָּעִינוּtainu· wander, go astray
Wander, go astray, be lost; in the causative form, make wander, lead astray.
- דַרְכּdark· way
Way, road, journey. Figuratively, the way one lives or acts.
- פָּנִינוּpaninu· turn
Turn, turn toward something; face, look. In another form of the verb, clear, empty a place.
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- הִפְגִּיעַhifgia· meet, intercede
Meet someone, come upon; also fall upon (attack). With "for me", intercede: speak to another on someone's behalf.