Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 is most certainly written about Jesus; in fact most of Isaiah is "prophetic" in nature and about the suffering servant to come "Jesus" "Issa" or "Yahshua".

Because it is prophetic in nature, it takes wisdom to understand, not rational:

14As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

The form of Jesus must have been something to see! He was born of a virgin; documented in both Quran and Bible. But his visage, or countenance was marred because his entire life and mission was due to the sin of the people. (he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel)


2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him

"The root out of dry ground represents Israel"-the root from which he came as a tender plant. God created him NOT to be desired, because his mission was not to live as we do, marrying and bearing children, he had one sole mission and if he were beautiful, this might have caused him to deter.


3He 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.

He was despised and rejected by the people in which he was sent to! If you read through and through the Gospels, you will see that mos of the crowds and people who followed him were outside of the nation of Israel! Isaiah is a Hebrew prophet, thus is why he writes..."WE" hid as it were out faces and "WE" esteemed him not (for example when I'm speaking as a whole about my family or the Muslims I say "WE")


7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

During the heavy trial and beating and mocking, Jesus said nothing, he was questioned over and over but did not argue or speak out. This in itself is oppression.

9And 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.

Jesus committed no sin, but rather he took upon himself (as martyr) the sins of his people and those who believe. It's similar to those who do no wrong but give their lives for a cause or for another, but in a much deeper level and grander way of course.

Mansoor_ali wrote:  To Douggg  Visit:  Is Isaiah 53 a prophecy concerning Jesus and his alleged crucifixion?  I found a very interesting piece of article on the same subject of Isaiah 53 Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claimed_Messianic_prophecies_of_Jesus Isaiah 53 (The Suffering Servant) Main article: Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 is probably the most famous example of a messianic prophecy claimed by Christians. It speaks of a one known as the �suffering servant� who suffers because of the sins of others. Jesus is said to fulfill this prophecy through his death on the cross.[3] Modern Jewish scholars argue that the suffering servant is actually Israel[4], The following verse from Isaiah 53:5 is understood by Christians to speak of Jesus: 5But He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed (NASB) Several Christian scholarly books, like Revised Standard Version Oxford Study Edition Bible, The Revised Standard Version also identify Isaiah 53 as the nation of Israel. New Revised Standard Version and New English Bible also follow this interpretation. This is because several times in the book of Isaiah the nation of Israel is called servant, amongst other reasons. Jews for Judaism founder Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz in his book �The Jewish Response To Missionaries,� of the Christian viewpoint has demonstrated that the Isaiah 53 passage is purposely mistranslated in Christian Bibles to support theological concepts. The original Hebrew, portrays a different picture. For example, the preposition �mi� in Isaiah 53:5 and 53:8 is commonly translated as �for.� The meaning of �mi� is not �for� but rather �from� or �because of�. Thus the Judaica Press Tanach translates Isaiah 53:5 as: �But he was pained because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his wound we were healed.� Other examples of translation errors are Isaiah 53:8 where the Hebrew phrase �mi-pesha� �ami niga� lamo� is translated as �for the transgression of my people was he stricken�. The word �lamo� is the poetic form of the Hebrew �lahem� which means their/them not him and is used as such throughout the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish rendition of Isaiah 53:8 then is: �because of the transgression of my people, a plague befell them.� Based on this, the servant is argued to be a collective entity not a person. This claim is supported by the fact that the Hebrew word for �death� in the following verse of Isaiah 53:9, �And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;� is plural. Thanks

Hi Mansoor, okay I have had many many discussions with countermissionary Jews on this issue and many, many other issues.   First of all when they say the "original" Hebrew, don't be confused with that meaning that they have a the original documents scribed at the time of Isaiah.

They are talking about the language, not the document itself.   The LXX is actually older than the masorectic text which is their bible.   See what it says.  btw, nearly all of the countermissionary arguments are language interpretation in natural.   And I can assure you that they pick and choose among multiple meanings of words to make the text says whatever they want.

They claim that "righteous Israel" is the suffering servant who bears the sins of the gentile nations against them.

But that is simply not true as the Jews went into exile for the past two thousand years for their own inquities because they rejected the messiah.   I have pointed out this verse in Ezekiel 39 to them many times, but they never respond.   This verse is after the battle of Gog/Magog which has not taken place, and also the battle of Armageddon (the Jews will have accepted Jesus at the end of the reign of the Antichrist and the battle of Armageddon).

Ezekiel 39:22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

(right now, the Jews don't acccept Jesus that he is the Lord from heaven, but they will in that day)

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

Okay, the above verse explains why the Jews went through the  holocaust.    It is a sobering thought.  God hide his face from them.   Had they accepted Jesus's death and resurrection, they would not have had to go through any of that.   And there are eternal consequences for anyone, not just the Jews, who knowingly rejects the gospel.

The bottom line is that Israel, and there is no such thing as "righteous" Israel as the countermissionaries claim anyway, is that Israel did not bear the iniquities of the gentile nations against them because they had their own iniquities, for which God Himself says he turned his face from them because of their iniquities against him.   They weren't the suffering servant, because they weren't serving God in their suffering.    They had rejected him, Jesus on the cross.    They did suffer yes, but it was because of their own iniquities.

Mansoor, you also provided this statement (copy and paste )....

This is because several times in the book of Isaiah the nation of Israel is called servant, amongst other reasons.

Okay, please pay attention to what I am saying.   The messiah's mission is CONCEALED in the old testament because God did not want Satan to know about it.

So yes, Israel is God's servant in many passages.   Because it is so, no-one would have ever guessed that Isaiah 53 was predicting that the messiah would die for the sins of the world AHEAD OF TIME.  It was concealed.    We only know now that it was about Jesus because of what the disciples went out and preached to the world about those old testament prophecies - what they really meant, because Jesus himself AFTER THE RESURRECTION opened their understanding to the scriptures regarding him.  It is in Luke 24:44-46, please read it.

THE JEWS DON'T GET IT, because there is not a single Jewish countermissionary who realizes that God kept the plan of his salvation a mystery,  otherwise Satan and his angels, and the demons would not have crucified the Lord of Glory - which was part of God's secret plan that Satan sealed his own fate himself by doing so, while at the same time freeing us from being his hostage, held captive by ours sins. 

I would like for you to read these verses which is the gospel, the two parts, which are the death on the cross and the resurrection.  And that it spelled the end for Satan and his angels.

Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism [that baptism is the baptism of death Jesus spoken of himself aforehand that he had to go through, that Jesus went on the cross, God put all of humanity "in Jesus" as he died], wherein also ye are risen with him [likewise, to those who believe we are also risen with him, a new creation "in Christ"] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him [quickened together with Jesus means that we who believe have been raised with Jesus a new creation, a new human.  Because that was God's secret plan to recreate the sinner of Adam's flesh into saints borne of the spirit], having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers [by the death and resurrection, Jesus sealed the eternal doom of Satan and his angels and the demons] , he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Mansoor, please read these verses for they tell of the gospel being kept a mystery from Satan and his angels and demons.

1Corinthians2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The princes of this world is Satan and his angels and the demons.  There is not a countermissionary Jew nor a muslim that is aware of that there are two parts to the gospel and that is was kept a mystery, concealed in the old testament on purpose so that Satan and his angels and demons would have not, otherwise, crucified Jesus. 

God put all of the sins of mankind on the cross to die "in Jesus".   But it is only those who believe that are likewise raised "in Jesus" when he came back from the dead, that we are made a new creation "in Christ".    We are the ones who have been "saved".    Salvation is a free gift from God, which is by faith, believing, that Jesus died on the cross and that he was raised from the dead.    

Islam denies both actions, and accordingly, God is going to judge Islam for all the world to see in Gog/Magog Ezekiel 38/39.   Which will be the end of Islam.  Mohamed was under the control of Satan, but muslims don't know the gospel and that it is the second part, the resurrection, that makes a person a new creation "in Christ".    First by the spirit, we are reborn, our souls redeemed.   And second, by the resurrection of those asleep in Christ, or those who are alive, changed in the twinkling of an eye, at his coming - which is the blessed hope of the body of Christ, which will be the redemption of our corruptible bodies into glorious incorruptible eternal bodies.

Mansoor, it may have sounded like I drifted, but you have to have a clear picture of the gospel, and that it was kept a mystery on purpose to understand that some of the messianic verses in the old testament can only be understood in retrospect. 

Which if a person like the Jews rejects the gospel, not understanding it even those same countermissionaries claim to be experts on Christianity,  they are blinded until God, like Jesus did to the disciples in Luke 24:44-46, until
God removes those scales from their eyes.   That day is coming that all Israel will be saved, but it will not be until the arrival of the Antichrist, who comes right after Gog/Magog, which will be the end of Islam, to begin the final 7 years, ending at Armageddon and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in great glory to this earth to setup the kingdom of God.

Doug L.


Edited by Douggg - 08 August 2010 at 7:41pm

Isaiah Chapter 53, Verse 1: (New King James Version) "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

Verse 2: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form (literally "splendor") or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty (lit. "appearance") that we should desire Him.

So the word "form" is not referring to his shape but to His appearance.

Verse3: "He is despised and rejected (lit: "forsaken) by men. A Man of sorrows (lit: "pains") and acquainted with grief (lit: "sickness"). And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we did not esteem Him."

The point you are missing when you say that Jesus "is one of the most beloved men in history" is that Isaiah was a Jew and was referring to Christ's rejection by the Jews as the Messiah. The Temple priests especially despised Him and eventually went to Pilate to demand his execution for blasphemy.

Verse 4: "Surely He has borne our griefs (lit: "sicknesses") And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed (lit: "reckoned") Him stricken. Smitten by God, and afflicted.

Verse 5: "But He was wounded (lit: "pierced through") for our transgressions. He was bruised (lit: "crushed") for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes (lit: "blows that cut in") we are healed.

Verse 7: "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not his mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth."

Mark 15: 1. "Immediately in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2. Then Pilate asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." 3. And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" 5. But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.

Matthew 27: 11. Now Jesus stood before the governor, And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." 12. And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. 13. Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" 14. But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly."

Isaiah 53: 9. "And they (lit: "he or He") made His grave with the wicked - But with the rich at His death. Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth."

"...Made his grave with the wicked," This refers to the two criminals that He was crucified with. "and with the rich in His death..." Because He was buried in the new tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea.

The point of all this is that Isaiah, writing 700 years before Jesus, could predict so accurately the happenings surrounding the life, trial, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The idea that Isaiah was referring to anyone BUT Jesus is absurd. The paralells are not just striking, they are in a way almost miraculous in their accuracy.



Edited by Larry - 08 August 2010 at 6:42am

Hasan, Greetings.

   Christians believe that Jesus Christ's death was necessary for the Salvation of all people, and without it made His life, ministry and death on earth without purpose. Jesus was a servant of God, but was also part of the substance that makes the Trinity of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.
   Jesus is called the "Lamb of God" and in the Book of Revelation His role at the end of the world is shown.

Revelation 5;1-13: (The Revelation of St. John)
1. "And I saw in the right hand of Him (God) who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"
3. And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
4. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5. But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep, Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
6. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out to all the earth.
7. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne..
8. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood. Out of every tribe and tongue and the people and nation,
10. And have made us kings (lit: "a kingdom") and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."
11. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands and thousands,
12. saying with a loud voice; "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
13. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever."

   I know this is long but I think it illustrates much of what Christians believe in regard to Jesus Christ in His life on earth and His necessary death and resurrection, and subsequent role at the end of time with God in heaven as part of the single substance of the Holy Trinity.

Edited by Larry - 09 August 2010 at 2:26am