Isaiah prophesied in the 8th century BC, centuries before Jesus was born. Near the end of his book is a short passage about a servant of the LORD who suffers, is silent, dies with the wicked, and is buried with the rich – and whose suffering is said to be for other people’s sins.
Christians have read it as a picture of Jesus Christ from the very beginning. The New Testament itself quotes it about him more than once. Read it slowly, verse by verse, and it is easy to see why.
The Story of the Suffering Servant
The passage begins with the end. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. But first, many were astonied at him: his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. Kings shall shut their mouths at him, because they will see what they had never been told.
Then the speaker changes to we. Who hath believed our report? The servant grows up before the LORD as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, with no form nor comeliness that anyone would desire. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. People hid their faces from him and esteemed him not.
Then comes the turn the whole passage hangs on. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He does not defend himself. He 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. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him, and his soul is made an offering for sin.
That is not where it ends. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death, God will give him a portion with the great. He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Key Verses
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” Isaiah 53:3
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” Isaiah 53:5
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” Isaiah 53:6
“He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” Isaiah 53:7
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” Acts 8:35
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of the Suffering Servant Teaches Us
The center of the passage is substitution. Again and again the text says the servant suffers for others: our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, our iniquities, the iniquity of us all. The people who watched him thought he was being punished by God for his own wrong. The passage says they were wrong about whose sin it was.
The New Testament reads this passage as being about Jesus. In Acts 8:32-35 an Ethiopian official is reading He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, asks Philip whom the prophet means, and Philip began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. Matthew 8:17 quotes Isaiah 53:4 after Jesus heals the sick, and 1 Peter 2:24 echoes Isaiah 53:5: by whose stripes ye were healed.
The servant’s suffering is not the last word. The same chapter that describes his death says he will see his seed, prolong his days, justify many, and be given a portion with the great. Christians read that as the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and it matches how the passage began: my servant shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the suffering servant in Isaiah 53?
The passage calls him my servant and my righteous servant (Isaiah 52:13, 53:11). Christians identify him as Jesus Christ, as Philip did in Acts 8:35 when he began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Where is the suffering servant passage in the Bible?
Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53:12, in the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
When was Isaiah 53 written?
Isaiah prophesied in the 8th century BC, during the reigns of the kings of Judah named in Isaiah 1:1, centuries before Jesus was born.
Where does the New Testament quote Isaiah 53?
Acts 8:32-33 quotes Isaiah 53:7-8, Matthew 8:17 quotes Isaiah 53:4, and 1 Peter 2:24 echoes Isaiah 53:5 with by whose stripes ye were healed.
What does with his stripes we are healed mean?
It is from Isaiah 53:5. The servant was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the healing of others comes through his suffering. 1 Peter 2:24 applies it to Christ, who bare our sins in his own body on the tree.