The Fourth Servant Song continues from 52:13 and reaches its climax here. A group of speakers — identified only as we — confess that they misjudged the servant of the LORD, mistaking his suffering for divine punishment when in fact he bore their griefs and was pierced for their transgressions. The Servant, silent as a lamb before slaughter, is cut off from the land of the living, buried with the wicked, yet sees offspring and prolongs his days. The song ends with God vindicating the Servant and granting him a portion with the great.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
This chapter contains the most developed theology of vicarious suffering in the Hebrew Bible. The Servant does not merely suffer alongside others but suffers in their place and for their healing. The reversal of verse 4 is the theological hinge: we thought him stricken by God, but he was pierced for our transgressions. The Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript 1QIsaiah-a preserves a significant variant at verse 11, reading he shall see light (yir'eh or), absent from the Masoretic Text but supported by the Septuagint.
Translation Friction
This is the most theologically contested passage in the Hebrew Bible, and we approach it with maximum care and transparency. Jewish interpretive tradition, from the Talmud through Rashi and Ibn Ezra, has predominantly read the Servant as a personification of Israel suffering among the nations — the we being the Gentile nations who finally recognize Israel's innocent suffering. Christian tradition, from the New Testament onward, has read the Servant as a messianic prophecy fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Both readings have deep roots and serious textual support. We present the Hebrew as it stands, note both traditions, and do not privilege either. The text itself sustains the tension.
Connections
This passage is quoted or alluded to more than any other Hebrew Bible text in the New Testament (Matthew 8:17; Acts 8:32-35; Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:22-25, among many others). In Jewish liturgy, it appears in the Musaf service for Yom Kippur in some traditions. The Targum Jonathan renders the passage messianically but redistributes the suffering to Israel's enemies. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) applies elements to the Messiah. The Dead Sea Scrolls community appears to have read it in light of their own Teacher of Righteousness.
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
KJV Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
זְרוֹעַ יְהוָהzeroa YHWH
"the arm of the LORD"—arm of the LORD, power of the LORD, strength of the LORD
The zeroa YHWH ('arm of the LORD') represents God's active intervention in history. The question 'to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?' implies that the Servant's suffering is itself the revelation of divine power — but in a form no one expected or recognized.
Translator Notes
The song shifts to first-person plural — a group of speakers confess their misunderstanding. The identity of the we is debated: in Christian reading, it is Israel or humanity confessing about the Messiah; in Jewish reading, it may be the Gentile nations confessing about Israel. The shemu'atenu (our report/what we have heard) implies a message that was delivered but not believed. John 12:38 and Romans 10:16 both quote this verse.
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
KJV For 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Servant emerges from unpromising conditions — a yoneq (tender shoot/suckling plant) from dry ground (erets tsiyyah), suggesting humble, unexpected origins. The triple negation (no form, no majesty, no beauty) inverts expectations of how divine power should manifest. The root (shoresh) imagery echoes Isaiah 11:1 (the shoot from Jesse's stump).
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
As one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
KJV He 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹתish makh'ovot
"a man of sorrows"—man of pains, man of sufferings, one acquainted with grief
The phrase ish makh'ovot ('man of pains/sorrows') and yadu'a choli ('acquainted with illness/grief') describe the Servant's intimate familiarity with human suffering — not as observer but as participant. The rendering 'man of sorrows' follows a long translation tradition that captures the Hebrew's weight.
Translator Notes
The phrase chadal ishim (rejected by men, or: forsaken of men) suggests one who has ceased to be regarded as human. The word yadu'a choli (acquainted with grief/illness) can also mean known to sickness — the Servant is intimate with suffering. The verb chasavnuhu (we esteemed him) is an accounting term: we did not reckon him as having value.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
KJV Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This is the theological hinge of the chapter. The emphatic akhen (surely) introduces the confession: the Servant bore our griefs (cholayenu — our sicknesses/weaknesses) and carried our sorrows (makh'ovenu). The speakers confess their error: they assumed the Servant was nagu'a (stricken — a term used for leprosy in Leviticus 13), mukkeh elohim (smitten by God) — divinely punished for his own sins. Matthew 8:17 applies this verse to Jesus's healing ministry.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and by his wounds we are healed.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
מְחֹלָלmecholal
"pierced"—pierced, wounded, profaned, defiled
The verb mecholal (from chalal) can mean 'pierced,' 'wounded,' or 'profaned.' We rendered it 'pierced' because the parallel with medukkah ('crushed') points to physical violence, not merely defilement. The preposition min ('because of, from') makes the cause clear: our transgressions, our iniquities.
Translator Notes
The preposition min (from/for) in mippsha'enu (for our transgressions) and me'avonotenu (for our iniquities) indicates the cause of the Servant's suffering: our sins. The word musar (chastisement/discipline) carries the sense of corrective punishment — but it falls on the Servant, and the result (shelomenu, our peace/wholeness) accrues to us. The final clause uvacharurato nirpa-lanu (by his wounds we are healed) is the most concise statement of vicarious atonement in the Hebrew Bible. 1 Peter 2:24 quotes this directly.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, each one, to his own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verse opens and closes with kullanu (all of us), forming an inclusio of universal guilt. The verb hipgia (laid on/caused to fall upon) is the same root as paga (to intercede) in verse 12 — the Servant both receives the burden and intercedes for those who caused it. The shepherd/sheep metaphor frames human sin as aimless wandering rather than deliberate rebellion.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The double statement he opened not his mouth frames the verse, emphasizing the Servant's voluntary silence. The lamb (seh) and sheep (rachel) are sacrificial imagery — the lamb led to slaughter evokes the Passover lamb (Exodus 12) and the daily tamid offering. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading this very passage when Philip encountered him (Acts 8:32-35). In Jewish tradition, Israel's silence among persecuting nations echoes this image.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
KJV He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase nigzar me'erets chayyim (cut off from the land of the living) indicates death. The question who considered (mi yesocheach) his generation/fate suggests that no one reflected on the meaning of his death. The phrase mippesha ammi (for the transgression of my people) is pivotal: God now speaks in first person (my people), confirming the vicarious nature of the suffering. The Hebrew lamo (to him/to them) is ambiguous and debated.
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Servant is buried with the wicked (resha'im) and with a rich man (ashir) — the parallelism suggests the rich man is equated with the wicked, a common prophetic association. Christian tradition connects the rich man to Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60). The Servant's innocence is stated absolutely: no violence (chamas) and no deceit (mirmah). 1 Peter 2:22 quotes the second clause.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
He has put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
and the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
KJV Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
The asham ('guilt offering') is a specific Levitical sacrifice (Leviticus 5:14-6:7, 7:1-10) that provides restitution for wrongs committed. Applying sacrificial language to a person is unprecedented in the Hebrew Bible. The Servant's life becomes the reparation that restores what sin destroyed.
Translator Notes
The most theologically dense verse in the chapter. God's will (chefets, delight/purpose) is behind the Servant's suffering — this is not accident but divine intention. The Servant's soul (nafsho) becomes an asham (guilt offering), a specific Levitical sacrifice. Yet paradoxically, the one who dies sees offspring (zera) and prolongs his days — language of life beyond death. This paradox is central to both Jewish and Christian messianic interpretation.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.
By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
KJV He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
CRITICAL TEXTUAL NOTE: The Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript 1QIsaiah-a (circa 125 BCE) reads he shall see light (yir'eh or) where the Masoretic Text reads simply he shall see. The Septuagint also includes light. Many scholars believe the DSS preserves the older reading, with or (light) lost through scribal error in the MT tradition. If original, it explicitly describes the Servant seeing light after death — resurrection language. We follow the MT but flag this significant variant. The verb yatsdiq (make righteous/justify) is a legal term: the Servant's knowledge effects the acquittal of the many (larabbim).
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
KJV Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The song concludes with God speaking in first person, vindicating and rewarding the Servant. Four reasons are given for the Servant's exaltation: (1) he poured out his soul (he'erah — literally emptied out, cf. Philippians 2:7) to death; (2) he was numbered with transgressors; (3) he bore the sin of many (chet-rabbim nasa); (4) he makes intercession (yafgia — the same root as hipgia in v.6) for transgressors. The final verb is imperfect tense (yafgia — he makes/will make intercession), suggesting ongoing action beyond death. Mark 15:28 and Luke 22:37 cite the numbered with transgressors clause. This verse, and the song as a whole, has shaped Jewish and Christian theology for over two millennia.