Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,.... He was injuriously treated by the Jews; they used him very ill, and handled him very roughly; he was oppressed and afflicted, both in body and mind, with

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 oppressed, and he was afflicted.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; he was sorely punished for our sins. But there is another translation, which seems to be more emphatical, and more agreeable to the Hebrew text; It (to wit, our iniquity last mentioned, or the punishment of all our sins) was exacted or required, (as this word most properly and frequently signifies, of which see my Latin Synopsis. God’ s justice expected and required satisfaction from us for our sins; which, alas! we could not make to him,) and he was afflicted or punished; he bore the guilt and punishment of our sins in his body upon the tree, as is said, 1 Peter 2 24; or, as others render this last word, and he answered, i.e. became our surety, or undertook to pay the debt, and to suffer the law in our stead, and for our sake. Yet he opened not his mouth; he neither murmured against God for causing him to suffer for other men’ s sins, nor reviled men for punishing him without cause, nor used apologies or endeavours to save his own life; but willingly and patiently accepted of the punishment of our iniquity. Is dumb; bears the loss of its fleece or life without any such clamour or resistance as other creatures use in such cases.

Isaiah 53:7 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.Ver. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,] Heb., It, the punishment of our sin, was exacted; and he, being our surety, was afflicted. Or, It was exacted, and he answered, i.e., satisfied. Yet he opened not his mouth.] Though he "suffered, the just for the unjust," with the unjust, upon unjust causes, under unjust judges, and by unjust punishments. Silence and sufferance was the language of this holy Lamb, "dumb before the shearer," insomuch as that Pilate wondered exceedingly. The eunuch also wondered when he read this text, Acts 8:32, and was converted. And the like is related of a certain earl called Eleazar, a choleric man, but much altered for the better by a study of Christ and of his patience. "I beseech you, by the meekness of Christ," saith Paul; and Peter, who was an eyewitness of his patience, propoundeth him for a worthy pattern. Vide mihi languidum, exhaustum, cruentatum, trementum, et gementem Iesum tuum, et evanescet omnis impatientiae effectus. Christ upon the cross is as a doctor in his chair, where he readeth unto us all a lecture of patience. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.] Or, As a sheep that is led to the slaughter, which, when we see done, we should think of Christ, and see him as it were in an opera glass. The saints of old did so in their sacrifices; and this was that hidden wisdom David speaks of, Psalms 51:8; the ceremonial law was their gospel. And as a sheep before her shearer is dumb.] The word Rachel signifieth an ewe. This ewe hath brought forth many lambs, such as was Lambert and the rest of the martyrs, who, to words of scorn and petulance, returned Isaac’ s apology to his brother Ishmael, patience and silence; insomuch as that the persecutors said that they were possessed with a dumb devil. This was a kind of blasphemy. In vita eius apud Surium. Acts and Mon., fol. 811.

(7) He was afflicted . . .—More accurately, He let himself be afflicted, as implying the voluntary acceptance of the suffering. Opened not his mouth.—The silence of absolute acquiescence, as in Psalms 38:14; Psalms 39:9. As a lamb to the slaughter.—It is suggestive, as bearing both on the question of authorship, and that of partial fulfilment, that Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:19) appropriates the description to himself. In our Lord’s silence before the Sanhedrin and Pilate it is allowable to trace a conscious fulfilment of Isaiah’s words (Matthew 26:62; Matthew 27:14). (Comp. 1 Peter 2:23.)

ch. Isaiah 53:1-9. Having thus indicated the subject of his discourse, the prophet now proceeds to describe the career of the Servant, and the impression he had made on his contemporaries. This is prefaced in Isaiah 53:1 by a confession or complaint of the universal unbelief which had led to his being so grievously misunderstood. The speakers in this section are certainly not the heathen mentioned in Isaiah 52:15, but either all Israel or one Israelite in the name of all. The “nations” and “kings” are surprised by the Servant’s exaltation because they had not previously heard of it; those who now speak confess a deeper fault, they have heard but did not believe. It is generally assumed that there is a change of speaker in Isaiah 53:7-9, where the use of the 1st pers. plu. is discontinued, and where (Isaiah 53:8) we come across the expression “my people.” This assumption is to be avoided if possible, because Isaiah 53:7 ff. continue the narrative of the Servant’s sufferings, and it is unnatural to think that the story begun by one speaker should be completed by another unless there were some clear indication that this is the case. There appears to be no difficulty in the supposition that the prophet himself speaks throughout; although in Isaiah 53:2-6 he associates himself with his generation, the contemporaries of the Servant. There must be some reason for his thus merging his individual consciousness in that of the community; and the obvious reason is that in depicting the Servant as he appeared to men, he writes as a spectator along with others, and realises his solidarity with his nation. In Isaiah 53:7-9 the description simply becomes less subjective; the emphasis lies less on what men thought of the Servant, and more on what he was and endured; and when the prophet again has occasion to refer to Israel it is natural that he should do so as “my people.”—Another thing to be noted is that the language is consistently retrospective. Historic tenses are employed throughout, the speaker looks back on the completed tragedy of the Servant’s career, and on the people’s former thoughts of him as things that belong to the past. On the other hand, the exaltation of the Servant is always spoken of (both in Isaiah 52:13-15, and in Isaiah 53:10-12) as something still future. The standpoint assumed here seems therefore to be intermediate between the death of the Servant and his exaltation; and the great moral change which is described as taking place in the mind of the people is not the result of the revelation of his glory, but is brought about by reflection on his unparalleled sufferings, and his patient demeanour under them, preparing the people to believe the prophecies which had hitherto seemed incredible.

He was oppressed - (נגשׂ niggas'). Lowth renders this, ‘It was exacted.’ Hengstenberg, ‘He was abased.’ Jerome (the Vulgate), ‘He was offered because he was willing.’ The Septuagint ‘He, on account

7. He was oppressed, etc. — This verse expresses the treatment he received and his conduct under it. He opened not his mouth — The prophet observes the scene in perspective vision, and so uses the future in the words.