What does Isaiah 52:13-53:12 mean?

Isaiah 52:13 Direct teaching

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.

Isaiah 52:14 Direct teaching

As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

Isaiah 53:4 Direct teaching

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:5 Direct teaching

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:3 Direct teaching

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.

Isaiah 53:7 Direct teaching

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.

Isaiah 53:6 Direct teaching

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 53:10 Direct teaching

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; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:12 Direct teaching

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:11 Direct teaching

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.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

...uch of the Ethiopian queen reading these words: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb is silent before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth: in His humiliation His justice was taken away;” and all the rest that the prophet described about His suffering and His coming in the flesh, and how He was dishonored by those who did not believe Him, easily convinced him to believe that He was Christ Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered as the prophet predicted, and that He was the Son of God who gives eternal life to people. And immediately after Philip baptized him, he left him. For baptism was the only thing he lacked, having already been taught by the prophets; he was not ignorant of God the Father or of the rules of proper living, but only unaware of the coming of the Son of God, which, once he had learned of it, he continued on his way rejoicing, to become the herald of Christ’s coming in Ethiopia. Therefore Philip did not have much effort to make with this man because he was already prepared with the fear of God by the prophets. For this reason, too, the apostles, gathering the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and speaking to them from th

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Direct teaching

...s it not about Him of whom the prophet spoke: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth?” “But who shall declare His origin? For His life shall be taken from the earth.” Philip declared that this was Jesus, and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him; the believing eunuch also acknowledged this. Immediately, he requested to be baptized, saying, “I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.” This man was also sent to the regions of Ethiopia to preach what he had believed himself: that there was one God preached by the prophets, and that the Son of this God had already appeared in human form and had been led like a sheep to the slaughter, along with all the other statements the prophets made regarding Him.

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...will not keep silent forever? Surely it is He who was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Surely it is He who did not cry out, nor was His voice heard in the streets. Surely it is He who was not rebellious and did not resist, when He offered His back to whips and His cheeks to the palms of men's hands. He did not turn away His face from the shame of spitting. Surely it is He who, when He was accused by the priests and elders, answered nothing and, to Pilate's amazement, kept a most patient silence. This is He who, although He was silent in His suffering, yet before long will not be silent in His vengeance. This is our God, that is, not the God of all, but of the faithful and believing. And when He comes openly in His second coming, He will not be silent. For although He came at first hidden in humility, yet He will come openly in power.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

Isaiah also thus spoke: Isaiah 53:1-6 Lord, who has believed our report?

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

When He speaks by Isaiah, ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before the shearer,’ He speaks as if the suffering had already taken place.

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

... we look more deeply into the meaning of Jesus being pointed out by John when he says, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," we may begin with the divine arrangement of the Son of God’s coming in the body into human life. In that case, we should understand the lamb to be none other than the man. For the man was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearers, as Isaiah 53:7 says. Jeremiah 11:19 also says, "I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter." For this reason also, in the Apocalypse a lamb is seen standing as if slain. This slain lamb has become, according to certain hidden reasons, a purification of the whole world. For the sake of this, according to the Father’s love for man, He submitted to death, buying us back by His own blood from the one who had brought us under his power, since we had been sold under sin. And the one who led this lamb to the slaughter was God in man, the great High Priest, as He shows by the words of John 10:18: "No one takes My life away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...es, take heed lest He also not spare you." Our Lord was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7. "I am not rebellious," He says, "nor do I resist. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to the palms of their hands. I did not hide My face from the filth of spitting." And does anyone now, who lives by and in this very One, dare to lift himself up and be haughty, forgetting both the deeds that He did and the commands that He left to us, either by Himself or by His apostles? But if the servant is not greater than his Lord, then let those who follow the Lord walk in His steps humbly, peacefully, and quietly, since the lower a man is, the more exalted he may become; as the Lord says, "He that is least among you, the same shall be great." Luke 9:48

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Supporting witness

Isaiah 53:7 He gave His back to scourges, and His cheeks to blows, not turning His face even from the shame of spitting.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Likewise respecting His silence, which He perseveringly maintained even to His death, Isaiah thus spoke again: Isaiah 53:7 He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

The same prophet says respecting His silence: Isaiah 53:7 I was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.

Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching

For the man was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb, dumb before his shearers, Isaiah 53:7 saying, I was as like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

...s lets us see the excellence of Him who was led like a sheep to the slaughter and was silent like a lamb before the shearer. For if there is any point in these stories of the Greeks, and if what we have said about the martyrs is sound, then the Apostles too were, for the same reason, “the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things,” 1 Corinthians 4:13. What things, and how great, must be said of the Lamb of God, who was sacrificed for this very reason, that He might take away the sin not of a few but of the whole world, for whose sake also He suffered? “If anyone sin,” we read, 1 John 2:1-2, “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world,” since He is “the Saviour of all men,” 1 Timothy 4:10, especially of those who believe, who, Colossians 2:14-15, “blotted out the written bond that was against us by His own blood, and took it out of the way,” so that not even a trace, not even of our blotted-out sins, might still be found, “and nailed it to His cross; who having put off from Himself the principalities and powers, made a show of them openly, triumphing over

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...is death, Isaiah also said this in Isaiah 53:7: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth." And the Sibyl mentioned above said:

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb which is dumb before its shearer.” Therefore we ought to be deeply grateful to the Lord, because He has both made known to us things that are past, and hath given us wisdom concerning things present, and hath not left us without understanding in regard to things which are to come.

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

...thought that [for His own account] He was exposed to labor, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] person has wandered in their own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while in the midst of His sufferings He did not open His mouth. He was brought like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? for His life was taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought to death. And I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death, because He did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify Him by stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see long-lived descendants. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, to justify the Just One who serves many well; and He Himself shal

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

and [the Scripture] saith thus: “He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities: with His stripes we are healed.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of peace was upon Him, by His stripes we are healed.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Twelve Topics on the Faith Supporting witness

Wherefore, when it is said that He was troubled in spirit, that He was sorrowful in soul, Matthew 26:38 that He was wounded in body, Isaiah 53:5 He places before us designations of susceptibilities proper to our constitution, in order to show that He was made man in the world, and had His conversation with men, Baruch 3:38 yet without sin.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our offenses;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

Isaiah 50:10 And likewise as a healer: For, says he, He has taken away our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. Isaiah 53:4

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

was wounded that He might heal our wounds;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Then I saw their devices; I was led as an innocent lamb to the sacrifice;

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes;

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Supporting witness

...uities: with His stripes we are healed. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a silent lamb before its shearer.” Therefore, we ought to be deeply grateful to the Lord, because He has revealed past events to us, given us wisdom concerning the present, and not left us without understanding about what is to come. The Scripture says, “Not unjustly are nets spread out for birds.” This means that a person perishes justly if, knowing the way of righteousness, they rush into the way of darkness. Furthermore, my brethren: if the Lord endured suffering for our souls, He being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the creation of the world, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” understand why He endured suffering at the hands of men. The prophets, having received grace from Him, prophesied about Him. And He (since it was necessary for Him to appear in flesh) endured what He did to abolish death and reveal the resurrection from the dead, to fulfill the promise made to the fathers, and by preparing a new people for Himself, to show, while He dwelt on earth, that He, when He has raised mankind, will also judge them. Moreover, in teaching Israel and performing g

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

Isaiah 53:4 And again: He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for our offenses.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

For concerning our Saviour it is said in Isaiah, He bears our sins, and is afflicted for us.

Justin Martyr, Other Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin Direct teaching

For He was wounded for our transgressions, and He bare the sins of many, and He was delivered for our iniquities.—From manuscript of writings of .

Barnabas, Connection to Isaiah 53:5 Supporting witness

Isaiah 53:5, 7 Therefore we ought to be deeply grateful to the Lord, because He has both made known to us things that are past, and has given us wisdom concerning things present, and has not left us without understanding in regard to things which are to come.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

Isaiah 53:2-3 And it was necessary that He should come in such form that He might bear our sins Isaiah 53:4 and suffer pain for us;

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Supporting witness

... Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" In the same way Gabriel also says, "To blot out transgressions, and make reconciliation for sins." But who has blotted out our transgressions? Paul the apostle teaches us, saying, "He is our peace, who made both one;" and then, "Blotting out the handwriting of sins that was against us."