Isaiah 53

The chapter

Isaiah 53 is the fourth and greatest of the Servant Songs (Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52:13-53:12). It is the fifth Gospel — the fullest Old Testament portrait of the Passion of Christ, written some seven centuries before Golgotha. The chapter is only twelve verses long, but the Church has meditated on it in every century.

Who wrote it

Traditionally attributed to Isaiah the prophet (c. 740-680 BC), son of Amoz. Modern critical scholarship divides Isaiah among two or three anonymous prophets; Christian tradition preserves single authorship. The New Testament cites Isaiah 53 as 'the prophet Esaias' (Matthew 8:17; John 12:38; Acts 8:28-35).

Historical and geographical context

The Suffering Servant songs are set (in their prophetic voice) in the Babylonian exile of the sixth century BC. But the chapter looks past the exile to a coming Servant whose sufferings will atone for the sins of many. The setting is not primarily geographical but eschatological — it is the Cross seen from a great distance.

Important verses

• Isaiah 53:3 (KJV) 'He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:'
• Isaiah 53:4 (KJV) 'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.'
• Isaiah 53:5 (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.'
• Isaiah 53:6 (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.'
• Isaiah 53:7 (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.'
• Isaiah 53:9 (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.'
• Isaiah 53:12 (KJV) '…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.'

Christ-centred reading

The whole chapter is Christ. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 when Philip found him on the desert road: 'Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus' (Acts 8:35). The Church has always read Isaiah 53 as Passion narrative in advance.

In Christian tradition

• Read at the Good Friday liturgy in every Christian tradition.
• Cited more than any other Old Testament chapter in the New Testament, after the Psalms.
• The great Handel setting (Messiah, 1741) devotes multiple movements to Isaiah 53.
• The eight-hundred-year-old Sarum rite included Isaiah 53 at the Reproaches on Good Friday.

Connected People

• Christ Jesus — the Servant of Isaiah 53.
• Isaiah — the prophet.
• Paul — who quotes Isaiah 53 in Romans and elsewhere.
• Peter — who quotes Isaiah 53 in 1 Peter 2:22-25.

Connected Places

• Golgotha — where the chapter came true in visible flesh.
• Jerusalem — the city outside whose walls the Servant suffered.
• Gethsemane — where the silence of Isaiah 53:7 began.

Household application

Read Isaiah 53 aloud at the family table on Good Friday, before any Passion Gospel reading. Let the children hear that the Cross was written in the Bible before Christ was born.

For a household in grief, read Isaiah 53:3-4 quietly. 'A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.' Christ has been there first.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Isaiah 53 slowly, verse by verse, on Good Friday.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray Isaiah 53:5 as a household act of trust in Christ's atonement.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Read as the Passion prelude every Good Friday.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Man of Sorrows! What a Name' (Philip Bliss, 1875); listen to Handel's 'He Was Despised' (Messiah).
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the four Servant Songs (Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52:13-53:12) as a unit.

Further reading

Isaiah 53 in the KJV, and the four Servant Songs.

Acts 8:26-40 — Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah (fifth century).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Christ Jesus
• Golgotha
• Luke 2
• Psalm 23
• Isaiah — the prophet
• Revelation 21 — the promise fulfilled
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.