Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
Parallel translations
- KJV Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
- BSB Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.
- NKJV Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
- NASB ¶However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated.
- NLT Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Servant bore our sicknesses and sorrows, though onlookers wrongly assumed God was punishing him for his own sin. It matters because his suffering was substitutionary, carried on our behalf.
Overview
Here begins the heart of the chapter: the Servant takes up what was ours. Observers misjudged his affliction as divine judgment on him, not grasping that he suffered for them. Matthew (8:17) sees this fulfilled in Christ's healing ministry and ultimately in the cross, where Jesus bore the full weight of human brokenness and sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Pet 2:24who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
- Matt 8:17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”
- Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- 1 Jn 2:2And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
- 1 Pet 3:18Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
- Isa 53:5–6But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.
- Heb 9:28so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
- Isa 53:11–12After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
- John 19:7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
- Ps 69:26For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
- Matt 26:37He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 53:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.