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Selected Verse: Isaiah 53:3 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 53:3	Strong Concordance	He is despised [0959] and rejected [02310] of men [0376]; a man [0376] of sorrows [04341], and acquainted [03045] with grief [02483]: and we hid as it were [04564] our faces [06440] from him; he was despised [0959], and we esteemed [02803] him not.
	King James	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.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
rejected--"forsaken of men" [GESENIUS]. "Most abject of men." Literally, "He who ceases from men," that is, is no longer regarded as a man [HENGSTENBERG]. (See on Isa 52:14; Isa 49:7). man of sorrows--that is, whose distinguishing characteristic was sorrows. acquainted with--familiar by constant contact with. grief--literally, "disease"; figuratively for all kinds of calamity (Jer 6:14); leprosy especially represented this, being a direct judgment from God. It is remarkable Jesus is not mentioned as having ever suffered under sickness. and we hid . . . faces--rather, as one who causes men to hide their faces from Him (in aversion) [MAURER]. Or, "He was as an hiding of the face before it," that is, as a thing before which a man covers his face in disgust [HENGSTENBERG]. Or, "as one before whom is the covering of the face"; before whom one covers the face in disgust [GESENIUS]. we--the prophet identifying himself with the Jews. See HORSLEY'S view (see on Isa 53:1). esteemed . . . not--negative contempt; the previous words express positive.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

rejected--"forsaken of men" [GESENIUS]. "Most abject of men." Literally, "He who ceases from men," that is, is no longer regarded as a man [HENGSTENBERG]. (See on Isa 52:14; Isa 49:7).

man of sorrows--that is, whose distinguishing characteristic was sorrows.

acquainted with--familiar by constant contact with.

grief--literally, "disease"; figuratively for all kinds of calamity (Jer 6:14); leprosy especially represented this, being a direct judgment from God. It is remarkable Jesus is not mentioned as having ever suffered under sickness.

and we hid . . . faces--rather, as one who causes men to hide their faces from Him (in aversion) [MAURER]. Or, "He was as an hiding of the face before it," that is, as a thing before which a man covers his face in disgust [HENGSTENBERG]. Or, "as one before whom is the covering of the face"; before whom one covers the face in disgust [GESENIUS].

we--the prophet identifying himself with the Jews. See HORSLEY'S view (see on Isa 53:1).

esteemed . . . not--negative contempt; the previous words express positive.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
He is despised - This requires no explanation; and it needs no comment to show that it was fulfilled. The Redeemer was eminently the object of contempt and scorn alike by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Romans. In his life on earth it was so; in his death it was still so; and since then, his name and person have been extensively the object of contempt. Nothing is a more striking fulfillment of this than the conduct of the Jews at the present day. The very name of Jesus of Nazareth excites contempt; and they join with their fathers who rejected him in heaping on him every term indicative of scorn. Rejected of men - This phrase is full of meaning, and in three words states the whole history of man in regard to his treatment of the Redeemer. The name 'The Rejected of Men,' will express all the melancholy history; rejected by the Jews; by the rich; the great and the learned; by the mass of people of every grade, and age, and rank. No prophecy was ever more strikingly fulfilled; none could condense more significancy into few words. In regard to the exact sense of the phrase, interpreters have varied. Jerome renders it, Novissium virorum - 'The last of men;' that is, the most abject and contemptible of mankind. The Septuagint, 'His appearance is dishonored (ἄτιμον atimon) and defective (ἐκλειπον ekleipon) more than the sons of men.' The Chaldee, 'He is indeed despised, but he shall take away the glory of all kings; they are infirm and sad, as if exposed to all calamities and sorrows.' Some render it, 'Most abject of men,' and they refer to Job 19:14, where the same word is used to denote those friends who forsake the unfortunate. The word חדל châdêl used here, is derived from the verb חדל châdal, which means "to cease, to leave off, to desist"; derived, says Gesenius (Lexicon), from the idea of becoming languid, flaccid; and thence transferred to the act of ceasing from labor. It means usually, to cease, to desist from, to leave, to let alone (see Kg1 22:6-15; Job 7:15; Job 10:20; Isa 2:22). According to Gesenius, the word here means to be left, to be destitute, or forsaken; and the idea is, that be was forsaken by people. According to Hengstenberg (Christol.) it means 'the most abject of men,' he who ceases from men, who ceases to belong to the number of men; that is, who is the most abject of men. Castellio renders it, Minus quash homo - 'Less than a man.' Junius and Tremellius, Abjectissimus virorum - 'The most abject of men.' Grotius, 'Rejected of men.' Symmachus, Ἐλάχιστος ἀνδρῶν Elachistos andrōn - 'the least of men.' The idea is, undoubtedly, somehow that of ceasing from human beings, or from being regarded as belonging to mankind. There was a ceasing, or a withdrawing of that which usually pertains to man, and which belongs to him. And the thought probably is, that he was not only 'despised,' but that there was an advance on that - there was a ceasing to treat him as if he had human feelings, and was in any way entitled to human fellowship and sympathy. It does not refer, therefore, so much to the active means employed to reject him, as to the fact that he was regarded as cut off from man; and the idea is not essentially different from this, that he was the most abject and vile of mortals in the estimation of others; so vile as not to be deemed worthy of the treatment due to the lowest of men. This idea has been substantially expressed in the Syriac translation. A man of sorrows - What a beautiful expression! A man who was so sad and sorrowful; whose life was so full of sufferings, that it might be said that that was the characteristic of the man. A similar phraseology occurs in Pro 29:1, 'He that being often reproved,' in the margin, 'a man of reproofs;' in the Hebrew, 'A man of chastisements,' that is, a man who is often chastised. Compare Dan 10:11 : 'O Daniel, a man greatly beloved,' Margin, as in Hebrew, 'A man of desires; that is, a man greatly desired. Here, the expression means that his life was characterized by sorrows. How remarkably this was fulfilled in the life of the Redeemer, it is not necessary to attempt to show. And acquainted with grief - Hebrew, חלי וידוע viydûa‛ choliy - 'And knowing grief.' The word rendered 'grief' means usually sickness, disease Deu 7:15; Deu 28:61; Isa 1:5; but it also means anxiety, affliction Ecc 5:16; and then any evil or calamity Ecc 6:2. Many of the old interpreters explain it as meaning, that he was known or distinguished by disease; that is, affected by it in a remarkable manner. So Symm. Γνωστός νόσῳ Gnōstos nosō. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, Scientem infirmitatem. The Septuagint renders the whole clause, 'A man in affliction (ἐν πληγῇ en plēgē), and knowing to bear languor, or disease' (εἰδὼ; φέρειν μαλακίαν eidōs pherein malakian). But if the word here means disease, it is only a figurative designation of severe sufferings both of body and of soul. Hengstenberg, Koppe, and Ammon, suppose that the figure is taken from the leprosy, which was not only one of the most severe of all diseases, but was in a special manner regarded as a divine judgment. They suppose that many of the expressions which follow may be explained with reference to this (compare Heb 4:15). The idea is, that he was familiar with sorrow and calamity. It does not mean, as it seems to me, that he was to be himself sick and diseased; but that he was to be subject to various kinds of calamity, and that it was to be a characteristic of his life that he was familiar with it. He was intimate with it. He knew it personally; he knew it in others. He lived in the midst of scenes of sorrow, and be became intimately acquainted with its various forms, and with its evils. There is no evidence that the Redeemer was himself sick at any time - which is remarkable - but there is evidence in abundance that he was familiar with all kinds of sorrow, and that his own life was a life of grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him - There is here great variety of interpretation and of translation. The margin reads, 'As an hiding of faces from him,' or 'from us,' or, 'He hid as it were his face from us.' The Hebrew is literally, 'And as the hiding of faces from him, or from it;' and Hengstenberg explains it as meaning, 'He was as an hiding of the face before it.' that is, as a thing or person before whom a man covers his face, because he cannot bear the disgusting sight. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, 'His face was as it were hidden and despised.' The Septuagint, 'For his countenance was turned away' (ἀπέστρυπταὶ apestraptai). The Chaldee, 'And when he took away his countenance of majesty from us, we were despised and reputed as nothing.' Interpreters have explained it in various ways. 1. 'He was as one who hides his face before us;' alluding, as they suppose, to the Mosaic law, which required lepers to cover their faces Lev 13:45, or to the custom of covering the face in mourning, or for shame. 2. Others explain it as meaning, 'as one before whom is the covering of the face, that is, before whom a man covers the face from shame or disgust. So Gesenius. 3. Others, 'He was as one causing to conceal the face,' that is, he induced others to cover the face before him. His sufferings were so terrible as to induce them to turn away. So John H. Michaelis. The idea seems to be, that he was as one from whom people hide their faces, or turn away. This might either arise from a sight of his sufferings, as being so offensive that they would turn away in pain - as in the case of a leper; or it might be, that he was so much an object of contempt, and so unlike what they expected, that they would hide their faces and turn away in scorn. This latter I suppose to be the meaning; and that the idea is, that he was so unlike what they had expected, that they hid their faces in affected or real contempt. And we esteemed him not - That is, we esteemed him as nothing; we set no value on him. In order to give greater energy to a declaration, the Hebrews frequently express a thing positively and then negatively. The prophet had said that they held him in positive contempt; he here says that they did not regard him as worthy of their notice. He here speaks in the name of his nation - as one of the Jewish people. 'We, the Jews, the nation to whom he was sent, did not esteem him as the Messiah, or as worthy of our affection or regard.'

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

He is despised - This requires no explanation; and it needs no comment to show that it was fulfilled. The Redeemer was eminently the object of contempt and scorn alike by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Romans. In his life on earth it was so; in his death it was still so; and since then, his name and person have been extensively the object of contempt. Nothing is a more striking fulfillment of this than the conduct of the Jews at the present day. The very name of Jesus of Nazareth excites contempt; and they join with their fathers who rejected him in heaping on him every term indicative of scorn.

Rejected of men - This phrase is full of meaning, and in three words states the whole history of man in regard to his treatment of the Redeemer. The name 'The Rejected of Men,' will express all the melancholy history; rejected by the Jews; by the rich; the great and the learned; by the mass of people of every grade, and age, and rank. No prophecy was ever more strikingly fulfilled; none could condense more significancy into few words. In regard to the exact sense of the phrase, interpreters have varied. Jerome renders it, Novissium virorum - 'The last of men;' that is, the most abject and contemptible of mankind. The Septuagint, 'His appearance is dishonored (ἄτιμον atimon) and defective (ἐκλειπον ekleipon) more than the sons of men.' The Chaldee, 'He is indeed despised, but he shall take away the glory of all kings; they are infirm and sad, as if exposed to all calamities and sorrows.' Some render it, 'Most abject of men,' and they refer to Job 19:14, where the same word is used to denote those friends who forsake the unfortunate.

The word חדל châdêl used here, is derived from the verb חדל châdal, which means "to cease, to leave off, to desist"; derived, says Gesenius (Lexicon), from the idea of becoming languid, flaccid; and thence transferred to the act of ceasing from labor. It means usually, to cease, to desist from, to leave, to let alone (see Kg1 22:6-15; Job 7:15; Job 10:20; Isa 2:22). According to Gesenius, the word here means to be left, to be destitute, or forsaken; and the idea is, that be was forsaken by people. According to Hengstenberg (Christol.) it means 'the most abject of men,' he who ceases from men, who ceases to belong to the number of men; that is, who is the most abject of men. Castellio renders it, Minus quash homo - 'Less than a man.' Junius and Tremellius, Abjectissimus virorum - 'The most abject of men.' Grotius, 'Rejected of men.' Symmachus, Ἐλάχιστος ἀνδρῶν Elachistos andrōn - 'the least of men.' The idea is, undoubtedly, somehow that of ceasing from human beings, or from being regarded as belonging to mankind.

There was a ceasing, or a withdrawing of that which usually pertains to man, and which belongs to him. And the thought probably is, that he was not only 'despised,' but that there was an advance on that - there was a ceasing to treat him as if he had human feelings, and was in any way entitled to human fellowship and sympathy. It does not refer, therefore, so much to the active means employed to reject him, as to the fact that he was regarded as cut off from man; and the idea is not essentially different from this, that he was the most abject and vile of mortals in the estimation of others; so vile as not to be deemed worthy of the treatment due to the lowest of men. This idea has been substantially expressed in the Syriac translation.

A man of sorrows - What a beautiful expression! A man who was so sad and sorrowful; whose life was so full of sufferings, that it might be said that that was the characteristic of the man. A similar phraseology occurs in Pro 29:1, 'He that being often reproved,' in the margin, 'a man of reproofs;' in the Hebrew, 'A man of chastisements,' that is, a man who is often chastised. Compare Dan 10:11 : 'O Daniel, a man greatly beloved,' Margin, as in Hebrew, 'A man of desires; that is, a man greatly desired. Here, the expression means that his life was characterized by sorrows. How remarkably this was fulfilled in the life of the Redeemer, it is not necessary to attempt to show.

And acquainted with grief - Hebrew, חלי וידוע viydûa‛ choliy - 'And knowing grief.' The word rendered 'grief' means usually sickness, disease Deu 7:15; Deu 28:61; Isa 1:5; but it also means anxiety, affliction Ecc 5:16; and then any evil or calamity Ecc 6:2. Many of the old interpreters explain it as meaning, that he was known or distinguished by disease; that is, affected by it in a remarkable manner. So Symm. Γνωστός νόσῳ Gnōstos nosō. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, Scientem infirmitatem. The Septuagint renders the whole clause, 'A man in affliction (ἐν πληγῇ en plēgē), and knowing to bear languor, or disease' (εἰδὼ; φέρειν μαλακίαν eidōs pherein malakian). But if the word here means disease, it is only a figurative designation of severe sufferings both of body and of soul. Hengstenberg, Koppe, and Ammon, suppose that the figure is taken from the leprosy, which was not only one of the most severe of all diseases, but was in a special manner regarded as a divine judgment. They suppose that many of the expressions which follow may be explained with reference to this (compare Heb 4:15). The idea is, that he was familiar with sorrow and calamity. It does not mean, as it seems to me, that he was to be himself sick and diseased; but that he was to be subject to various kinds of calamity, and that it was to be a characteristic of his life that he was familiar with it. He was intimate with it. He knew it personally; he knew it in others. He lived in the midst of scenes of sorrow, and be became intimately acquainted with its various forms, and with its evils. There is no evidence that the Redeemer was himself sick at any time - which is remarkable - but there is evidence in abundance that he was familiar with all kinds of sorrow, and that his own life was a life of grief.

And we hid as it were our faces from him - There is here great variety of interpretation and of translation. The margin reads, 'As an hiding of faces from him,' or 'from us,' or, 'He hid as it were his face from us.' The Hebrew is literally, 'And as the hiding of faces from him, or from it;' and Hengstenberg explains it as meaning, 'He was as an hiding of the face before it.' that is, as a thing or person before whom a man covers his face, because he cannot bear the disgusting sight. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, 'His face was as it were hidden and despised.' The Septuagint, 'For his countenance was turned away' (ἀπέστρυπταὶ apestraptai). The Chaldee, 'And when he took away his countenance of majesty from us, we were despised and reputed as nothing.' Interpreters have explained it in various ways.

1. 'He was as one who hides his face before us;' alluding, as they suppose, to the Mosaic law, which required lepers to cover their faces Lev 13:45, or to the custom of covering the face in mourning, or for shame.

2. Others explain it as meaning, 'as one before whom is the covering of the face, that is, before whom a man covers the face from shame or disgust. So Gesenius.

3. Others, 'He was as one causing to conceal the face,' that is, he induced others to cover the face before him. His sufferings were so terrible as to induce them to turn away. So John H. Michaelis.

The idea seems to be, that he was as one from whom people hide their faces, or turn away. This might either arise from a sight of his sufferings, as being so offensive that they would turn away in pain - as in the case of a leper; or it might be, that he was so much an object of contempt, and so unlike what they expected, that they would hide their faces and turn away in scorn. This latter I suppose to be the meaning; and that the idea is, that he was so unlike what they had expected, that they hid their faces in affected or real contempt.

And we esteemed him not - That is, we esteemed him as nothing; we set no value on him. In order to give greater energy to a declaration, the Hebrews frequently express a thing positively and then negatively. The prophet had said that they held him in positive contempt; he here says that they did not regard him as worthy of their notice. He here speaks in the name of his nation - as one of the Jewish people. 'We, the Jews, the nation to whom he was sent, did not esteem him as the Messiah, or as worthy of our affection or regard.'

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
On the contrary, the impression produced by His appearance was rather repulsive, and, to those who measured the great and noble by a merely worldly standard, contemptible. "He was despised and forsaken by men; a man of griefs, and well acquainted with disease; and like one from whom men hide their face: despised, and we esteemed Him not." All these different features are predicates of the erat that is latent in non species ei neque decor and non adspectus. Nibhzeh is introduced again palindromically at the close in Isaiah's peculiar style; consequently Martini's conjecture לא וגו נבזהוּ is to be rejected. This nibhzeh (cf., bâzōh, Isa 49:7) is the keynote of the description which looks back in this plaintive tone. The predicate chădal 'ı̄shı̄m is misunderstood by nearly all the commentators, inasmuch as they take אישׁים as synonymous with בני־אדם, whereas it is rather used in the sense of בני־אישׁ (lords), as distinguished from benē 'âdâm, or people generally (see Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17). The only other passages in which it occurs are Pro 8:4 and Psa 141:4; and in both instances it signifies persons of rank. Hence Cocceius explains it thus: "wanting in men, i.e., having no respectable men with Him, to support Him with their authority." It might also be understood as meaning the ending one among men, i.e., the one who takes the last place (S. ἐλάχιστος, Jer. novissimus); but in this case He Himself would be described as אישׁ, whereas it is absolutely affirmed that He had not the appearance or distinction of such an one. But the rendering deficiens (wanting) is quite correct; compare Job 19:14, "my kinsfolk have failed" (defecerunt, châdelū, cognati mei). The Arabic chadhalahu or chadhala ‛anhu (also points to the true meaning; and from this we have the derivatives châdhil, refusing assistance, leaving without help; and machdhûl, helpless, forsaken (see Lane's Arabic Lexicon). In Hebrew, châdal has not only the transitive meaning to discontinue or leave off a thing, but the intransitive, to case or be in want, so that chădal 'ı̄shı̄m may mean one in want of men of rank, i.e., finding no sympathy from such men. The chief men of His nation who towered above the multitude, the great men of this world, withdrew their hands from Him, drew back from Him: He had none of the men of any distinction at His side. Moreover, He was מכאבות אישׁ, a man of sorrow of heart in all its forms, i.e., a man whose chief distinction was, that His life was one of constant painful endurance. And He was also חלי ידוּע, that is to say, not one known through His sickness (according to Deu 1:13, Deu 1:15), which is hardly sufficient to express the genitive construction; nor an acquaintance of disease (S. γνωστὸς νόσῳ, familiaris morbo), which would be expressed by מידּע or מודע; but scitus morbi, i.e., one who was placed in a state to make the acquaintance of disease. The deponent passive ירוּע, acquainted (like bâtuăch, confisus; zâkbūr, mindful; peritus, pervaded, experienced), is supported by מדּוּע = מה־יּרוּע; Gr. τί μαθών. The meaning is not, that He had by nature a sickly body, falling out of one disease into another; but that the wrath instigated by sin, and the zeal of self-sacrifice (Psa 69:10), burnt like the fire of a fever in His soul and body, so that even if He had not died a violent death, He would have succumbed to the force of the powers of destruction that were innate in humanity in consequence of sin, and of His own self-consuming conflict with them. Moreover, He was kemastēr pânı̄m mimmennū. This cannot mean, "like one hiding his face from us," as Hengstenberg supposes (with an allusion to Lev 13:45); or, what is comparatively better, "like one causing the hiding of the face from him:" for although the feminine of the participle is written מסתּרת, and in the plural מסתּרים for מסתּירים is quite possible, we never meet with mastēr for mastı̄r, like hastēr for hastı̄r in the infinitive (Isa 29:15, cf., Deu 26:12). Hence mastēr must be a noun (of the form marbēts, marbēq, mashchēth); and the words mean either "like the hiding of the face on our part," or like one who met with this from us, or (what is more natural) like the hiding of the face before his presence (according to Isa 8:17; Isa 50:6; Isa 54:8; Isa 59:2, and many other passages), i.e., like one whose repulsive face it is impossible to endure, so that men turn away their face or cover it with their dress (compare Isa 50:6 with Job 30:10). And lastly, all the predicates are summed up in the expressive word nibhzeh: He was despised, and we did not think Him dear and worthy, but rather "esteemed Him not," or rather did not estimate Him at all, or as Luther expresses it, "estimated Him at nothing" (châshabh, to reckon, value, esteem, as in Isa 13:17; Isa 33:8; Mal 3:16). The second turn closes here. The preaching concerning His calling and His future was not believed; but the Man of sorrows was greatly despised among us.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

On the contrary, the impression produced by His appearance was rather repulsive, and, to those who measured the great and noble by a merely worldly standard, contemptible. "He was despised and forsaken by men; a man of griefs, and well acquainted with disease; and like one from whom men hide their face: despised, and we esteemed Him not." All these different features are predicates of the erat that is latent in non species ei neque decor and non adspectus. Nibhzeh is introduced again palindromically at the close in Isaiah's peculiar style; consequently Martini's conjecture לא וגו נבזהוּ is to be rejected. This nibhzeh (cf., bâzōh, Isa 49:7) is the keynote of the description which looks back in this plaintive tone. The predicate chădal 'ı̄shı̄m is misunderstood by nearly all the commentators, inasmuch as they take אישׁים as synonymous with בני־אדם, whereas it is rather used in the sense of בני־אישׁ (lords), as distinguished from benē 'âdâm, or people generally (see Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17). The only other passages in which it occurs are Pro 8:4 and Psa 141:4; and in both instances it signifies persons of rank. Hence Cocceius explains it thus: "wanting in men, i.e., having no respectable men with Him, to support Him with their authority." It might also be understood as meaning the ending one among men, i.e., the one who takes the last place (S. ἐλάχιστος, Jer. novissimus); but in this case He Himself would be described as אישׁ, whereas it is absolutely affirmed that He had not the appearance or distinction of such an one. But the rendering deficiens (wanting) is quite correct; compare Job 19:14, "my kinsfolk have failed" (defecerunt, châdelū, cognati mei). The Arabic chadhalahu or chadhala ‛anhu (also points to the true meaning; and from this we have the derivatives châdhil, refusing assistance, leaving without help; and machdhûl, helpless, forsaken (see Lane's Arabic Lexicon). In Hebrew, châdal has not only the transitive meaning to discontinue or leave off a thing, but the intransitive, to case or be in want, so that chădal 'ı̄shı̄m may mean one in want of men of rank, i.e., finding no sympathy from such men. The chief men of His nation who towered above the multitude, the great men of this world, withdrew their hands from Him, drew back from Him: He had none of the men of any distinction at His side. Moreover, He was מכאבות אישׁ, a man of sorrow of heart in all its forms, i.e., a man whose chief distinction was, that His life was one of constant painful endurance. And He was also חלי ידוּע, that is to say, not one known through His sickness (according to Deu 1:13, Deu 1:15), which is hardly sufficient to express the genitive construction; nor an acquaintance of disease (S. γνωστὸς νόσῳ, familiaris morbo), which would be expressed by מידּע or מודע; but scitus morbi, i.e., one who was placed in a state to make the acquaintance of disease. The deponent passive ירוּע, acquainted (like bâtuăch, confisus; zâkbūr, mindful; peritus, pervaded, experienced), is supported by מדּוּע = מה־יּרוּע; Gr. τί μαθών. The meaning is not, that He had by nature a sickly body, falling out of one disease into another; but that the wrath instigated by sin, and the zeal of self-sacrifice (Psa 69:10), burnt like the fire of a fever in His soul and body, so that even if He had not died a violent death, He would have succumbed to the force of the powers of destruction that were innate in humanity in consequence of sin, and of His own self-consuming conflict with them. Moreover, He was kemastēr pânı̄m mimmennū. This cannot mean, "like one hiding his face from us," as Hengstenberg supposes (with an allusion to Lev 13:45); or, what is comparatively better, "like one causing the hiding of the face from him:" for although the feminine of the participle is written מסתּרת, and in the plural מסתּרים for מסתּירים is quite possible, we never meet with mastēr for mastı̄r, like hastēr for hastı̄r in the infinitive (Isa 29:15, cf., Deu 26:12). Hence mastēr must be a noun (of the form marbēts, marbēq, mashchēth); and the words mean either "like the hiding of the face on our part," or like one who met with this from us, or (what is more natural) like the hiding of the face before his presence (according to Isa 8:17; Isa 50:6; Isa 54:8; Isa 59:2, and many other passages), i.e., like one whose repulsive face it is impossible to endure, so that men turn away their face or cover it with their dress (compare Isa 50:6 with Job 30:10). And lastly, all the predicates are summed up in the expressive word nibhzeh: He was despised, and we did not think Him dear and worthy, but rather "esteemed Him not," or rather did not estimate Him at all, or as Luther expresses it, "estimated Him at nothing" (châshabh, to reckon, value, esteem, as in Isa 13:17; Isa 33:8; Mal 3:16).

The second turn closes here. The preaching concerning His calling and His future was not believed; but the Man of sorrows was greatly despised among us.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
We hid - We scorned to look upon him.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Acquainted with grief - For וידוע vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have וירע veyada, and knowing grief; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it ויודע veyodea. We hid as it were our faces from him "As one that hideth his face from us" - For וכמסתר uchemaster, four MSS. (two ancient) have וכמסתיר uchemastir, one MS. ומסתיר umastir. For פנים panim, two MSS. have פניו panaiu; so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate. Mourners covered up the lower part of their faces, and their heads, Sa2 15:30; Eze 29:17; and lepers were commanded by the law, Lev 13:45, to cover their upper lip. From which circumstance it seems that the Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, and the Jewish commentators have taken the word נגוע nagua, stricken, in the next verse, as meaning stricken with the leprosy: εν αφῃ οντα, Sym.; αφημενον, Aq.; leprosum, Vulg. So my old MS. Bible. I will insert the whole passage as curious: - There is not schap to him, ne fairnesse, And we seegen him, and he was not of sigte, And we desiriden him dispisid; and the last of men: Man of souaris and witing infirmitie; And he hid his cheer and despisid; Wherfor ne we settiden bi him: Verili our seeknesse he toke and our sorewis he bair, And we helden him as leprous and smyten of God, and meekid; He forsoth wounded is for our wickednesse, Defoulid is for our hidous giltis The discipline of our pese upon him, And with his wanne wound we ben helid.

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¹ Who hath believed [0539] our report [08052]? and to whom is the arm [02220] of the LORD [03068] revealed [01540]?

¹⁴ They have healed [07495] also the hurt [07667] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] slightly [07043], saying [0559], Peace [07965], peace [07965]; when there is no peace [07965].

⁷ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], the Redeemer [01350] of Israel [03478], and his Holy One [06918], to him whom man [05315] despiseth [0960], to him whom the nation [01471] abhorreth [08581], to a servant [05650] of rulers [04910], Kings [04428] shall see [07200] and arise [06965], princes [08269] also shall worship [07812], because of the LORD [03068] that is faithful [0539], and the Holy One [06918] of Israel [03478], and he shall choose [0977] thee.

¹⁴ As many [07227] were astonied [08074] at thee; his visage [04758] was so marred [04893] more than any man [0376], and his form [08389] more than the sons [01121] of men [0120]:

⁴⁵ And the leper [06879] in whom the plague [05061] is, his clothes [0899] shall be rent [06533], and his head [07218] bare [06544], and he shall put a covering [05844] upon his upper lip [08222], and shall cry [07121], Unclean [02931], unclean [02931].

¹⁵ For [1063] we have [2192] not [3756] an high priest [749] which cannot [3361] [1410] be touched with the feeling [4834] of our [2257] infirmities [769]; but [1161] was [3985] in [2596] all points [3956] tempted [3985] [3987] like [2596] as [3665] we are, yet without [5565] sin [266].

² A man [0376] to whom God [0430] hath given [05414] riches [06239], wealth [05233], and honour [03519], so that he wanteth [02638] nothing for his soul [05315] of all that he desireth [0183], yet God [0430] giveth him not power [07980] to eat [0398] thereof, but a stranger [0376] [05237] eateth [0398] it: this is vanity [01892], and it is an evil [07451] disease [02483].

¹⁶ And this [02090] also is a sore [02470] evil [07451], that in all points [05980] as he came [0935], so shall he go [03212]: and what profit [03504] hath he that hath laboured [05998] for the wind [07307]?

⁵ Why should ye be stricken [05221] any more? ye will revolt [05627] more and more [03254]: the whole head [07218] is sick [02483], and the whole heart [03824] faint [01742].

⁶¹ Also every sickness [02483], and every plague [04347], which is not written [03789] in the book [05612] of this law [08451], them will the LORD [03068] bring [05927] upon thee, until thou be destroyed [08045].

¹⁵ And the LORD [03068] will take away [05493] from thee all sickness [02483], and will put [07760] none of the evil [07451] diseases [04064] of Egypt [04714], which thou knowest [03045], upon thee; but will lay [05414] them upon all them that hate [08130] thee.

¹¹ And he said [0559] unto me, O Daniel [01840], a man [0376] greatly beloved [02532], understand [0995] the words [01697] that I speak [01696] unto thee, and stand [05975] upright [05977]: for unto thee am I now sent [07971]. And when he had spoken [01696] this word [01697] unto me, I stood [05975] trembling [07460].

¹ He [0376], that being often reproved [08433] hardeneth [07185] his neck [06203], shall suddenly [06621] be destroyed [07665], and that without remedy [04832].

²² Cease [02308] ye from man [0120], whose breath [05397] is in his nostrils [0639]: for wherein is he to be accounted of [02803]?

²⁰ Are not my days [03117] few [04592]? cease [02308] [02308] then, and let me alone [07896] [07896], that I may take comfort [01082] a little [04592],

¹⁵ So that my soul [05315] chooseth [0977] strangling [04267], and death [04194] rather than my life [06106].

⁶ Then the king [04428] of Israel [03478] gathered [06908] the prophets [05030] together [06908], about four [0702] hundred [03967] men [0376], and said [0559] unto them, Shall I go [03212] against Ramothgilead [07433] [01568] to battle [04421], or shall I forbear [02308]? And they said [0559], Go up [05927]; for the Lord [0136] shall deliver [05414] it into the hand [03027] of the king [04428].
⁷ And Jehoshaphat [03092] said [0559], Is there not here a prophet [05030] of the LORD [03068] besides [05750], that we might enquire [01875] of him?
⁸ And the king [04428] of Israel [03478] said [0559] unto Jehoshaphat [03092], There is yet one [0259] man [0376], Micaiah [04321] the son [01121] of Imlah [03229], by whom we may enquire [01875] of the LORD [03068]: but I hate [08130] him; for he doth not prophesy [05012] good [02896] concerning me, but evil [07451]. And Jehoshaphat [03092] said [0559], Let not the king [04428] say [0559] so.
⁹ Then the king [04428] of Israel [03478] called [07121] an [0259] officer [05631], and said [0559], Hasten [04116] hither Micaiah [04321] the son [01121] of Imlah [03229].
¹⁰ And the king [04428] of Israel [03478] and Jehoshaphat [03092] the king [04428] of Judah [03063] sat [03427] each [0376] on his throne [03678], having put on [03847] their robes [0899], in a void place [01637] in the entrance [06607] of the gate [08179] of Samaria [08111]; and all the prophets [05030] prophesied [05012] before [06440] them.
¹¹ And Zedekiah [06667] the son [01121] of Chenaanah [03668] made [06213] him horns [07161] of iron [01270]: and he said [0559], Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], With these shalt thou push [05055] the Syrians [0758], until thou have consumed [03615] them.
¹² And all the prophets [05030] prophesied [05012] so, saying [0559], Go up [05927] to Ramothgilead [07433] [01568], and prosper [06743]: for the LORD [03068] shall deliver [05414] it into the king's [04428] hand [03027].
¹³ And the messenger [04397] that was gone [01980] to call [07121] Micaiah [04321] spake [01696] unto him, saying [0559], Behold now, the words [01697] of the prophets [05030] declare good [02896] unto the king [04428] with one [0259] mouth [06310]: let thy word [01697], I pray thee, be like the word [01697] of one [0259] of them, and speak [01696] that which is good [02896].
¹⁴ And Micaiah [04321] said [0559], As the LORD [03068] liveth [02416], what the LORD [03068] saith [0559] unto me, that will I speak [01696].
¹⁵ So he came [0935] to the king [04428]. And the king [04428] said [0559] unto him, Micaiah [04321], shall we go [03212] against Ramothgilead [07433] [01568] to battle [04421], or shall we forbear [02308]? And he answered [0559] him, Go [05927], and prosper [06743]: for the LORD [03068] shall deliver [05414] it into the hand [03027] of the king [04428].

¹⁴ My kinsfolk [07138] have failed [02308], and my familiar friends [03045] have forgotten [07911] me.

¹⁶ Then they that feared [03373] the LORD [03068] spake often [01696] one [0376] to another [07453]: and the LORD [03068] hearkened [07181], and heard [08085] it, and a book [05612] of remembrance [02146] was written [03789] before [06440] him for them that feared [03373] the LORD [03068], and that thought [02803] upon his name [08034].

⁸ The highways [04546] lie waste [08074], the wayfaring man [05674] [0734] ceaseth [07673]: he hath broken [06565] the covenant [01285], he hath despised [03988] the cities [05892], he regardeth [02803] no man [0582].

¹⁷ Behold, I will stir up [05782] the Medes [04074] against them, which shall not regard [02803] silver [03701]; and as for gold [02091], they shall not delight [02654] in it.

¹⁰ They abhor [08581] me, they flee far [07368] from me, and spare [02820] not to spit [07536] in my face [06440].

⁶ I gave [05414] my back [01460] to the smiters [05221], and my cheeks [03895] to them that plucked off [04803] the hair: I hid [05641] not my face [06440] from shame [03639] and spitting [07536].

² But your iniquities [05771] have separated [0914] between [0996] you and your God [0430], and your sins [02403] have hid [05641] his face [06440] from you, that he will not hear [08085].

⁸ In a little [08241] wrath [07110] I hid [05641] my face [06440] from thee for a moment [07281]; but with everlasting [05769] kindness [02617] will I have mercy [07355] on thee, saith [0559] the LORD [03068] thy Redeemer [01350].

⁶ I gave [05414] my back [01460] to the smiters [05221], and my cheeks [03895] to them that plucked off [04803] the hair: I hid [05641] not my face [06440] from shame [03639] and spitting [07536].

¹⁷ And I will wait [02442] upon the LORD [03068], that hideth [05641] his face [06440] from the house [01004] of Jacob [03290], and I will look [06960] for him.

¹² When thou hast made an end [03615] of tithing [06237] all the tithes [04643] of thine increase [08393] the third [07992] year [08141], which is the year [08141] of tithing [04643], and hast given [05414] it unto the Levite [03881], the stranger [01616], the fatherless [03490], and the widow [0490], that they may eat [0398] within thy gates [08179], and be filled [07646];

¹⁵ Woe [01945] unto them that seek deep [06009] to hide [05641] their counsel [06098] from the LORD [03068], and their works [04639] are in the dark [04285], and they say [0559], Who seeth [07200] us? and who knoweth [03045] us?

¹⁰ When I wept [01058], and chastened my soul [05315] with fasting [06685], that was to my reproach [02781].

¹⁵ So I took [03947] the chief [07218] of your tribes [07626], wise [02450] men [0582], and known [03045], and made [05414] them heads [07218] over you, captains [08269] over thousands [0505], and captains [08269] over hundreds [03967], and captains [08269] over fifties [02572], and captains [08269] over tens [06235], and officers [07860] among your tribes [07626].

¹³ Take [03051] you wise [02450] men [0582], and understanding [0995], and known [03045] among your tribes [07626], and I will make [07760] them rulers [07218] over you.

¹⁴ My kinsfolk [07138] have failed [02308], and my familiar friends [03045] have forgotten [07911] me.

⁴ Incline [05186] not my heart [03820] to any evil [07451] thing [01697], to practise [05953] wicked [07562] works [05949] with men [0376] that work [06466] iniquity [0205]: and let me not eat [03898] of their dainties [04516].

⁴ Unto you, O men [0376], I call [07121]; and my voice [06963] is to the sons [01121] of man [0120].

¹⁷ And the loftiness [01365] of man [0120] shall be bowed down [07817], and the haughtiness [07312] of men [0582] shall be made low [08213]: and the LORD [03068] alone shall be exalted [07682] in that day [03117].

¹¹ The lofty [01365] looks [05869] of man [0120] shall be humbled [08213], and the haughtiness [07312] of men [0582] shall be bowed down [07817], and the LORD [03068] alone shall be exalted [07682] in that day [03117].

⁹ And the mean man [0120] boweth down [07817], and the great man [0376] humbleth [08213] himself: therefore forgive [05375] them not.

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the seven [07651] and twentieth [06242] year [08141], in the first [07223] month, in the first [0259] day of the month [02320], the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto me, saying [0559],

³⁰ And David [01732] went up [05927] by the ascent [04608] of mount Olivet [02132], and wept [01058] as he went up [05927], and had his head [07218] covered [02645], and he went [01980] barefoot [03182]: and all the people [05971] that was with him covered [02645] every man [0376] his head [07218], and they went up [05927], weeping [01058] as they went up [05927].