“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.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 53:3 Mean?
Isaiah describes the suffering servant with language that has defined Christian understanding of Christ's passion: despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. The portrait is of someone deeply familiar with human pain.
"Despised and rejected of men" — the rejection is social, public, and total. This is not misunderstanding. It is active contempt from the people he came to serve.
"A man of sorrows" — sorrow is not something that happens to him occasionally. It defines him. He is a man of sorrows — one whose life is characterized by grief, who carries sadness as his constant companion.
"Acquainted with grief" — the Hebrew word (yada) means intimate knowledge. He did not observe grief from a distance. He knew it — deeply, personally, experientially.
"We hid as it were our faces from him" — the response to his suffering was not compassion. It was avoidance. People turned away. They could not bear to look at what he carried.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does Jesus being 'a man of sorrows' change your expectation of what the Messiah should look like?
- 2.What does 'acquainted with grief' mean for Jesus' understanding of your pain?
- 3.Why do people 'hide their faces' from suffering — and what does that cost?
- 4.Where have you esteemed Jesus 'not' — undervalued who he is or what he endured?
Devotional
He is despised and rejected of men. The servant — the one Isaiah has been describing with titles of majesty and mission — is despised. Not admired. Not celebrated. Despised. Rejected. By the very people he came for.
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. This is not a description of a motivational speaker or a triumphant king. This is a portrait of someone who knows pain from the inside. Sorrows are his companions. Grief is his intimate acquaintance.
We hid as it were our faces from him. The suffering was so visible, so raw, so uncomfortable that people looked away. They could not bear the sight of someone carrying that much pain. So they turned their heads.
He was despised, and we esteemed him not. The final phrase is the most damning: we did not value him. The one who carried all that sorrow, who endured all that rejection — we looked at him and saw nothing worth esteeming.
If you have ever been rejected — if you know what it is to be despised, overlooked, hidden from — the suffering servant understands. He was there first. He carried it deeper. And he did it for you.
The man of sorrows is acquainted with your grief. Not sympathetic from a distance. Acquainted. He knows it by name.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
He is despised, and rejected of men,.... Or, "ceaseth from men" (f); was not admitted into the company and conversation…
He is despised - This requires no explanation; and it needs no comment to show that it was fulfilled. The Redeemer was…
Acquainted with grief - For וידוע vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have וירע veyada, and knowing…
The prophet, in the close of the former chapter, had foreseen and foretold the kind reception which the gospel of Christ…
Not only did the Servant fail to attract his contemporaries (Isa 53:53); there was that in his appearance which excited…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture