Although no act of violence wrought he, 10 Thus was Jehovah pleased to crush him down; An offering for sin, he shall see seed; He shall prolong his days, and in his hand Shall he see; he shall be well satisfied. With many, and among the mighty ones To death his soul, and was with sinners numbered. And for the sinners ever intercedes. CRITICAL NOTES. Chap. lii, 13. In harmony with all the ancient versions, (Chaldee excepted,) we translate, shall act with wisdom. 'Deut. xxix, 8; Josh. i, 7, 8; Prov. xvii, 8; and Jer. x, 21, are cited by some scholars as instances where the word is equivalent to hyn, to prosper, which is the reading of the Chaldee; but in all these cases the primary and acknowledged meaning, to act wisely, suits the context as well, if not better. Nor does Hebrew parallelism require, as some critics have assumed, that the several members must closely correspond in thought. It is the wise action of Jehovah's servant that contributes as a means to his great exaltation. And be lifted-Not extolled, as the common version here renders . It is doubtful if sw ever has that meaning. The literal and common signification of the passive form, (Niphal,) to be lifted, best conveys the thought, which Jesus also utters in John xii, 32; and Paul in Phil. ii, 9. See a thorough and exhaustive discussion of this word, especially in its relation to the doctrine of Atonement, in the Bibliotheca Sacra for July, 1873; pp. 422–464. T. Verse 14. Wonderstruck—The word in includes in its signification mingled surprise, horror, astonishment, and awe. It often requires several English words to present the full force of a single Oriental term. To gaze in wondering astonishment is all implied in the single Hebrew word here used. Marred-The word nnwn is really a noun meaning defacement or deformity; from лn, to destroy. But in this construction it is best rendered as a passive participle. Marred from man¡p here has the meaning and force of separation and distinction from; which makes it more specific than a mere comparative, 66 more than any man." His form was so marred as to be dif ferent from the ordinary appearance of a man. Verse 15. Sprinkle-Such is elsewhere the only meaning of the word. But it is usually construed with y, or s, and with mention of that which was sprinkled. Hence several eminent scholars have suspected a corruption of the text, and proposed other readings. The Septuagint has davμáoovτai, θαυμάσονται, wonder at; and Le Clerc, Rosenmüller, Maurer, Hitzig and Knobel adopt in substance this meaning, though with various slight modifications. Gesenius (Lex.) renders, So shall he cause many nations to rejoice in himself. But we may safely dismiss the proposed emendations as far-fetched' and needless, and the Septuagint version, with all its modifications by these later critics, as unsustained by any thing analogous in the language. The absence of the particle y or x is no sufficient. reason for giving the word an entirely new and different meaning, and it is reasonable to assume that the prophet purposely avoided a direct and particular specification of the substance to be sprinkled. He uses an incomplete but pregnant. expression, and leaves his readers to gather his meaning from the ordinary hallowed associations of the word. See an able exposition of this passage by Professor Tayler Lewis, Bibliotheca Sacra for January, 1873. O'er him kings shut their mouths, over him; that is, on account of him; or, more precisely, as they look upon him and ponder over him. Nägelsbach well observes, "On account of his surprisingly imposing appearance, they are dumb." Gesenius, after the Septuagint, construes with what precedes, but contrary to the Masoretic pointing and the better meaning of the passage. TT Chap. liii, 1. What we heard-Heb., any. Eng. ver., our report. Allusion to wh, what they had not heard, in the preceding verse. : T Verse 2. Graceful form—wh, says Nägelsbach, is like the Latin forma, with the special meaning of beautiful form. Comp. Jer. xi, 16; 1 Sam. xvi, 18. The word is another one of those pregnant Hebrew expressions which mean more than any one English word fully conveys. It implies glory, honor, beauty, and magnificence, all blended into one splendid ideal, which the common version, comeliness, does not fully express. We render by the words ornamental splendor.. --: Verse 3. n, dishonored, in the sense of being treated with contempt; despised. Forsaken of mankind-Hengstenberg and Nägelsbach taken in an active intransitive sense, as ceasing from among men, or ceasing to be regarded as a man. The Septuagint reads: his form was despised and ¿khet̃πov парà пáνтаs ȧvoрúñоνç, defective above all men. Symmachus: ¿λáxioтos avôρāv, least of men. Vulgate: novissimum virorum, newest or last of men; or, as Hengstenberg explains, " most abject of men." This variety shows what uncertainty as to the exact meaning prevails among interpreters. The passive sense, forsaken of men, which we have adopted as the simplest and most obvious, is sanctioned by many of the best critics, as Gesenius, Ewald, Hitzig and Alexander, and finds support in Job xix, 14. Knowing sickness-Thus the Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate versions give pay, which is the passive participle, an active signification. Hence some suppose the true reading to have been originally y, knowing, and such is indeed the reading in eight MSS. But the passive participle is allowed by the best critics to signify acquainted with, and this sense our version gives, though expressed in the active form. The Septuagint has knowing how to bear pahaktav, weakness. Symmachus: yvworós vóow, known by disease. Vulgate: scientem infirmitatem, knowing infirmity. There is no need of departing from the usual meaning of the word 'i, sickness; disease. It occurs again in the plural in the next verse, and its root in verse 10. The Messiah was acquainted with sickness in all its forms. See the exposition below. Like one who hides the face from us-That is, like a leper, (Lev. xiii, 45,) or a mourn er, (2 Sam. xv, 30.) may be taken as the shortened form of the Hiphil participle of no, to hide. Four MSS. read vs. Some take as a noun, and render as the margin of the Eng. version as a hiding of faces. Hence arose the explanation that others hid their faces from him. may mean " : either from us, or from him. The English version adopts the latter sense, and renders the whole passage: "We hid as it were our faces from him." Hahn, however, understands that Jehovah's face was hidden from him. But in the absence of any new subject expressed, it seems far simpler and more natural to construe with the main subject of the entire verse. We thus preserve a natural order and harmony of thought and sentiment, and have a striking portraiture of the despised and rejected Messiah. TT: Verse 4. He bore them-ho. Nearly all versions and interpreters neglect the pronominal suffix -- in this word, which gives a noticeable emphasis to the thought: Not only did he lift our sicknesses, but our sorrows, he bore them too. The expression, stricken with a penal curse, is all involved and implied in the single word y. The noun is the common term used for the plague of leprosy, considered as a judgment stroke. Verse 5. Crushed down-. Compare also this word in verse 10. It implies more than bruised of the English and most versions. It involves also the idea of being trampled down and broken to pieces. Compare chap. xix, 10; Job iv, 19; Psa. lxxii, 4; Lam. iii, 34. Came healing-Henderson regards as a noun, but it is better to take it as the Niphal form of x, used impersonally: it was healed, or, there came healing. T: Verse 6. Mediated in him-i yan, caused to meet in him. Thus the profound thought of atoning satisfaction, or vicarious mediation, seems most fittingly expressed. The English version, laid on him, is too weak; the Septuagint, The Lord delivered him for our sins, is too general and vagne, entirely missing the exact and peculiar expression of the Hebrew. The Vulgate, The Lord placed in him the iniquity of us all, is better, but still is defective. Symmachus is most exact: κύριος καταντῆσαι ἐποίησεν εἰς αὐτὸν την ἀνομίαν πάντων huwv, The Lord made to come into him the iniquity of all of us. The Hiphil of ya means to cause any thing to meet or strike with violence; and it was in the soul of Jesus that the violent vicarious stroke was felt, and met, and sustained. Let it be observed, also, how prominent is the thought of mediation and intercession conveyed by this word wherever it is used in the Hiphil form. See verse 12, and chap. lix, 16; Jer. xxxvi, 25; Job xxxvi, 32. xv, 11; Verse 7. is not properly a lamb, (as rendered in Septuagint, Vulgate, English versions, etc.,) for lambs are not wont to be shorn; but a ewe, a grown female sheep. Verse 8. Many and various have been the expositions of the different parts of this verse. The Septuagint is quoted in Acts viii, 33, and is there properly rendered in the English version: "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth." But of this translation there are several different interpretations, and its citation by the Evangelist is no evidence that the Septuagint gives the true sense of the Hebrew. Clearly the Septuagint is not an accurate translation of our present Hebrew text. The English version is, He was taken from prison and from judgment; margin, He was taken away by distress and judgment; Lowth translates, By an oppressive judgment he was taken off; Noyes, By oppression and punishment he was taken away; Barnes, From confinement and a judicial sentence he was taken, [to death.] Several of these interpretations are possible, and it seems bootless to argue in extenso in favor of one or against another. The calm and impartial judgment, after repeated examination and comparison of views, will incline to that which appears most faithful to the Hebrew text, and yields the clearest and most natural sense. But it is very possible that the critical taste will decide differently for different minds, and out of several allowable interpretations one will adopt one version, another a different one, according to subjective feelings and habits of thought. With the Vulgate, (de angustia et de judicio sublatus est,) most of the older expositors, and many moderns, we understand the first line of the taking of the Messiah from his suffering and judgment up to the throne of God, as the man |