Isaiah 53:3
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.
Study Note
Study Note
The Servant is described as 'despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief' — one from whom people hid their faces. The specificity of social rejection and grief-acquaintance gives the passage its extraordinary resonance for those experiencing suffering and marginalization. Patristic and medieval exegetes uniformly read the verse as a portrait of Christ's passion, and the phrase 'man of sorrows' became one of the most recognizable christological titles in Western art, literature, and hymnody. Critically, the verse insists this despised figure is also the one who 'bore our griefs,' linking his suffering inseparably to redemptive purpose.
Other Translations
He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.
He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.
Men made sport of him, turning away from him; he was a man of sorrows, marked by disease; and like one from whom men's faces are turned away, he was looked down on, and we put no value on him.
Cross References
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then …
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul …
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and …
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not …
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom …
Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge …
And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of …
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed …
Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped …