Isaiah 53:1

The verse should probably be rendered,

Who believed that which was revealed to us,

And the arm of Jehovah to (lit. "on") whom was it disclosed? The word which E.V. renders "report" is passive in form (lit. "a thing heard"); our report, therefore, is not "that which we reported" but -either "the report concerning us" (2 Samuel 4:4) or "that which was reported to us." The last sense is alone admissible in this connexion, and the only question that remains is, What kind of report is referred to? Usually the word denotes a rumour circulated by the ordinary channels of intelligence (ch. Isaiah 37:7 &c.), and this meaning might be thought of here if we could suppose the words spoken afterthe elevation of the Servant. But this is objectionable, (a) because the standpoint of the speakers is not subsequent to the glorification of the Servant, but prior to it (see above), (b) the speakers, being Israelites, cannot readily be supposed to learn the Servant's exaltation from rumour, and (c) it would be necessary to render the verb "Who could havebelieved?" which although possible is not natural. The question implies a negative answer: "No one believed it." It is better therefore to take the word in its religious sense of a Divine revelation (see on ch. Isaiah 28:9), a "thing heard" from Jehovah. "Our revelation" might of course be said by the prophet of a communication made directly to himself; but it might also be said by the people of a revelation which had reached them through the medium of the prophets. The reference will be to the prophecies bearing on the Servant's glorious destiny, especially ch. Isaiah 42:1-4; Isaiah 49:1-6; Isaiah 50:4-9, and perhaps Isaiah 52:13-15.

The arm of the Lordis, as in ch. Isaiah 51:9; Isaiah 52:10 &c., a metaphor for Jehovah's operation in history. It was He who raised up the Servant, and all through his tragic history God was working by him for the redemption of His people and the inbringing of eternal salvation. But this Divine power behind the Servant had not been "disclosed" to any of his contemporaries; they had neither perceived it for themselves nor believed it when declared to them, and so in the blindness and deafness of their unbelief they had misconceived him in the manner exhibited in Isaiah 53:2 ff.

The verse is cited, with reference to the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews, in John 12:38 and (in part) Romans 10:16.