Isaiah 53:11

An amplification of the meaning of Isaiah 53:10. He shall see &c. Lit. Of the travail of his soul he shall see, shall be satisfied. It is doubtful if the preposition "of" can express result, as the E.V. suggests, or can introduce the object of the verb "he shall see." It may be used in its local sense ("away from," or "free from") or causally ("in consequence of"), hardly in a temporal sense ("after"). The asyndetic construction of the two verbs probably indicates that one is to be subordinated to the other: he shall see with satisfaction, sc. the cause of Jehovah prospering in his hand (as Isaiah 53:10). The LXX. deserves attention: "And it pleased the Lord to deliver (a variant reading of the last clause of Isaiah 53:10) (him) from the trouble of his soul: to cause him to see light" &c.

by his knowledge The gen. is not that of the obj. ("by the knowledge of him") but of the subj.; the knowledge of God and salvation which he possesses, and which he communicates to others. The reference is to the prophetic activity of the Servant (see Isaiah 42:1 ff., Isaiah 49:2; Isaiah 50:4 f.) which had seemed to be cut short by his death, but will be resumed and crowned with success in his exalted state.

shall my righteous servant justify many Rather: shall a righteous one, my servant, make the many righteous; but the Hebr. is very peculiar. The ordinary sense of the word for "justify" ("declare righteous") is here unsuitable, and the only other passage where it bears the ethical sense of "making righteous" is probably based on this verse (Daniel 12:3, "they that turn the many to righteousness"). The manycontains a reference to Isaiah 52:14 f. The clause would read more smoothly if we could suppose that the word rendered "a righteous one" has arisen through dittography; but the source of the difficulty probably lies deeper.

he shall bear their iniquities Cf. Isaiah 53:4.