'Who hath believed our report?' The despised and rejected servant, wounded for our transgressions, led as a lamb to the slaughter, bearing the sin of many.
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
'Who would have believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Hashem been revealed?
verse value 2005
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 32 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "who?" (מִ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·our·report" (לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "believed" (הֶאֱמִ֖ין), "to·our·report" (לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ), "and·arm·of" (וּזְר֥וֹעַ). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "to·whom" (root על, 200x in Isaiah); "who?" (root מי, 32x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·our·report', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 4 words. Full calculation: מִ֥י [who?] (50) + הֶאֱמִ֖ין [believed] (106) + לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ [to·our·report] (896) + וּזְר֥וֹעַ [and·arm·of] (289) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + עַל־מִ֥י [to·whom] (150) + נִגְלָֽתָה [was·uncovered] (488) = 2005.
Rashi
“Who believed our report?” – Thus the gentiles will say to one another: “Had we heard from the mouths of others what we now see with our own eyes, we would not have believed it.”
“And the arm of the Lord.” Thus far, upon whom has this majesty and splendor been revealed?
Ibn Ezra
"Who?" The nations will then say: "Who has believed our report?"—that is, who would have believed that it would be like this report that we have heard?
"And the arm of the Lord, upon whom was it revealed?" It was revealed forever upon these:
Radak
Who believed? The gentiles will then say: Who would have believed the report that we were hearing about Him from the mouths of the prophets or from those speaking in their names? We would not have believed what we now see with our own eyes.
“And the arm of the Lord, upon whom was it revealed?” – Just as it was revealed upon this one, or perhaps the explanation of “upon whom” is in a manner of contempt: “Upon whom was it revealed?” just as it was revealed upon this one; that is to say, who was it that the arm of the Lord was revealed upon?
Metzudat David
“Who believed our report?” Then they will say among the nations, “Until now we have not seen this thing with our own eyes. Who among us believed the report that we heard from the great multitude and the authority that came to Israel?”
“And the arm of the Lord.” The strength and power of the arm of the Lord—for whom was it revealed from ancient times? so that we might believe that He revealed the arm of His might on behalf of Israel.
Metzudat Zion
"Upon whom?" – For whom?
It was revealed. From the root meaning "revealed":
Malbim
“Who believed?” is construed upward [i.e., as referring to the preceding context], explaining why He did not count them [as worthy] and did not depict for them the possibilities of this matter until now. He says: Until now, they considered this matter impossible for two reasons: 1. Due to the nature of the report itself, for the miracles and wonders that they are about to hear are all distant from the natural order of reality, which they had not believed until now that the Lord would perform such wonders; and regarding this it says, “Who believed our report?” 2. Due to the people on whose account these wonders were performed and upon whom the arm of the Lord was revealed, for they did not believe that the Lord would reveal Himself to this people, who were lowly in their own eyes; and regarding this it says, “Upon whom was the arm of the Lord revealed?”
For he shot up right forth as a sapling, And as a root out of a dry ground; He had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, Nor beauty that we should delight in him.
verse value 3324
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 59 letters. Notable word values: "to·him" (ל֖וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·not·sight" (וְלֹֽא־מַרְאֶ֖ה, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "as·the·sapling" (כַּיּוֹנֵ֜ק), "and·as·the·root" (וְכַשֹּׁ֙רֶשׁ֙), "not·shape" (לֹא־תֹ֥אַר). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "from·land·of" (root ארץ, 169x in Isaiah); "to·his·face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'majesty', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיַּ֨עַל [and·went·up] (116) + כַּיּוֹנֵ֜ק [as·the·sapling] (186) + לְפָנָ֗יו [to·his·face] (176) + וְכַשֹּׁ֙רֶשׁ֙ [and·as·the·root] (826) + מֵאֶ֣רֶץ [from·land·of] (331) + צִיָּ֔ה [dryness] (105) + לֹא־תֹ֥אַר [not·shape] (632) + ל֖וֹ [to·him] (36) + וְלֹ֣א [and·not] (37) + הָדָ֑ר [majesty] (209) + וְנִרְאֵ֥הוּ [and·we·would·see·him] (268) + וְלֹֽא־מַרְאֶ֖ה [and·not·sight] (283) + וְנֶחְמְדֵֽהוּ [and·we·delight·in·him] (119) = 3324.
Rashi
"And he went up like a suckling before Him." This people came before Me to receive this greatness, even though they were exceedingly lowly, and they rose up on their own, like a sapling growing on its own among the shoots of the trees.
And as for the root: "It went up from a dry land."
"He had no comely form." He had [form] from the outset, but no splendor.
And we saw Him, yet He had no appearance, and we found Him desirable. And when we first saw Him, He had no appearance; how then did we find Him desirable? That we found Him desirable is a matter of wonder.
Ibn Ezra
And he went up. And behold, he is a servant of the Lord from Israel, or all of Israel:
[Before Him]. Before God, blessed be He:
"Ascends" [should be emended to "and he ascended"] is like a tender shoot. Just as it says, "his shoots shall spread" (Hosea 14:7).
“And like a root out of dry land.” This teaches that it should not bear fruit, nor should it grow.
"He had no form." Its meaning is like "and his form" (Isaiah 52:14):
“And when we see him, there is no appearance.” The [negative] serves itself and another with it, thus: “nor [do] we desire him”; and like it is “a gift in secret subdues anger” (Proverbs 21:14).
Radak
"And he went up as a shoot." From [the verse] "His shoots shall spread," like the root [of a plant] that is in a dry land.
“And he went up as a suckling.” From it [the verse] we learn that he had no form or comeliness; so too was this one. And in my opinion, the meaning of “now he went up” is that he went up from exile before God, and he went up from exile in a miraculous manner, just as if a suckling were to go up from a dry land, or if the root of a tree or herb growing in a dry land were to be found—this would be a miracle—so too his going up from exile was a miracle. And the matter is expressed twice in different words.
"He had no form." While he was in exile, he had no image and no splendor; that is to say, no beautiful glory.
And we saw him, yet he was not presentable. That is to say, we saw him, but his appearance was not pleasing; rather, he was ugly and different from the rest of human beings.
And we desired him. And we did not desire him, but rather we abhorred him; and the "not" that was mentioned serves in place of two [clauses].
Metzudat David
"And he went up, a suckling, before him." The word "before" comes to teach that he attained that greatness by ascending like a branch that emerges from a tree, which has no nourishment from the ground, but only from the tree. This means that he had no other source of influence.
“Like a root out of dry land.” This means that the small measure of influence he possessed from his own power was exhausted and perished in a short time, like a root that emerges from dry and barren land without any moisture of water, which quickly withers and dries up.
It was without beauty and without splendor. This means that the influence was not complete and glorious, like a root that emerges from a dry land, which has neither beauty nor splendor.
And we saw Him, yet He had no appearance. And when we gazed upon Him, we found in Him no majestic countenance that we might desire Him through it; that is to say, we found in Him neither strength nor fortitude of heart to desire Him on account of it, and for this reason we loathed Him.
Metzudat Zion
As a shoot. A tender branch that emerges from the tree, as it is said: "the head of its shoots" (Ezekiel 17).
Tsiyyah. A desolate and dry land:
Hadar. The matter of beauty:
And we found him desirable. The vav is in place of a shin, and similarly, "And they shall take for Me a terumah" (Exodus 25:2), that is to say, that they shall take for Me a terumah.
Malbim
"And he went up": [The verse] depicts the lowliness of the nation through the imagery of a tree. For sometimes a tree is strong on its own merit, if it is an old, thick, and sturdy tree; and sometimes even a sapling that draws nourishment will be strong, by virtue of its roots being established in a place of water and fertile soil, in which case it survives by means of its roots. But this sapling is not strong on its own merit, for it went up like a nursing infant before him—a tender and weak nursing infant—and not by virtue of its roots, for it went up like a root from a dry and arid land. (And the corresponding metaphor is that the nation would be powerful either on its own merit, if it were a great, strong, mighty, and numerous people, or by virtue of its roots, if it had been established and ruling for many years. In contrast, Israel lost their merit both on their own merit, as they were weak and few in number, and by virtue of their roots, which were only from a dry land—the Generation of the Wilderness and ancient times—and from that time onward, "a star did not march forth from Jacob.")
“He had no form.” At times even a tender suckling may be esteemed on account of his beauty and appearance. This is either because he possesses a "form" (to'ar), which is the structure of the tree in its height, straightness, and the evenness of its branches and shoots; or because he possesses "splendor" (hadr), which is his appearance and color that is pleasing. But He has neither form nor splendor (and the analogy sometimes applies to a small nation that attains kingship because there are among them men of understanding, wise craftsmen, wealthy merchants, and the like; but even this is not found in this nation). And not only this, but also "we see Him" (venir'ehu) — not an appearance, meaning that we cannot attribute to Him any appearance whatsoever, for He is the defilement of all things and exceedingly contemptible. And thus, how could we delight in Him to recognize His dominion?
He was despised, and forsaken of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with disease, And as one from whom men hide their face: He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
verse value 2911
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "man" (אִ֥ישׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "pains" (מַכְאֹב֖וֹת, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 64: contemptible, contemptible. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·forsaken" (וַחֲדַ֣ל), "man" (אִישִׁ֔ים), "pains" (מַכְאֹב֖וֹת). The root בזה appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "face" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah); "and·known·of" (root ידע, 73x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'sickness', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 6 words. Full calculation: נִבְזֶה֙ [contemptible] (64) + וַחֲדַ֣ל [and·forsaken] (48) + אִישִׁ֔ים [man] (361) + אִ֥ישׁ [man] (311) + מַכְאֹב֖וֹת [pains] (469) + וִיד֣וּעַ [and·known·of] (96) + חֹ֑לִי [sickness] (48) + וּכְמַסְתֵּ֤ר [and·hiding] (726) + פָּנִים֙ [face] (180) + מִמֶּ֔נּוּ [from·him] (136) + נִבְזֶ֖ה [contemptible] (64) + וְלֹ֥א [and·not] (37) + חֲשַׁבְנֻֽהוּ [we·esteemed·him] (371) = 2911.
Rashi
“Despised and rejected by men.” Just as this prophet’s manner is to refer to all Israel as a single individual, as it says, “Fear not, servant Jacob” (Isaiah 41:8), so too here it says, “Behold, My servant shall prosper in the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 52:13). The word “shall prosper” (yashkil) denotes success, similar to the usage in “And David prospered in all his ways” (1 Samuel 18:14).
And like one who hides his face from Him. Due to their great shame and humiliation, they were like one who hides his face from Him, with their faces covered and concealed, so that they would not be seen as a person afflicted with a skin disease, who hides his face and is afraid of being looked at.
Ibn Ezra
“He was despised and rejected by men.” “Rejected by men”: He ceased to be counted among men.
"A man of sorrows." A servant of God. And if the sense applies to all, it is like "a man of war," and it is close in sense to "essence," and it is in the construct state, and the meaning of "sorrows" and "sickness" is the pain of exile.
And as it is said, "He hides His face from him." There is to this day a nation that, when it sees a Jew, hides its face from him, and the reason is so that it will not see him in order to save him.
Radak
“Despised.” It need not be said that we did not covet it; rather, it was despised in our eyes.
"And he was forsaken of men." He was less than human beings, or the explanation is that he was separated from the men who did not associate with him.
"A man of pains, and known in sickness." The pains and sickness refer to the suffering of the exile, and the meaning of "known" is that it was well-known and customary for the yoke of exile to pass over him.
And as if we hid our faces from him. This means that we were like ones hiding our faces from him, because we did not wish to look at him due to the extreme revulsion we felt toward him; we loathed him and considered him to be nothing.
Metzudat David
"Despised and rejected by men." Because he was despised in the eyes of all, and he was separated from men, for there was no one among the Gentiles who would associate with him due to the magnitude of his lowliness. And he was one plagued with pain, known and regarded by all as one suffering from illness, and we could not bear to look upon his face, as if He had hidden His face from him so that He would not see him. That is to say, he was at all times burdened with exile, afflictions, and lowliness, to the extent that we were repelled from gazing upon his face.
“He was despised, and we did not esteem him.” This means: Therefore, he was despised in our eyes, and we did not consider him worthy of honor, for we said, “The hand of the Lord has done this, because He has rejected him.”
Metzudat Zion
“Va-chadal” (forsaken). A term of being withheld:
“Men.” Men:
Malbim
"He is despised": After depicting how he lacks all virtues, the text further depicts how he also possesses all defects. He is despised due to his spiritual and moral traits, and "forsaken of men" due to the nature of his body, which does not resemble other men at all. Now, there are those who lack natural and spiritual virtues, yet they are healthy. However, even a non-speaking beast has a healthy and strong body. But Israel is "a man of pains and well acquainted with sickness." This means: "a man of pains" inflicted by others, for everyone strikes and causes him pain with cruel blows; and "well acquainted with sickness" refers to a contagious illness rooted in him from his creation. And "as one from whom the face is hidden": This means that nature dictates that one who is at the extreme of poverty and suffering should be pitied by all. But he is like something detestable and shameful, and all hide their faces from him so as not to look at him. Do not say that the hiding of faces occurs because they feel his pain, as one hides from seeing the face of someone in pain and distress. Not so, for this occurs because he is despised, and they do not consider it necessary to feel his pain at all.
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; Whereas we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
verse value 1748
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 55 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "surely" (אָכֵ֤ן, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·our·pains" (וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "our·sicknesses" (חֳלָיֵ֙נוּ֙), "and·our·pains" (וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ), "bore·them" (סְבָלָ֑ם). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah); "God" (root אלהים, 82x in Isaiah); "lifted" (root נשא, 57x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'bore·them', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: אָכֵ֤ן [surely] (71) + חֳלָיֵ֙נוּ֙ [our·sicknesses] (104) + ה֣וּא [he] (12) + נָשָׂ֔א [lifted] (351) + וּמַכְאֹבֵ֖ינוּ [and·our·pains] (135) + סְבָלָ֑ם [bore·them] (132) + וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ [and·we] (121) + חֲשַׁבְנֻ֔הוּ [we·esteemed·him] (371) + נָג֛וּעַ [plagued] (129) + מֻכֵּ֥ה [struck] (65) + אֱלֹהִ֖ים [God] (86) + וּמְעֻנֶּֽה [and·answered] (171) = 1748.
Rashi
Indeed, "our grief is borne by Him." The term "achen" means "but" in every place; but now we see that it did not come to him on account of his lowliness, but rather he was afflicted with trials.
And we have considered it. We were of the opinion that he was abhorrent to the Omnipresent, but it was not so; rather, he was smitten because of our transgressions and crushed because of our iniquities.
Ibn Ezra
Indeed. This is the beginning of the verse: “We were as those stricken, and He bore our griefs.” That is, we were causing Him pain, and He was bearing our sufferings; we were afflicting Him, and He was enduring it.
And we considered him as if he were stricken, from the same root as "and behold, the plague remained in its appearance" (Leviticus 13:5):
“Struck by God.” It is a construct phrase (semichut), indicating that God struck him and afflicted him.
Until it is established that the plagues are fitting to come upon us because our Torah is all vanity, and they came upon Israel whose Torah is a Torah of truth, and the proof is that we are all like sheep that go astray.
Radak
Indeed, our infirmities He bore. Behold, the prophet Ezekiel wrote, “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father bear the iniquity of the son” (Ezekiel 18:20); how much more so is this true of one individual in relation to another, and how much more so of one nation in relation to another. If so, what is the meaning of “our infirmities He bore”? It means that He bore them on our behalf; through His wounds we are healed. This is not similar to what Jeremiah said in the Book of Lamentations: “Our fathers sinned, and they are no more; and we have borne their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7). For that statement follows the principle of “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children” (Exodus 20:5), which applies only when the children cling to the deeds of their fathers in their hands, as it is said regarding “those who hate Me” (Isaiah 66:3–4). This is the judgment from God, whereby the son bears his own iniquity and the iniquity of his father. As for what Jeremiah said, he spoke in the language of the foolish, for out of their distress their words were not measured with justice and balance. This is what the nations will say: “Indeed, our infirmities He bore,” and similar to this are their own words. It is not that Israel bore the iniquity of the nations, but rather that they will think this in their minds when they see the time of salvation. They will realize that the faith in which Israel held is the truth, and the faith in which they held is falsehood. They will say, “Surely our fathers inherited lies, vanity, and nothingness” (Jeremiah 8:19). They will say, according to their reasoning: If so, what was the suffering that Israel endured in exile? Behold, it was not due to their iniquity, for they held to a straight faith. And we, who had peace, tranquility, quiet, and security, held to a false faith. Therefore, the sickness and pain that were due to come upon us came upon them, and they served as a ransom and an atonement for us. We considered him, while he was in exile, to be stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted by the hand of God for his iniquity. And behold, we see that it was not for his iniquity, but for our iniquity. This is what is said:
Metzudat David
Indeed, our infirmity was borne by Him. But in truth, the Lord did not despise Him, for every illness and every pain that He endured came about because of ourselves, due to the fact that we made Him sick and caused Him pain through our evil choices.
And we deemed him. But we erred and judged him as one smitten and afflicted by God, for He had rejected him, and through His hand he was tormented with afflictions.
Metzudat Zion
"Nasa" (He lifted). From the language of "masa" and "sevel" (burden and load):
Niga: The matter of weakness and collapse. And similarly, “Joshua and all Israel were faint” (Joshua 8:15).
And its torment. From the language of "affliction":
Malbim
Indeed, He bore our sickness; that is to say, the ancient nations, the idolaters, attributed two matters to Israel: 1. An internal sickness, namely that they thought of them that their soul was sick and unfit to receive any good quality or any perfection, neither human excellence nor the study of sciences nor moral character. And because of this, they did not allow them to hold any position or rank, for they said that their soul was sick from receiving any study or upright quality. But now they will see that this sickness was not rooted in them themselves, for the cause of this sickness was poverty and degradation; therefore their heart was sealed and all good qualities were lost, until this sickness would not be attributed to Israel, but to the idolaters who caused it by degrading them to the utmost extent of degradation. And this is what it says: “Indeed, He bore our sickness”—we caused this sickness for Him. 2. An external pain, for sometimes the idolaters would cause pain and strike Israel with various afflictions in order that they might change their religion to serve the worship of the sun and the moon. And they would say that Israel themselves were prone to such pains due to their transgressions. And now we have seen that only our pains did they suffer, for we caused these pains for them through our transgressions. And we considered him stricken, smitten by God (this is against the internal sickness), and afflicted by God (against the pain and the blows); we thought that this was due to Him from God, but in truth
But he was wounded because of our transgressions, He was crushed because of our iniquities: The chastisement of our welfare was upon him, And with his stripes we were healed.
verse value 3264
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 54 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְהוּא֙) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "and·he" (וְהוּא֙, 4 letters) and the longest is "from·our·iniquities" (מֵעֲוֺנֹתֵ֑ינוּ, 8 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "wounded" (מְחֹלָ֣ל), "from·our·transgressions" (מִפְּשָׁעֵ֔נוּ), "crushed" (מְדֻכָּ֖א). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon·him" (root על, 200x in Isaiah); "and·he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah); "our·welfare" (root שלום, 28x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·our·iniquities', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְהוּא֙ [and·he] (18) + מְחֹלָ֣ל [wounded] (108) + מִפְּשָׁעֵ֔נוּ [from·our·transgressions] (546) + מְדֻכָּ֖א [crushed] (65) + מֵעֲוֺנֹתֵ֑ינוּ [from·our·iniquities] (632) + מוּסַ֤ר [discipline] (306) + שְׁלוֹמֵ֙נוּ֙ [our·welfare] (432) + עָלָ֔יו [upon·him] (116) + וּבַחֲבֻרָת֖וֹ [and·in·his·bruise] (624) + נִרְפָּא־לָֽנוּ [was·healed·to·us] (417) = 3264.
Rashi
We convey our peace upon him. The sufferings of the peace that we had came upon him, for he was afflicted so that there would be peace for the entire world.
Ibn Ezra
And it is pierced. From the root חלל:
And the discipline of our peace: that our peace may endure, and it is upon him, and the proof is that by his stripes we are healed for us.
And the meaning of “brought forth” [from our transgressions] is that God will take vengeance upon the nations because they afflicted Israel, as it is written, “I will purge their blood; I will not purge it” (Joel 4:21). And the meaning of “the discipline of our peace is known” is that as long as Israel is in the distress of exile, there will be peace for the nations. Do you not see that it is written concerning the time of salvation, “And it shall be a time of distress” (Daniel 12:1)? And furthermore, it is written that when the angels returned, “All the earth was sitting still and quiet” (Zechariah 1:11), and the angel answered, “How long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem?” [ibid. 1:12]. The meaning is that as long as the nations have tranquility, Jerusalem will not be shown mercy.
Radak
"And he was wounded because of our transgressions." It is a verb from the four-letter root. It belongs to the semantic field of "chil" (to writhe as in labor pains), like "yolada" (she gave birth), and from its root:
And it was crushed. From the verse: “I crushed him to the earth” (Job 41:25).
“Mussar shelomenu alav.” “Shelomenu” means “all of us,” just as “galut shelomim” means “a complete exile,” i.e., “galut shlema.” All the afflictions that were due to come upon us came upon him. And some explain “shelomenu” from “shalom,” meaning: when we were at peace, and the discipline was due to come upon us in our time of distress, it came upon him instead.
And in its wound. From the word chavurah (wound), as in wound for wound, only that this one is dagesh and that one is light, and the wound and the affliction are an allegory for the pain of exile.
And the meaning of "we were healed" is like [the verse] "For I am the Lord who heals you." That is to say, we were healed of the punishment that was due to come upon us; or perhaps he said this regarding the evil that would befall the nations of the world, and it would not stand against them; here, they were healed from that evil, and Israel remained in evil.
Metzudat David
And He is stricken because of our transgressions. The truth is that it is from the Lord, but it did not come because of His rejection of Him due to the evil of His deeds; rather, because of our transgressions, He was filled with anguish, so that the transgressions of all the nations would be atoned for through the afflictions that come upon Him.
“From the place of our iniquities.” The matter is doubled in what is stated:
He bears our peace upon himself. The afflictions that were fitting to come upon us, to atone for our sin, so that our peace might endure—these have come upon him.
And by his stripe. With the wound that came upon him, our sins were healed, for through this they were atoned for, and they went their way. This is a double expression of what was stated above:
Metzudat Zion
And it is. The vav in "and it is" serves in place of "or":
mechollel. From the language of "chil" and "chalchala":
"Crushed." The matter is of breaking and grinding.
Musar. From the language of suffering:
Our peace. From the word "peace":
"In its wound." From the language of "wound" and "blow."
Malbim
And He is afflicted (with an internal ailment) because of our transgressions, and oppressed (by external pains) because of our sins. The intention is that there is a difference between sin and transgression: sin is due to an error of the intellect, and transgression is due to rebellion. Now, when Israel was oppressed, which is the time when the nations of the world afflicted them with pains and sufferings to remove them from their religion to the religion of the nations of the world, this was due to their sin and intellectual error, for they thought that they were performing a commandment thereby, and that they would thereby bring them to the happiness of the soul, and this is called sin. But when Israel was afflicted with an internal ailment, which is the time when they did not strike them with pains to force them into idolatry, but despite all this they withheld from them every good thing until they suffered in their soul as mentioned above (section 4), this was due to transgression and rebellion and evil of heart, for they did not do this at all for the sake of faith.
"The chastisement of our peace was upon him" means that when there was peace with the nations of the world, they would afflict Israel, thinking that by virtue of this, that they were distressing Israel, their peace would be prolonged, until Israel bore the discipline of their peace, the sufferings of their peace. And when evil and trouble struck them, they did not take it to heart that this was punishment for them for having done evil to these righteous ones. On the contrary, they would say that the Lord was punishing them for not having done more evil to Israel, and for having left them a name and a remnant, until they came to think that through their association with Israel they were healed.
All we like sheep did go astray, We turned every one to his own way; And Hashem has made to light on him The iniquity of us all.
verse value 2411
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "on·him" (בּ֔וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "we·erred" (תָּעִ֔ינוּ, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 106: all·of·us, all·of·us. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "as·the·flock" (כַּצֹּ֣אן), "we·erred" (תָּעִ֔ינוּ), "to·his·way" (לְדַרְכּ֖וֹ). The root כל appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "all·of·us" (root כל, 93x in Isaiah); "man" (root איש, 59x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'we·turned', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words.
Rashi
We all have gone astray like sheep. Now it is revealed:
He struck Him. He was answered through him and was appeased regarding the sin of all of us, so that He did not destroy His world. "Ashipri" is an Old French term meaning "supplication."
Ibn Ezra
All of us. In the end, they will recognize the truth, and behold, he is attached to one who is infected and struck by God, and like him, falsehood is the portion our fathers inherited (Jeremiah 16:19):
The word "הפגיע" is derived from the root of "ויפגע במקום" (Genesis 28:11).
“Sin.” Here, the word “sin” is used in the sense of “punishment,” as in “if sin should befall you” (1 Samuel 28:10), “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16), and “the sin of my people has grown great” (Lamentations 4:6). And some say it is derived from the root of “do not strike me” (Jeremiah 7:16), and the meaning of “our sin” would then be according to its plain sense, namely that it will strike [us] because of the need for peace in the world, as in the sense of “seek the peace of the city” [Jeremiah 29:7]. Therefore, the word “sin” comes harshly in conjunction with the striking upon it.
Radak
We are all like sheep; we have gone astray. This means: like sheep without a shepherd. Therefore, it says "like sheep" with a patach under the kaf, indicating the definite article, because that specific flock is the one that goes astray, having no shepherd.
The verse: “The affliction.” The sin is that which afflicts them, and God is the One who afflicts them by sending evil upon them. The meaning of “affliction” is the punishment for the sin, as it is said: “For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16).
Metzudat David
We have all gone astray like sheep. This means that indeed there was great sin on our part, for we all went astray from the path of truth and uprightness, like sheep: when one of them strays from the path, they all follow after it and stray with it. And the meaning is: since our fathers went astray from the path of truth, we too were drawn after them.
“Each man to his way” – we turned. This means: Would that we were like this flock, where one ewe follows another along the mistaken path. But we are not so; rather, each one turned to his own way, one not like another, and all are corrupt. And if so, there is upon us a great sin.
"And the Lord smote him": The Lord smote him with the iniquity of us all; that is to say, our iniquity is the blow that strikes him and afflicts him by the decree of the Lord.
Metzudat Zion
"We went astray." From the root meaning "to err" or "to go astray":
We turned. The word is from the root "turning":
The word *ha-piga* (the striking). This means that he encountered him for evil, to strike him. And similarly, it is written, "Come and strike him" (2 Samuel 1).
Malbim
All of us, and now we see that all of us erred in this matter and we punished them unjustly. “All of us were like sheep that went astray” — this refers to the time when they were inflicting punishments upon them to force them into idolatry, as it is stated, “He was crushed for our iniquities.” In this regard, we were like sheep that go astray due to the shepherd who leads them astray, for thus did the priests of Baal and Asherah incite us at that time. They told us that it would be counted as charity on our behalf if each person punished the people according to his own inclination. “Each one turned to his own way” — this refers to “He bore the punishment for our transgressions,” meaning that what they did to them, aside from this, was for our own benefit, to seize their property and the like, and in this way each person turned to his own path to satisfy the desire of his heart. And “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” — meaning that He was the target for the arrows of our sins; our sins were that we oppressed and afflicted this people for no reason, to the extent that it may be said that all our sins struck Him.
He was oppressed, though he humbled himself And opened not his mouth; As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, And as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; Indeed, he opened not his mouth.
verse value 2822
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְה֣וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "was·drawn·near" (נִגַּ֨שׂ, 3 letters) and the longest is "opens·his·mouth" (יִפְתַּח־פִּיו֒, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 37: and·not, and·not. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "opens·his·mouth" (יִפְתַּח־פִּיו֒), "as·the·lamb" (כַּשֶּׂה֙), "Jubal" (יוּבָ֔ל). The root לא appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "and·he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah); "to·face·of" (root פנים, 88x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'was·bound', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 3 words.
Rashi
"He was hard pressed, yet he was submissive." "Nigas" here is in the sense of oppressors and those who press and harass.
And he was wronged. In the context of fraud in speech, *Schwindler* in the vernacular.
"One should not open his mouth." He was patient and silent, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a ewe that is silent before its shearers.
"He shall not open his mouth." This refers back to "a lamb led to the slaughter."
Ibn Ezra
“He was oppressed.” From the Nifal conjugation:
"And he shall not open his mouth." There is no need to expound on this, for every Jew is thus in exile: when he is afflicted, he will not open his mouth to speak. Even if he is the most righteous among them, he will not occupy himself with worldly matters, but only with the service of God. He will not recognize any official or great man who would stand in the breach for him when a person rises against him; nor will he open his mouth [to him]. The reason is that this applies at all times.
Radak
He was exacted, and he was afflicted. [The word] nigas refers to monetary matters, as in exact the money; he shall not exact a debt from his fellow.
He was oppressed. In his body they oppressed his body with blows, and despite all this, he did not open his mouth; he had no permission to cry out or complain about what we were doing to him. Rather, he was like a lamb being led to slaughter, which does not open its mouth or cry out, or like a ewe that is dumbfounded before its shearers. The simile of the lamb refers to the affliction of his body and to his death, while the simile of the ewe refers to the loss of his wealth, which is likened to shearing. He compared him to a ewe rather than to a ram because of her greater weakness, for in all species the female is weaker than the male; so too, Israel in exile are exceedingly weak.
"נאלמה" – accented on the penultimate syllable, and it is a past tense verb in the Nifal conjugation.
"And he shall not open his mouth." This applies neither to his person nor to his property.
Metzudat David
He approaches, and he is answered. For this reason, he would be compelled to take his wealth, or he would be answered through bodily afflictions, if he is poor and his hand does not reach.
And he shall not open his mouth: to complain and grumble about the matter, out of fear lest they add further evil.
As a lamb led to the slaughter. And it was that the lamb brought to the slaughterer, and as the ewe standing before the one who shears her wool—the ewe is dumb and does not cry out with her voice, and the lamb does not open its mouth—so too did the afflicted one, likened to the lamb led to the slaughter, not complain, nor did the one struck, likened to the shorn ewe, protest.
Metzudat Zion
Nagash. He was pressed and compelled to take his wealth, like [the verse] "he brought the silver" (2 Kings 23).
And he. The vav is in place of "or":
He was afflicted. From the root of affliction:
"To slaughter." For the purpose of ritual slaughter:
Yovel. Like the Yovel mentioned above, in Isaiah 18:
Gozzei’ah. The matter of shearing the wool:
Malbim
“Approached.” At the time when the gentiles approached him, and even though he was answered by them with humility, nonetheless he did not open his mouth. Even at the time when the small child resembled a lamb led to the slaughter, and the mother resembled a ewe before her shearers, she was silenced. And even at the time when the gentiles took their money and their garments along with their tender children, nonetheless he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away, And with his generation who did reason? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.
verse value 3516
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 54 letters. The shortest word is "who?" (מִ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·his·generation" (וְאֶת־דּוֹר֖וֹ, 7 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "from·oppression·of" (מֵעֹ֤צֶר), "and·from·judgment" (וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט֙), "and·his·generation" (וְאֶת־דּוֹר֖וֹ). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "for" (root כי, 221x in Isaiah); "from·land·of" (root ארץ, 169x in Isaiah); "my·people" (root עם, 107x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'reasoned', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 8 words. Full calculation: מֵעֹ֤צֶר [from·oppression·of] (400) + וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט֙ [and·from·judgment] (475) + לֻקָּ֔ח [was·taken] (138) + וְאֶת־דּוֹר֖וֹ [and·his·generation] (623) + מִ֣י [who?] (50) + יְשׂוֹחֵ֑חַ [reasoned] (332) + כִּ֤י [for] (30) + נִגְזַר֙ [he·was·cut·off] (260) + מֵאֶ֣רֶץ [from·land·of] (331) + חַיִּ֔ים [living] (68) + מִפֶּ֥שַׁע [from·transgression] (490) + עַמִּ֖י [my·people] (120) + נֶ֥גַע [affection·of] (123) + לָֽמוֹ [at] (76) = 3516.
Rashi
“From the captor and from judgment he takes.” The prophet announces and says that this is what the gentiles will say in the end of days, when they see that He was taken from the captor who had held Him in his power, and from the judgment of the sufferings that He endured until now.
"And his generation." The years that passed over him:
"Who will converse? With the afflictions that befell him, for it was decreed from the beginning, and he was exiled from the land of the living, which is the Land of Israel. Because of the transgression of its people, this plague came upon the righteous ones among them."
Ibn Ezra
“Restraining,” etc. And behold, the Name [of God] redeems Israel, and the truth [is] the righteous ones of Israel.
"Lokeach." The Lord took him from confinement, and he had been confined.
And from judgment: "A law of vengeance."
"And with his generation, who would converse?" This is akin to the verse, "Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you." (Job 12:8). The meaning is: Who would have informed the people of his generation that this would be the case? For his fate was already decreed, as if cut off from the land of the living.
“From the transgression of My people.” The words of every nation, and this [refers to] the plague that was to befall Israel, which came because of our transgressions, just as it is written, “caused by our transgressions.” And the correct interpretation is indeed so: from the transgression of My people the plague will come upon them, due to the word “them” (lamō), which is equivalent to “to them.”
Radak
"Me'atzar." [This refers to] the place of restraint of the exile, where [the people] were held captive, and from the judgment of the captivity, in which they were subjected to decrees, [God] takes [them] and redeems them from all of this.
"And his generation, who would converse with him?" Who would have said that his generation would attain such greatness? And similar to it is "Who would have said unto Abraham" (Genesis 21:7).
“Yeshachach.” The matter of speech; similarly, “And I will speak with the works of your hands.” And they are from the four-letter binyan with the ayin at rest.
For it is decreed that he be cut off from the land of the living. Just as when he is exiled from his land, which is called the land of the living, as it is said, “I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living,” and one should explain that in exile he is truly regarded as if he were cut off from the land of the living; and how could we have thought that he would attain such greatness?
“Because of the transgression of My people.” Every nation will say so, for the plague came upon them because of its transgression, not because of their own transgression.
Metzudat David
From confinement and from judgment he is taken. From the place of imprisonment where he was confined and bound, and from the place of judgment where he was being judged, behold, he is taken to be brought before [the authorities] or to be tortured, and they did not release him without anything.
“And with his generation, who will converse?” That is, who will be able to recount all the tribulations that befell him throughout the days of his generation?
For it was decreed that he should be cut off from the land of the living. For the end of the matter was that he was cut off from the land of the living, for the afflictions were the cause to hasten his death.
“From the transgression of My people the plague has come upon them.” Thus each one will say: “Behold, the plague did not come upon them because of their own sins, but it came because of the transgression of My people, or because My people transgressed against them to afflict them with the evil of their choice; or perhaps they were struck with the plague to atone for the transgressions of My people.”
Metzudat Zion
“Me’utzar.” A place of imprisonment where he was confined and detained. And likewise, “and he was still confined” (Jeremiah 33:1).
ישוחח. The matter is one of recounting and speaking, as in "With the works of Your hands I will converse" (Psalms 143:5).
"Nigzar." The meaning is cutting off, as it is said: “I have been cut off” (Lamentations 3).
A plague. This means failure and weakness.
“Unto them.” For them; and since the entire matter is expressed in the singular language regarding the nation as a whole, therefore it says “unto them” to indicate that he will speak concerning the collective.
Malbim
“Captivity,” and do not say that this was done to them by plunderers or individual robbers acting without due process, for the term “captivity” and “judgment” is derived from the captor and the ruler, and from the place of judgment, it is taken to refer to affliction and suffering. They first brought the captive to the ruler and the court of the gentiles, and there they sentenced him to affliction and suffering. And do not say that this was because they found a sin that he had committed, for which they decreed this upon him. Not so, for “his generation — who can recount it?” The verse arranges his generation, which was cut off from the land of the living because of the transgression of My people. “who can recount the stroke [that befell] them?” — even though the decree of being cut off from the land of the living and the sentence of death was decreed upon him through the transgression of the gentiles and the false accusations they brought against them, nevertheless, “who can converse with his generation?” It touched him. Who is there who can converse and recount what affliction or sin befell that generation, who were killed for nothing? Surely we know that they sinned in no way.
And they made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich his tomb; Although he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth.’
verse value 4274
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "although" (עַ֚ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "with·the·wicked" (אֶת־רְשָׁעִים֙, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "and·gave" (וַיִּתֵּ֤ן), "with·the·wicked" (אֶת־רְשָׁעִים֙), "and·with·the·rich" (וְאֶת־עָשִׁ֖יר). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 286x in Isaiah); "although" (root על, 200x in Isaiah); "did" (root עשה, 101x in Isaiah). First appearance of the root חמס ("not·violence") in Isaiah. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·his·death', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיִּתֵּ֤ן [and·gave] (466) + אֶת־רְשָׁעִים֙ [with·the·wicked] (1021) + קִבְר֔וֹ [his·grave] (308) + וְאֶת־עָשִׁ֖יר [and·with·the·rich] (987) + בְּמֹתָ֑יו [in·his·death] (458) + עַ֚ל [although] (100) + לֹא־חָמָ֣ס [not·violence] (139) + עָשָׂ֔ה [did] (375) + וְלֹ֥א [and·not] (37) + מִרְמָ֖ה [deceit] (285) + בְּפִֽיו [in·his·mouth] (98) = 4274.
Rashi
“And He gave his grave among the wicked.” He surrendered himself to be buried in whatever manner the wicked of the nations decreed, for they imposed upon them the penalties of execution and burial in the entrails of dogs.
“Wicked men.” According to the opinion of the wicked, He consented to be buried so that they would not deny the living God.
"And the wealthy in his tombs." According to the opinion of the ruler, he surrendered himself to all the various types of death that were decreed upon him, because he did not wish to accept upon himself the burden of heresy, to commit evil, and to oppress with oppression, like all the nations among whom he had dwelled as a stranger.
"Neither was any deceit in his mouth" — to [feign] accepting upon himself the worship of idols.
Ibn Ezra
And He gave. Some explain this in reference to the time of the exile. Others say that the word "bemothav" is derived from "and you shall tread upon their high places" (Deuteronomy 33:29), and the meaning is a structure erected upon a grave; thus, "bemothav" is equivalent to "his grave."
"And the wealthy." Like "and the wicked," the meaning is the nations, who are wealthy, in opposition to Israel. And the correct view in my eyes is that the meaning of the verse is that Israel was in such anguish in exile that he desired to die with the nations, as it says, "Let my soul die with the Philistines" (Judges 16:30). And the Scripture stated, "He set upon his thought," like "He fought against Israel" (Joshua 24:9) [regarding] Balaam. And the proof that this is due to great anguish is that he said, "For no violence has he done," for the nations afflict Israel without cause, and not because of any deed they committed, nor because of any evil speech they spoke, which is proper to be interpreted in two ways. And if one objects, saying, "But does not bamot remain unchanged in 'al bamotemo' — why then did it change in 'bemotav'?" one should answer that this word comes in two patterns, like "the eunuchs of Pharaoh" (Genesis 40:7) and "the eunuchs of the king" (Esther 6:14).
Radak
And He gave him up. They would kill him in exile, just as the wicked are killed for their wickedness, yet he had not committed violence, nor had deceit been on his lips. They killed him as if he had done evil, and they counted him among the wicked. The meaning of “and He gave him up” is that he surrendered himself to death, for they would have acquitted him had he denied his Torah and returned to their teachings. Instead, he surrendered himself to death rather than deny his Torah. Similarly, it is said, “For Your sake we are killed all the day.” And the meaning of “and with the rich in his death” is that even the rich man is killed because of his wealth; he was killed not because of any wickedness in him, but because of the wealth he possessed. And the meaning of “in his death” (b’motav) is in the plural form, indicating that many deaths would be inflicted upon him: some are burned, some are executed by the sword, and some are stoned. All of them surrender themselves for the unity of the Name.
Metzudat David
"And He gave the wicked their grave." He surrendered himself to be buried with the wicked, and he was like them in matters of evil and in disgrace; that is to say, he did not wish to transgress the law in order to save himself from this.
“And he was rich in his deaths.” This is dependent on the word “and he gave,” to say that he surrendered himself to agree with the opinion of the rich man, who had authority over all the various types of deaths that he had decreed upon him, in order that he might stand firm in his faith.
On the verse “For he has not committed violence” (Genesis 37:20). This means that he was condemned to death for no reason: neither for any violence that he had committed, nor for any deceit that was in his mouth, for he had not committed violence, nor had he spoken deceitfully; rather, he was brought in through a false accusation.
Metzudat Zion
"Rich." The meaning is: a ruler, for generally the rich man rules.
"His deaths." From the language of death.
Malbim
"And he gave," and in all this, even though we know that he did not sin, they placed his grave among the graves of the wicked, as if he died by the hand of a wicked man. And [they placed the grave of] a wealthy man among the dead [of the wicked], "for he did not commit violence," meaning: even at the time they killed the wealthy man of Israel in order to seize his property, nevertheless they placed his grave near the graves of the wicked, so that it would appear as though they killed him due to his sin, even though he died having committed no violence, and did not deal deceitfully with his mouth, meaning he did not wish to deceive or deny his God, the Lord.
Yet it pleased Hashem to crush him by disease; To see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, That he might see his seed, prolong his days, And that the purpose of Hashem might prosper by his hand:
verse value 3066
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "delights" (חָפֵ֤ץ, 3 letters) and the longest is "if·puts" (אִם־תָּשִׂ֤ים, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "to·crush·him" (דַּכְּאוֹ֙), "made·sick" (הֶחֱלִ֔י), "if·puts" (אִם־תָּשִׂ֤ים). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Hashem" (root יהוה, 449x in Isaiah); "days" (root יום, 124x in Isaiah); "he·will·see" (root ראה, 83x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'days', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 4 words.
Rashi
"And the Lord desired to crush Him, He gave Him over to disease." The Holy One, blessed be He, desired to crush Him and to restore Him to well-being; therefore, He afflicted Him with illness.
"If you set aside a guilt offering for his soul, etc." The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "I will see if his soul is willing and surrendered to My holiness, to return to Me a guilt offering for all that he has embezzled; I will reward him with his due reward, and he shall see offspring, etc." This "guilt offering" is the language of restitution that a person gives to one whom he has wronged, as in the foreign language *amend* (reparation), as it is stated regarding the Philistines: "Do not return it empty, for you shall surely return it with a guilt offering" (1 Samuel 6:3).
Ibn Ezra
"And the Lord was pleased to crush him" – like "they spoke peaceably" (Genesis 37:4), from the heavy, dagesh-bearing binyan.
The word "hachli" (Hebrew: החלי). It belongs to the category of words that have a heh (ה) but are pronounced in the manner of an aleph (א). Even though we find the word "tchiluyav" (afflictions) in the phrase "asher chala Hashem bah" (which the Lord has afflicted upon it) in Deuteronomy 29:21, here the intent is to chastise us through exile.
"If you set a guilt offering upon his soul" – that he should confess and acknowledge, and the meaning is: if you place his guilt before him, God will increase his children and prolong his days, so that he and his children will see the salvation of God. And it alludes to the generation that will return to God at the end of days, at the coming of the Messiah.
"And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." The meaning is concerning the Torah, that the nations will return to the faith of God.
Radak
"And the Lord desired to crush Him, to give Him suffering." We do not see in His pains and troubles in exile anything other than the desire of God, for He was holding fast to His Torah, which is the Torah of truth, and He was surrendering Himself for its sake. Therefore, we do not see in His pains any reason other than either that He was seized on account of our sins, or that it was the desire of God thus to crush Him and to give Him suffering; and the desire of God we do not know.
The word "hali" (sickness). It is spelled defectively, lacking the aleph, which serves as the lamed of the pa'al binyan. It is treated as if it were spelled with an aleph, even though the majority of the root is spelled with a he.
"If you set your life as a guilt-offering": Yet this is what we see, that there is a good reward for the evil that he suffered. And if he set his own life in the place of a guilt-offering, as it says, "the wicked," now he will see a numerous seed, as Zechariah the prophet said concerning them, "and they shall multiply as they multiply," and he said, "And to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon I will bring them, and they shall not be found," and Ezekiel said, "I will make them as numerous as the flocks of men."
"He shall prolong his days." Just as it is stated in this book: "The days of My people shall be like the days of a tree" (Isaiah 65:22), and as the prophet Zechariah said: "And a man shall be leaning on his staff because of the multitude of days" (Zechariah 8:4).
"And the desire of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." Behold, it was the desire of the Lord in exile to humble him, and this recompense shall prosper in His hand; [it was] the desire of the Lord to multiply him and to do very well for him. Thus end the words of the nations; from here onward are the words of the Lord.
Metzudat David
"And the Lord desired to crush Him; He afflicted him with sickness." This is the prophet's statement, answering the words of the nations of the world, who were in doubt whether the afflictions that came upon Israel were due to their own evil choices and not by the decree of the Almighty, or whether they came from the hand of the Lord to atone for the sin of the nations of the world. And He said to them: It is not so; rather, the Lord desired to crush Him, and the decree of the Almighty was carried out, and He was the one who afflicted him with sickness.
"If you shall set your soul as a guilt-offering." This means: rather, they did not come to atone for the sin of the non-Jew, but only to test him, to improve his end. And it is as if He said: "I will see whether his soul will set itself as a guilt-offering, saying that what came upon him came justly, for he sinned and incurred guilt, and he will not entertain idle thoughts thereafter. Then his reward will be that all the days of his life he will see his offspring with his own eyes, and he will prolong his days, and nevertheless he will not die in his lifetime."
"And the desire of the Lord shall prosper in His hand." And behold, the desire of the Lord prospered, for he withstood the test and did not question the attribute of justice.
Metzudat Zion
Dikay. The matter of breaking and crushing:
He became ill. From the language of illness:
Guilt-offering. The matter of sin and transgression:
Malbim
“And the Lord desired to crush Him, He was stricken”: This teaches that because their forefathers in the earlier generations were slain under the hand of the nations of the world for the sanctification of His Name, the Lord desired and wished to crush Him and to be stricken, in order to appease the crushed spirit of that generation, so that He might do good for their children in the last generation. Therefore, I say to you, you enemy: even if you place guilt upon his soul, even if you consider his soul as a guilty soul liable to death and kill him, nevertheless, the Lord desired to crush Him and to be stricken, and to appease Him through the fact that He will see seed that will prolong days. Although he will die, his seed will succeed and prolong days. And since the Lord desired thus, behold, this desire of the Lord will succeed through the hand of his seed.
Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, Who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, And their iniquities he did bear.
verse value 3168
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 52 letters. Notable word values: "my·servant" (עַבְדִּ֖י) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 3168 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "he" (ה֥וּא, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·their·iniquities" (וַעֲוֺנֹתָ֖ם, 6 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "from·toil·of" (מֵעֲמַ֤ל), "in·His·knowledge" (בְּדַעְתּ֗וֹ), "he·did·justify" (יַצְדִּ֥יק). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah); "he·shall·see" (root ראה, 83x in Isaiah); "my·servant" (root עבד, 48x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·the·many', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: מֵעֲמַ֤ל [from·toil·of] (180) + נַפְשׁוֹ֙ [his·soul] (436) + יִרְאֶ֣ה [he·shall·see] (216) + יִשְׂבָּ֔ע [is·satisfied] (382) + בְּדַעְתּ֗וֹ [in·His·knowledge] (482) + יַצְדִּ֥יק [he·did·justify] (214) + צַדִּ֛יק [just] (204) + עַבְדִּ֖י [my·servant] (86) + לָרַבִּ֑ים [to·the·many] (282) + וַעֲוֺנֹתָ֖ם [and·their·iniquities] (572) + ה֥וּא [he] (12) + יִסְבֹּֽל [will·bear] (102) = 3168.
Rashi
“From the toil of his soul.” He would eat and become satiated, yet he would not rob or extort.
"By his knowledge did My servant justify the righteous." My servant judged true judgment to all who came before him for judgment.
And their iniquities. He bore [them], as is the way of all the righteous, as it is stated: “You and your sons shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary” (Numbers 18:1).
Ibn Ezra
“His toil.” The meaning is: the reward that he will receive for what he endured.
"He shall see" (Yir'ah). His desire, or he shall see good, until he swears, because in his mind he will justify many, and they are the nations that the Israelites will teach to do the Torah.
And the meaning of “and their iniquities He shall bear” is that Israel will share in the suffering of the nations due to their great iniquities, not as they themselves did to Israel; or the meaning is that he will pray to God on behalf of the nations, as in the meaning of “And if the family of Egypt does not go up” (Zechariah 14:18). And this is the correct interpretation in my eyes, because the following verse serves as a witness.
Radak
"From the toil of his soul." From the toil of his soul: the reward for the suffering he endured in exile shall be that he shall see and be satisfied, meaning he shall see good things in which he shall be satisfied.
"In His knowledge shall the righteous One, My servant, justify many." "My servant" refers to Israel, as we stated at the beginning of the passage. The meaning of "in His knowledge" is as it is written, "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord," and as it is written, "For they shall all know Me." Thus, My servant Israel, who was righteous and knew the Lord, shall justify many nations through His knowledge, as it is written, "And many peoples shall go and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways.'"
"And He shall bear their iniquity" – He, through His righteousness, shall bear the iniquities of the nations, for through His righteousness there shall be peace and good in the world, even for the nations.
Metzudat David
“He shall be satisfied from the labor of his soul, he shall see.” For from the labor of his soul that he saw, he was satisfied and derived pleasure from it.
In His wisdom, He will vindicate the righteous. For in His wisdom, He will consider how to vindicate the Lord, the Righteous One, to say that He came to atone for the guilt of sin, so that the reward for good deeds will not be diminished.
“My servant to many.” This means that he was not a servant of the many idolaters, so as to listen to their voice in matters of faith; rather, he was God’s servant against the many idolaters, and he did not heed them. And he lifted his shoulder to bear what they did to him, to afflict and pain him, for this reason.
Metzudat Zion
“From toil.” The matter of labor and distress:
Malbim
“Who has labored with his soul” — beyond the consolation he will receive through his offspring, his soul shall see and be satisfied, and his soul shall rest, in his understanding, in that which he knows for himself: “He shall justify My righteous servant” (meaning: My servant who is truly righteous) — in that My righteous servant shall justify many, so that he shall find satisfaction and delight in knowing that he has justified the multitude, who sanctified God’s Name in public; and also because he bore their iniquities, for he atoned for the sins of the generation through his death.
Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; Because he bared his soul to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet he bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
verse value 6601
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 86 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְהוּא֙) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "therefore" (לָכֵ֞ן, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·with·the·mighty" (וְאֶת־עֲצוּמִים֮, 9 letters). 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Isaiah. Unique to this verse in Isaiah (hapax): "I·will·divide·to·him" (אֲחַלֶּק־ל֣וֹ), "among·the·great" (בָרַבִּ֗ים), "and·with·the·mighty" (וְאֶת־עֲצוּמִים֮). The root חלק appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 176x in Isaiah); "and·he" (root הוא, 98x in Isaiah); "lifted" (root נשא, 57x in Isaiah). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'was·counted', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 5 words.
Rashi
Therefore. Because he did this, I will allot to him an inheritance and a portion among the multitude, together with the forefathers.
He poured out his soul to death. The expression is akin to “she poured out her jug” (Genesis 24).
"And with transgressors He was counted." He endured sufferings as though he had sinned and transgressed, yet he bore the sin of the many on behalf of others.
“And He will make intercession for the transgressors.” Through the afflictions that come by his hand, good comes to the world.
Ibn Ezra
“Therefore, etc.” All the commentators said that this verse is an allegory concerning the dead, in relation to the Unification of the Name. The meaning of “many” is like “great,” as in “over all his great household” (Esther 1:8), and these are the prophets; and the “mighty ones” are the Patriarchs. The meaning is that the portion of those who died for the Unification of the Name will be with the prophets. And we know that this is a true matter, only it is not the meaning of the passage. The correct view in my eyes is that it is so: “Therefore I will give Israel a portion of spoil, and plunder from many nations.”
"And the mighty ones." Just as it is said, "When I go out of the city" (Exodus 9:29).
"tachat, etc." This is the reward for the fact that he set his soul to die. And some say it is like "galah," meaning in public. And the correct view in my eyes is that it is like "vata'ar kado" (Genesis 24:20). And if they are two different verbal forms, the proof is "al ta'ar nafshi" (Psalms 141:9), in the sense of "poured out."
And [the word] et: And with:
"Transgressors." Who transgressed against the Name.
[“He was numbered”]. Thus were the Israelites counted:
“And He bore the sin of many.” For because of their suffering, there was peace for all the nations, and the sin that they were worthy to bear, Israel bore it.
“And to the wicked.” On account of the wicked:
Yefia‘. In the name of [the Sages], according to the interpretation of “Seek the peace of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7), and behold, the explanation of “and to the wicked nations” is:
And now I have explained to you the entire passage. And in my opinion, “My servant shall prosper” is what the Prophet said about him: “Behold, My servant, in whom I trust” (Isaiah 42:1), and “He said to me: ‘You are My servant’” (Isaiah 49:3). And similarly it is written: “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, My servant, justify many” (Isaiah 53:11), and it is written: “He was given as a nation to those who strike” (Isaiah 50:6). And the secret is as I alluded to in the middle of the book, and behold, all the passages are attached to one another.
Radak
Therefore, I will give him a portion among the many. The "many" are the numerous and mighty hosts of Gog and Magog, and the nations that will come with him against Jerusalem, as the prophet Zechariah said: "And He shall gather the wealth of all the nations round about, gold and silver and garments in great abundance." And this shall be for him in return for the fact that he poured out his soul to death, a reward for having given himself up to death at the hands of the gentiles in exile. He shall have all this honor, and their wealth shall be in place of his wealth, which they took, and their lives shall be in place of his life, that they shall die there, all the host of Gog and Magog, as it is written:
Note: “He poured out his soul unto death,” and similarly “and she poured out her drink,” the matter of pouring out, but it is in a different context.
"And He counted transgressions." As we explained regarding "He made His grave with the wicked," it refers to the sin of many. And it is possible to interpret it in the context of exile, meaning the sin of many, namely the sins of the gentiles who sinned against Him, and He bore and endured their suffering. This is in the manner of "the sin of Your people."
And for transgressors He will make intercession. And even so, He would pray on behalf of the transgressors who sinned against Him, and He would request of them to bless their land, as it is stated, "And seek the peace of the city to which I have exiled you," etc. And similar to this is the interpretation from the heavy [conjugation], in the language of supplication and request: "They entreated the king, and he was astonished, for there was none to intercede." Also, one may interpret it in the time of redemption, and its meaning would be as we interpreted, "And their iniquities He shall bear." And our Sages interpreted it concerning Moses, our teacher, of blessed memory, and they said: "In place of which He aroused his soul to death," meaning he surrendered himself to death, as it is stated, "And now, if You will, blot me, I pray, from Your book which You have written." And "for transgressors He was counted," meaning he was counted among those who died in the wilderness. And "He bore the sin of many," for he atoned for the incident of the Golden Calf. And "for transgressors He will make intercession," meaning he sought mercy for the transgressions of Israel. And the Targum says: "Behold, My servant shall understand, he shall prosper," [referring to] the Messiah. And it translates, "As they were astonished," like "as they thought concerning the House of Israel," etc.
Metzudat David
Therefore. Since he stood firm in the trial, I will give him a portion in the inheritance of the many nations:
"And the mighty ones." The strong nations of the gentiles He will divide for Himself, to be His spoil.
“Under” etc. In recompense for having poured out his soul and surrendered it to death.
"And he was numbered among the transgressors." In the mouths of the gentiles, he was counted among the wicked and the deniers, as a matter of great contempt and wrath.
"And He bore the sin of many." And He inclined His shoulder to bear what many nations sinned against Him, to punish and afflict Him:
“And He will intercede for the transgressors.” He would entreat the Chaldeans, who were wicked toward Him, and He would plead with them, and His eyes were set upon them as the eyes of servants are set upon the hands of their masters. Therefore, the strict law is that in a place where there is the majority of submissiveness, He will rule over them at the time of the redemption.
Metzudat Zion
“Mighty.” Strong:
Spoils. The meaning is plunder:
Tachat. In place of and in recompense for:
"He'arah." The meaning is pouring out, and likewise “Do not pour out my soul” (Psalms 141:8):
"נמנה" – from the language of counting and number.
He bore. He carried:
יפגיע. The matter of supplication and petition is like "And do not entreat me" (Jeremiah 7:16):
Malbim
Therefore, since he gave up his life joyfully for the sanctification of the Divine Name, and his soul was satisfied in that he believed, he would justify the many and bear the iniquity of the generation. I will allot him a portion among the many; he will take a share in the World to Come according to the measure that the many take. His share in reward will be equivalent to the reward of many righteous individuals. Moreover, “he will divide the spoil with the mighty,” meaning that his reward will be preserved with the mighty righteous ones, such as the Patriarchs and the Prophets. This is in exchange for the fact that he poured out his soul unto death and was numbered among the transgressors. In truth, he bore the sins of the many, for through him the Lord bore and forgave the sins of the many. And “he will make intercession for transgressors,” meaning that through his execution, the Lord was appeased regarding the transgressors, who returned through this in repentance.
Rashi
Ibn Ezra
Radak
Metzudat David
Metzudat Zion
Malbim