“Surely he has borne our infirmities.
He has carried our diseases.
Yet we accounted him stricken.
He was struck down by God.
He was afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him
Was the punishment
That made us whole.
By his bruises
We are healed.
All of us
Like sheep
Have gone astray.
We have turned
To our own way.
Yahweh has laid on him
The iniquity of us all.”
According to Second Isaiah, this suffering servant has become a scapegoat for all of us, at least the Israelites. He bears their infirmities and diseases. He suffers their illness for them. God has stricken and afflicted him. He was wounded for their transgressions and crushed for their sins. His punishment made them whole. His bruises healed them. They were like sheep that had gone astray. He carries the iniquity of all of them. Who is this servant? How can it be Israel saving Israel? You can see why the early Christian writers applied these same ideas about this suffering servant in Second Isaiah to Jesus Christ in a more universal appeal.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 