translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ISA

label: NET study note

text: The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6 ). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.


text: The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.


text: The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.


text: Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11-12 make clear.


text: Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4 ) resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.


text: This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח ( tevakh ) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16 ; Prov 7:22; 9:2 ; Jer 50:27 ; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31 ; 1 Sam 25:11 ).


text: The “land of the living” is an idiom for the sphere where people live, in contrast to the underworld realm of the dead. See, for example, Ezek 32:23-27 .


text: The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16 .


text: The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15 ), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.


text: The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.