Isaiah 52:14

As many were astonished at thee,.... Not so much at the miracles he wrought, the doctrines he taught, and the work he did; or at his greatness and glory, at his exaltation and dignity, though very

As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man ... So

Were astonished; were struck with wonder, either, 1. At his glorious endowments, and the excellency and power of his doctrine, and his miraculous works. Or rather, 2. At his great deformity, and stupendous humiliation and calamity, as may be gathered both from the following words, and from the use of this word in Scripture, which is generally used in a bad sense, or of wondering at some extraordinary evil, as 19:8, and oft elsewhere; and never in a good sense, or of wondering at any thing which is extraordinarily good. At thee; at thee, O my servant, to whom he now turneth his speech, and then turneth his speech from him, and speaks of him in the next words; such sudden changes of persons, and speaking of one and the same man sometimes in one person, and then presently in another, being very frequent in the writings of the prophets, as we have already seen in divers instances. His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; he was more deformed or uncomely than any other man; which was undoubtedly verified in Christ, who, in respect of his birth, and breeding, and manner of life, was most obscure and contemptible, and therefore said to be a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people, ; who was more hated and vilified by the generality of the Jews than any man upon earth, and was accounted and called by them a deceiver, a Samaritan, a blasphemer, and a devil, &c.; whose countenance also was so marred with frequent watchings, and fastings, and troubles, that he was thought to be near fifty years old when he was but about thirty, ; and was further spoiled with buffetings, and crowning with thorns, and other cruel and despiteful usages from men, and with the deep and continual sense of the burden of men’ s sins, and of God’ s displeasure due unto them; all which did not only oppress his spirit, but had a great influence upon the very constitution of his body.

Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:Ver. 14. As many were astonied at thee,] viz., At thine abasement first, and then at thine advancement thereupon. All things in Christ are admirable; well, therefore, might he be called "Wonderful." His visage was so marred more than any man.] Partly through the anguish of his mind at his Passion and on the cross, and partly also by the misusage of his body, while they made totum pro vulnero corpus, by their scourging, scratching, racking on the tree, piercing, buffeting, &c. And his form more than the sons of men.] Plusquam filii Adae, more than those of the common sort; whereas naturally his body, being of the finest temperament, and no way diseased, could not but be very beautiful. See Psalms 45:2.

(14) As many were astonied . . .—The words point to the correspondence of the supreme exaltation following on the supreme humiliation. His visage was so marred . . .—The words conflict strangely with the type of pure and holy beauty with which Christian art has made us familiar as its ideal of the Son of Man. It has to be noted, however, that the earlier forms of that art, prior to the time of Constantine, and, in some cases, later, represented the Christ as worn, emaciated, with hardly any touch of earthly comeliness, and that it is at least possible that the beauty may have been of expression rather than of feature or complexion, and that men have said of Him, as of St. Paul, that his “bodily presence was weak” (2 Corinthians 10:10).

Verse 14. As many were astonished at thee - "As many were astonished at him"] For עליך aleicha read עליו alaiv. So the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate in a MS.; and so likewise two ancient MSS. His visage was so marred more than any man] Most interpreters understand this of the indignities offered to our blessed Lord: but Kimchi gives it another turn, and says, "It means the Jewish people, whom are considered by most nations as having an appearance different from all the people of the earth." Poor Jews! they have in general a very disagreeable look, partly affected, and partly through neglect of neatness and cleanliness. Most Christians think they carry the impress of their reprobation on every feature of their face. However this may be, it should never be forgotten that the greatest men that ever flourished as kings, judges, magistrates, lawgivers, heroes, and poets, were of Jewish extraction. Isaiah was a Jew; so was Paul, and so was JESUS of Nazareth.

Ch. Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12. The Servant’s Sacrifice and His RewardThis is the last and greatest, as well as the most difficult, of the four delineations of the Servant of Jehovah, and in several respects occupies a place apart. In the previous passages the Servant has been described as the ideal prophet or teacher, conscious of a world-wide mission in the service of God, which he prosecutes amid discouragement and persecution with inflexible purpose and the unfaltering assurance of ultimate success. There has been no hint that his activity was interrupted by death. Here the presentation is quite different. The conception of the Prophet is all but displaced by that of the Man of Sorrows, the meek and patient martyr, the sin-bearer. The passage is partly retrospective and partly prophetic. In so far as it is a retrospect there is no allusion to the prophetic activity of the servant; it is only after he has been raised from the dead that he is to assume the function of the great religious guide and authority of the world. But the most striking feature of the passage is the unparalleled sufferings of the Servant, and the effect they produce on the minds of his contemporaries. The tragedy of which they have been spectators makes an impression far more profound and convincing than any direct teaching could have done, compelling them to recognise the mission of the Servant, and at the same time producing penitence and confession of their own sin. The whole conception here given of the Servant of the Lord makes the prophecy the most remarkable anticipation in the Old Testament of the “sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” The passage may be divided into three parts:— (1) An introduction, briefly stating the import of all that follows,—the coming exaltation of the Servant in contrast to his past abasement (Isaiah 52:13-15). (2) A historical review of the Servant’s career, as he had appeared to his contemporaries in the days of his humiliation (Isaiah 53:1-9). (3) An announcement of the glorious future and the astonishing success in store for him as the reward of his obedience unto death (Isaiah 52:10-12). The middle section may be further subdivided into three strophes, yielding an arrangement (recognised by most commentators) of the whole in five strophes of three verses each.

Sec. 3. MESSIAH AND THE GOSPEL, Isaiah 52:11 to Isaiah 55:13.Thus far in this chapter is treated the case of an exalted Church passing, step by step, through suffering and deliverances into the