:
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
[AD 56] Romans on Isaiah 53:1
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? [Isaiah 53:1] So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
[AD 90] John on Isaiah 53:1
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? [Isaiah 53:1] Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
[AD 99] Clement of Rome on Isaiah 53:1-12
For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp of pride or arrogance, although He might have done so, but in a lowly condition, as the Holy Spirit had declared regarding Him. For He says, "Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared [our message] in His presence: He is, as it were, a child, and like a root in thirsty ground; He has no form nor glory, yea, we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but His form was without eminence, yea, deficient in comparison with the [ordinary] form of men. He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes; yet we supposed that [on His own account] He was exposed to labour, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] man has wandered in his own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while He in the midst of His sufferings opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought down to death. And I will give the wicked for His sepulchre, and the rich for His death, because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him by stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, to justify the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall carry their sins. On this account He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and for their sins was He delivered." [Isaiah 53:1-12] And again He says, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All that see me have derided me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him." [Psalm 22:6-8] You see, beloved, what is the example which has been given us; for if the Lord thus humbled Himself, what shall we do who have through Him come under the yoke of His grace?

[AD 220] Tertullian on Isaiah 53:1
Now he would most certainly have said “your arm” if he had not wished us to understand that the Father is Lord and the Son also is Lord.

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Isaiah 53:1
Due to their exceedingly great wickedness, they would not believe in him, as the Lord shows in these words, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” And afterward, “Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive, for the heart of this people has become desensitized.” Therefore, knowledge was taken from them, because when they saw, they overlooked, and when they heard, they heard nothing at all.

[AD 411] Tyrannius Rufinus on Isaiah 53:1
For it is incredible that God, the Son of God, should be spoken of and preached as having suffered these things. For this reason they are foretold by the prophets, lest any doubt should spring up in those who are about to believe.

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:1
May your right hand with which you fashioned the world bring light to the world. “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” May your right hand with which you formed humanity take on a human body and save human persons.

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:1-4
(Chapter 53, verses 1 and following) Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. LXX: But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. A man in distress, and knowing how to bear infirmity, because his face is turned away, despised and not esteemed. He carries our sins, and grieves for us, and we have reckoned him to be in pain, and in affliction. After the words of the Father, by which he had announced to the world that his son would come; and before the scandal of the cross, about which he was going to say: His appearance will be inglorious, and his form unlike that of other men, he had foretold the glory of the resurrection: He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be greatly exalted: so that, by the humility of the cross, he might anticipate the glory of the resurrection. The choir of prophets responded that they had fulfilled their duty, and had proclaimed to all the power and strength of his arm, as much as they could. But concerning what he says: Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? he signifies the rarity of those who believe among the Jews. And what follows: It shall spring up as a root before him; for which the LXX translated, We have announced it as a little one before him: for root, Symmachus interpreted as a branch, in order to show that the man who proceeded from the virgin womb was assumed. Of whom he infers: As a root from a thirsty land. For the thirsty one, the Eagle was interpreted as a sign, in order to demonstrate the privilege of virginity, that he was created from the earth without any human seed. This is the one about whom we read above: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1), in order to signify his birth and ascent into the world. But he did not have appearance or glory; his form was ignoble and lacking compared to the sons of men, or as it is said in Hebrew, despised and the last of men, as it is said in the Psalms: Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty (Psalm 45:4). What is easily solved. He was despised and ignoble when he hung on the cross, and became a curse for us, bearing our sins. And he said to the Father: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46). But he was famous and beautiful in appearance, when the earth trembled at his passion, rocks were split, and with the sun fleeing, the elements feared eternal night. Of whom the bride also says in the Song of Songs: My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen from thousands (Song of Solomon 5:10). Candidus, in the fullness and purity of virtues, ruddy in passion, about which we will read later: Who is this that comes from Edom, his garments yellowish; chosen from thousands for resurrection; so that the one who was the firstborn of all creation might be the firstborn from the dead. And he brings forth this: a man in sorrow and knowing how to bear weakness, a man of sorrows, and knowing weakness, a true human body, and a true soul, who, knowing how to bear weaknesses, overcame them all by divinity. And his hidden and despised appearance, so that the divine power might be concealed in a human body. Regarding which it has been said above: You are a hidden God, and we did not know. He truly carried our weaknesses and sins, and he grieves for us, not just in appearance, that is, to seem so, as the ancient and new heresies suspect; but he truly was crucified. He truly suffered, saying in the Gospel: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matthew 26:38). And: Now is my soul troubled (John XII, 27). And we thought him to be unclean, or in pain, as the Seventy translated, for which Aquila and Symmachus translated as a leper, Theodotion, as scourged. Which in other words is understood as leprosy in Hebrew idiom, according to what is written in the Psalms: And the scourge shall not come near your tent (Ps. XC, 10). And the sense is: We thought him to be struck by God for his sins, who was humiliated for us and crucified with thieves. Regarding what Symmachus translated as Ἐν ἁφῇ ὄντα, which means 'in lepra'; Aquila rendered it as ἁφημένον, meaning 'leprosum': many, not understanding, think it was left out, and others read καθήμενον, meaning 'sitting'. At the beginning of the chapter, where it is said according to the Septuagint: 'Lord, who has believed our report?': and the arm of the Lord, to whom it is revealed (Rom. X), which testimony the apostle Paul also uses in Romans, explaining about the passion of the Lord: 'Lord' is not in the Hebrew, but for the understanding of the person to whom it is said, it was added.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:1
Are we correct in understanding God’s right hand to be the one of whom Isaiah says, “And the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been revealed”? That, you see, is the only Son, whom the Father did not spare “but handed him over for us all.” And thus he stretched out his right hand on the cross, and the earth devoured the godless, when they thought of themselves as victorious and of him as despicable in defeat.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:1
If we should understand “hand” as power, the power of the Father and the Son is one; but if we should understand “hand” as it was said through the prophet, “And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” the hand of the Father is the Son himself.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:1
For just as it is your arm through which you work, so his Word was called the arm of God, because through the Word he constructed the world. For why does a person, in order to construct something, stretch out his arm except to directly execute his will?

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:1
Look and see that he alone is Father and his arm is the Son, and there are not two but one, a person and his arm. Not understanding or noticing how the words of one thing are transferred to other things on account of some similarity in everyday speech concerning visible and well-known things, how much more when ineffable things are spoken in some way, which are said in such a way to be impossible [in another way]? For a person calls another person “his arm” through whom he does whatever he does. And if he is taken away, he mourns and says, “I have lost my arm.” And to the one who took him away, he says, “You have taken my arm away.” We can thus understand how it can be said that the Son is the arm of the Father through which the Father works all things. Failing to understand this, we remain in the shadows of error, just like those of whom it was said, “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Isaiah 53:1
God truly put his arm around the prodigal son when he clothed his Son in human flesh. Then he exclaimed and said to all, “Take my yoke on you.” Whoever accepts the yoke of Christ is embraced as with the arm of a father and is known to be reconciled with God.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on Isaiah 53:2
I have shown from the Scriptures that no one of the children of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that he is himself in his own right, beyond all people who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King eternal and the incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles and the Spirit himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of him if, like others, he had been a mere man. But that he had, beyond all others, in himself that preeminent birth that is from the most high Father and also experienced that preeminent generation that is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify of him: also, that he was a man without comeliness and liable to suffering; that he sat on the foal of a donkey; that he was despised among the people and humbled himself even to death; and that he is the holy Lord, the wonderful, the counselor, the beautiful in appearance and the mighty God, coming on the clouds as the judge of all people17—all these things did the Scripture prophesy of him.

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:2
The Spirit gives witness through Isaiah that even the Lord became an unsightly spectacle: “And we saw him, and there was no beauty or comeliness in him, but his form was despised and rejected by people.” Yet, who is better than the Lord? He displayed not beauty of the flesh, which is only outward appearance, but the true beauty of body and soul—for the soul, the beauty of good deeds; for the body, the beauty of immortality.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:2
There are, indeed, admitted to be recorded some statements respecting the body of Jesus having been “ill-favored”; not, however, “ignoble,” as has been stated, nor is there any certain evidence that he was “little.”

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 53:2
For he whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. He who is now man was once the uncompounded. What he was he continued to be; what he was not he took to himself. In the beginning he was uncaused; for what is the cause of God? But afterwards for a cause he was born. And that cause was that you might be saved, who insult him and despise his godhead, because of this, that he took on him your denser nature, having converse with flesh by means of mind. While his inferior nature, the humanity, became God, because it was united to God and became one person because the higher nature prevailed, [this happened] in order that I too might be made God so far as he is made man. He was born—but he had been begotten. He was born of a woman—but she was a virgin. The first is human, the second divine. In his human nature he had no father, but also in his divine nature [he had] no mother. Both these belong to godhead. He dwelled in the womb—but he was recognized by the prophet [John the Baptist], himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for whose sake he came into being. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes—but he took off the swathing bands of the grave by his rising again. He was laid in a manger—but he was glorified by angels, and proclaimed by a star and worshiped by the magi. Why are you offended by what is presented to your sight, because you will not look at what is presented to your mind? He was driven into exile into Egypt—but he drove away the Egyptian idols. He had no form or comeliness in the eyes of the Jews—but to David he is fairer than the children of humankind. And on the mountain he was bright as the lightning and became more luminous than the sun, initiating us into the mystery of the future.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 53:2
Isaiah says, “We have seen him, and he had neither appearance nor beauty.” Nevertheless, from being great he became lesser, and from being lesser he became great.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:2
For not by any means in working wonders only was he wonderful, but even when merely showing himself, he was full of great grace. To declare this, the prophet said, “Fair in beauty beyond the children of humankind.” When Isaiah says, “He had no form nor comeliness,” he is comparing the [embodied Son] with the glory of his godhead, which surpasses all utterance and description. Or he is speaking of what took place at his passion, the dishonor that he underwent at the season of the cross and the mean estate that throughout his life he exemplified in all respects.

[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on Isaiah 53:2
Therefore, beloved, have in your mind God’s providence (which from the beginning until now is dispensed with foreknowledge) as some excellent medicine for weakened eyes, and keep its recollection with you at all times. Ponder, consider, and be taught by these things, that you may learn to hold the remembrance of the greatness of God’s honour in your soul, and thus find life eternal for your soul in Jesus Christ our Lord, Who is become “the Mediator between God and men,” as being the Uniter in His two natures. The orders of the angels cannot approach the glory that surrounds the throne of His majesty, yet He has appeared in the world for our sake in a mean and humble form, as [Isaiah] said: “We beheld Him, that He had no form nor beauty.” It is He that, being invisible to all created nature, put on a body and fulfilled the economy for the salvation and life of all the nations that were cleansed by Him, and to Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.

[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on Isaiah 53:2
“For he grew up before him like a child,” like a child dear to his Father, he says, because he will be dear to God. But “like a root out of the ground,” which is deprived of water, he will also be deprived of life at the moment of the passion. In fact, God wanted these evil things to befall him. Others have seen these words as referring to the apostles who, like candid and young children, believed in him and did not refrain from knowing him, as the scribes and the Pharisees did. According to Qatraya, this points to the fact that Simeon had already blessed him in the temple before God when he was yet an unborn child. Or this: The Son offered our nature before God, like a child, and made it pleasing before God.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:3
Nor is even his death passed over in silence: on the contrary, it is referred to in the divine Scriptures, even exceedingly clearly.… He suffers it not for his own sake but for the immortality and salvation of all, and the counsels of the Jews against him and the indignities offered him at their hands.… O marvel at the loving-kindness of the Word, that for our sakes he is dishonored, that we may be brought to honor.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:3
Christ’s deformity is what gives form to you. If he had been unwilling to be deformed, you would never have got back the form you lost. So he hung on the cross, deformed; but his deformity was our beauty.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:3
One of the holy Evangelists said that when our Lord’s time of suffering drew near, he began to weep and grew sad. Yet by nature he was the only-begotten Word of the Father, being immune from sufferings and grief and the like. Nevertheless, he accommodated himself to our nature and showed himself empty of all [his divine qualities] in the face of the anxiety of the threatening onslaught of his trials. Through all these trials he declared himself to be similar to us, so that he emerges not (as some are fond of saying) as a shadow or specter seen on the earth but as a real human being.

[AD 60] Matthew on Isaiah 53:4
And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. [Isaiah 53:4]
[AD 220] Tertullian on Isaiah 53:4
Now the Greeks are accustomed to use for “carry” a word that also signifies “to take away.” … Whatever were the cures that Jesus effected, he is mine.

[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Isaiah 53:4
Therefore, when it is said that he was “troubled in spirit,” that “he was sorrowful in soul,” that “he was wounded in body,” he places before us designations of susceptibilities proper to our constitution, in order to show that he was made man in the world and had his conversation with [people], yet without sin.

[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Isaiah 53:4
How could one say that the body of the Lord [Christ] is void of soul and understanding? For perturbation and grief and distress are not the properties either of a flesh void of a soul or of a soul void of understanding; nor are they the sign of the nature of immutable divinity or the index of a mere phantasm; nor do they mark the defect of human moral weakness. But the Word exhibited in himself the exercise of the affections and susceptibilities proper to us, having endued himself with our passibility, even as it is written, that “he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” For perturbation and grief and distress are disorders of soul; and toil, and sleep and the body’s liability to wounding are infirmities of the flesh.

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 53:4
We did not reckon him to be much or wonder who he was then. He was, however, the Savior of our souls, the healer and purifier of all sin. Therefore it continues, “He bore our sins … though we reckoned him struck down by God and humiliated,” as Aquila has it.… We like babes had this opinion of him while he suffered these things for us, so as to save us from all disgrace … he was wounded and became a curse for us … he became a peace offering … who was through all his life a sin offering in word and deed.

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Isaiah 53:4
[To bishops.] For as yours is the burden, so you receive as your fruit the supply of food and other necessities. For you imitate Christ the Lord; and as he “bore the sins of us all on the tree” at his crucifixion, the innocent for those who deserved punishment, so also you ought to bear the sins of the people your own. For concerning our Savior it is said in Isaiah, “He bears our sins and is afflicted for us.” … For do not you imagine that the office of a bishop is an easy or light burden.

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 53:4
“He was made flesh” seems to be equivalent to that in which it is said that he was made sin or a curse for us, not that the Lord was transmuted into either of these—for how could he? But because by taking them on him he “took away our iniquities and bore our infirmities.”

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:4
Let him be understood now not as the Word of God and wisdom but as servant and boy.… And here there will be the greater miracle that his appearance will be inglorious among people, not in that it means a foulness of form but that he came in lowliness and poverty.… “He will wash many nations,” cleansing them with his blood and consecrating for service in the baptism of God.…He did not have beauty or glory. His form was base and lacking before [humanity], or as the Hebrew has it, despised and least among people.… How then can it be said in the psalms, “Gird your side with your sword, O most powerful, with your beauty and fairness”? This puzzle can be easily solved. He was despised and base when he hung on the cross and was made for us a curse and carried out sins and said to the Father, “God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But he was glorious and fair in appearance when, at his passion, the earth trembled, rocks were split and the elements were terrified at the sun’s fleeing and the eternal night.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:4
“But not what I will, but what you will, Father,” It is not as if the Father’s will was one thing and the Son’s another. [Christ is referring to] the utterance of our weaknesses, however faithful, which our Head transformed into himself, when also he bore our sins.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:4
What therefore does the prophet say in these words?… For he confesses what we also have announced, that is, we have foretold unceasingly that he will come in due season. But perhaps someone shall say in response, “What then if God who is the Word should come down from heaven, covered in divine glory and resplendent in unapproachable light, and appear to those on earth as one who cannot be looked at because of his ineffable glory?” Indeed, when he visited the earth in the form of fire on Mount Sinai it was dark and gloomy, and storms and fire burst from on high along with smoke, and there were many other things that so completely terrified [the Israelites] that his appearance was unbearable to those who saw it. In fact, it was so unbearable that the Israelites called for a mediator, saying to Moses, “Speak to us, and do not let God speak lest we die.” So, as Isaiah says, it is no wonder that the one who shall appear should be hard to look at. Why then do the prophets say that unbelief is without excuse and rebellion is unjustifiable when there is no form or glory to his appearance? For he was not, it says, in a form or glory that befits the divine. For he emptied himself, taking on the likeness of humanity, and being found in the appearance of a man he humbled himself. And we say this not merely from hearing the reports, but we have gazed with our own eyes on the one proclaimed. For human things are in every way small, cheap and worthless compared with the divine, supreme, eminent and illustrious beauty of that nature that is above all things. For it is said in the Psalms, “You are the most beautiful among the sons of men.” And our text here adds, “more rejected than all people,” speaking of his appearance, as if to say that there are to be seen among people of distinction some which are distinguished by their fine radiant appearance … but Emmanuel was not among them, reduced instead to someone who was despised and lowly. This message is true, for he did not come from the holy virgin mother in opulence, but through all that is lowly and humble so as to raise up the humble and to bless those who seem worthless. And anyway, what need does God, who is Lord and king of the universe, have of human splendor?

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 53:4
And next he teaches the forms of dishonor and shame, “A man being in sorrow.” He points out the nature that received the suffering, for his body was nailed to the cross, but his divinity made the passion its own. “And he was familiar with sickness.” This was said about his humanity. For to be courageous and philosophical touches not divine but human nature. “For his face was turned away. It was not valued or appreciated.” The three translators render it this way, “And like a hiding of the face from him, he was made nothing and not appreciated.” That is, he hid the divine energy and chose suffering and did not seek vengeance on others. For as he was on the cross he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” This teaches us the reasons for the passion: “He bore our sicknesses and suffered for us.” Symmachus translated, “Indeed, he personally has taken on our sicknesses and endured our pains.” We deserved death for those sins we had committed, and having received this penalty, he received death on our behalf.

[AD 65] 1 Peter on Isaiah 53:5
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [Isaiah 53:5] For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 53:5
Alone did he assume the penalties of our wicked deeds, not when we were half dead but even when already altogether foul and stinking in tombs and graves.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:5
It did not say, “He remedied our infirmities,” lest, as being external to the body and only healing it, as he has always done, he should leave people subject still to death. Rather, he carries our infirmities, and he himself bears our sins, that it might be shown that he has become human for us, and that the body that in him bore them was his own body.

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:5-7
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. LXX: But he was wounded for our sins, and he was weakened for our iniquities. He was wounded for our iniquities, saying in the psalm: They have dug my hands and my feet (Ps. XXI, 18), so that with his wound he might heal our wounds, and he was crushed, or afflicted because of our sins, so that he became a curse for us, to deliver us from the curse. For every man who hangs on a tree is cursed (Deut. XXI, Galat. III). Therefore, our discipline of peace is upon him. For what we should have endured for our own sins, He suffered for us, making peace through the blood of His cross, whether those on earth or those in heaven. For He Himself is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, abolishing in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man, making peace. From which it is clear, that just as the bruised and lacerated body bears signs of injury in bruises and discoloration: so too the soul truly suffered for us, lest it be believed in Christ partly as truth and partly as falsehood (Rom. III). All, as it is said, have gone astray like sheep, and we are in need of God's mercy, saying in the psalm: I have strayed like a lost sheep (Ps. CXVIII, 176); which in the parable of the Good Shepherd in the Gospel was carried on his concerned shoulders (Matth. XV). But the following verse shows who these sheep are. Man has wandered in his way; or rather, each one has turned aside in his own way, in order to follow his own error, abandoning the right path, and thinking differently about the Crucified. However, the Lord placed on him the iniquity of all of us, or he handed him over for our sins; so that what we could not bear on account of our weakness, he would bear for us, who was offered, because he himself willed it. For He endured the cross not out of necessity, but out of His own will, saying in the Gospel: 'The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?' (John XVIII, 11). And to Peter, who was scandalized by the name of the cross because he did not know the mystery and was trembling with human fear, He said: 'Get behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men' (Matthew XVI, 23). Otherwise, if He had not been willingly offered, He who could indicate and foretell the traitor and was speaking to the Apostles, 'You will all fall away because of Me this night,' could have caused those who were sent to him to turn away, but he boldly came to meet them and offered Himself saying, 'Whom do you seek?' (John XVIII, 4, 6). Those who immediately fell backward; for they could not bear the voice of the present God. And beautifully he added: And he did not open his mouth. When Pilate said to him: Don't you speak to me? he refused to answer. Or according to the Septuagint: He did not open his mouth in affliction. Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, he did not open his mouth when he heard.

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Isaiah 53:5
No one usually brings hardship on himself. For example, the prophet insinuates the severity of [Christ’s] hardship when he says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” For dying does not [necessarily] entail suffering what a condemned nature is capable of suffering. Therefore, the severity of the hardship he brought on himself comes to the fore in that he did not have by nature a body that could suffer; and yet, so that he might free us by his suffering, he humbly assumed the very thing that would allow him to suffer.

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:6
Isaiah says [about Christ], “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” that is, to correct our iniquities and set them right. For that reason, he alone is able to forgive our sins, he who has been appointed by the Father of all as our educator, for he alone is able to separate obedience from disobedience.

[AD 319] Theodore Stratelates on Isaiah 53:6
He bore the sum of human evils and every form of transgression, as well as their recompense and punishment. And as if he were our debtor, the only-begotten Word of God, coming into the world alongside us, fulfilled every law and all righteousness and did not stumble over sin but received it willingly so as to change our punishment into peace and harmony. For undergoing temptation he carried our rebukes and punishments, and by faith we make our own his sufferings, and dying together with him we are saved by grace. He was not delivered by force but as an act of obedience.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 53:6
The offenses of all were not equal, and there was not only one way of being impious; for the idols of the Egyptians and those of the Phoenicians were not the same, those of the Greeks were different, and those of the Scythians were something else. Nevertheless, although the forms of error were different, we had all in a common manner abandoned the true God, and by this we resembled sheep who have gone astray and are exposed to the wolves.

[AD 62] Acts on Isaiah 53:7-8
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. [Isaiah 53:7-8] And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
[AD 180] Melito of Sardis on Isaiah 53:7
When this one came from heaven to earth for the sake of the one who suffers, and had clothed himself with that very one through the womb of a virgin, and having come forth as man, he accepted the sufferings of the sufferer through his body which was capable of suffering. And he destroyed those human sufferings by his spirit which was incapable of dying. He killed death which had put man to death.

For this one, who was led away as a lamb, and who was sacrificed as a sheep, by himself delivered us from servitude to the world as from the land of Egypt, and released us from bondage to the devil as from the hand of Pharaoh, and sealed our souls by his own spirit and the members of our bodies by his own blood.

This is the one who covered death with shame and who plunged the devil into mourning as Moses did Pharaoh. This is the one who smote lawlessness and deprived injustice of its offspring, as Moses deprived Egypt. This is the one who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom, and who made us a new priesthood, and a special people forever.

This one is the passover of our salvation. This is the one who patiently endured many things in many people: This is the one who was murdered in Abel, and bound as a sacrifice in Isaac, and exiled in Jacob, and sold in Joseph, and exposed in Moses, and sacrificed in the lamb, and hunted down in David, and dishonored in the prophets.

This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven.

This is the lamb that was slain. This is the lamb that was silent. This is the one who was born of Mary, that beautiful ewe-lamb. This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; the one who was not broken while on the tree, who did not see dissolution while in the earth, who rose up from the dead, and who raised up mankind from the grave below.

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 53:7
He prays, but he hears prayer. He weeps, but he causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for he was man; but he raises Lazarus, for he was God. He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver, but he redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the price was his own blood. As a sheep he is led to the slaughter, but he is the shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. As a lamb he is silent, yet he is the Word and is proclaimed by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He is bruised and wounded, but he heals every disease and every infirmity. He is lifted up and nailed to the tree, but by the tree of life he restores us, yes, he saves even the robber crucified with him. … He dies, but he gives life, and by his death, he destroys death. He is buried, but he rises again; he goes down into hell, but he brings up the souls; he ascends to heaven and shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Isaiah 53:7
It is the price of our freedom, as Peter says, “You were redeemed with the precious blood,” not of a lamb but of him who came in meekness and humility like a lamb and freed the whole world with the single offering of his body, as he himself said, “I was led like a lamb to be sacrificed,” and John also said, “Behold, the lamb of God, behold the one who takes away the sins of the world.”

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:7-9
(Verse 7 onwards) Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. He was taken away by distress and judgment. Who can describe his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the transgression of my people he was struck down. He will be given the wicked as a burial place, and the wealthy as his tomb, because he did no violence, nor was deceit found in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity. LXX: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humility his judgment was taken away. Who will declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth? He was led away to death because of the iniquities of my people; I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death. He did not commit iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth; and the Lord desires to cleanse him from his wound. This testimony is about the Ethiopian eunuch, who was riding in a chariot of Queen Candace while reading the book of Acts (Chapter 8 and following). He did not understand what he was reading, but with the help of Philip, he came to understand the passion and the name of the Savior. He was immediately baptized in the blood of the Lamb that he had been reading about and deserved to be called a man. The apostle was then sent to preach to the Ethiopian people. Just as Jesus was offered to Pontius Pilate, because he himself wanted it, and did not respond when asked to climb the Cross for our sake, he was led like a sheep to slaughter and remained silent like a lamb before the shearer. Indeed, our Passover lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed (I Cor. 5), whom John the Baptist pointed out, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is also often mentioned as the slain lamb in the Apocalypse of the Evangelist John (Apocalypse 5). He speaks of Himself in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11). But I, like an innocent lamb, being led to the victim, did not know. For when He did not know sin, He became sin for us (II Cor. 5). And just as a lamb, when led to the slaughter, does not resist, so He suffered willingly to destroy him who had the power of death (Heb. 2), humbling Himself unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2). This is the lamb, in whose type the lamb was sacrificed, whose blood, when smeared on the doorposts, drove away the destroyer from the Egyptians (Exod. 22); who not only redeemed us with His own blood, but also covered us with His wool, so that, shivering in disbelief, He might warm us with His garment, and we might hear the Apostle speaking to us: As many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). And in another place: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. XIII, 14). And what follows: He was taken away from distress and judgment; or as the Septuagint translated, in his humility his judgment was taken away, it signifies that he, having conquered, ascended from tribulation and judgment to the Father; or that the judge of all will not find truth in judgment; but that he was condemned without any fault, through the sedition of the Jews and the voice of Pilate. Therefore, the Prophet marvels that God has delivered himself to the passion of all. About what Paul is speaking: For if they had believed, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). It follows: Who will declare His generation? This is understood in two ways: either it is to be understood about His divinity, that the mysteries of His divine birth are impossible to know; about which He Himself speaks in the Proverbs: Before all the hills He brought me forth (Prov. 8:25); according to what we read elsewhere: For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? (Rom. 11:34)? That is, no man; or about the birth of the Virgin, which can hardly be explained. Finally, when it was said to Mary by the Angel: You shall conceive and bear a son, she responded: How shall this be, since I do not know man? To which the Angel again said: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:31, 34, 35), so that the mysteries of this birth may be attributed either to the Angel or to the Evangelist alone. Whose narrator is very rare, according to that: Who is wise, and will understand these things: prudent, and will know them? (Hosea XIV, 10) But if a wise reader responds in silent thought: And how is it written: No one knows the Son except the Father: and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal? And he who knows the Father and the Son, surely he can explain the mystery of their generation. Let him hear that knowing something and speaking it are different, because often we cannot explain with words what we conceive in the mind. Therefore, the mystery of the divine nativity in the body can be known by the saints through faith more than it can be expressed in words. Otherwise, even the Apostle, who was caught up to the third heaven and into paradise, heard words that human language cannot utter (2 Corinthians 12). But the Spirit intercedes for us with ineffable groanings. Therefore, the life of the one whose generation can be narrated by no one or by few has been taken away from the earth, so that he would live not on earth, but in heaven. Whether he was cut off from the land of the living, in order to fulfill what was written in the Apocalypse of John: I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore (Rev. 1:17-18); so that after the life he lived on earth, dead to the world, he would live in eternity. And the statement is connected, He struck them for the wickedness of my people; or, according to the Septuagint, he was led to death because of the iniquities of my people, has a twofold meaning. For either he struck down persecutors and wicked people of his own people with his death, or on account of the greatness of the sins of the people, whom he always held as his own, he was led to death in order to call them back to life by his death. He gave the impious for his burial; and the rich for his death. Whether the worst for his burial; and the rich for his death: signifying both peoples, that the multitude of the Gentiles may be shown in the wicked and the worst, who did not have knowledge of God before (Rom. IX); the Jewish people may be shown in the rich, whose people had the Testament and the Legislation and the Prophets. Therefore for this reason the Lord suffered and was buried, so that he might gather for himself a Church from both peoples. Or should this be said, that God delivered the Scribes and Pharisees, as well as the Sadducees, priests and pontiffs, who ruled over the people before the Lord's passion and were filled with excessive wealth, to the Romans after the Lord's passion, and subjected them to eternal servitude. He, for the sake of whose burial and death, the wicked and the rich were handed over, did not commit iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. That which can be understood about no man at all, that he has not sinned in deed or in speech, the Scripture says: There is no one who is clean from filth, not even if his life is only for one day. And, we have all strayed like sheep, each one has turned aside in his own way (Job 25): except for him, who carried our sins and grieves for us, and was wounded for our iniquities, and was afflicted for our crimes, by whose bruise we are healed. In this, indeed, you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His footsteps. He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten (I Peter 2:21-23). However, the Lord wanted to cleanse him from the wound that he had received from the soldier's spear. Whether to crush him in weakness and wound: of whom he himself said: Because whom you struck, they persecuted (Ps. 68:27). And through Zacharias God speaks: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. 13:7). Therefore, it was not of necessity that he suffered, but of the will of the Father and his own, to whom he himself said: Father, I have wanted to do your will (Ps. 39:9). Of whom also we read above: He was offered, because he himself wanted.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:7
[Christ] kept silent while he was concealed, because “in humility his judgment was taken away.” He kept silent while he was concealed, because he was thought to be only human. But as God he will come openly; and as our God, he will not keep silent. So what about you? You were saying, “I want him to come.”

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:7
Because he has come hidden, our God, that is, Christ, will come manifest. “And he will not keep silence.” What does it mean, “will not keep silence”? Because he had first kept silence. When did he keep silence? He was judged in order that there might be fulfilled that which the prophet had also predicted: “As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer, without voice, so he opened not his mouth.” Therefore, if he were unwilling to suffer, he would not suffer. If he did not suffer, his blood would not be poured forth. If his blood would not be poured forth, the world would not be redeemed.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:7
For the spiritually dead and unholy Caiaphas asked him, “I put you under oath to the living God to tell us if you are the Chist, the Son of God.” And he answered him right away, saying, “From now on you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” And then Pilate asked him whether he was king of Israel, and Christ replied, “You say so.” Pilate was complacent with the madness of the Jews and had Jesus beaten, and he ordered his soldiers to put him between two thieves in his suffering of death on the cross. So what the prophet said was true: “Because of his affliction he did not open his mouth.” But he suffered a myriad of afflictions from the time of his arrest onwards, suffered insolence and spitting and the beatings of mindless underlings and other things beside these that could be wickedly arranged, before he was brought to Pilate.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 53:7
It was fitting for him to heal like by like and to recall the other wandering sheep by becoming a sheep himself. He became a sheep, without being changed into one, or without being altered or without quitting his own essence.… For, according to Isaiah, he was sheared as well as slaughtered. For he endured death in his humanity. But as God he remained alive and impassible and gave the fleece of his body to the shearers.

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Isaiah 53:7
Though he was guilty of not even a slight sin, for no serpent could make a mark on this rock, he was condemned. He suffered with patience the insults, blows, crown of thorns, scarlet robe, and the other mockeries enumerated in the Gospel. Although guiltless, he endured it in order that filled with patience he might come to the cross “as a sheep for sacrifice.” Although he could have returned the injury to his adversaries, he bore it all with kindness.

[AD 328] Alexander of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:8
“Who shall declare his generation?” His subsistence no nature that is begotten can investigate, even as the Father can be investigated by none. For the nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of his divine generation by the Father.

[AD 370] Gaius Marius Victorinus on Isaiah 53:8
Those who do not understand the manner of begetting may mislead you when they say, “Who can speak of the birth of the Lord?” First, “who” or still more “no one” does indeed seem to signify men. Only the Holy Spirit can grasp or explain this manner of begetting. That is why we ourselves with the permission of God the Father and of Jesus Christ our Lord have set it forth. Certainly it is not a hopeless enterprise, but we have described it as by a miracle. Next, supposing that the manner of begetting is unknown, we speak of substance when we say that the Father and Son are of the same essence (homoousios).

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:8
For he it is who proceeded from a virgin and appeared as man on the earth and whose generation after the flesh cannot be declared. For there is none who can tell his father after the flesh, his body not being of a man but of a virgin alone. Thus, no one can declare the corporeal generation of the Savior from a man in the same way as one can draw up a genealogy of David and Moses and of all the patriarchs.

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Isaiah 53:8
This sheep is equally called shepherd and says “I am the good Shepherd.” By his manhood he is sheep; by his divine loving-kindness he is shepherd.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:8
The Son of God, who is also the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Father without mother, created every single day; born of his mother without father, he consecrated this particular day [Christmas Day]; invisible in his divine birth, visible in his human one, in each of them wonderful. Thus it is difficult to judge about which of the two the prophet is more likely to have prophesied, “Who shall tell the tale of his begetting?”—whether of that one in which, never not born, he has the Father co-eternal with himself; or of this one in which, born at a particular time, he had already made the mother of whom he would be made; whether of that one where he was always born, since he always was. Who, after all, will tell the tale of how light was born from light, and they were both one light; how God was born from God, and the number of gods did not increase?

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:8
If you think this to be referred to the human generation by which he was born of a virgin, look into yourself and ask your soul whether the prophet would dare to declare the divine generation if words failed him for the human one.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:8
To sum up, Christ was born both of a Father and of a mother; both without a father and without a mother; of a Father as God, of a mother as man; without a mother as God, without a Father as man.… “Who will recount his begetting,” whether that one without time or this one without seed; that one without beginning or this one without precedent; that one which never was not, or this one which never was before or after that one which has no end, or this one which has its beginning in its end?

[AD 461] Leo the Great on Isaiah 53:8
The birth of our Lord and Savior, whether that of his divinity from the Father or that of his flesh from his mother, surpasses the power of human eloquence. As a result, the saying (“Who will recount his generation?”) may rightly be referred to either.

[AD 65] 1 Peter on Isaiah 53:9
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth [Isaiah 53:9]: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Isaiah 53:9
David alone of the prophets prophesied with an instrument, called by the Greeks the “psaltery.” … But this psaltery has the source of its musical numbers above, in order that we, too, may practice seeking things above and not suffer ourselves to be borne down by the pleasure of melody to the passions of the flesh. And I think that this truth, too, was signified deeply and clearly to us in a prophetic way in the construction of the instrument, namely, that those who have souls well ordered and trained have the way ready to things above. And again, an instrument having the source of its melodious sound in its upper parts may be taken as like the body of Christ and his saints—the only instrument that maintains rectitude; “for he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” This is indeed an instrument, harmonious, melodious, well-ordered, that took in no human discord and did nothing out of measure but maintained in all things, as it were, harmony toward the Father; for, as he says, “he that is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; he that comes from heaven testifies of what he has seen and heard.”

[AD 319] Theodore Stratelates on Isaiah 53:9
If you wish to look at the mind behind his appearance, you will find it to be an ocean of compassion for humanity residing there. For he saved them, the most foul people who gloried in their wealth and those condemned to death from their deeds, as they trusted and received the death of the Savior which was a ransom for them, offering them, in place of the tomb and death, eternal life and incorruptible everlasting life.This verse shows the unrighteous rage of the devil when he unleashed himself on our Savior. For although there was no sin found in his being according to the flesh, but that flesh remained sinless, the devil as if [Christ] were a sinner killed him and in so doing manifested the totality of his wickedness. But for this very reason came salvation for those who had fallen into sin.
Receiving the sufferings due to us, [Christ] made them his own and so from a standpoint of faith it is said that he became a curse for us himself. And it is said that they make gifts not with sacrifices but with feeling and repentance, and thus they receive a spiritual healing as they trade not only their present life.
Once the only Son of God made our salvation his own prize when he took a body and endured sufferings on our behalf. And his Father rightly said that he took away [Christ’s] pain as our healing and purifying, that our illumination was shown to be his light just as we grow into the knowledge of God and understanding with our behavior changed for the better and converted in the intelligence of God. Since the only-begotten Son of God acted in every way according to the paternal command and filled every thought with obedience, it was characteristic of him that the Savior should wrap a towel around himself and fill the basin with water and be of service in every way.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:9
In reality, the people were subject to another curse, which says, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that is written in the book of the law.” To this curse, I say, people were subject, for no person had continued in or was a keeper of the whole law. But Christ exchanged this curse for the other, “Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” … It was necessary for him who is about to relieve us from a curse to be himself free of it. But he received another instead of ours. Therefore Christ took on himself just such curse and thereby relieved us from the curse. It was like an innocent person deciding to die for another sentenced to death, and so rescuing him from punishment. For Christ took on him not the curse of transgression but the other curse, in order to remove that of others. For “he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:9
Then to show that the court was corrupt and the sentence unjust, he went on to say, “In his humiliation his legal trial was taken away,” that is, no one judged justly in his case.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:9
And is not one ashamed to say that God is not crafty or deceitful? Concerning him, however, in respect of the flesh, it might be reasonable [to say it].

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:10-11
(Verse 10, 11) If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this My just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. LXX: If you shall give for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: and the Lord will take away the evil of his anguish, to shew him light, and give him understanding. Justify the righteous servant for many: and he shall bear their iniquities. According to the Hebrew sense here: If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, which he hath sowed in good ground. Of whom it is written in the Gospel: He that soweth, went forth to sow; and again: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field (Matthew XIII, 3). And the will of the Lord will be directed in his hand, so that whatever the Father desired will be fulfilled by his virtues, saying to the Father: I have kept those whom you gave me in your name. I have guarded them, and none of them perished except the son of perdition. (John 17:12). But the seed will see eternity, and the will of the Father will be directed in his hand: because his soul has labored for a long time, finding no rest among the Jews, and saying in the Gospel: Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests: but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Matthew 8:10). And in this same place the Prophet says: I have labored and endured (Isaiah 1:14). Therefore, since he has labored, he will see the Churches rise in the whole world, and he will be filled with their faith. Finally, when he sat down hungry and thirsty at the well of Jacob (John 4), in the middle of the day with the sun shining, he did not want to use the food that had been bought, because he was already satisfied with the faith of the Samaritans and those who were coming out of the city of Shechem to see him. According to this meaning, he said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). In his knowledge, that is, in doctrine, he himself, the righteous one who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth: and the servant of the Father, who took on the form of a servant and served the will of the Lord, will justify many believers from the whole world. And he himself will bear their iniquities, which they themselves could not bear, and by the weight of which they were oppressed. According to the Septuagint, it is said: O you, for whose sins the Son of God was led to death, who are most wicked and rich in evil, you were given for burial and for his death, if you are willing to repent and offer a pleasing sacrifice to God for your sins, your contrite spirit will see the seed of long time, the Lord Savior himself. It is said in the eighty-eighth psalm: His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. And again: I will establish his seed forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. This, in other words, refers to the Virgin in Gabriel's message: Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, who shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:31-32). For the Lord indeed desires to take away the soul from grief, who said: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matt. XXVI, 38), so that the insult of the cross may be tempered by the glory of the resurrection. And to show him light, so that he may see all illumined through himself. And to shape the understanding, it is understood that the spirit of wisdom and understanding will descend upon him. And to justify the just, who has served others well; for he did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. XX), at the feet of Peter (John XIII), washing away the sins of all the Apostles. He who appeared in flesh, was justified in spirit. About whom even Judas the betrayer confesses: I have sinned, betraying innocent blood (Matthew 27:4). And Pilate's wife: Have nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered much in a dream today because of him. And it should be noted that he was not justified in order to become just, as if he were wicked. But the just one is justified, not to begin to be what he was not; but that what he was might be evident to all. This righteous man suffered for the unjust, so that he might offer us all to God. Of whom it is said to the Jews: And you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you (Acts III, 14). And he carried their sins, he himself, as a physician, carries the illnesses of the sick, but the healthy do not need him (Luke V).

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Isaiah 53:10
Having thus proclaimed in advance the iniquity of the people, he addresses to them an exhortation to repent—for he saw in advance those among them who, after these events, would have the faith. Of this number was the divine Paul; of this number were the three thousand men and the many thousands—and he says, “If you can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived offspring.” If you acknowledge your impiety, and if you request salvation, you will obtain life eternal; for this is what he has called “long-lived.”

[AD 528] Procopius of Gaza on Isaiah 53:10
“His soul will see his offspring grow.” On the day after his suffering, the spiritual conception of that indescribable, indwelling birth came. The divine power was vindicated in accordance with the promises to Abraham in the undoing of death-bearing sin and the access to redemption. And where the [LXX] text has “And the Lord wills to alleviate his soul from its suffering,” Symmachus renders, “And the will of the Lord prospered in his hand.” And this fits the Savior well. He gave light to himself so that others would be illuminated through his being just, but he also gave understanding. For the spirit of wisdom and understanding was resting on him to give others understanding and “to justify those worthy of being justified.” Others interpret in this way: the Lord wills to turn the sorrow on the cross to gladness through revealing himself to those who had once been deceived in darkness who were now being transformed into light. For as Paul said, “We who were once darkness are now light in the Lord” and “recreated in understanding,” as though being changed from glory into glory.…God is said to have made one new humanity from two peoples, that is, to have made a transformation. For the Only Begotten considered our salvation to be his own reward. By taking a body, he thus suffered on our behalf. And so, it was necessary for the Father to make the “alleviation of suffering”—which is said about Christ—our healing and to make his light our illumination, exchanging what we had for something better as we were recreated in the understanding of God. For Christ did not come to be served but, as he said himself, to serve the working out of the plan of our salvation in his incarnation.

[AD 220] Tertullian on Isaiah 53:11
However, I will show [Marcion] the death and burial and resurrection of Christ all indicated in a single sentence of Isaiah, who says, “His sepulchre was removed from the midst of them.” Now there could have been no sepulchre without death and no removal of sepulchre except by resurrection.… “He shall divide the spoil of many, because he poured out his soul to death.” For here is set forth the cause of this favor to him, even that it was to recompense him for his death.

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Isaiah 53:11
If the Lord of heaven and earth underwent all his sufferings for us, how then do you make a difficulty to minister to such as are in want, who ought to imitate him who underwent servitude, and want, and stripes and the cross for us? We ought therefore also to serve the brethren, in imitation of Christ. For says he, “He who will be great among you, let him be your minister; and he who will be first among you, let him be your servant.” For so did he really, and not in word only, fulfill the prediction of “serving many faithfully.”

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:11
[David] predicted that Christ would rise again. “You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.” Isaiah expressed the same thing in a different way. For he said, “The Lord wishes to cleanse him from his wounds, to show him light, to justify the righteous one who served many well.”Isaiah established that the slaying of Christ was a ransom for humanity’s sins when he said, “He has borne the sins of many.” And he will free humankind from demons, for as Isaiah said, “He will divide the spoils of the strong.” And the same prophet spoke out clearly that Christ did this through his death when he said, “Because his soul was delivered up to death.” That Christ would be put in charge over the whole world he revealed by these words of his, “He shall inherit many.”

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah 53:11
He has bought us with his own blood. He endured the cross, despising its shame, so that he might win our salvation. Therefore bow your necks to his yoke. For your soul will see the fruitful seed, that is, you will be sharers in those being kept for eternal life, that is, the saints who have been enriched with the hope of eternal life. For there was no idea of the resurrection of the dead among the Greeks, and the mystery until now was not set forth. They all but said that the breath in your no nostrils is smoke that is burning. All the ashes will disappear, and the spirit like a weak person will be dissolved.

[AD 60] Mark on Isaiah 53:12
And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. [Isaiah 53:12] And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
[AD 61] Luke on Isaiah 53:12
And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. [Isaiah 53:12] And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.
[AD 319] Theodore Stratelates on Isaiah 53:12
The inheritance of the Son is all those who believe in him. They are rightly called the spoil of the devil. This occurred when the only Son in his wonderful dispensation made everyone to participate in the knowledge of the Son and the Father. They were released from error and from the tyranny of the devil, whom they previously thought to be too strong. They are rightly said to have been made an inheritance, those who became a part of him when the devil was plundered.

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Isaiah 53:12
“Therefore I will divide him a portion among the many,” among the many who will eat his body and will drink his blood. “And he shall divide the spoil with the strong” … he calls “the strong” the holy apostles, among whom he divided the nations to be ruled, which he had taken away the power of the devil.

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Isaiah 53:12
Concerning the robbers who were crucified with him it is written, “And he was numbered with the transgressors.” Both of them were before this transgressors, but one was so no longer. For the one was a transgressor to the end, stubborn against salvation; who, though his hands were fastened, struck with blasphemy by his tongue. When the Jews passing by wagged their head, mocking the crucified and fulfilling what was written, “When they looked on me, they shook their head,” he also reviled with them. But the other rebuked the reviler; and it was to him the end of life and the beginning of restoration, the surrender of his soul a first share in salvation.

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Isaiah 53:12
If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up the cross and follow. If you are crucified with him as a robber, acknowledge God as a penitent robber. If even he was numbered among the transgressors for you and your sin, do you become law-abiding for his sake. Worship him who was hanged for you, even if you yourself are hanging; make some gain even from your wickedness; purchase salvation by your death; enter with Jesus into paradise, so that you may learn from what you have fallen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Isaiah 53:12
Hear, at least, what God says to the Jews, “As my child Isaiah walked, naked and barefoot, so shall the children of Israel walk into captivity naked and barefoot.” He wishes, therefore, to remind you by your appearance that the devil held sway over you, and he brings you to the recollection of how lowly born you were before regeneration. Hence, you stand not only naked and unshod, but you even stand with upturned hands to confess God’s future sovereignty to which you draw near. You are all the spoils and booty of war. Isaiah mentioned these spoils long ago, before our release from troubles, when he prophesied as follows, “He shall divide the spoils of the strong.”

[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 53:12
(Verse 12.) Therefore I will divide him among the many, and he will share the spoils of the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. LXX: Therefore he shall receive many as his portion, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because his soul was poured out to death and he was numbered with the wicked. He himself bore the sins of many and was delivered up for their iniquities. Christ endured many sufferings so that he might attain great rewards. For, he said, he suffered and accomplished all that the previous word described, and he himself bore the iniquities of many: therefore I will divide to him many, so that for the part of the Lord Jacob, and his inheritance rope of Israel, they may believe in him coming from the East and West, and may recline in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matth. VIII): when that which is written is fulfilled: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. II, 8). Concerning which and in this same Prophet it is read: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to reign over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope (Isaiah 11:10). But these many previously were held captive by the strong; and under the appearance of an ass and a colt, they had many masters, to whom the Apostles said: The Lord has need of them (Matthew 21:3). Those who were strong before Christ assumed a human body, and strong overcame him, would plunder his house. Therefore, he delivered and distributed the spoils of the strong Apostles to his own, so that Peter, James, and John became the leaders of the circumcised people, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to the Gentiles, not separated in spirit but in different places, and stood on different fronts under one Lord, so that they might raise a triumph to the victorious army on both sides, for the Savior. From this, those who truly say that there was a disagreement and contention between Peter and Paul regarding the dispensation (Acts 15), in order to satisfy the blasphemous Porphyry: and they assert that the ceremonies of the old Law must be observed in the Church of Christ, by the believing offspring of Israel, and that they should expect Jerusalem to be golden for a thousand years, in order to sacrifice victims and to be circumcised, to sit on the Sabbath, to sleep, to be satiated, to be intoxicated, and to rise to play, a play that offends God. We said this because of what is now being prophesied: And he shall divide the spoils of the strong (Is. LIII, 12). According to what is written in another place: When he divided the heavenly kings in it. And again: The beloved king of hosts, and of beauty, shall divide the spoils (Ps. LXVII, 13). Finally, regarding the Apostle Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, according to the Hebrew it is said: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf: in the morning he shall devour, and in the evening he shall divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27). Of which we have already spoken: They shall rejoice in your presence, as those who rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils (Isaiah IX, 3), dividing the churches of Christ for themselves in the whole world. Therefore, he will receive many nations, who came to preach remission to the captives and led captive captivity before, from the devil and demons, and gave it as a gift to men and believers, because he delivered his soul to death, and was reckoned with the wicked or unjust (I Cor. IX). For if the Apostle became as one without law to those who were without law (although he was not without law toward God, but was within the law of Christ), why then was Christ considered to be with the unjust, so that he might redeem the unjust from sin, and become all things to all people, so as to save everyone? For he carried our sins in his body (1 Peter 2), affixing them to the wood of the cross, in order to erase the handwriting that we had made for the devil and his angels, written by the deeds of our soul, that is, by our actions. About which Paul the apostle speaks: And you, when you were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, forgiving you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Eph. I, 2; Coloss. II, 14, 15). But the lawless men with whom he is counted, Mark the Evangelist understands to be the robbers, writing: And they crucified with him two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says: 'And he was reckoned among the transgressors' (Mark 15:27). This can also be understood at a deeper level, as the Lord himself says: 'I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man who has no strength, forsaken among the dead' (Psalm 88:4). Indeed, he was reckoned among sinners and transgressors, in order to descend to hell; and in many places in the scriptures, hell is referred to as a pit, and he would free the prisoners from the prison. He was handed over for our sins and was raised for our justification (Rom. IV). Such was His great mercy that He prayed for His transgressors, and even for His persecutors, on the cross, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke XXIII, 34).

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Isaiah 53:12
Three men were crucified in the same place, the Lord in the middle, because “he was reckoned among the wicked.” They placed the two robbers on either side, but they were not crucified for the same reason. They were flanking Christ as he hung there, but they were far removed from him in reality. They were crucified by their crimes, he by ours.

[AD 528] Procopius of Gaza on Isaiah 53:12
For “he is justified.” Either we have been made just, or he is admitted to be just by those who attacked him and enslaved him, to reveal the full injustice of their judgment at that time.… “Yet he bore the sins of many.” … For taking them to himself [Christ] then took off the cloak of our sin. And in this way “he justified many,” that is, the nations. For there was previously one nation, Israel, whereas those from the nations came in many shapes, whom, making his own, he calls his inheritance, saying, “The Lord said to me, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask from me, and I will give you the nations as an inheritance, and the ends of the earth will be your possession.”