ESTUDIO DEL CAPÍTULO
Isaiah 53 — The Suffering Servant
A prophetic poem about a Servant whose suffering and death bear the penalty for the sins of many, ending with vindication and the spoil of the strong.
Escritura
- 1.¿Quién ha creído a nuestro anuncio? ¿y sobre quién se ha manifestado el brazo de Jehová?Who hath believed our message? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?
- 2.Subirá cual renuevo delante de él, y como raíz de tierra seca; no hay parecer en él, ni hermosura; le veremos, mas sin atractivo para que le deseemos.For he grew 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 see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
- 3.Despreciado y desechado entre los hombres, varón de dolores, experimentado en quebranto; y como que escondimos de él el rostro, fue menospreciado, y no lo estimamos.He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.
- 4.Ciertamente llevó él nuestras enfermedades, y sufrió nuestros dolores; y nosotros le tuvimos por azotado, por herido de Dios y abatido.Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
- 5.Mas él herido fue por nuestras rebeliones, molido por nuestros pecados; el castigo de nuestra paz fue sobre él, y por su llaga fuimos nosotros curados.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.Todos nosotros nos descarriamos como ovejas, cada cual se apartó por su camino; mas Jehová cargó en él el pecado de todos nosotros.All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- 7.Angustiado él, y afligido, no abrió su boca; como cordero fue llevado al matadero; y como oveja delante de sus trasquiladores, enmudeció, y no abrió su boca.He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
- 8.Por cárcel y por juicio fue quitado; y su generación, ¿quién la contará? Porque fue cortado de la tierra de los vivientes, y por la rebelión de mi pueblo fue herido.By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?
- 9.Y se dispuso con los impíos su sepultura, mas con los ricos fue en su muerte; aunque nunca hizo maldad, ni hubo engaño en su boca.And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
- 10.Con todo eso, Jehová quiso quebrantarlo, sujetándole a padecimiento. Cuando haya puesto su vida en expiación por el pecado, verá linaje, vivirá por largos días, y la voluntad de Jehová será en su mano prosperada.Yet it pleased Jehovah 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 Jehovah shall prosper in his hand.
- 11.Verá el fruto de la aflicción de su alma, y quedará satisfecho; por su conocimiento justificará mi siervo justo a muchos, y llevará las iniquidades de ellos.He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.
- 12.Por tanto, yo le daré parte con los grandes, y con los fuertes repartirá despojos; por cuanto derramó su vida hasta la muerte, y fue contado con los pecadores, habiendo él llevado el pecado de muchos, y orado por los transgresores.Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Qué significa este pasaje
The chapter opens as a confession: the speakers admit that they did not initially believe the report about the Servant, nor recognize the revealed arm of Jehovah (v. 1). The Servant is described with deliberate understatement — a tender shoot, a root from arid ground, lacking outward form or majesty that would draw human desire (v. 2). The point is that his significance is not located in physical impressiveness but in what he accomplishes.
The middle verses trace the movement of substitution. The Servant is despised, acquainted with sickness and pain, and hidden from human regard (v. 3). He bears griefs and carries sorrows that the speakers later acknowledge were theirs (v. 4). He is wounded for transgression, bruised for iniquity, and the chastisement that yields peace for others falls on him; by his stripes healing comes (v. 5). The image of scattered sheep turning each to his own way frames the transfer: the iniquities of all are laid on him (v. 6). His response is silence — like a lamb led to slaughter and a sheep before shearers, he does not open his mouth (v. 7).
The closing verses explain the outcome. The Servant is cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of the people, buried with the wicked yet with the rich, though he had done no violence and spoken no deceit (vv. 8–9). Jehovah's will is to bruise him; when his soul is made an offering for sin, he will see seed, prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah prosper in his hand (v. 10). By knowledge of himself the righteous Servant justifies many and bears their iniquities (v. 11). He receives a portion with the great and divides spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death, was numbered with transgressors, bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors (v. 12).
Contexto
Isaiah 53 stands as the climax of a sequence of Servant poems in the book. Within its own chapter it moves from the failure of human belief (v. 1) through a sustained portrait of unjust suffering (vv. 2–9) to a divine purpose that explains why the Servant suffers (vv. 10–12). The chapter shifts speakers repeatedly: the nations confess, the prophet's voice interjects, and Jehovah speaks in the closing lines, giving the passage a dialogical shape that reinforces the reversal — those who once despised the Servant ultimately declare his innocence and God's purpose in his death.
The chapter's language is saturated with sacrificial and pastoral imagery. Terms drawn from the realm of offering (v. 10), shepherding language of scattered sheep (v. 6), and lamb/sheep metaphors (v. 7) cluster together, so that the Servant's death is presented not as martyrdom but as a substitutionary bearing of penalty. Within the Hebrew text the repeated pronouns shift between first-person plural confession ("we") and third-person description of him, a feature that drives the chapter's argumentative movement from observation to admission.
Palabras clave del original
- H0539 The verb at the head of v. 1, from the root אָמַן ("to confirm, trust, believe"), sets the chapter's frame: the human response to the Servant's revelation is belief, and its absence is the problem the poem addresses.
- H2220 זְרוֹעַ ("arm") in v. 1 denotes the powerful activity of God; its application to the Servant's mission connects the Servant's work with the revealed power of Jehovah.
- H3126 יוֹנֵק ("young plant, sucker") in v. 2 pictures the Servant as an unimpressive shoot growing up before Jehovah, deliberately undercutting expectations of royal or military grandeur.
Versículos relacionados
- 1 Peter 2:24 Peter's language of bearing sins in the body on the tree and being healed by his stripes mirrors Isaiah 53:4–5, applying the Servant's substitutionary suffering directly to Christ's crucifixion.
- Matthew 20:28 Jesus' statement that the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many echoes Isaiah 53:10–12, where the Servant pours out his soul to death and bears the sin of many.
- Romans 5:6 Paul's claim that Christ died for the ungodly while they were still weak parallels Isaiah 53:4–6, where the Servant bears griefs and sorrows for those who had turned to their own way.
Preguntas frecuentes
Who is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53?
The chapter itself never names the Servant. The passage describes a figure despised and rejected, wounded for the transgressions of others, and ultimately vindicated, but it leaves the identity open within its Old Testament context, with later readers offering different identifications.
What does the chapter say about the cause of the Servant's suffering?
The chapter states that the Servant was wounded for the transgressions of the speakers, bruised for their iniquities, and that Jehovah laid on him the iniquity of all (vv. 5–6). His suffering is framed as substitutionary, undertaken by divine will for the sake of many (vv. 10–12).
How does the chapter end?
The final verses describe the Servant's vindication: he sees the fruit of his travail, justifies many through knowledge of himself, receives a portion with the great, and divides the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, bore the sin of many, and interceded for transgressors (vv. 11–12).