And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him:
Ibn Ezra
And he grew up, etc. That Israelite who is the servant of the Lord, or the whole nation of the Israelites, grew up before him, that is, before the Lord, as a tender plant—comp., his branches shall spread (Hosea 14:7)— and as a root out of dry land, that neither produces fruit, nor distinguishes itself by its size. He hath no form. This expression has the same meaning as the phrase ותארו מבני אדם and his form was marred more than that of the sons of men (52:14). ולא מראה ולא נחמדהו = ולא מראה ונחמדהו there is no beauty, nor do we desire him; the negation לא before מראה, refers also to נחמדהו; comp. Prov. 21:14
Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.