As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men.

“Similarly the Father addressed the Son, "Even as many will be astounded at you, so your appearance will be without glory from people." For though, as David has it, he is timely in beauty even above the children of human beings, yet this is in that allegorical state of spiritual grace, when he girds himself with the sword of the Word, which is in truth his very own form and comeliness and glory.”

“"Even as many will be astounded at you, so your appearance will be without glory from people." For what could be equal to this insolence? Even the sea, on seeing his face, gave it reverence. Even the sun, when it beheld him on the cross, turned away his rays. Yet on his face they did spit, and struck it with the palms of their hands, and some on the head; giving full swing in every way to their own madness.”

“שממו Were astonished. Comp. ושממו and shall be astonished (Lev. 26:32). Every one will be surprised at the sight of the servant of the Lord. Many. The heathen nations. כן משחת מאיש מראהו His visage is so marred more than any man. Supply לאמר saying before this sentence. משחת Marred. It is an adjective. ותארו And his form. It is in form similar to רחבו his breadth (Exod. 25:10).—It is a well-known fact that many people in the world imagine the Jew a being altogether different from his fellow creatures; they ask, Has the Jew a mouth, an eye, etc.? This is the case among Mahometans as well as among Christians.”

“Arise, arise. Here he excludes the third impediment to liberation, which could be doubted on account of lack of means, promising them a free liberation. And it is divided into two parts: for first he foretells the liberation of the Jews from the Babylonians; second, the liberation of the Gentiles from sins, at Behold, he shall understand. Concerning the first there are two things. First he foretells the liberation; second, the order of the liberation, at The Lord will prepare. Concerning the first there are three things. First he promises a free liberation; second he assigns the cause of the liberation, at For thus saith the Lord God; third he proclaims joy to those set free, at How beautiful. Now liberation is promised to them in three ways. First, from the oppression of enemies, as to the goods which they recovered. Arise — from the weakness by which you could not resist your enemies; and therefore he says: put on strength, as with weapons of war, O Sion, in which there was a citadel for the defense of the city. Arise — from the misery you had fallen into, your enemies plundering; and therefore he says: put on the garments of thy glory. The glory of a city is the multitude of its citizens, the beauty of its streets, the abundance of its goods. Baruch 5: put off, Jerusalem, the robe of thy mourning and affliction, and put on the beauty and the honor of that which is from God to thee, unto everlasting glory. And as to the enemies whom they escaped: for he shall no more add to pass through — as one laying waste or lording it over; the uncircumcised, as to the Gentile enemies; the unclean, as to the traitors from that same people — above, 35: it shall be called the holy way, etc. Apocalypse 21: there shall not enter into it anything defiled. Second, he promises liberation from the vileness of the inhabitants, for they have been left of the poor of the land, as is said in 4 Kings, last chapter, and Jeremiah, last chapter: shake thyself from the dust — of vileness; arise — resisting thy adversaries; and then sit — at rest. 1 Kings 2: raising up the needy from the dust. Third, he promises liberation from the detention of captives, foretelling the benefit of liberation. Loose the bonds — that is, go forth from captivity. Leviticus 26: I have broken your chains. And he shows the manner of the liberation: for thus saith the Lord, you were sold for nought — as if to say: those who took you captive conferred no benefits upon you. You shall be redeemed — from the captivity of Babylon, through Cyrus. Above, 45: he shall let go my captivity, etc. Psalm 43: thou hast sold thy people without a price. For thus saith the Lord. Here he assigns two causes of the liberation: namely, the false accusation against the people, and the blasphemy against God. And first he alleges the false accusation: into Egypt (...) at the beginning, among the fathers: Genesis 46 and 47: as a sojourner — and so they had some right of oppressing them, from the benefits bestowed. And Assyria, under which also the Chaldeans are included, without any cause, conferring no benefits upon them. If then he has driven away liberation, what is that to me? — that is, what prevents me from now freeing Jerusalem? Second, he pronounces the sentence: for it has been taken away, from its own land. The rulers — who usurped dominion for themselves, namely the Chaldeans. And because continually — it is blasphemed, as though I were unable to liberate my people. Ezechiel 36: I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations. Therefore in that day — of liberation — I who spoke — promising — am present — to fulfill it. Baruch 3: afterward he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men. Hebrews 1: God, who spoke of old to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many manners, has in these last days spoken to us in the Son — if this be expounded mystically of the coming of Christ. How beautiful. Here he proclaims joy to those set free: and first he describes the joy as to the reception of the messengers, who, coming from Chaldea, announced it. Beautiful — for it was beautiful and delightful for the people to hear such things announced — upon the mountain, that many might hear, of one preaching, publicly, peace, restored by Cyrus; good, of the promised relief; salvation, from captivity. He shall reign — as if to say, henceforth God alone shall reign in thee, because thou shalt worship him in the temple restored. Nahum 2: behold, upon the mountains, etc. Second, he describes the joy as to the watch of the lookouts, who, returning from there, were watching, setting down the voice of exultation: the voice, of joy, shall resound. Acts 4: with one accord they lifted up their voice to God. And the reason for the joy: for with the eye — that is, with their own eyes — they shall see the captives coming. Above, 33: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem. Third, as to the arrival of the captives: rejoice. Above, 35: the desert shall rejoice, and the wilderness shall exult. Note, on that phrase put on the garments, that the saints have garments of virtues in which they glory: and these are, first, for protection. Below, 61: the Lord hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice he hath covered me. Second, for warmth. Proverbs, last chapter: she shall not fear for her house the colds of snow, for all her domestics are clothed with double garments. Third, for adornment. Apocalypse 3: in white garments. These garments must, first, be white in the honesty of works. Ecclesiastes 9: at all times let thy garments be white. Second, clean in rightness of intention. Above, 9: the garment mingled with blood shall be for burning. Third, fragrant through the spreading abroad of good report. Canticle of Canticles 4: the smell of thy garments as the smell of frankincense. Likewise, on that phrase loose the bonds, note that there are bonds from which God looses: first, of worldly anxiety. Job 39: who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bonds? Second, of carnal love. Ecclesiastes 7: I have found a woman more bitter than death. Third, of perverse action. Psalm 106: he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder. Fourth, of wicked habit. Above, 5: woe to you that draw iniquity to iniquity, and sin as it were with the rope of a cart. Likewise there are bonds from which God does not loose: first, of charity. Osee 11: I drew them with the cords of charity. Second, of the divine law. Jeremiah 2: of old thou hast broken the yoke. Third, of divine instruction. Ecclesiasticus 6: put thy shoulder under her, and bear her, and do not grow weary of her bonds. The Lord will prepare. Here he carries out the order of the liberation: and first he sets forth the manifest help of God. Arm — namely his power, which all could perceive in this deed. Psalm 97: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Second, he proclaims to the captives their departure. Depart — namely from Babylon; the polluted thing — do not associate among those who are polluted. Apocalypse 18: go out from her, my people. Third, he teaches the manner of departing: as to purity, be ye clean, priests; as to security, (not) in tumult shall you go out — namely of war, as from Egypt; Psalm 104: he brought forth his people. As to the leader: he goes before — as a leader, and he will gather — as a shepherd. Ezechiel 36: for I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and bring you back into your own land. Behold, he shall understand. Here he foretells the liberation of the Gentiles from the servitude of sin, brought about through the Son of God: and first he describes the liberator as to the eminence of grace. Shall understand — as to the fullness of wisdom; servant — according to the nature assumed, Christ. Philippians 2: taking the form of a servant. Proverbs 14: he is acceptable, etc.; and 1: understanding governance, etc. He shall be exalted — as to the working of virtues. Psalm 20: be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength. He shall be lifted up — as to the ascension. Psalm 8: for thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Ephesians 4: he that descended, is the same also that ascended. And he shall be high — sitting at the right hand of the Father. Above, 4: the bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high. And as to the ignominy of the passion: for as they were astonished — by his examples, miracles, and teachings: Matthew 12: all the crowds were astonished at his teaching, and at the miracles which he wrought. Without glory — in the passion; and in form — that is, appearance or comeliness. Psalm 21: I am a worm, and not a man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. Second, he foretells the liberation as to the remission of sins. This one shall sprinkle — with the sprinkling of blood, 1 Peter 1, and of the water of Baptism. Hebrews 10: hearts sprinkled, etc. As to the veneration due him: at him — keeping silence — to listen attentively, not presuming to discuss his secrets. Job 29: princes ceased to speak. And as to the knowledge of the truth: for they to whom — namely, the Gentiles — it was not, through the prophets, shall see, with the heart; they have heard him personally preaching. Below, 65: behold, I am to the nations who did not know me, and who did not call upon my name.”

“As many were astonished at thee,.... Not so much at the miracles he wrought, the doctrines he taught, and the work he did; or at his greatness and glory, at his exaltation and dignity, though very wonderful; as at his humiliation, the mean appearance he made, the low estate he was brought into; the sufferings and death which he underwent. These words are placed between the account of his exaltation and humiliation, and may be thought to have respect to both; and indeed it is astonishing that one so great as he was, and is, should become so low as he did; and also that one that was brought so low should be raised so high: his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; though fairer than the children of men, as he was the immediate workmanship of the divine Spirit, and without sin; yet, what with his griefs and sorrows he bore, and troubles he met with; what with watchings and fastings, with laborious preaching, and constant travelling about to do good; what with sweat and blood, with buffetings and scourgings, never was any man's face more marred, or his form more altered, than his was.”

“Summary of Messiah's history, which is set forth more in detail in the fifty-third chapter. "Just as many were astonished (accompanied with aversion, Jer 18:16; Jer 19:8), &c.; his visage, &c.; so shall He sprinkle," &c.; Israel in this answers to its antitype Messiah, now "an astonishment and byword" (Deu 28:37), hereafter about to be a blessing and means of salvation to many nations (Isa 2:2-3; Mic 5:7). thee; his--Such changes of persons are common in Hebrew poetry. marred--Hebrew, "disfigurement"; abstract for concrete; not only disfigured, but disfigurement itself. more than man--CASTALIO translates, "so that it was no longer that of a man" (compare Psa 22:6). The more perfect we may suppose the "body prepared" (Heb 10:5) for Him by God, the sadder by contrast was the "marring" of His visage and form.”

“The prophecy concerning him passes now into an address to him, as in Isa 49:8 (cf., Isa 49:7), which sinks again immediately into an objective tone. "Just as many were astonished at thee: so disfigured, his appearance was not human, and his form not like that of the children of men: so will he make many nations to tremble; kings will shut their mouth at him: for they see what has not been told them, and discover what they have not heard." Both Oehler and Hahn suppose that the first clause is addressed to Israel, and that it is here pointed away from its own degradation, which excited such astonishment, to the depth of suffering endured by the One man. Hahn's principal reason, which Oehler adopts, is the sudden leap that we should otherwise have to assume from the second person to the third - an example of "negligence" which we can hardly impute to the prophet. But a single glance at Isa 42:20 and Isa 1:29 is sufficient to show how little force there is in this principal argument. We should no doubt expect עליכם or עליך after what has gone before, if the nation were addressed; but it is difficult to see what end a comparison between the sufferings of the nation and those of the One man, which merely places the sufferings of the two in an external relation to one another, could be intended to answer; whilst the second kēn (so), which evidently introduces an antithesis, is altogether unexplained. The words are certainly addressed to the servant of Jehovah; and the meaning of the sicut (just as) in Isa 52:14, and of the sic (so) which introduces the principal sentence in Isa 52:15, is, that just as His degradation was the deepest degradation possible, so His glorification would be of the loftiest kind. The height of the exaltation is held up as presenting a perfect contrast to the depth of the degradation. The words, "so distorted was his face, more than that of a man," form, as has been almost unanimously admitted since the time of Vitringa, a parenthesis, containing the reason for the astonishment excited by the servant of Jehovah. Stier is wrong in supposing that this first "so" (kēn) refers to ka'ăsher (just as), in the sense of "If men were astonished at thee, there was ground for the astonishment." Isa 52:15 would not stand out as an antithesis, if we adopted this explanation; moreover, the thought that the fact corresponded to the impression which men received, is a very tame and unnecessary one; and the change of persons in sentences related to one another in this manner is intolerably harsh; whereas, with our view of the relation in which the sentences stand to one another, the parenthesis prepares the way for the sudden change from a direct address to a declaration. Hitherto many had been astonished at the servant of Jehovah: shâmēm, to be desolate or waste, to be thrown by anything into a desolate or benumbed condition, to be startled, confused, as it were petrified, by paralyzing astonishment (Lev 26:32; Eze 26:16). To such a degree (kēn, adeo) was his appearance mishchath mē'ı̄sh, and his form mibbenē 'âdâm (sc., mishchath). We might take mishchath as the construct of mishchâth, as Hitzig does, since this connecting form is sometimes used (e.g., Isa 33:6) even without any genitive relation; but it may also be the absolute, syncopated from משׁחתתּ = משׁחתת (Hvernick and Stier), like moshchath in Mal 1:14, or, what we prefer, after the form mirmas (Isa 10:6), with the original ă, without the usual lengthening (Ewald, 160, c, Anm. 4). His appearance and his form were altogether distortion (stronger than moshchâth, distorted), away from men, out beyond men, i.e., a distortion that destroys all likeness to a man; (Note: The church before the time of Constantine pictured to itself the Lord, as He walked on earth, as repulsive in His appearance; whereas the church after Constantine pictured Him as having quite an ideal beauty (see my tract, Jesus and Hillel, 1865, p. 4). They were both right: unattractive in appearance, though not deformed, He no doubt was in the days of His flesh; but He is ideally beautiful in His glorification. The body in which He was born of Mary was no royal form, though faith could see the doxa shining through. It was no royal form, for the suffering of death was the portion of the Lamb of God, even from His mother's womb; but the glorified One is infinitely exalted above all the idea of art.) 'ı̄sh does not signify man as distinguished from woman here, but a human being generally. The antithesis follows in Isa 52:15 : viz., the state of glory in which this form of wretchedness has passed away. As a parallel to the "many" in Isa 52:14, we have here "many nations," indicating the excess of the glory by the greater fulness of the expression; and as a parallel to "were astonished at thee," "he shall make to tremble" (yazzeh), in other words, the effect which He produces by what He does to the effect produced by what He suffers. The hiphil hizzâh generally means to spirt or sprinkle (adspergere), and is applied to the sprinkling of the blood with the finger, more especially upon the capporeth and altar of incense on the day of atonement (differing in this respect from zâraq, the swinging of the blood out of a bowl), also to the sprinkling of the water of purification upon a leper with the bunch of hyssop (Lev 14:7), and of the ashes of the red heifer upon those defiled through touching a corpse (Num 19:18); in fact, generally, to sprinkling for the purpose of expiation and sanctification. And Vitringa, Hengstenberg, and others, accordingly follow the Syriac and Vulgate in adopting the rendering adsperget (he will sprinkle). They have the usage of the language in their favour; and this explanation also commends itself from a reference to נגוּע in Isa 53:4, and נגע in Isa 53:8 (words which are generally used of leprosy, and on account of which the suffering Messiah is called in b. Sanhedrin 98b by an emblematical name adopted from the old synagogue, "the leper of Rabbi's school"), since it yields the significant antithesis, that he who was himself regarded as unclean, even as a second Job, would sprinkle and sanctify whole nations, and thus abolish the wall of partition between Israel and the heathen, and gather together into one holy church with Israel those who had hitherto been pronounced "unclean" (Isa 52:1). But, on the other hand, this explanation has so far the usage of the language against it, that hizzâh is never construed with the accusative of the person or thing sprinkled (like adspergere aliqua re aliquem; since 'eth in Lev 4:6, Lev 4:17 is a preposition like ‛al, ‛el elsewhere); moreover, there would be something very abrupt in this sudden representation of the servant as a priest. Such explanations as "he will scatter asunder" (disperget, Targum, etc.), or "he will spill" (sc., their blood), are altogether out of the question; such thoughts as these would be quite out of place in a spiritual picture of salvation and glory, painted upon the dark ground we have here. The verb nâzâh signified primarily to leap or spring; hence hizzâh, with the causative meaning to sprinkle. The kal combines the intransitive and transitive meanings of the word "spirt," and is used in the former sense in Isa 63:3, to signify the springing up or sprouting up of any liquid scattered about in drops. The Arabic nazâ (see Ges. Thes.) shows that this verb may also be applied to the springing or leaping of living beings, caused by excess of emotion. And accordingly we follow the majority of the commentators in adopting the rendering exsilire faciet. The fact that whole nations are the object, and not merely individuals, proves nothing to the contrary, as Hab 3:6 clearly shows. The reference is to their leaping up in amazement (lxx θαυμάσονται); and the verb denotes less an external than an internal movement. They will tremble with astonishment within themselves (cf., pâchădū verâgezū in Jer 33:9), being electrified, as it were, by the surprising change that has taken place in the servant of Jehovah. The reason why kings "shut their mouths at him" is expressly stated, viz., what was never related they see, and what was never heard of they perceive; i.e., it was something going far beyond all that had ever been reported to them outside the world of nations, or come to their knowledge within it. Hitzig's explanation, that they do not trust themselves to begin to speak before him or along with him, gives too feeble a sense, and would lead us rather to expect לפניו than עליו. The shutting of the mouth is the involuntary effect of the overpowering impression, or the manifestation of their extreme amazement at one so suddenly brought out of the depths, and lifted up to so great a height. The strongest emotion is that which remains shut up within ourselves, because, from its very intensity, it throws the whole nature into a suffering state, and drowns all reflection in emotion (cf., yachărı̄sh in Zep 3:17). The parallel in Isa 49:7 is not opposed to this; the speechless astonishment, at what is unheard and inconceivable, changes into adoring homage, as soon as they have become to some extent familiar with it. The first turn in the prophecy closes here: The servant of Jehovah, whose inhuman sufferings excite such astonishment, is exalted on high; so that from utter amazement the nations tremble, and their kings are struck dumb.”