ISAIAH 52:13-15

HH 52:13. See, my servant will be made wisely, he will be exalted and lifted up and be very high.

NIV 52:13. See, my servant will act wisely (or prosper); he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

KJV 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

“Servant” is rendered in LXX by a Greek word, that means also “Son” and becomes the honorable title of Jesus by renderings in Acts of the Apostles 3:13,16 and 4:27,30.

In translation of Isaiah 43:24 the King James Version will the reader let notice that sins of his people made JHWH himself to be a servant: “but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities”. Isaiah 43:24 NIV will not show it: “But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses”. No one ancient Greek person dares to let his God Zeus serve for men. Man is always man, and God is always God. Also in the second part of verse 24 God is forced to do something against his nature: he is weary. Isaiah 40:28 (NIV): “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom”. It is impossible for God to be weary, because it is not his nature, but his people makes him weary through their wrongness.

"He will be raised" or "he shall be exalted" become famous through John. The Greek word (translated in NIV "lift up") he bundled up to the cross. His interpretation is one of the most important.

John 3:14: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert (Numbers 21:4-9), so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (15) that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

John 8:28: So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.

John 12:32-34: Jesus said: (32)”But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (33) He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (34) The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

Translators show no difficulty about “high” in "highly exalted" or "be very high. No man is high but God. Following renderings are NIV and take all occurences in Isaiah. The citation from Psalms is inserted. It shows clearly that it is against pious people to be "high".)

Isaiah 3:16.17: The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. (17) Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the Lord will make their scalps bald.”

Isaiah 5:16: But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness.

Isaiah 55:9: (declares the Lord:) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.

Psalms 131:1: My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.


HH 52:14. Accordingly many were shuddered at you, so disfigured was his appearance beyond than men and his form beyond than sons of men.

NIV 52:14. Just as there were many who were appalled at him (Notice to Hebrew reading “you”) – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness –

KJV 52:14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

Verbal will be the meaning of Isa. 52:14 only, the servant is disfigured beyond than men. Exclusively this is the meaning of verse 14. The servant is not disfigured more than any other man, but so disfigured, any other person never will be. In connection with our sin the appearance of the servant is so disfigured, men never could be. It is no description of men, but of a person, who takes a burden himself, men are not able to bear. Man is always man, and God is always God. Only for a moment the boundary disappears: the man Jesus took all our sins and illness to the cross, but JHWH himself in this moment is the slave (or servant; the meaning of the Hebrew word is both) of men. Remember on Isaiah 43:24, cited on the left, where JHWH is denying his own nature. In Isaiah 52:14 I have seen the love of God to us as human beings. Jesus and JHWH melt into one another in the cruel cross. Jesus died deaths! The Hebrew word in Isaiah 53:9 is in the plural (=majority). As Paul says in Romans 6:6 (NIV): “ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,  that we should no longer be slaves to sin— (7)because anyone who has died has been freed from sin”. This is the moment of redeeming for all believers in Jesus.


HH 52:15. So will he sprinkle many nations. Because of him kings will shut their mouth. For that which had not been told them, they will see, and which they had not heard, they will understand,

NIV 52:15 so will he sprinkle many nations (=Hebrew; Septuagint: "so will many nations marvel at him"), and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

KJV 52:15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

"Sprinkle" is very important and citation of LXX (NIV) takes a version who does not understand ISAIAH 53. Cross will the occurence coming in future. "Spinkle" belongs to sacrifice.                    [Leviticus 16:14-19 (NIV) (14) He (=Aaron) is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover. (15) “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. (16) In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. (17) No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel. (18) “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. (19) He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.]

But even 2 Greek ancient translators (Aquila and Theodotion) use the same word stem in Hebrews 12:24 (NIV "...to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel) and 1Peter 1:2 (NIV " To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, (2) who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.")