Isaiah 52:13
in Isaiah 52Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
KJV
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
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This verse in Isaiah 52
Commentary
5 notes on this verse(Verse 13.) Behold, my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted and extolled, and shall be very high. LXX: Behold, my servant shall understand, and he shall be exalted, and shall be very glorious. So that there may be no ambiguity for readers, it is clear who will say: I, who spoke, am here; and the holy arm of the Lord, which has been revealed to all nations, God the Almighty Father clearly teaches: Behold my servant or my son whom I have sent, about whom we have spoken of his difference before.
This site's exposition
deal prudently
on Isaiah 52:13-15
The fourth servant song opens here and runs through 53:12, and its first note is exaltation: the servant shall deal prudently, be exalted, extolled, and very high. Verse 14 sets against that height a marring beyond any man's, the visage and form disfigured past ordinary recognition, and the astonishment of the nations in verse 15 answers the astonishment the marring itself caused. Paul quotes verse 15 at Romans 15:21 of the gospel reaching those who had not heard, and the Targum of Jonathan reads the servant here as the Messiah exalted, a reading named under the site's handling of rabbinic sources though it places the songs' sufferings elsewhere.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
My servant - That it is Christ who is here spoken of, is so evident, that the Chaldee paraphrast, and other ancient, and some later Hebrew doctors, understand it directly of him, and that divers Jews have been convinced and converted to the Christian faith, by the evidence of this prophecy.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Notes on Isa 52:13-15 and Isa 53:1-12 The most important portion of Isaiah, and of the Old Testament, commences here, and here should have been the beginning of a new chapter. It is the description of the suffering Messiah, and is continued to the close of the next chapter. As the closing verses of this chapter are connected with the following chapter, and as it is of great importance to have just views of the design of this portion of Isaiah, it is proper in this place to give an analysis of this part of the prophecy.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The genuineness of the passage is certain; for the Jews would not have forged it, since it is opposed to their notion of Messiah, as a triumphant temporal prince. The Christians could not have forged it; for the Jews, the enemies of Christianity, are "our librarians" [PALEY].
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Behold My servant shall prosper Behold, at the end of days, My servant, Jacob, [i.e.,] the righteous among him, shall prosper.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
for..goes before you Two things at the end of this verse explain two things in its beginning, [viz.] For not with haste shall you go forth. What is the reason?
As many wondered As many peoples wondered about them when they saw them in their humble state, and said to one another, How marred is his [Israel’s] appearance from that of a man!
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יַשְׂכִּ֖יל | yaskil | he will prosper | H7919 → | 62 times |
| עַבְדִּ֑י | ʾavdi | servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| יָר֧וּם | yarum | he will be high | H7311 → | 190 times |
| וְנִשָּׂ֛א | venisa' | and he will be lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| וְגָבַ֖הּ | vegavah | and he will be exalted | H1361 → | 34 times |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
הִנֵּ֥הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
יַשְׂכִּ֖ילhe will prosper
yaskilH7919 →62 times
עַבְדִּ֑יservant my
ʾavdiH5650 →799 times
יָר֧וּםhe will be high
yarumH7311 →190 times
וְנִשָּׂ֛אand he will be lifted up
venisa'H5375 →656 times
וְגָבַ֖הּand he will be exalted
vegavahH1361 →34 times
מְאֹֽד׃exceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 28:18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
it leads to
- John 3:35
The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.
- 1 Peter 3:22
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Ephesians 1:20–22
which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Hebrews 2:8
and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
- John 3:35
Through
Isaiah 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:18–21
“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
- Luke 3:22
and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 12:18–21
Through
John 3:31The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is…
it leads to
- John 8:23
Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
- John 8:23
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verse
On Isaiah 52:13
The Suffering Servant
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 — the single most extensive and specific messianic prophecy in the Old Testament, preserved in a scroll that predates Christ by more than a century.
Open the study →
On Isaiah 52:13
The Exodus — Redemption's Master-Type
Open the study →
Also on Isaiah 52: 3 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.