Isaiah 53:9
in Isaiah 53He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
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This verse in Isaiah 53
Commentary
14 notes on this verseAnd he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,.... These words are generally supposed to refer to a fact that was afterwards done; that Christ, who died with wicked men, as if he himself had been one, was buried in a rich man's grave. Could the words admit of the following transposition, they would exactly agree with it, "and he made his grave with the rich; and with the wicked in his death"; for he died between two thieves, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man.
This site's exposition
He was assigned a grave with the wicked
He “was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death”. The ground given is His innocence, “although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth”. The Hebrew word for death is plural here, as Gill and Barnes note.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
If you wish to look at the mind behind his appearance, you will find it to be an ocean of compassion for humanity residing there. For he saved them, the most foul people who gloried in their wealth and those condemned to death from their …
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 16 · Written before 99.
proposed
For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp of pride or arrogance, although He might have done so, but in a lowly condition, as the Holy Spirit had declared regarding Him. For He says, "Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared [our message] in His presence: He is, as it were, a child, and like a root in thirsty ground; He has no form nor glory, yea, we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but His form was without eminence, yea, deficient in comparison with the [ordinary] form of men. He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes; yet we supposed that [on His own account] He was exposed to labour, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] man has wandered in his own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while He in the midst of His sufferings opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought down to death. And I will give the wicked for His sepulchre, and the rich for His death, because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him by stripes. […]
In reality, the people were subject to another curse, which says, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that is written in the book of the law." To this curse, I say, people were subject, for no person had continued in or was a keeper of the whole law. But Christ exchanged this curse for the other, "Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree." … It was necessary for him who is about to relieve us from a curse to be himself free of it. But he received another instead of ours. Therefore Christ took on himself just such curse and thereby relieved us from the curse. It was like an innocent person deciding to die for another sentenced to death, and so rescuing him from punishment. For Christ took on him not the curse of transgression but the other curse, in order to remove that of others. For "he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."
And is not one ashamed to say that God is not crafty or deceitful? Concerning him, however, in respect of the flesh, it might be reasonable [to say it].
He will be given the wicked as a burial place, and the wealthy as his tomb, because he did no violence, nor was deceit found in his mouth. LXX: I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death. He did not commit iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. He gave the impious for his burial; and the rich for his death.
7 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
Then to show that the court was corrupt and the sentence unjust, he went on to say, "In his humiliation his legal trial was taken away," that is, no one judged justly in his case.
David alone of the prophets prophesied with an instrument, called by the Greeks the "psaltery." … But this psaltery has the source of its musical numbers above, in order that we, too, may practice seeking things above and not suffer ourselves to be borne down by the pleasure of melody to the passions of the flesh. And I think that this truth, too, was signified deeply and clearly to us in a prophetic way in the construction of the instrument, namely, that those who have souls well ordered and trained have the way ready to things above. And again, an instrument having the source of its melodious sound in its upper parts may be taken as like the body of Christ and his saints—the only instrument that maintains rectitude; "for he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." This is indeed an instrument, harmonious, melodious, well-ordered, that took in no human discord and did nothing out of measure but maintained in all things, as it were, harmony toward the Father; for, as he says, "he that is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; he that comes from heaven testifies of what he has seen and heard."
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he shall give the ungodly. Here he sets out his vindication against his persecutors. And first, he sets out their reward: and he shall give the ungodly, the Jews into the hands of the Romans, for his burial, because they had him guarded in …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. He never offended either in word or deed, nor could any of his enemies take up that challenge of his, Which of you convinceth me of sin? The judge that condemned owned he found no fault in him, and the centurion that executed him professed that certainly he was a righteous man.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he made his grave with the wicked - Jerome renders this, Et dabit impios pro sepultura et divitem pro morte sua. The Septuagint renders it, ‘I will give the wicked instead of his burial (ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς anti tēs taphēs), and the rich in the place, or instead of his death’ (ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου anti tou thanatou).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jer 26:23). and with . . . rich--rather, "but He was with a rich man," &c. GESENIUS, for the parallelism to "the wicked," translates "ungodly" (the effect of riches being to make one ungodly); but the Hebrew everywhere means "rich," never by itself ungodly; the parallelism, too, is one of contrast; namely, between their design and the fact, as it was ordered by God (Mt 27:57;
With the rich in his death “With the rich man was his tomb” - It may be necessary to introduce Bishop Lowth’s translation of this verse before we come to his very satisfactory criticisms: - And his grave was appointed with the wicked; But with the rich man was his tomb: Although he had done no wrong, Neither was there any guile in his mouth. Among the various opinions which have been given on this passage, I have no doubt in giving my assent to that which makes the ב beth in במותיו bemothaiv radical, and renders it excelsa sua. This is mentioned by Aben Ezra as received by some in his time; and has been long since approved by Schindler, Drusius, and many other learned Christian interpreters. The most simple tombs or monuments of old consisted of hillocks of earth heaped up over the grave; of which we have numerous examples in our own country, generally allowed to be of very high antiquity. The Romans called a monument of this sort very properly tumulus; and the Hebrews as properly במות bamoth, “high place,” for that is the form of’ the noun in the singular number; and sixteen MSS. and the two oldest editions express the word fully in this place, במותיו bamothaiv. Tumulus et collem et sepulchrum fuisse significat. Potest enim tumulus sine sepulchro interpretatione collis interdum accipi. Nam et terrae congestio super ossa tumulus dicitur. “Tumulus signifies a sepulcher with a hillock of earth raised over it. The word is sometimes restrained to the bank of earth; for the heaping up of the earth over the bones is named the tumulus.” - Servius, Aen. 3:22. And to make the tumulus still more elevated and conspicuous, a pillar or some other ornament was often erected upon it: - Τυμβον χευαντες, και επι στηλην ερυσαντες, Πηξαμεν ακροτατῳ τυμβῳ ευηρες ερετμον. Odyss. sii. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And it was the pleasure of the Lord to refine and to purify the remnant of His people, in order to cleanse their souls from sin, that they might see the kingdom of their messiah, that their sons and daughters might multiply, and prolong their days, and those that keep the law of the Lord shall prosper through His pleasure.
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. 3 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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתֵּ֤ן | vaiyiten | and someone assigned | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| רְשָׁעִים֙ | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| קִבְר֔וֹ | kivro | grave his | H6913 → | 67 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| עָשִׁ֖יר | ʾashir | a rich [person] | H6223 → | |
| בְּמֹתָ֑יו | bemotav | in death<s> his | H4194 → | 156 times |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָמָ֣ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| עָשָׂ֔ה | ʾasah | he had done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִרְמָ֖ה | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → | |
| בְּפִֽיו׃ | befiv | [was] in mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
וַיִּתֵּ֤ןand someone assigned
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
רְשָׁעִים֙wicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
קִבְר֔וֹgrave his
kivroH6913 →67 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
עָשִׁ֖ירa rich [person]
ʾashirH6223 →
בְּמֹתָ֑יוin death<s> his
bemotavH4194 →156 times
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
חָמָ֣סviolence
chamasH2555 →60 times
עָשָׂ֔הhe had done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מִרְמָ֖הdeceit
mirmahH4820 →
בְּפִֽיו׃[was] in mouth his
befivH6310 →498 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
2 Corinthians 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 2:22–24
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
- Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
- 1 Peter 3:18
Through
1 John 3:5But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 9:28
so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
Through
1 Peter 2:22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
- Hebrews 4:15
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah

This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 16; Hippolytus of Rome, FRAGMENTS ON THE PSALMS 1:6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS 3; John Chrysostom, ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 13:7; John Chrysostom, DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 4:7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Heraclea, FRAGMENTS ON ISAIAH and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
