Mazmur 22:6-7

22:6 But I ¹  am a worm, ²  not a man; ³ 

people insult me and despise me. ⁴ 

22:7 All who see me taunt ⁵  me;

they mock me ⁶  and shake their heads. ⁷ 

Mazmur 69:12

69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;

drunkards mock me in their songs. ⁸ 

Mazmur 74:22

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ⁹ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 49:7

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ¹¹  of Israel, their Holy One, ¹²  says

to the one who is despised ¹³  and rejected ¹⁴  by nations, ¹⁵ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ¹⁶ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

Yesaya 50:6

50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, ¹⁷ 

my jaws to those who tore out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from insults and spitting.

Yesaya 52:14

52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) ¹⁸ 

he was so disfigured ¹⁹  he no longer looked like a man; ²⁰ 

Yesaya 53:1-3

53:1 Who would have believed ²¹  what we ²²  just heard? ²³ 

When ²⁴  was the Lord’s power ²⁵  revealed through him?

53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, ²⁶ 

like a root out of parched soil; ²⁷ 

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, ²⁸ 

no special appearance that we should want to follow him. ²⁹ 

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ³⁰ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ³¹ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ³² 

Zakharia 11:13

11:13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum ³³  at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter ³⁴  at the temple ³⁵  of the Lord.

Lukas 23:11

23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ³⁶  dressing him in elegant clothes, ³⁷  Herod ³⁸  sent him back to Pilate.

Lukas 23:39

23:39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t ³⁹  you the Christ? ⁴⁰  Save yourself and us!”

Filipi 2:7-8

2:7 but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a slave, ⁴¹ 

by looking like other men, ⁴² 

and by sharing in human nature. ⁴³ 

2:8 He humbled himself,

by becoming obedient to the point of death

– even death on a cross!

[22:6]  ¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[22:7]  ⁵ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ⁷ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[69:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”

[74:22]  ⁹ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[49:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7]  ¹⁴ tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”

[49:7]  ¹⁵ tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).

[49:7]  ¹⁶ tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.

[50:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”

[52:14]  ¹⁸ tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.

[52:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת (mishkhat) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130.a).

[52:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.

[53:1]  ²¹ tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.

[53:1]  ²² sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.

[53:1]  ²³ tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.

[53:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[53:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.

[53:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.

[53:2]  ²⁷ sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.

[53:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.

[53:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ³² sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[11:13]  ³³ tn Heb “splendor of splendor” (אֶדֶר הַיְקָר, ’eder hayqar). This expression sarcastically draws attention to the incredibly low value placed upon the Lord’s redemptive grace by his very own people.

[11:13]  ³⁴ tn The Syriac presupposes הָאוֹצָר (ha’otsar, “treasury”) for the MT הַיּוֹצֵר (hayyotser, “potter”) perhaps because of the lack of evidence for a potter’s shop in the area of the temple. The Syriac reading is followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV. Matthew seems to favor this when he speaks of Judas having thrown the thirty shekels for which he betrayed Jesus into the temple treasury (27:5-6). However, careful reading of the whole gospel pericope makes it clear that the money actually was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” hence Zechariah’s reference to a potter. The MT reading is followed by most other English versions.

[11:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “house” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[23:11]  ³⁶ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ³⁷ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ³⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:39]  ³⁹ tc Most mss (A C³ W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read εἰ σὺ εἶ (ei su ei, “If you are”) here, while οὐχὶ σὺ εἶ (ouci su ei, “Are you not”) is found in overall better and earlier witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L 070 1241 pc it). The “if” clause reading creates a parallel with the earlier taunts (vv. 35, 37), and thus is most likely a motivated reading.

[23:39]  sn The question in Greek expects a positive reply and is also phrased with irony.

[23:39]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:39]  sn See the note on Christ in 2:11.

[2:7]  ⁴¹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 1:1.

[2:7]  ⁴² tn Grk “by coming in the likeness of people.”

[2:7]  sn The expression the likeness of men is similar to Paul’s wording in Rom 8:3 (“in the likeness of sinful flesh”). The same word “likeness” is used in both passages. It implies that there is a form that does not necessarily correspond to reality. In Rom 8:3, the meaning is that Christ looked like sinful humanity. Here the meaning is similar: Jesus looked like other men (note anqrwpoi), but was in fact different from them in that he did not have a sin nature.

[2:7]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and by being found in form as a man.” The versification of vv. 7 and 8 (so also NRSV) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the verses in front of this phrase (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.

[2:7]  sn By sharing in human nature. This last line of v. 7 (line d) stands in tension with the previous line, line c (“by looking like other men”). Both lines have a word indicating form or likeness. Line c, as noted above, implies that Christ only appeared to be like other people. Line d, however, uses a different term that implies a correspondence between form and reality. Further, line c uses the plural “men” while line d uses the singular “man.” The theological point being made is that Christ looked just like other men, but he was not like other men (in that he was not sinful), though he was fully human.