Isaiah 53:3
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Isaiah 53 is the heart of the Servant Song that describes a servant who suffers, is rejected, and bears the sins of others on their behalf.
What Does Isaiah 53:3 Mean?
Isaiah 53:3 describes the suffering servant as one despised and rejected, a man intimately acquainted with sorrow. The portrait is stark and unflattering by worldly standards: this is no triumphant figure that crowds admire, but one from whom people turn their faces away. He is "a man of sorrows," and grief is not a passing visitor but a constant companion -- he is "acquainted" with it as one knows a familiar friend.
The repetition of "despised" frames the verse like bookends, emphasizing how thoroughly he was undervalued: "we esteemed him not." The speakers include themselves in the rejection -- it was not only his enemies but the very ones he came to help who hid their faces. There is honest self-indictment here, a recognition that the servant's worth went unrecognized by those who should have welcomed him. The New Testament writers saw this fulfilled in Jesus, who was rejected by many and despised at the cross. Read in its own setting, the verse reveals a profound truth: God's chosen one would accomplish His purpose not through acclaim but through suffering and rejection, carrying sorrow that others refused to face.
In the Original Language
The Hebrew makob means pain or sorrow, and choli means sickness or grief; together they paint the servant as one deeply familiar with suffering.
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Application
When you suffer or feel rejected, take comfort that God's servant fully understands sorrow, having been despised and grieved himself.
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