Exodus 28:38

28:38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, ¹  which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; ²  it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance ³  before the Lord.

Leviticus 16:22

16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, ⁴  so he is to send the goat away ⁵  in the wilderness.

Leviticus 22:9

22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it ⁶  and therefore die ⁷  because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

Numbers 18:22

18:22 No longer may the Israelites approach the tent of meeting, or else they will bear their sin ⁸  and die.

Psalms 38:4

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ⁹ 

like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

Isaiah 53:4-6

53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,

he carried our pain; ¹⁰ 

even though we thought he was being punished,

attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. ¹¹ 

53:5 He was wounded because of ¹²  our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well; ¹³ 

because of his wounds we have been healed. ¹⁴ 

53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 53:11

53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹⁶ 

“My servant ¹⁷  will acquit many, ¹⁸ 

for he carried their sins. ¹⁹ 

Matthew 8:17

8:17 In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: ²⁰ 

“He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.” ²¹ 

John 1:29

1:29 On the next day John ²²  saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God ²³  who takes away the sin of the world!

Hebrews 9:28

9:28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, ²⁴  to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin ²⁵  but to bring salvation. ²⁶ 

[28:38]  ¹ tn The construction “the iniquity of the holy things” is difficult. “Holy things” is explained in the passage by all the gifts the people bring and consecrate to Yahweh. But there will inevitably be iniquity involved. U. Cassuto explains that Aaron “will atone for all the transgressions committed in connection with the order of the service, the purity of the consecrated things, or the use of the holy gifts, for the declaration engraved on the plate will prove that everything was intended to be holy to the Lord, and if aught was done irregularly, the intention at least was good” (Exodus, 385).

[28:38]  ² tn The clause reads: “according to/by all the gifts of their holiness.” The genitive is an attributive genitive, the suffix on it referring to the whole bound construction – “their holy gifts.” The idea of the line is that the people will consecrate as holy things gifts they bring to the sanctuary.

[28:38]  ³ tn This clause is the infinitive construct with the lamed preposition, followed by the prepositional phrase: “for acceptance for them.” This infinitive provides the purpose or result of the act of wearing the dedicatory frontlet – that they will be acceptable.

[16:22]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term rendered “inaccessible” derives from a root meaning “to cut off” (cf. NAB “an isolated region”). Another possible translation would be “infertile land” (see HALOT 187 s.v. *גָּזֵּר and cf. NRSV “a barren region”; NLT “a desolate land.”

[16:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”

[22:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they will not lift up on it sin.” The pronoun “it” (masculine) apparently refers to any item of food that belongs to the category of “holy offerings” (see above).

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and die in it.”

[18:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct of the verb “to bear” with the lamed (ל) preposition to express the result of such an action. “To bear their sin” would mean that they would have to suffer the consequences of their sin.

[38:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[53:4]  ¹⁰ sn Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11-12 make clear.

[53:4]  ¹¹ tn The words “for something he had done” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The group now realizes he suffered because of his identification with them, not simply because he was a special target of divine anger.

[53:5]  ¹² tn The preposition מִן (min) has a causal sense (translated “because of”) here and in the following clause.

[53:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “the punishment of our peace [was] on him.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is here a genitive of result, i.e., “punishment that resulted in our peace.”

[53:5]  ¹⁴ sn Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4) resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.

[53:6]  ¹⁵ tn Elsewhere the Hiphil of פָגַע (paga’) means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here. Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning, “encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the preposition -בְּ (bet, see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative Hiphil has a double object – the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the object attacked is introduced by the preposition -בְּ. In their sin the group was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.

[53:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.

[53:11]  ¹⁷ sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.

[53:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.

[53:11]  ¹⁹ tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.

[8:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “was fulfilled, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.

[8:17]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Isa 53:4.

[1:29]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:29]  ²³ sn Gen 22:8 is an important passage in the background of the title Lamb of God as applied to Jesus. In Jewish thought this was held to be a supremely important sacrifice. G. Vermès stated: “For the Palestinian Jew, all lamb sacrifice, and especially the Passover lamb and the Tamid offering, was a memorial of the Akedah with its effects of deliverance, forgiveness of sin and messianic salvation” (Scripture and Tradition in Judaism [StPB], 225).

[9:28]  ²⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.

[9:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.

[9:28]  ²⁶ tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.