Isaiah 53:1

53:1 Who would have believed ¹  what we ²  just heard? ³ 

When ⁴  was the Lord’s power ⁵  revealed through him?

John 12:38-40

12:38 so that the word ⁶  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ⁷  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ⁸  been revealed?” ⁹  12:39 For this reason they could not believe, ¹⁰  because again Isaiah said,

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹¹ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ¹² 

and turn to me, ¹³  and I would heal them.” ¹⁴ 

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

[53:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[53:1]  ⁵ 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.

[12:38]  ⁶ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ⁸ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:39]  ¹⁰ sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.

[12:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹² tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹³ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.