Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Ver. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs.] He took our infirmities natural, though not sinful; or, He suffered for our offences. And his satis sufficient passion is our satisfaction, as Luther phraseth it. He suffered, saith Peter, "the just for the unjust." He "bore our sins in his own body on the tree." 1Pe 2:24 He, the true scape goat, "taketh away the sins of the world," Joh 1:29 bearing them into the land of forgetfulness. This is his continual act, and this should be as a perpetual picture in our hearts. "Surely" he did all this for us; iuramentum est vere. This surely or truly is an oath, for better assurance and satisfaction to any doubting conscience. For which cause also the same thing is said over again, Isa 53:5 and herewith agreeth that of the apostle in 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a sure saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."
Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God,] sc., For his own deserts, and not for ours. We looked upon him as a deceiver, a winebibber, a blasphemer, and one that wrought by Beelzebub, &c., and therefore we crucified him.
Smitten a of God.] Percussus Dei, saith the Syriac. The apostle saith, "God spared not his Son"; Rom 8:32 and because the creature could not strike a stroke hard enough, himself was "pleased to bruise him." But that this was done for his own proper sins, and in a way of vengeance, was a gross mistake.
And afflicted.] Or, Humbled. He was "stricken," "smitten," "afflicted." But then afterwards he was "exalted," "extolled," and "made very high." Isa 52:13 We also who "suffer with him shall be glorified together," and in a proportion. 2Ti 2:12
a Flagellatum a Deo, Whipped by God. - Theodotion.