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.
He is ... rejected of men - `forsaken of men" (Gesenius). 'Most abject of men.' Chadal (H2310) 'iyshiym (H376) - literally, 'He (is one who) ceases from men;' i:e., He is no longer regarded as a man (Hengstenberg). Note, Isaiah 52:14; Isaiah 49:7.)
A man of sorrows - i:e., whose distinguishing characteristic was sorrows.
And acquainted with - as an associate; familiar by constant contact with.
Grief - literally, sickness; figurative for all kinds of calamity. So "hurt" is used in Jeremiah 6:14. Leprosy especially represented this, being a direct judgment from God. It is remarkable Jesus is not mentioned as having ever suffered under sickness
And we hid as it were (our) faces - rather, as one who causes men to hide their faces from Him (in aversion) (Maurer). But kªmacteer (H4564) means not, cause to hide, but causing to lie hidden hiding. Or, 'He was as an hiding of the face before it;' 'as one before whom is the covering of the face;' before whom one covers the face in disgust (Gesenius). The Septuagint, Vulgate, Arabic, and Chaldaic take the Hebrew, mimmennu, as 'from us.' 'He was as one hiding His face from us;' as a leper, or one affected with a loathsome disease (Leviticus 13:45). But the parallel clause that follows favours the English version. We - the prophet identifying himself with the Jews. See Horsley's view (note, Isaiah 53:1).
We esteemed him not - negative contempt: the previous words express positive.