Isaiah 50: I Gave My Back to the Smiters
No bill of divorce, the disciple's tongue and ear, a face set like flint
"Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?… Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves… Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?" (50:1–2).
"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back" (vv. 4–5).
"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint… He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me?" (vv. 6–8).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 50:1–3 | No bill of divorce; you were sold for your sins; is my hand too short? I dry the sea, clothe the heavens in black | Divorce and debt-slavery as images of exile (compare Deuteronomy 24:1–4). |
| 50:4 | A disciple's tongue (limmudim) to sustain the weary; my ear wakened morning by morning to listen like a disciple | The servant as a learner. The third Song (50:4–9 or 4–11). |
| 50:5 | The Lord GOD opened my ear; I did not rebel or turn back | Obedience. |
| 50:6 | My back to the strikers, my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spitting | Public humiliation: beard-plucking and spitting were deep insults (2 Samuel 10:4; Numbers 12:14). |
| 50:7–9 | The Lord GOD helps me; I set my face like flint; my vindicator is near; who will bring a charge? They will wear out like a garment, the moth will eat them | Courtroom language: echoed in Romans 8:33–34. |
| 50:10–11 | Who fears the LORD and obeys his servant's voice, walking in darkness with no light: trust; those who kindle their own fire will lie down in torment | The only mention of "his servant" in the chapter. |
Humiliation in the ancient world
Shaving or plucking a man's beard was a public disgrace: David's envoys had half their beards shaved by the Ammonite king (2 Samuel 10:4–5). Spitting in someone's face shamed them (Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9). Striking on the cheek was an insult (Micah 5:1; Job 16:10; Lamentations 3:30). The servant's suffering in 50:6 is humiliation by people, received without resistance.
A different word in the Great Isaiah Scroll
Where the Masoretic Text has "to those who pluck out (the beard)," the Great Isaiah Scroll has a different word whose meaning is uncertain, perhaps "to those who strike," and "I did not turn aside" for "I did not hide" (described from a transcription). 1QIsa-b preserves only vv. 7–9. The library's Greek reads "I gave my back to scourges and my cheeks to blows; I did not turn my face from the shame of spitting." The difference matters below, because the Gospels' wording is closer to the Greek.
The passion narratives
See "The Servant's Speech: Isaiah 50:4–9" for a word-by-word comparison with Mark 14:65, Matthew 26:67 and the mockery scenes. In brief: the Gospels describe Jesus spat upon and struck in words that overlap with the Greek of Isaiah 50:6 ("spitting," "blows"), but no Gospel quotes Isaiah 50 or says it was fulfilled. The overlap may be an intended allusion, or the ordinary vocabulary for such abuse.
What the evidence shows
- Isaiah 50:4–9 is the third of the four "Servant Songs." B. Duhm's grouping (1892), widely used.
- The Gospels quote Isaiah 50:6. They share vocabulary with the Greek; none quotes it.
- Romans 8:33–34 echoes Isaiah 50:8–9.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 50:4–9: "I gave my back to the smiters": the third Servant Song and the passion narratives"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." The Great Isaiah Scroll has a different, uncertain word for the attackers.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Mark 14:65; Matthew 26:67; Mark 15:19Spitting and striking in the passion narratives.
- "Who shall lay any thing to the charge… It is God that justifieth."
- "He stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem."
- A prophet mocked, trusting God's vindication.