Isaiah 53:4

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Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4 (NKJV)

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4 (KJV)

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

Isaiah 53:4 (NLT)

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4 (ESV)

Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].

Isaiah 53:4 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

New Covenant Meaning

The Hebrew Words Confirm Physical Healing

The word translated "griefs" in the Hebrew is choli, which means sickness, disease, or physical illness. The word translated "sorrows" is makob, meaning pain. The Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53:4 bears choli (sickness) and makob (pain). Matthew 8:16-17 quotes this verse directly and applies it to Jesus healing the sick: "He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." The New Testament confirms Isaiah 53:4 includes physical healing.

Substitutionary — He Bore What We Would Not Have to Carry

The language is substitutionary: He has borne our griefs. He carried our sorrows. The verbs describe someone taking up a load that belonged to another person and carrying it away. This is not sympathy. It is substitution. Jesus did not simply feel our pain alongside us. He took our sicknesses and carried them so we would not have to. The atonement covers both sin and sickness because Isaiah 53 covers both. Verse 5 adds: by His stripes we are healed. Verse 4 establishes the basis: He bore the sickness. Verse 5 states the result: we are healed.

The NLT renders choli as "weaknesses" and makob as "sorrows," while the Amplified explicitly includes "sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses" in brackets. The Hebrew text is not ambiguous. Matthew 8:17 resolves any interpretive question: the inspired New Testament writer applies Isaiah 53:4 to physical healing, not merely spiritual comfort. Healing is in the atonement.

Application for Your Life

Jesus Already Bore It

When you pray for healing, you are not asking Jesus to do something He has not yet done. You are receiving what He has already accomplished. Isaiah 53:4 is past tense: He has borne our griefs. The burden was laid on Him. The transaction was completed at Calvary. Faith for healing is not faith that God might do something. It is faith that appropriates what has already been done. You are receiving, not requesting something uncertain.

Do Not Carry What Was Put on the Cross

If Jesus bore your sickness at the cross, you do not have to carry it. This does not mean denying the reality of symptoms. It means refusing to own them as your permanent possession and instead presenting them to the One who already bore them. The cross is where sickness was dealt with. Your posture before God is not "please heal me if it is Your will" but "I receive the healing that was purchased when You bore my sicknesses."

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, Your Word says Jesus has borne my griefs and carried my sorrows — my sicknesses and my pains. Matthew 8:17 confirms it. He took my infirmities. He bore my sicknesses. I do not need to carry what was placed on the cross. Right now I receive the healing that was purchased at Calvary. I am not asking for something uncertain. I am receiving something accomplished. By His stripes I am healed. In Jesus' name. Amen.