The Meaning of Isaiah 53:2 Explained

Isaiah 53:2

KJV: For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

YLT: Yea, he cometh up as a tender plant before Him, And as a root out of a dry land, He hath no form, nor honour, when we observe him, Nor appearance, when we desire him.

Darby: For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor lordliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

ASV: For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For he shall grow up  before  him as a tender plant,  and as a root  out of a dry  ground:  he hath no form  nor comeliness;  and when we shall see  him, [there is] no beauty  that we should desire  him. 

What does Isaiah 53:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

This verse elaborates on the humble nature of the Servant"s person and ministry (cf. Isaiah 52:14). Instead of appearing as a mighty oak or a flourishing fruit tree, the Servant would grow up before the Lord as a sucker, a normally unwanted shoot that sprouts up from a root (cf. Isaiah 11:1; 1 Samuel 16:5-13). The Hebrew word, yoneq, literally means a "suckling," but Isaiah used it figuratively here in a horticultural sense to describe a tender sucker. [1] Gardeners usually snip off such shoots as soon as they appear because they rob nourishment from the main plant. A parallel figure is a sprig that sprouts up in a barren landscape. Usually these little sprigs die very quickly from lack of moisture. The synonymous descriptions point to the apparently earthly, natural origin of the Servant, with a family tree, and to the arid spiritual environment in which He grew up.
The Servant, moreover, would have no striking appearance that would draw the attention of people and make them think, Wow, look at him! There would be nothing about His appearance or His conduct that would attract people to Him as a distinctive, special person (cf. David, 1 Samuel 16:18). [2]
"Deliverers are dominating, forceful, attractive people, who by their personal magnetism draw people to themselves and convince people to do what they want them to do. People who refuse to follow that leadership frequently find themselves crushed and tossed aside. This man does not fit that picture at all." [3]
Jesus entered the world as a baby, not a king. He was born in a stable, not a palace. He asked the great preacher of His day to baptize Him; He did not announce the beginning of His ministry publicly and summon everyone to come to Him for baptism. Even John the Baptist did not recognize Jesus for who He was at first; He blended into the crowd and was not outstanding.
"While there is reason to believe from other passages of Scripture that the winsome character of the Lord Jesus appealed even to some of the most hopeless of men, yet this prophecy makes clear that which some Christians have not fully comprehended, that the Lord Jesus Christ did not appear in such a way as to attract the natural man. While the power of His deity was evident on occasion, and His presence was no doubt always commanding, there was no mere glamour about Him." [4]

Context Summary

Isaiah 53:1-12 - The Rejected And Suffering Redeemer
The common lot of man may be summed up in three words: suffering, sin, and death. Our Lord, the Divine Servant, presents a notable exception to the rest of the race-not in His sufferings, Isaiah 53:3; not in His death, for He died many deaths in one, Isaiah 53:9, r.v. margin, but in His perfect innocence and goodness. His sufferings were due to sins not His own, Romans 5:8. We must make His soul our guilt offering, Isaiah 53:10, r.v. margin. It is the same word as is used in Leviticus 5:1-16. There is no need to summon the aid of another. Do it for yourself!
Jesus shall one day be satisfied. In the glory that shall accrue to the Father; in the redemption of untold myriads; in the character of the redeemed; in the destruction of the results of the Fall, we shall hear His sigh of content and see the triumph on His face. We shall witness His transference of the kingdom to the Father, 1 Corinthians 15:24. We shall behold the satisfactory termination of the mystery of evil. If He is satisfied, we shall be! [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 53

1  The prophet, complaining of incredulity, excuses the scandal of the cross
4  By the benefit of his passion
10  And the good success thereof

What do the individual words in Isaiah 53:2 mean?

for He shall grow up as a tender plant before Him and as a root out of ground dry no form He has or comeliness and when we see Him and [There is] no beauty that we should desire Him
וַיַּ֨עַל כַּיּוֹנֵ֜ק לְפָנָ֗יו וְכַשֹּׁ֙רֶשׁ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ צִיָּ֔ה לֹא־ תֹ֥אַר ל֖וֹ וְלֹ֣א הָדָ֑ר וְנִרְאֵ֥הוּ וְלֹֽא־ מַרְאֶ֖ה וְנֶחְמְדֵֽהוּ

וַיַּ֨עַל  for  He  shall  grow  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
כַּיּוֹנֵ֜ק  as  a  tender  plant 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄונֵק  
Sense: sucker, suckling, sapling, young plant.
לְפָנָ֗יו  before  Him 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
וְכַשֹּׁ֙רֶשׁ֙  and  as  a  root 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁרֶשׁ  
Sense: root.
מֵאֶ֣רֶץ  out  of  ground 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
צִיָּ֔ה  dry 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: צִיָּה  
Sense: dryness, drought, desert.
לֹא־  no 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תֹ֥אַר  form 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: תֹּאַר  
Sense: shape, form, outline, figure, appearance.
ל֖וֹ  He  has 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
הָדָ֑ר  comeliness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הָדָר  
Sense: ornament, splendour, honour.
וְנִרְאֵ֥הוּ  and  when  we  see  Him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
וְלֹֽא־  and  [There  is]  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
מַרְאֶ֖ה  beauty 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַרְאֶה  
Sense: sight, appearance, vision.
וְנֶחְמְדֵֽהוּ  that  we  should  desire  Him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural, third person masculine singular
Root: חָמַד 
Sense: to desire, covet, take pleasure in, delight in.