Look closely at the words “griefs” and “sorrows” in Isaiah’s prophecy below. Scholarship demands that both these words should have been rendered by our English words “sicknesses” and “pains.”
Isa 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (KJV)
In this Scripture, Isaiah declared to us that Jesus died for our sickness and pain as well as our sins. Many, many translations of the Bible say that Jesus died for our “sicknesses” and “pains” as well as for our sins.
“The Bible: An American Translation” (J. M. Powis Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed) used the words “pains and sorrows” to translate this Isaiah healing Scripture.
“The Holy Scriptures According To The Masoretic Text: A New Translation” (The Jewish Publication Society) used the words “diseases and pains” to translate it.
“The Emphasized Bible: A New Translation” (J. B. Rotherham) used the words “sicknesses and pains.”
“The New American Bible” used the words “infirmities and sufferings.”
“The New English Bible” used the words “sufferings and torments.”
In addition to the above, Young, the great Hebrew scholar, used the words “sicknesses and pains.”
Another Hebrew scholar, Leeser, used the words “diseases and pains” to translate it.
The above is only the tip of the iceberg. The deeper you look into Scripture, the more evidence you find that Jesus’ death covered our sicknesses as well as our sins.
The Bible Versions cited above do not tiptoe around the edges. They give the heart and soul of what Isaiah actually said. Jesus died for our sicknesses as well as for our sins.
Next we see Matthew’s view of Isaiah 53.
Matt 8:16-17
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. (KJV)
Matthew translated this Isaiah healing Scripture with the words “infirmities and “sicknesses.”
MacClaren, the Godly commentator, agrees with Matthew’s interpretation of Isaiah. He also used the words “sicknesses” and “diseases.”
Delitzsch, the great Hebrew scholar, continues the argument. He used the words “sicknesses” and “pains” to translate this Isaiah passage.
What Jesus bore for us, we do not have to bear for ourselves. Jesus bore our sins so we would not have to bear them. He bore our sicknesses and pains so we do not have to bear them either. What a wonderful savior.
We Gentile Christians can be healed by faith because we have been grafted into this Isaiah healing passage right along with the physical descendents of Abraham. In his death, Jesus bore our sicknesses too.
