Isaiah 53:12

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great - as a conqueror dividing the spoil after a victory (Psalms 2:8; Luke 11:22. 'When a stronger than he (Satan) shall come upon him and overcome him, He (Christ) taketh from Him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and divideth (his spoils').

Him - for Him.

With the great. Hengstenberg translates, 'I will give Him the great (or mighty) for a portion.' Compare the Septuagint and Vulgate, which support this view. But the parallel clause, "with the strong," favours the English version. His triumphs shall be not merely among the few and weak, but among the many and mighty. He shall triumph over the strong one, Satan himself. He shall divide the spoil with the strong - (Colossians 2:15: cf. Proverbs 16:19.) 'With the great: with the mighty,' may mean, as a great and mighty hero.

Because he hath poured out his soul unto death. "His soul" - i:e., His life, which was considered as residing in the blood (Leviticus 17:11; Romans 3:25).

And he was numbered with the transgressors - not that He was a transgressor, but was treated as such when crucified with thieves (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37).

And made intercession for the transgressors. This office He began on the cross (Luke 23:34), and now continues in heaven (Isaiah 59:16; Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1). Understand, because before 'He was numbered, He bare ... made intercession.' His meritorious death and intercession are the cause of His ultimate triumph. Maurer, for the parallelism, translates yapgiya` (H6293), 'He was put on the same footing with the transgressors. But the English version agrees better with the Hebrew, and with the sense and fact as to Christ. Maurer's translation would make a tautology after "He was numbered with the transgressors:" parallelism does not need so servile a repetition. "He made intercession for," etc., answers to the parallel, "He was numbered with," etc., as effect answers to cause; His intercession for sinners being the effect flowing from His having been numbered with them.

Remarks: The objection drawn from the rejection of Messiah by the Jews is anticipated and met by the prophet at the beginning of the fullest and clearest of the prophecies concerning Him. Men judge by outward appearances, rather than by the inward and everlasting truth. The "report" of the ancient prophets from the beginning, and "the arm of the Lord" manifested in the miracles, and in the divine teaching of Messiah on earth, were a two-fold evidence of His mission from God, which leaves the Jew and the infidel alike inexcusable in their unbelief. The lowliness of His manifestation has in all ages been a stumbling-block to the carnal and the worldly. The Jews regarded the crucifixion of the Saviour as the penalty of His own sins, whereas it was that of their sins and of those of the whole human race. But though "despised and rejected of men," He was 'before Yahweh' in His birth, His childhood, and His public ministry. The Father had accurately appointed, in His eternal counsels of love and wisdom, all the minute particulars of His life and death as man's Representative and awning Substitute.