Isaiah 53:5

In Isaiah 53:4 the people confess that the Servant was their substitute in his endurance of pains and sicknesses; here they penetrate more deeply into the meaning of his sufferings, perceiving the connexion between his passion and their own sin. The connexion is twofold; in the first place the Servant's suffering was the penalty due to the people's transgressions, and in the second place it was the remedy by which they were restored to spiritual health.

But he was pierced because of our rebellions,

Crushed because of our iniquities.

The strong verbs "pierced" (see ch. Isaiah 51:9) and "crushed" (Job 6:9) are probably metaphors expressing the fatal ravages of leprosy.

the chastisement of our peace i.e. the chastisement needful to procure peace or well-being for us. "Chastisement" is pain inflicted for moral ends and with remedial intent (Proverbs 3:11 f. &c.). Cheyne's assertion that the notion of punishment is the primary one in this word is not borne out by O.T. usage.

with his stripes lit. weals (see ch. Isaiah 1:6).

That the people themselves had suffered for their sins is not excluded, but is apparently implied in the last words ("we are healed"), and is expressly said in other parts of the book (ch. Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 42:24 f. &c.). What the verse teaches is that the people could not be healed by their own suffering; it was only through the Servant's voluntary submission to the divine chastisement (Isaiah 53:7), and his bearing it in an extraordinary degree, that an atonement was effected between Jehovah and Israel (see on ch. Isaiah 40:2).