As the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, draws near, it is fitting for us to continue digging into Isaiah 53 which clearly describes the price our Bridegroom King paid for our freedom.  Today we will move further into Isaiah 53:3 and uncover the second line.

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Isaiah wrote that Yeshua would be a Man of sorrows.  Let’s see what sorrows means through Hebrew eyes.

SORROWS is Strong’s #4341 – mak’ob and it means anguish, affliction, grief, pain, or sorrow. But let’s look at the primitive root Strong’s #3510 ka av.  This word means to feel pain; by implication, to grieve; figuratively, to spoil:—grieving, mar, have pain, make sad (sore), (be) sorrowful.

#4341 looks like this:   When we look at the letters we find…

Kaf 20 = Anointing of the hand on the head, Redemption. Means: To Bend Down, Surrender, Palm of the Hand, Wing – Good works with our hand in Yeshua

Aleph 1= God – Echad – Unity, Unique (no other like it) Means: Ox head—Strength or Leader, Most Important, First – The Strength and Power of the leader

 Bet  2 =  Divide or Division     Means: House/Family; God’s word, God’s dwelling place (Temple)

Here we see that Yeshua experienced pain and sorrow as He reached out His hands to do God’s work with God’s strength and power.  In unity with God, He established a place for God to dwell, a House, a family, – Us.

When we see this, it is easier to understand Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let’s go on. Isaiah says that He would be acquainted with grief.  Acquainted means that He would know, understand and experience something.  While we won’t look at this word in depth because of its many meanings, it is interesting to note that there is a Dallet in the word acquainted.  Dallet means Door, Gate, Impoverished man, to come from indicating a pathway, a place of decision, or an entrance to life or death. 

Yeshua knew His sacrifice would give mankind a Door to enter into everlasting life.  He was willing to go to the cross for each of us to have the opportunity to make the decision to enter that doorway through belief in Him.

Okay, one more word.  GRIEF is Strong’s #2483 and the primitive root is #2470.

The word grief is most often translated as the words sickness and disease in our Bible.

ie. Deuteronomy 7:15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

And the root word is also translated most often as ‘sick.’  — Genesis 48:1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”;

But let’s look at the letters.  The root #2470 looks like this:

Chet  8 = New Beginnings. Means: Fence, Gate, Tent wall to Separate, Protect, Cut off. Torah

Lamed  30 =  Blood of Messiah, Dedication to a task.  Means: Staff, Goad or Stick, to Teach or Instruct, Authority, to Control, Urge Forward, a Tongue

Hey  5 = Grace.  Means: Revelation – 5 is the number of Torah, Behold, Give Attention – (at the end of a word: comes from letter before)

He was acquainted with — He knew the need for a new beginning, a place of separation and protection from the enemy (Chet).  He also knew it would take His own blood to do it. (Lamed) So, He chose to dedicate Himself to the task and moved forward, instructing others (Lamed) with revelation (Hey) about God’s grace and His Kingdom.