Isaiah 50:6 - Smitten and Spit Upon

ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

In Matthew 26:67, we are told that before Jesus went to see Pilate, he stood before the High Priest and was condemned by him and the audience shouted to have Jesus executed. And (KJV):

“Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands”

So, they spat at him, pounded him with their fists, or with the flat of their hands.

This is before he goes to Pilate and then gets whipped.

ACCORDING TO ISAIAH

The claim here is that the spitting and whacking fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 50:6 which says:

“I offer my back to the floggers, and my cheeks to those who tore out my [facial] hair, I did not hide my face from insult and spittle.”

To say that the story in Matthew matches this one is to be creative in one’s interpretation that Matthew was talking about flogging and beard tearing. OK, we do have being spat at and insulted.

ANALYSIS

But the verse in Isaiah is not about a protagonist who is purely passive about this.

In the verses leading up to this we have:

               1-3: God saying that he had never abandoned him (contrary to Matthew 27:46)
               4-5: The protagonist declaring how he will trust God in all things even when…
               6: “I offer my back to the floggers…”
               7-10: God will help me out of all of this. Always trust Him.
              

But it is the final verse of this which is the clincher. It is the protagonist that anyone who has tried to harm him, that person is going to be killed in a painful way, by the protagonists’ own hand. As if to say “Yeah, I trust God, and I will expose myself to their abuses. But you know what? Their mockery will be short lived because I AM GOING TO KILL THEM, PAINFULLY, BY MY OWN HAND!” (verse 11).

CONCLUSION

No, this verse is not about a prophecy of being spat at. It’s a promise of retaliating with deadly force against any who have the temerity to do so.

Definitely not about Jesus.

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