Isaiah 53, verse 9, Jesus' grave with the wicked?

[Christian2]

According to the Masoretic Text and the JPS 1917 Edition translation.

Isaiah 53:

9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.'

I'm having some problems understanding this verse. I believe Isaiah 53 refers to the Messiah and I believe the Messiah is Jesus.

But, Jesus' grave was not with the wicked.

Jesus died with the wicked -- two brigands or revolutionaries on either side of Him -- Jesus' body was intended to end up in a pit, which animals and birds eating His flesh, but His tomb was in the tomb of the rich man, Joseph of Arimathea.

But, this explanation does not match verse 9.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Silvertusk]

Well his grave was a pharasee grave - Joseph was a pharasee. And they were seen as Jesus's enemies for the better part. Also when you think about it = all fall short of righteousness - so we are all wicked.

[Christian2]

Well his grave was a pharasee grave - Joseph was a pharasee. And they were seen as Jesus's enemies for the better part. Also when you think about it = all fall short of righteousness - so we are all wicked.

That is an interesting take.

9 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth

Joseph was Jesus' friend, but he also was "wicked" because we are all wicked.

So, Jesus' grave was in a rich "wicked" man's tomb.

I kind of like that.

I've read a lot of commentaries on this one. I usually try to figure things out myself before asking for help.

The following comes from JP Holding of Tektonics:

Critic:

c) Jesus was not buried with the wicked. One cannot even say he died with the wicked since the Hebrew "rashaeem" is plural and, according to the crucifixion story, one of the thieves next to him ended up in heaven and so was not wicked.

"And he made his grave with he wicked, and with the rich in his death;...." (verse 9) The wicked, in this case, could refer to the fact that Jesus died the death of wicked men (i.e. the crucifixion, which was reserved by the Romans for the most wicked of criminals). Thus, Jesus "made his grave with the wicked" in the sense that He would be treated as a criminal and subsequently die ("made his grave") like one. In light of the more general scope that could reasonably be argued when interpreting this verse, the wicked could simply refer to criminals rather than just those thieves crucified alongside Jesus. Interestingly, Jesus would probably have been buried in the criminal graveyard as well, but Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, asked for the body of Jesus and his request was granted (cf. e.g., Matthew 27:57-60). This fulfilled the second half of this prophetic verse.

Thanks.

[jlay]

But, Jesus' grave was not with the wicked.

"And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."

The text says his grave was with the wicked. Not, that he was given a wicked man's grave. As with any burial place, there are multiple graves. So, unless we know who else was buried there, how could anyone say, "Jesus was not buried with the wicked." Further, it would not be a reach, that in comparison to Christ, all are wicked, because the Bible does say, "all have sinned." And, "the wages of sin is death." Yet, as it says, "no deceit was in his mouth."

One cannot even say he died with the wicked...

And the bible doesn't say that.

[Canuckster1127]

Consider too that the passage is poetry in terms of it's form. It's using Hebraic parallelism (repeating each initial statement with a follow-up that effectively says the same thing and makes clear the first portion.) It's not intended to be a prosaic, scientific exact statement. It's prophetic, and the elaborations are illustrative rather than necessarily literally precise.

[Christian2]

Thanks to everyone who replied.