Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Dear Shoshanna,
> All of the translations I have say "pained"
>   

HH: Here are some translations that sell millions of books:

New American Standard Bible:
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

Holman Christian Standard Bible:
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

New Living Translation:
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

Today's New International Version:
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

New American Bible:
But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins,
Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.

Several other major translations used "wounded" instead of "pierced": 
King James Version, New King James Version, English Standard Version, 
New Revised Standard Version.

> Anyway, it couldn't mean "pierced", because the subject is the people 
> of Israel, how could you pierce a collection of people?
>   

HH: Even some Jewish interpreters have taken this to be an individual, 
not the people of Israel.
http://isaiah53.com/

Midrash Cohen

“Elijah says to Messiah:”Bear the suffering and punishment of thy Lord 
with which he chastises thee for the sins of Israel, as it is written,
‘He is pressed for our rebellion – crushed for our iniquities’ until the 
end come"

Midrash Thanhumi, Babylonian Talmud

Rabbi Nahman says, the word “man in the passage…refers to the Messiah, 
the son of David, as it is written, “Behold the man whose name is Zemah”;
there Jonathan interprets, Behold the man Messiah: as it is said, “a man 
of pains and known to sickness.”

Maimonides

Regarding the mission by which Messiah will present himself, …he will 
not commend himself to our veneration by reason of his noble extraction; 
but the marvelous deeds he perform will show him to be the anticipated 
Messiah…Isaiah states, “He grew like a tender plant, and as a root out 
of dry land, ” signifying, that his exact descent will not be known, 
till his successful career will direct people’s attention to it…But a 
noteworthy circumstance will be that crowned heads will stand amazed…So 
they will come in utter silence, as Isaiah predicts, “At him will kings 
shut their mouths, for what had not been told unto them shall they see, 
and what they never heard they understand.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard