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Lenten Season · Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord: Mass · Year B

Isaiah 50:4-7

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

March 21, 2027

The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1880Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle
Bouguereau, usually the painter of smooth and agreeable things, made this one unflinching: the body pulled taut against the column while a crowd presses in to watch.Isaiah 50 says I gave my back to those who struck me, and this is the verse painted plainly.William-Adolphe BouguereauA French academic painter (1825-1905), enormously successful in his lifetime, dismissed for most of the twentieth century, and taken seriously again for his sheer technical command.Musée des Beaux-Arts, La RochelleA small municipal collection in an eighteenth-century bishop's palace on the Atlantic coast.Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle
Roman Lectionary
GospelMark 14:1–15:47Mk 14:1–15:47 orMark 15:1-39Mk 15:1-39
Second ReadingPhil. 2:6-11Phil 2:6-11
First ReadingIsa. 50:4-7Is 50:4-7
Responsorial PsalmPs. 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 (2a)Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 (2a)

Overview & Insights

“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.” (Isaiah 50:6)

In 50:4 the subject suddenly changes again—in two senses. The grammatical subject is once again a human “I” rather than a divine “I,” and the thematic subject is the pressure upon this human “I.” In both respects the passage parallels 49:1–6, and it will emerge that 50:4–52:12 forms a sequence parallel to 49:1–50:4, analogous to double sequences we have noted earlier in chapters 40–55. The arrangement of sections is not as tightly parallel as in earlier instances, but the parallelism again means that the second sequence develops issues raised in the first. Here, as there, that involves discussion of the role of Yahweh’s servant (50:4–11 as 49:1–6), but here the destiny of Zion and the way the destiny of the Babylonian community relates to it (51:1–52:12 as 49:7–50:3) receive more attention.

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Commentary

Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9aCommentary on Is 50:4-9a Working Preacher

Luther Seminary RCL commentary on the third Servant Song (the RCL 50:4-9a covers this reading).

Isaiah 50 – The Servant Obeys, Though Israel RebelsIs 50 – The Servant Obeys, Though Israel Rebels Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse reading of the Servant who sets his face like flint.

Isaiah 50 CommentaryIs 50 Commentary Precept Austin

A deep anthology of linked commentary and cross-references on the chapter.

Isaiah 50:4-9a CommentaryIs 50:4-9a Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary on the suffering Servant's steadfast trust.

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion (Year B) Agape Bible Study

A Catholic study that reads the first reading as Isaiah's suffering Servant fulfilled in Christ.

Background & Word Study

Isaiah 50:4 Hebrew Text and CommentariesIs 50:4 Hebrew Text and Commentaries Sefaria

The Hebrew text with classical Jewish commentary for this real Old Testament reading.

Isaiah 50:4 InterlinearIs 50:4 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew word-by-word of the Servant's opened ear and taught tongue.

The Church Fathers

Catena: Isaiah 50Catena: Is 50 Catena

Patristic comment chained to the Servant Song verses.

Questions preachers ask

How does the Servant respond to suffering?

Given the tongue of a teacher, the obedient Servant does not turn back but sets his face like flint, trusting the God who helps him, an image of Christ in his Passion.

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