“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
The substitutionary insight—'Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed'—introduces the meaning of the servant's suffering: vicarious bearing of Israel's afflictions. The progression from infirmities and diseases to transgressions and iniquities suggests both physical and moral dimensions of healing. The substitutionary language ('for our transgressions,' 'for our iniquities') establishes that the servant suffers what Israel deserves. The promise that 'by his bruises we are healed' makes the servant's suffering salvific. This verse articulates the heart of substitutionary atonement theology.
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