The interpretation and translation of this verse present a number of challenges.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away is literally “From oppression and from judgment he was taken away.” The Hebrew preposition for “from” (min) could imply that God’s servant was removed from oppression and judgment, but few commentators take that view. As in verse 5, this preposition most likely means “because of” or “by means of” here. Revised Standard Version expresses it correctly with By (also New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The Hebrew noun rendered oppression is found elsewhere only in Pro 30.16 (where it is rendered “barren”) and Psa 107.39, so its meaning is uncertain. Its verbal form can mean “to imprison.” This would indicate that the servant was arrested and then judged. Revised English Bible follows this sense by rendering this line as “He was arrested and sentenced and taken away” (similarly Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). Other versions prefer to treat oppression and judgment as a hendiadys; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders them as “oppressive judgment,” which probably means the servant was judged unfairly. New Revised Standard Version is similar with “a perversion of justice,” and so is Contemporary English Version with “without a fair trial.” Since the meaning of the noun rendered oppression is uncertain, translators are free to choose one of the modern versions as a model. Other possible renderings can be placed in a footnote.

He was taken away is literally correct and would mean nothing more than that the servant was taken somewhere. However, in this context it implies an unpleasant destination for him. From the second half of the verse it might be implied he was led off to his death. Good News Translation draws this conclusion by saying “He was … led off to die.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “He was condemned to death.” But since it is not clear whether his death is in view later in this verse, it is better to say “he was led away” or “he was arrested.”

And as for his generation, who considered…?: The common Hebrew conjunction rendered and expresses contrast here, so it is better rendered “but.” It may be left implied. All the commentators consulted consider this line almost impossible to understand with any certainty, so the translations vary. However, there is general agreement that it probably means nobody cared about what happened to the servant. For Revised Standard Version the rhetorical question here goes to the end of the verse, but for New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version and Bible en français courant it only covers this line. The length of this question partly depends on how the phrase as for his generations is understood. The meaning and grammar of this phrase is unclear, so there is a variety of renderings for it. Some versions treat his generations as the subject of the verb considered and understand it to mean “his [the servant’s] contemporaries”; for example, for this line New Jerusalem Bible has “Which of his contemporaries was concerned…?” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “Who among the people of this generation is concerned about that?” Revised Standard Version seems to give this sense to the line also. However, most versions view his generations as the object of the verb considered. The versions that do this give a variety of meanings to his generations; for example, “his descendants” (New International Version), “his abode” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “his future” (New Revised Standard Version), and “his fate/destiny” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, Bible en français courant). The sense of “his fate/destiny” seems to be the predominant interpretation. Contemporary English Version expresses it by rendering the question as “Who could have imagined what would happen to him?” For languages that prefer to render to this rhetorical question as a statement, see the examples below.

That he was cut off out of the land of the living is an idiom that may mean the servant died. Good News Translation expresses this sense nonfiguratively with “He was put to death.” However, this idiom may refer only to the danger the servant faced, as in some Psalms where “death” is a metaphor for life-threatening danger (see, for example, Psa 88.4-6). It could also refer to his removal from the rest of society by being put in prison.

Stricken for the transgression of my people is literally “from/because of the rebellion of my people a strike to/for/against him,” which means the servant suffered because of the sins of others, as in verses 5-6. The Hebrew noun for “strike” is usually rendered stricken, so that it does not imply that the servant himself struck someone. Stricken refers to him being beaten. The Hebrew text that is literally “a strike to/for/against him” is questionable, because Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint have “stricken to death” (Revised English Bible), which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project cautiously recommends. New Jerusalem Bible follows this alternative reading by saying “at his having been struck dead.” If translators adopt this reading, then the text openly speaks of the servant’s death at the hand of his tormentors. There is another textual problem with the phrase my people. Some commentators emend the Hebrew text to read “his people.” However, if the servant’s disciples are the speakers, my people is acceptable. Good News Translation says “our people” for naturalness in English. It is unlikely that the pronoun my refers to the LORD. For transgression see Isa 53.5.

For languages that require an active form for the passive verbs in this verse, we recommend that they do not identify a specific agent. See the third example below.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• He was led away after arrest and judgment;
nobody cared about his fate.
He was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken to death because of my [or, our] people’s sin.

• He was unjustly arrested and taken away;
none of his contemporaries cared
that he was removed from the land of the living,
struck down because of my people’s sin.

• They oppressed him and judged him unfairly;
he was taken away, but nobody cared about his fate.
They removed him, putting him to death
because of the sin of my people.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .