Isaiah is the salvation prophet of Old Testament times and he draws the fire of New Testament times observers who wish he has not asked. “Who believes our report?” is the dreaded question that opens his 53^rd chapter. He also exposes the lipservice rendered by people in ancient and New Testament times who reject faith in God as all sufficient. By the time we arrive at the 5th verse – one of the iconic sayings in this passage – we have seen 17 actions defined.

• verse 1: believe, reveal
• verse 2: ascend, see, desire
• verse 3: despise, be familiar, despise, esteem
• verse 4: lift, carry, esteem, plague, smite, afflict
• verse 5: pierce, bruise, heal

What we can learn from this small observation is that 7 of these actions are human and none of them are honourable, not even our seeing him, which does not end in desire for him.