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Isaiah 11

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The Righteous Ruler from Jesse's Line 1–5

1
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: ​
2
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; ​
3
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. ​
5
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Peace in the Messianic Kingdom 6–9

6
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. ​
7
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
9
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

The Restoration and Reunion of Israel 10–16

10
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. ​
11
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ​
12
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. ​
14
But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
15
And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. ​
16
And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 11

Verse 1

a rod out of the stem of Jesse — Geza is the trunk or stump of a felled tree (Job 14:8, ‘the stock thereof’), so the line of David is cut down to its stock and a shoot comes from it. ‘Branch’ is netser, a green shoot, used only four times (also Isa 14:19; 60:21; Dan 11:7). Jesse was David’s father.

Verse 2

the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him — ‘Rest’ (nuach) is the verb of Num 11:25, ‘the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied’. Six gifts follow in three pairs, wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the LORD. At his baptism the Spirit came ‘like a dove, and lighting upon him’ (Matt 3:16).

Verse 4

the rod of his mouth — Dal, the ‘poor’, and anav, the ‘meek’, are those he judges for; the wicked fall by his word alone. Paul takes the line for ‘that Wicked’, ‘whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth’ (2 Thess 2:8), and John sees ‘a sharp sword’ go out of Christ’s mouth (Rev 19:15).

Verse 6

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb — ‘Dwell’ (gur) is to sojourn as a guest, so the wolf lodges with the lamb. Isa 65:25 repeats the scene, ‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together’, and Ezek 34:25 promises ‘a covenant of peace’ that will ‘cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land’. The harm ends ‘in all my holy mountain’ (v.9).

Verse 10

a root of Jesse… for an ensign — Paul cites the verse for the Gentiles: ‘There shall be a root of Jesse… in him shall the Gentiles trust’ (Rom 15:12). ‘Ensign’ is nes, a standard raised for the nations (Isa 49:22). ‘His rest’ is menuchah, a resting-place, the word of ‘still waters’ in Ps 23:2.

Verse 11

the second time — The first gathering was out of Egypt; v.16 says this one will be ‘like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt’. ‘Recover’ is qanah, to acquire, the word of ‘the people… which thou hast purchased’ (Ex 15:16). Shinar is the land of Babylon (Dan 1:2); Pathros is in Egypt (Jer 44:1).

Verse 13

Ephraim shall not envy Judah — Ephraim stands for the northern tribes, divided from Judah since the day ‘Ephraim departed from Judah’ (Isa 7:17). One verb, tsarar, serves both for Judah’s ‘adversaries’ and for Judah vexing Ephraim; both fall away. Ezek 37:16–22 gives the same union as two sticks made one.

Verse 15

the tongue of the Egyptian sea — Charam, ‘utterly destroy’, is to put under the ban, devote to destruction. The sea is struck, and the river (nahar, the word used of the Euphrates in Gen 15:18) is smitten ‘in the seven streams’, so that men go over ‘dryshod’, literally in sandals. v.16 sets a highway for the remnant.