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Book of Isaiah
 

 
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Isaiah 11

King James Version

The Branch From Jesse
11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
11:2  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;
11:3  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:
11:4  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.
11:5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
11:6  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.
11:7  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
11:9  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.
11:10  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.
11:11  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.
11:12  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.
11:13  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.
11:14  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.
11:15  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.
11:16  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 Commentary

1 Isaiah foretells that the Messiah would, in due time, arise out of the house of David.  He would be the son of David, with whom the covenant of royalty was made, and to whom it was promised with an oath that of the fruit of his loins God would raise of Christ. He is called a rod, and a branch; both the words here used signify a weak, small, tender product, a twig and a sprig, such as is easily broken off.  He is said to come out of Jesse rather than David, because Jesse lived and died in meanness and obscurity; his family was of small account (1 Sa. 18:18), and it was in a way of contempt and reproach that David was sometimes called the son of Jesse, (1 Sa. 22:7). When the royal family, that had been as a cedar, was cut down, and only the stump of it left, almost levelled with the ground and lost in the grass of the field (Dan. 4:15), yet it shall sprout again (Job 14:7); nay, it shall grow out of his roots, which are quite buried in the earth. The house of David was reduced and brought very low at the time of Christ’s birth, witness the obscurity and poverty of Joseph and Mary.2
2 The Holy Spirit shall not only come, but rest and abide upon him.  He began his preaching with this (Lu. 4:18), The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. In particular, the spirit of government, by which he should be every way fitted for that judgment which the Father has committed to him and given him authority to execute.  He shall thoroughly understand what he is to make known to the children of men concerning God. He shall know how to administer the affairs of his spiritual kingdom so as effectually to answer the two great intentions of it, the glory of God and the welfare of the children of men. The terms of the covenant shall be settled by him, and ordinances instituted, in wisdom: he shall be our counsellor.  He was famed for courage in his teaching the way of God in truth, and not caring for any man, (Mt. 22:16).  Not only he shall himself have a reverent affection for his Father, as his servant (ch. 42:1), but he shall have a zeal for religion, and shall design the advancement of it in his whole undertaking.2
3 Jesus Christ perfectly understood his undertaking; as appears not only in the admirable answers he gave to all that questioned with him, but in the management of his whole undertaking. To have settled the great affair of religion to secure both God’s honour and man’s happiness, demonstrates that he thoroughly understood it. He judged not according to outward appearance, with respect of persons, nor according to outward shows and appearances.  Nor did he reprove after the hearing of his ears, by common fame and report, and the representations of others, as men commonly do.  He judged not men by the fair words they spoke, nor their plausible actions which they do to be seen of men; but he judged by the heart. Christ will judge the secrets of men (Rom. 2:16).2
4 He shall in righteousness plead for the people that are poor and oppressed; he will be their protector.  He shall judge in favour and defence of those who have right on their side, though they are poor in the world, and because they are poor in spirit.  He shall debate with evenness those that bear the injuries done them with meekness and patience: they are in a special manner entitled to divine care and protection.  He shall in righteousness plead against his enemies that are proud and oppressor.  He shall speak terror and ruin to them that oppress, and the men of the world that mind earthly things only. According to his word, and working with and by it, he shall slay the wicked. He will do it easily, with a word’s speaking, as he laid those flat who came to seize him, by saying I am he, Jn. 18:6.2
5 He shall be righteous in the administration of his government, and his righteousness shall be his girdle; it shall constantly compass him and cleave to him, shall be his ornament and honour; he shall gird himself for every action, shall gird on his sword for war in righteousness; his righteousness shall be his strength, and shall make him expeditious in his undertakings, as a man with his loins girt. In conformity to Christ, his followers must have the girdle of truth (Eph. 6:14) and it will be the stability of the times.2
6 Each animal is coupled with that one which is its natural prey. A fit state of things under the "Prince of Peace”.  A literal change in the relations of animals to man and each other, restoring the state in Eden, is a likely interpretation.3 The creatures shall be restored to that state of innocency in which they were before the fall of man.4 
The wolf and the leopard not only forbear to destroy the lamb and the kid, but even take their abode and lie down together with them. The calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, not only come together, but are led quietly in the same band, and that by a little child.5
7
The heifer and the she-bear not only feed together, but even lodge their young ones, for whom they used to be most jealously fearful, in the same place.  The lion not only abstains from preying on the weaker animals, but becomes tame and domestic, and feeds on straw like the ox.5
8 The cockatrice is a kind of adder, more venomous than the asp.  Some commentators think the basilisk is meant, which was thought to poison even with its breath.3  All the serpent kind is so perfectly harmless, that the sucking infant and the newly weaned child puts his hand on the basilisk's den, and plays upon the hole of the aspic.  The cockatrice' den is supposed by some commentators  to mean the pupil of this serpent's eye.  When he is in the mouth of his den, in an obscure place, then his eyes sparkle exceedingly: the child, seeing this, and supposing it to be a piece of crystal, or precious stone, puts forth his hand to take it. What would be very dangerous at another time, shall be safe in the days of the Messiah; for the serpent will not hurt the child.5
9 The Lord’s holy mountain is Zion, that is, Jerusalem. The kingdom of Christ will fill the entire world (Dan. 2:35).4  As the waters find their way into every cavern of its depths, so Christianity shall pervade every recess of the earth.3
10 This prophecy speaks of Christ as the root of Jesse, or a branch out of his roots, a root out of a dry ground, (ch. 53:2). He is the root of David (Rev. 5:5), the root and offspring of David (Rev. 22:16). He shall stand, or be set up, for an ensign of the people. When he was crucified he was lifted up from the earth, that, as an ensign of beacon, he might draw the eyes and the hearts of all men unto him, (Jn. 12:32).2 Those who find Christ find peace and rest, a peace that the world cannot give and that the wicked will never know.  The most blessed experience possible for man is to enjoy the “rest” Christ offers, rest from the cares and burdens of sin.6  Christ’s glorious rest shall be spiritual, consisting in the plentiful effusions of the gifts, and graces, of the Holy Spirit.
4
 

References and notes
1.  King James Authorized Version
2.  The Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Bible - http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentarie
3.  Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871).  Commentary by A. R. FAUSSETT - http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries

4John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible - http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries
5
.  Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary - www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarke.htm
6
.  Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary Vol. 4 pg. 159
7
The Middletown Bible Church - Do I Interpret the Bible Literally? - http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/dispen/literal.htm
8. 
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES LECTURES (CHRISTENDOM) -
http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/MESSIAH.TXT

 

 

Learn More About ...
 
Isaiah 11
The Peaceable Kingdom
Is Isaiah 11 a Real Prophecy?
Bible Commentary

 
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Author of Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah was the author of the book called by his name.
 

 

Division

Isaiah 11 is a prophecy concerning Messiah the Prince structured as follows:
I. His rise out of the house of David (v. 1). II. His qualifications for his great undertaking (v. 2, 3).
III. The justice and equity of his government (v. 3-5).
IV. The peaceableness of his kingdom (v. 6-9).
V. The accession of the Gentiles to it (v. 10).
2

 

 

Is the Peaceable Kingdom Literal?

Does God really mean what He says in vs. 6-9 about animals living peaceably together or does He mean something else? If we take these verses literally, according to the normal way in which words are understood, then we are forced to conclude that the kingdom has not yet arrived! If you go to any zoo, you will not find any lions eating straw. Today no loving mother would allow her child to play with a deadly poisonous snake. The story is told of a Russian zookeeper who made this boast, “In our zoo here in Moscow, the wolf dwells with the lamb in the same cage, something which you Americans do not have.” But he failed to mention that a new lamb had to be put in the cage every day!7
 

 

Inconsistent Interpretation

An example of a non-literal approach is found in the New Geneva Study Bible, since renamed The Reformation Study Bible. According to the notes found in this Bible, verses which speak of the kingdom being free from the threat of wild animals should be understood “figuratively” to describe the "peace and security" and “reconciling love” that is found during this present age from the first advent until Christ’s return. The inconsistency of this interpretation is seen by comparing it with another passage which refers to the diet of animals.  The New Geneva Study Bible takes a very literal approach in its note under Genesis 1:29-30 (a passage which says that animals were originally vegetarian): “Animal diets were originally vegetarian.” 7
 

 

Why the inconsistency?

In the above example, why do they understand Genesis chapter 1 literally and Isaiah chapter 11 figuratively? Why does the plain sense make good sense in Genesis 1 but not in Isaiah 11, especially when both passages are speaking of the diet of animals? Could it be that Isaiah 11, understood literally, does not agree with their theological system which says that the kingdom is here and now, whereas the teaching of Genesis 1:29-30 does not threaten their theology?  This illustrates the point that theologians sometimes abandon the natural and normal meaning of words when the words describe kingdom conditions.7
 

 

Is Isaiah 11 a Real Prophecy?

Some scholars, disinclined to see a real prophecy, want to make vs. 1 refer to the great reduction in size of the Kingdom of Judah at the time of Isaiah and Achaz - the king then controlled absolutely only Jerusalem. They point out that the word which RSV renders "stump" is Hebrew "geza," a rare word, found only three times in the OT, in this passage and in Job 14, 7 and Isaiah 40.24. In the latter it means a newly planted tree; in Job it means a felled tree. The Targum (an ancient aramaic version of the OT) renders it by "sons". But the Targum also definitely makes it refer to the Messiah, and historically, the line of David had lacked power for about 600 years by that time (from 586 BC to the time of Christ). So, following the Targum interpretation, we see this passage as a real prophecy that the Messiah would come from the sons of Jesse. But the line of those sons disappeared after the exile. And so the Messiah did come from a shoot from the withered line of the sons of Jesse. "Targum Jonathan:" A king will come from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah will be anointed from his children's children."8
 

 

Isaiah Song Category

The Isaiah Song Category is a great starting point for searching the songs which make up this music category. The song category page contains Daily Scriptures and easy links to song previews and song pages. The song pages include interesting background information and commentary about the songs and the Bible author. Sometimes there are links to related web pages including Bible Quotes, Sermons, Music samples, and Bible Puzzles.
 




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