1A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
2Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
3His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;
1 A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
2 Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
3 His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;
KJVKing James Version
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:
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
1 And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow forth 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 his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears;
Isaiah 61:1(v2)The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken…
Jeremiah 23:5(v1)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will…
John 16:13(v2)However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he…
Ephesians 1:17-18(v2)that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,…
Revelation 22:16(v1)I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and…
Show all 52 cross-references
Zechariah 6:12(v1)and speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he…
2 Timothy 1:7(v2)For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
Isaiah 42:1(v2)“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
Revelation 5:5(v1)One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the…
Matthew 3:16(v2)Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God…
Acts 13:22-23(v1)When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after…
Jeremiah 33:15(v1)“In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in…
Colossians 1:8-9(v2)who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making…
Isaiah 53:2(v1)For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no…
Zechariah 3:8(v1)Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out…
John 3:34(v2)For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
James 3:17-18(v2)But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and…
Isaiah 9:7(v1)Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold…
Romans 15:12(v1)Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”
Isaiah 4:2(v1)In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of…
Isaiah 11:10(v1)It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will…
John 7:24(v3)Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Luke 2:52(v3)And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
1 Corinthians 1:30(v2)Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
Isaiah 48:16(v2)“Come near to me and hear this: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it happened, I was there.” Now the Lord…
Isaiah 59:21(v2)“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not…
John 8:15-16(v3)You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who…
John 14:17(v2)the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and…
Deuteronomy 34:9(v2)Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. The children of Israel listened to him, and…
1 Samuel 16:7(v3)But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man…
John 1:32-33(v2)John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. I didn’t recognize him, but…
Matthew 1:6-16(v1)Jesse became the father of King David. David became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon became the father of…
1 Samuel 17:58(v1)Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Proverbs 2:5(v3)then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God.
John 15:26(v2)“When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify…
Acts 10:38(v2)even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were…
1 Corinthians 2:13-15(v3)We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with…
Numbers 11:25-26(v2)Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit…
1 Kings 3:28(v3)All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do…
John 2:25(v3)and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.
Philippians 1:9-10(v3)This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are…
Colossians 2:2-3(v2)that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that…
Hebrews 5:14(v3)But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
Ruth 4:17(v1)The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of…
2 Samuel 14:17(v3)Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good…
1 Kings 3:9(v3)Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge…
Proverbs 2:9(v3)Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.
Job 12:11(v3)Doesn’t the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
Job 34:3(v3)For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.
Isaiah 33:6(v3)There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.
Luke 2:23-32(v1)(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice…
1 Corinthians 4:3-5(v3)But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self. For I know…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (27 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v1Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of…
Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of the spiritual captivity under sin, he showeth that our true deliverance must come by Christ: for as David came out of Jesse a man without dignity, so Christ should come of a poor carpenter’s house as out of a dead stock, Isa. 53:2.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod…
Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Ver. 1. And there shall come forth a rod,] i.e., Christ shall be born; whom our prophet having called "the anointing" or Messiah, {Isa 10:27} maketh him and his kingdom henceforward the chief matter of his discourse, to the end of his book. Here he beginneth with his nativity, calling him a rod or twig, springing, not out of the stock of David, but out of the stump of Jesse, a mean man, and that then, when the royal family was sunk so low as from David the king to Joseph the carpenter. Well might Chrysostom say that the foundation of our philosophy was humility. And another, {a} that at Bethlehem brake forth that well of salvation which, in the type, once David so thirsted after. {2Sa 23:15}
Read full note →
And a Branch.] Or, The Nazarene born at Nazareth, saith Junius, which signifieth "a branch"; for so it was generally deemed; and our Saviour styleth himself Jesus of Nazareth; {Act 22:8} and on his cross they wrote Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, wherein that prodigy, saith A. Lapide, seemeth to have fallen out concerning which the poet inquireth -
“ Dic quibus in terris inscripti nomine Regis
Nascantur flores. ”
Tell who is noted in the earth by the name of a King, Let him in flowers. For Nazareth he interpreteth a flower, or something flowery; and for shall grow, others render shall bud, or bear fruit.
{a} Scultet.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–3The prophet having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s…
The prophet having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s people with the promise of their deliverance from that formidable enemy, now he proceeds further, and declares that God will do greater things than that for them, that he will give them their long-expected and much desired Messiah, and by him will work wonders of mercy for them. For this is the manner of the prophets, to take the occasion of particular deliverances, to fix the people’s minds upon their great and everlasting deliverance from all their enemies by the Messiah. And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, Isa 10:27, he now more particularly explains who that anointed person was. A rod, or twig, called a Branch in the next clause. Parents are oft compared to roots or trees, and their children to branches. He speaks of the most eminent Branch, of that famous Son of a virgin, Isa 7:14, of that wonderful Child, Isa 9:6; not of Hezekiah, as some of the Jews and judaizing Christians conceit; but of the Messiah, as will evidently appear from the following description. The stem, or trunk; or rather, stump; for the word properly signifies a trunk cut off from the root; or, root, as the LXX. here render the word, and as it is explained in the next clause. By which he clearly implies that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn and contemptible condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground; which really was the state of David’s family when Christ was born, as is notoriously known, but was in a far better condition when Hezekiah was born. Of Jesse; he doth not say of David, but
of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, 1Sa 18:18,23; 20:30, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
Read full note →
A Branch shall grow: he speaks of one not yet born, and therefore not of Hezekiah, who was born divers years before his father Ahaz (in whose time this prophecy was delivered) was king, by comparing 2Ki 16:2; 18:2; but of the Messiah.
Out of his roots; out of one of his roots, i.e. branches, as this word root is sometimes used, by a very usual figure called a metonymy, as it is here below, Isa 11:10; Isa 53:2; Hos 14:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v1The prophet had before, in this sermon, spoken of…
The prophet had before, in this sermon, spoken of a child that should be born, a son that should be given, on whose shoulders the government should be, intending this for the comfort of the people of God in times of trouble, as dying Jacob, many ages before, had intended the prospect of Shiloh for the comfort of his seed in their affliction in Egypt. He had said (Isa 10:27) that the yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing; now here he tells us on whom that anointing should rest. He foretels,
I. That the Messiah should, in due time, arise out of the house of David, as that branch of the Lord which he had said (Isa 4:2) should be excellent and glorious; the word is Netzer, which some think is referred to in Mat 2:23, where it is said to be spoken by the prophets of the Messiah that he should be called a Nazarene. Observe here, 1. Whence this branch should arise-from Jesse. He should 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, Act 2:30. David is often called the son of Jesse, and Christ is called so, because he was to be not only the Son of David, but David himself, Hos 3:5. 2. The meanness of his appearance. (1.) He is called a rod, and a branch; both the words here used signify a weak, small, tender product, a twig and a sprig (so some render them), such as is easily broken off. The enemies of God's church were just before compared to strong and stately boughs (Isa 10:33), which will not, without great labour, be hewn down, but Christ to a tender branch (Isa 53:2); yet he shall be victorious over them. (2.) 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 (Sa1 18:18), and it was in a way of contempt and reproach that David was sometimes called the son of Jesse, Sa1 22:7. (3.) He comes forth out of the stem, or stump, of Jesse. 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, and, like the roots of flowers in the winter, have no stem appearing above ground. 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. The Messiah was thus to begin his estate of humiliation, for submitting to which he should be highly exalted, and would thus give early notice that his kingdom was not of this world. The Chaldee paraphrase reads this, There shall come forth a King from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah (or Christ) shall be anointed out of his sons' sons.
Read full note →
II. That he should be every way qualified for that great work to which he was designed, that this tender branch should be so watered with the dews of heaven as to become a strong rod for a sceptre to rule, Isa 11:2. 1. In general, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The Holy Spirit, in all his gifts and graces, shall not only come, but rest and abide upon him; he shall have the Spirit not by measure, but without measure, the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him, Col 1:19; Col 2:9. He began his preaching with this (Luk 4:18), The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 2. 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 (Joh 5:22, Joh 5:27), and not only so, but should be made the fountain and treasury of all grace to believers, that from his fulness they might all receive the Spirit of grace, as all the members of the body derive animal spirits from the head. (1.) He shall have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge; he shall thoroughly understand the business he is to be employed in. No man knows the Father but the Son, Mat 11:27. What he is to make known to the children of men concerning God, and his mind and will, he shall be himself acquainted with and apprised of, Joh 1:18. He shall know how to administer the affairs of his spiritual kingdom in all the branches of it, 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: treasures of wisdom shall be hid in him; he shall be our counsellor, and shall be made of God to us wisdom. (2.) The spirit of courage, or might, or fortitude. The undertaking was very great, abundance of difficulty must be broken through, and therefore it was necessary that he should be so endowed that he might not fail or be discouraged, Isa 42:4. He was famed for courage in his teaching the way of God in truth, and not caring for any man, Mat 22:16. (3.) The spirit of religion, or the fear of the Lord; not only he shall himself have a reverent affection for his Father, as his servant (Isa 42:1), and he was heard in that he feared (Heb 5:7), but he shall have a zeal for religion, and shall design the advancement of it in his whole undertaking. Our faith in Christ was never designed to supersede and jostle out, but to increase and support, our fear of the Lord.
III. That he should be accurate, and critical, and very exact in the administration of his government and the exercise of the power committed to him (Isa 11:3): The Spirit wherewith he shall be clothed shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord - of an acute smell or scent (so the word is), for the apprehensions of the mind are often expressed by the sensations of the body. Note, 1. Those are most truly and valuably intelligent that are so in the fear of the Lord, in the business of religion, for that is both the foundation and top-stone of wisdom. 2. By this it will appear that we have the Spirit of God, if we have spiritual senses exercised, and are of quick understanding in the fear of the lord. Those have divine illumination that know their duty and know how to go about it. 3. Therefore Jesus Christ had the spirit without measure, that he might perfectly understand his undertaking; and he did so, as appears not only in the admirable answers he gave to all that questioned with him, which proved him to be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, but in the management of his whole undertaking. He has settled the great affair of religion so unexpectedly well (so as effectually to secure both God's honour and man's happiness) that, it must be owned, he thoroughly understood it.
IV. That he should be just and righteous in all the acts of his government, and there should appear in it as much equity as wisdom. He shall judge as he expresses it himself, and as he himself would be judged of, Joh 7:24. 1. Not according to outward appearance (Isa 11:3): he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, with respect of persons (Job 34:19) and according to outward shows and appearances, not reprove after the hearing of his ears, by common fame and report, and the representations of others, as men commonly do; nor does he judge of men by the fair words they speak, calling him, Lord, Lord, or their plausible actions before the eye of the world, which they do to be seen of men; but he will judge by the hidden man of the heart, and the inward principles men are governed by, of which he is an infallible witness. Christ will judge the secrets of men (Rom 2:16), will determine concerning them, not according to their own pretensions and appearances (that were to judge after the sight of the eyes), not according to the opinion others have of them (that were to judge after the hearing of the ears), but we are sure that his judgment is according to truth. 2. He will judge righteous judgment (Isa 11:5): Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins. 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. Particularly, (1.) He shall in righteousness plead for the people that are poor and oppressed; he will be their protector (Isa 11:4): With righteousness shall he judge the poor; he shall judge in favour and defence of those that have right on their side, though they are poor in the world, and because they are poor in spirit. It is the duty of princes to defend and deliver the poor (Psa 82:3, Psa 82:4), and the honour of Christ that he is the poor man's King, Psa 72:2, Psa 72:4. He shall debate with evenness for the meek of the earth, or of the land; those that bear the injuries done them with meekness and patience are in a special manner entitled to the divine care and protection. I, as a deaf man, heard not, for thou wilt hear, Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14. Some read it, He shall reprove or correct the meek of the earth with equity. If his own people, the meek of the land, do amiss, he will visit their transgression with the rod. (2.) He shall in righteousness plead against his enemies that are proud and oppressors (Isa 11:4): But he shall smite the earth, the man of the earth, that doth oppress (see Psa 10:18), the men of the world, that mind earthly things only (Psa 17:14); these he shall smite with the rod of his mouth, the word of his mouth, speaking terror and ruin to them; his threatenings shall take hold of them, and be executed upon them. With the breath of his lips, by the operation of his Spirit, 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, Joh 18:6. Killing terrors shall arrest their consciences, killing judgments shall ruin them, their power, and all their interests; and in the other world everlasting tribulation will be recompensed to those that trouble his poor people. The apostle applies this to the destruction of the man of sin, whom he calls that wicked one (Th2 2:8) whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth. And the Chaldee here reads it, He shall slay that wicked Romulus, or Rome, as Mr. Hugh Broughton understands it.
V. That there should be great peace and tranquillity under his government; this is an explication of what was said in Isa 9:6, that he should be the Prince of peace. Peace signifies two things: -
1. Unity or concord, which is intimated in these figurative promises, that even the wolf shall dwell peaceably with the lamb; men of the most fierce and furious dispositions, who used to bite and devour all about them, shall have their temper so strangely altered by the efficacy of the gospel and grace of Christ that they shall live in love even with the weakest and such as formerly they would have made an easy prey of. So far shall the sheep be from hurting one another, as sometimes they have done (Eze 34:20, Eze 34:21), that even the wolves shall agree with them. Christ, who is our peace, came to slay all enmities and to settle lasting friendships among his followers, particularly between Jews and Gentiles: when multitudes of both, being converted to the faith of Christ, united in one sheep-fold, then the wolf and the lamb dwelt together; the wolf did not so much as threaten the lamb, nor was the lamb afraid of the wolf. The leopard shall not only not tear the kid, but shall lie down with her: even their young ones shall lie down together, and shall be trained up in a blessed amity, in order to the perpetuating of it. The lion shall cease to be ravenous and shall eat straw like the ox, as some think all the beasts of prey did before the fall. The asp and the cockatrice shall cease to be venomous, so that parents shall let their children play with them and put their hands among them. A generation of vipers shall become a seed of saints, and the old complaint of homo homini lupus - man is a wolf to man, shall be at an end. Those that inhabit the holy mountain shall live as amicably as the creatures did that were with Noah in the ark, and it shall be a means of their preservation, for they shall not hurt nor destroy one another as they have done. Now, (1.) This is fulfilled in the wonderful effect of the gospel upon the minds of those that sincerely embrace it; it changes the nature, and makes those that trampled on the meek of the earth, not only meek like them, but affectionate towards them. When Paul, who had persecuted the saints, joined himself to them, then the wolf dwelt with the lamb. (2.) Some are willing to hope it shall yet have a further accomplishment in the latter days, when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares.
2. Safety or security. Christ, the great Shepherd, shall take such care of the flock that those who would hurt them shall not; they shall not only not destroy one another, but no enemy from without shall be permitted to give them any molestation. The property of troubles, and of death itself, shall be so altered that they shall not do any real hurt to, much less shall they be the destruction of, any that have their conversation in the holy mountain, Pe1 3:13. Who, or what, can harm us, if we be followers of him that is good? God's people shall be delivered, not only from evil, but from the fear of it. Even the sucking child shall without any terror play upon the hole of the asp; blessed Paul does so when he says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? and, O death! where is thy sting?
Lastly, Observe what shall be the effect, and what the cause, of this wonderful softening and sweetening of men's tempers by the grace of God. 1. The effect of it shall be tractableness, and a willingness to receive instruction: A little child shall lead those who formerly scorned to be controlled by the strongest man. Calvin understands it of their willing submission to the ministers of Christ, who are to instruct with meekness and not to use any coercive power, but to be as little children, Mat 18:3. See Co2 8:5. 2. The cause of it shall be the knowledge of God. The more there is of that the more there is of a disposition to peace. They shall thus live in love, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, which shall extinguish men's heats and animosities. The better acquainted we are with the God of love the more shall we be changed into the same image and the better affected shall we be to all those that bear his image. The earth shall be as full of this knowledge as the channels of the sea are of water - so broad and extensive shall this knowledge be and so far shall it spread - so deep and substantial shall this knowledge be, and so long shall it last. There is much more of the knowledge of God to be got by the gospel of Christ than could be got by the law of Moses; and, whereas then in Judah only was God known, now all shall know him, Heb 8:11. But that is knowledge falsely so called which sows discord among men; the right knowledge of God settles peace.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–3And there shall come forth a rod out of…
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,.... By which is meant, not Hezekiah, as R. Moses (o) the priest, and others, since he was now born, and must be at least ten or twelve years of age; but the Messiah, as both the text and context show, and as is owned by many Jewish writers (p), ancient and modern: and he is called a "rod", either because of his unpromising appearance, arising "out of the stem of Jesse"; from him, in the line of David, when that family was like a tree cut down, and its stump only left in the ground, which was the case when Jesus was born of it: Jesse's family was at first but a mean and obscure one; it became very illustrious in David's time, and in some following reigns; from the Babylonish captivity, till the time of Christ, it was very low; and at the birth of Christ was low indeed, his supposed father being a carpenter, and his real mother Mary a poor virgin, dwelling at Nazareth; and it seemed very unlikely, under these circumstances, that he should be the King Messiah, and be so great as was foretold he should; and have that power, authority, and wisdom he had; and do such mighty works as he did; and especially be the author of eternal salvation; and bring forth such fruits, and be the cause of such blessings of grace, as he was: or else because of his kingly power and majesty, the rod or branch being put for a sceptre, and so a symbol of that; to which the Targum agrees, paraphrasing the words thus,
"and a King shall come forth from the sons of Jesse:''
Read full note →
and the sense is, that though Jesse's or David's family should be brought so very low as to be as the stem or stump of a tree, without a body, branches, leaves, and fruit; yet from thence should arise a mighty King, even the King Messiah, who is spoken of by so many august names and titles, Isa 9:6 and this is observed for the comfort of the people of Israel, when distressed by the Assyrians, as in the preceding chapter Isa 10:1; when those high ones, comparable to the loftiest cedars in Lebanon, and to the tallest trees in the forest, should be hewn down, a rod should come out of Jesse's stem, which should rise higher, and spread more than ever they did:
and a branch shall grow out of his roots; the roots of Jesse, out of his family, compared to the stump of a tree; meaning either his ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Boaz, and Obed; or his posterity, as David, Joseph, and Mary; and so the Targum,
"and the Messiah shall be anointed (or exalted) from his children's children.''
The branch is a well known name of the Messiah; See Gill on Isa 4:2 the word Netzer, here used, is the name of the city of Nazareth (q); which perhaps was so called, from the trees, plants, and grass, which grew here; and so our Lord's dwelling here fulfilled a prophecy, that he should be called a Nazarene; or an inhabitant of Netzer, Mat 2:23. The Jews (r) speak of one Ben Netzer, who they say was a robber, took cities, and reigned over them, and became the head of robbers; and make (s) him to be the little horn in Dan 7:8 and wickedly and maliciously say (t) he was Jesus; and yet, under all this wickedness, they tacitly own that Jesus of Nazareth is the Netzer this prophecy speaks of; the design of which is to show the meanness of Christ's descent as man, and that he should be as a root out of a dry ground, Isa 53:2 or rather as a rod and branch out of a dry root.
(o) Apud Aben Ezra in loc. (p) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 85. fol. 75. 1. Midrash Tillim in Psal. lxxii. 1. Apud Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 112. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 8. 4. Aben Ezra, Jarchi, & Kimchi, in loc. Nachman. Disputat. cum Fratre Paulo, p. 53. (q) David de Pomis Lexic. p. 141. (r) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 51. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (s) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 76. fol. 67. 2. (t) Abarbinel in Dan. vii. 8. fol. 44. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse,…
Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse, endued with the spirit of the Lord, should set up a kingdom by the preaching of his word, ver. 1-5. The members of his church should live in peace and unity, ver. 6-9. And be victorious over their enemies: and to him should the Gentiles seek, ver. 10-16.
And - And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, he now explains who that anointed person was. The stem - Or, stump: for the word signifies properly a trunk cut off from the root. By which he clearly implies, that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground. Of Jesse - He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ's birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn v1The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up…
CHAPTER XI
The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up from the
Read full note →
root of an old withered stem, which tender plant, so extremely
weak in its first appearance, should nevertheless become
fruitful and mighty, 1-4.
Great equity of the Messiah's government, 5.
Beautiful assemblages of images by which the great peace and
happiness of his kingdom are set forth, 6-8.
The extent of his dominion shall be ultimately that of the
whole habitable globe, 9.
The prophet, borrowing his imagery from the exodus from Egypt,
predicts, with great majesty of language, the future
restoration of the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of
Judah, (viz., the whole of the twelve tribes of Israel,) from
their several dispersions, and also that blessed period when
both Jews and Gentiles shall assemble under the banner of
Jesus, and zealously unite in extending the limits of his
kingdom, 10-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. XI
The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees growing thick together, and of a great height; of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut down and laid level with the ground by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent. In opposition to this image he represents the great Person who makes the subject of this chapter as a slender twig shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper. This contrast shows plainly the connexion between this and the preceding chapter, which is moreover expressed by the connecting particle; and we have here a remarkable instance of that method so common with the prophets, and particularly with Isaiah, of taking occasion, from the mention of some great temporal deliverance, to launch out into the display of the spiritual deliverance of God's people by the Messiah; for that this prophecy relates to the Messiah we have the express authority of St. Paul, Ro 15:12. 'He joins this paragraph, with respect to the days of the Messiah, with the fidelity that was in the days of Hezekiah." - Kimchi, in Isa 11:1. Thus in the latter part of Isaiah's prophecies the subject of the great redemption, and of the glories of the Messiah's kingdom, arises out of the restoration of Judah by the deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, and is all along connected and intermixed with it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Isa 11:1. And, &c. — The fifth section of…
Isa 11:1. And, &c. — The fifth section of the fifth discourse begins here, and concludes with the next chapter. It is two-fold: in the first part the kingdom of Christ is described; in what manner, arising from the smallest beginnings, it should go on to increase, till, at length, it attained the highest perfection, Isa 11:1-9. In the second part are set forth some remarkable events of that kingdom, illustrating its glory, with their consequences, Isa 11:10 to chap. 12:6: see Vitringa. There shall come forth a rod — The prophet, having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s people with the promise of their deliverance from that formidable enemy, now proceeds further, and declares that God would do greater things than that for them; that he would give them their long-expected and much-desired Messiah, and by him would work wonders of mercy for them. For this is the manner of the prophets, to take occasion, from particular deliverances, to fix the people’s minds upon that great and everlasting deliverance from all their enemies by the Messiah. And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed, because of the anointing, he now more particularly explains who that anointed person was. Bishop Lowth mentions another particular, which he thinks plainly shows the connection between this and the preceding chapter. “The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees, growing thick together, and of a great height: of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut down, and laid level with the ground, by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent; in opposition to this image he represents the great person, who makes the subject of this chapter, as a slender twig, shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper.” Out of the stem — Or, rather, stump, as the word properly signifies: by which he clearly implies that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump, or root under ground. Of Jesse — He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–3And there shall come forth a rod - In…
And there shall come forth a rod - In the previous chapter, the prophet had represented the Assyrian monarch and his army under the image of a dense and flourishing forest, with all its glory and grandeur. In opposition to this, he describes the illustrious personage who is the subject of this chapter, under the image of a slender twig or shoot, sprouting up from the root of a decayed and fallen tree. Between the Assyrian, therefore, and the person who is the subject of this chapter, there is a most striking and beautiful contrast. The one was at first magnificent - like a vast spreading forest - yet should soon fall and decay; the other was the little sprout of a decayed tree, which should yet rise, expand and flourish.
A rod - (חטר choṭı̂r). This word occurs in but one other place; Pro 14:3 : ‘In the mouth of the foolish is a “rod” of pride.’ Here it means, evidently, a branch, a twig, a shoot, such as starts up from the roots of a decayed tree, and is synonymous with the word rendered “branch” (צמח tsemach) in Isa 4:2; see the Note on that place.
Read full note →
Out of the stem - (מגזע mı̂geza‛). This word occurs but three times in the Old Testament; see Job 14:8; where it is rendered “stock:”
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground;
And in Isa 40:24 : ‘Yea, their “stock” shall not take root in the earth.’ It means, therefore, the stock or stump of a tree that has been cut down - a stock, however, which may not be quite dead, but where it may send up a branch or shoot from its roots. It is beautifully applied to an ancient family that is fallen into decay, yet where there may be a descendant that shall rise and flourish; as a tree may fall and decay, but still there may be vitality in the root, and it shall send up a tender germ or sprout.
Of Jesse - The father of David. It means, that he who is here spoken of should be of the family of Jesse, or David. Though Jesse had died, and though the ancient family of David would fall into decay, yet there would arise from that family an illustrious descendant. The beauty of this description is apparent, if we bear in recollection that, when the Messiah was born, the ancient and much honored family of David had fallen into decay; that the mother of Jesus, though pertaining to that family, was poor, obscure, and unknown; and that, to all appearance, the glory of the family had departed. Yet from that, as from a long-decayed root in the ground, he should spring who would restore the family to more than its ancient glory, and shed additional luster on the honored name of Jesse.
And a branch - (נצר nêtser). A twig, branch, or shoot; a slip, scion, or young sucker of a tree, that is selected for transplanting, and that requires to be watched with special care. The word occurs but four times; Isa 60:21 : ‘They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting;’ Isa 14:19 : ‘But thou art cast out of thy grave as an abominable branch;’ Dan 11:7. The word rendered branch in Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, is a different word in the original (צמח tsemach), though meaning substantially the same thing. The word “branch” is also used by our translators, in rendering several other Hebrew words; “see” Taylor’s “Concordance.” Here the word is synonymous with that which is rendered “rod” in the previous part of the verse - a shoot, or twig, from the root of a decayed tree.
Out of his roots - As a shoot starts up from the roots of a decayed tree. The Septuagint renders this, ‘And a flower (ἄνθος anthos) shall arise from the root.’ The Chaldee, ‘And a king shall proceed from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah from his sons’ sons shall arise;’ showing conclusively that the ancient Jews referred this to the Messiah.
That this verse, and the subsequent parts of the chapter, refer to the Messiah, may be argued from the following considerations:
(1) The fact that it is expressly applied to him in the New Testament. Thus Paul, in Rom 15:12, quotes the tenth verse of this chapter as expressly applicable to the times of the Messiah.
(2) The Chaldee Paraphrase shows, that this was the sense which the ancient Jews put upon the passage. That paraphrase is of authority, only to show that this was the sense which appeared to be the true one by the ancient interpreters.
(3) The description in the chapter is not applicable to any other personage than the Messiah. Grotius supposes that the passage refers to Hezekiah; though, ‘in a more sublime sense,’ to the Messiah. Others have referred it to Zerubbabel. But none of the things here related apply to either, except the fact that they had a descent from the family of Jesse; for neither of those families had fallen into the decay which the prophet here describes.
(4) The peace, prosperity, harmony and order, referred to in the subsequent portions of the chapter, are not descriptive of any portion of the reign of Hezekiah.
(5) The terms and dcscriptions here accord with other portions of the Scriptures, as applicable to the Messiah. Thus Jeremiah Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15 describes the Messiah under the similitude of a “branch, a germ or shoot - using, indeed, a different Hebrew word, but retaining the same idea and image; compare Zec 3:8. It accords also with the description by Isaiah of the same personage in Isa 4:2; see the note on the place.
(6) I may add, that nearly all commentators have referred this to the Messiah; and, perhaps, it would not be possible to find greater unanimity in regard to the interpretation of any passage of Scripture than on this.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Root. Juda shall not be exterminated, like the Assyrians.…
Root. Juda shall not be exterminated, like the Assyrians. (Calmet) --- Christ shall spring from the blessed Virgin [Mary], (Worthington) for the salvation of mankind. The Jews agree, that this prediction regards the Messias; though some, with Grotius, would explain it literally of Ezechias. They do not reflect that he was now ten years old, and that the prophet speaks of an event which should still take place after he had been a long while upon the throne. If we were to look for any figure of the Messias, to whom this might be applicable, it would be Zorobabel, Zacharias iii. 8. But how disproportionate would be the promises to the execution? Some passages may indeed relate to the return of the captives, (ver. 11.) as the people must have a more immediate object, to insure the accomplishment of the more elevated predictions concerning the Messias: but these also refer ultimately to the propagation of the gospel, which the prophet had also in view. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Isa_11:1 to Isa_12:6
III. ISRAEL’S REDEMPTION IN RELATION TO THE MESSIAH
Isa_11:1 to Isa_12:6
Read full note →
1. FROM THE APPARENTLY DRIED UP ROOT OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID SHALL GO FORTH A SPROUT THAT SHALL FOUND A KINGDOM OF MOST GLORIOUS PEACE
Isa_11:1-9
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the 1stem of Jesse,
And a 2Branch 3shall 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 4And shall make him of 5quick understanding in the fear of the Lord:
And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
Neither 6reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor,
And 78reprove with equity for the meek of 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.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
And the 9leopard 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 10straw 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 11cockatrice’ 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.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
On Isa_11:1. גֶּזַע occurs again only Isa_40:24; Job_14:8. The root גָּזַע is not found. The meaning is that of גָּדַע (Isa_10:33). caedere “to cut down.” In the three places that it occurs גזע is “the hewn, cut up stem that still sticks in the ground.” Hence גזע ישׁי and not גזע דָּוִד.—חֹטֶר again only Pro_14:3, meaning: “rod, pliant twig.”—נֵצֶר, Isa_14:19; Isa_60:21; Dan_11:7 (from נָצַר unused root, splendere, nitere), “a hardy, fresh young branch.”—משׁרשׁיו, though the accents are against it, must be connected with נצר. For what does it mean that the shoot right from the root on shall bear fruit? Is something unnatural and impossible said of this shoot? Or was not Christ a Tree when He bore fruit? The thought is rather that from the extinct trunk and shoot a sprout shall proceed that shall give evidence of adequate vital power, and grow up to be a fruit-bearing tree. Hence it is quite unjustifiable to impose upon the verb יפרה the meaning of יִפְרַח (Hitzig, Umbreit).
On Isa_11:3. It is natural to regard הריהו as antithesis of the objective communication of the Spirit spoken of, Isa_11:2. For first, הֵרִיחַ means “smell anything with pleasure” (Lev_26:31; Amo_5:21). But if ביראת י׳ should be the object of הריחו, then it ceases to be predicate, and then the sentence is without predicate; or if it is construed as predicate, then the emphatic use of בְּ after verbs of sensation cannot be appealed to, because then בְּ no longer depends on the notion of smelling, but on a modification of the notion of being (happens in the fear of Jehovah, is directed to the fear of Jehovah), which must be supplied to accommodate the subject to the predicate. Second: What means the one sided emphasis of smelling? If smelling may be construed in the wider sense as inhaling and exhaling air through the nose, so that it coincides with breathing, that would suit. I construe it in this wider sense as do others (Clericus, Hendewerk, Ewald, Meier). [See Comment of J. A. Alexander, added, p. 162, top.] Then הריח is to be construed as direct causative Hiphil, in the sense of “to make רוּחַ,” as one says חֶאְְזִין “to make ears” = to “hear,” הִלְשִׁין “to make a tongue,” züngeln, “to blaspheme.” רוּמַ then = “breath, life’s breath,” Gen_6:17; Gen_7:15; Gen_7:22, etc. But still much depends on whether bodily or spiritual breath is meant. The context decides for the latter. For our הריחו ביראת י׳ stands in evident antithesis to רוח יראת י׳, Isa_11:2. The latter designates the objective communication of the Spirit, the former the subjective reception.—לְ secundum, comp. לְצֶדֶק Isa_32:1 : לָבֶטַח, etc.—הוכיח with לְ like Isa_2:4.
On Isa_11:4. מִישׁוֹר comp. Isa_40:4; Isa_42:16.
On Isa_11:5. Gesenius makes the remark here that the repetition of אֵזוֹר (instead of using once חגור) can give no surprise in Isaiah, because he often uses the same word in parallel clauses: Isa_14:4; Isa_15:1; Isa_15:8; Isa_16:7; Isa_17:12-13; Isa_19:7; Isa_31:8; Isa_32:17; Isa_42:19; Isa_44:3; Isa_54:13; Isa_55:4; Isa_55:13; Isa_59:10. But in saying this Gesenius, as Drechsler remarks, forgot that he denies Isaiah’s authorship of chaps. 40–66
On Isa_11:6. זְאֵב is found in Isaiah only here and Isa_65:25, that resembles this.—כֶּבֶשׂ is “the lamb;” comp. Isa_1:11; Isa_5:17. נָמֵר = “the striped” is “the panther” (Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23). Isaiah has it only here.—נהג with בְּ like 1Ch_13:7; comp. on נֹגֵשׂ בּוֹ Isa_9:3.
On Isa_11:7. אריה Isa_35:9.—תֶּבֶן again only Isa_65:25.
On Isa_11:8. שׁעשׁע Pilpel from שׁעע delimre, mulcere, comp. the pass. Isa_66:12.—חֻר Isa_42:22—פתן only here in Isaiah.—מְאוּרָת is ἅπ. λεγ. מָאוֹר is “light,” i.e., “an illuminating body” (Gen_1:16); מְאוּרָה would then be a “light opening,” and we might understand under that term both the entrance of the cave and the sparkling eye of the animal gleaming like a precious stone (so the Targ. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, etc.). But the parallelism with חֻר prompts the conjecture, that originally מְעוּרָה, which otherwise never occurs, = מְעָרָה “cave,” stood in the text (Gesenius). What is correct is hard to make out.—הָדָה doubtless kindred to יָדָה, immittere is ἅπ. λεγ.—The צִפְעוֹנִי (Isa_59:5) is likely identical with צֶפַע (Isa_14:29). The root צָפַע means halare, sibilare. Doubtless a very poisonous serpent is meant, perhaps the basilisk, which is said to have been called sibilus. Comp. Gesenius, Thes. p. 1182.
On Isa_11:9. That the beasts are subject of ירעו (comp. Isa_65:25) the context puts beyond doubt.—יָם is here manifestly the sea-bed, the bottom of the sea; (comp. Psa_104:6). The prefix לְ before יָם is explained by the causative sense in which Piel is used here, as it is often.—כִּסָּה means “covering,” make covering, like הִצִּיל “provide rescue,” הוֹכִיחַ “provide justice,” הֶאֱרִיךְ “make length,” etc., and is accordingly, like the verbs named, construed with the dative. So, too, is כִּסָּה עַל “to make a cover, to spread as a cover over something” (Num_16:33; Job_36:32; Hab_2:14, where our text is reproduced.—[J. A. Alexander on verse 3. “And his sense of smelling (i.e., his power of perception, with a seeming reference to the pleasure it affords him) shall be exercised in (or upon) the fear of Jehovah (as an attribute of others”). The only sense of הריחו confirmed by usage is to smell. This, as a figure, comprehends discernment or discrimination between false and true religion, and the act of taking pleasure as the sense does in a grateful odor. In ביראת י׳ the בְּ is a connective which the verb הריח commonly takes after it, and adds no more to the meaning of the phrase than the English prepositions when we speak of smelling to or of a thing, instead of simply smelling it.”
Ibid. On Isa_11:9. “They shall not hurt nor destroy,” etc. The absence of the copulative shows that this is not so much a direct continuation of the previous description as a summary explanation of it. The true construction, therefore, is indefinite, and the verbs do not agree with the nouns (animals) of Isa_11:8.”]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The destruction of the proud, towering forest, which, meaning primarily Assyria, comprehends also the world-powers generally, is followed by a contrasted picture in the renewed flourishing of the house of David and of his kingdom. That house of David will be reduced to a stunted and inconsiderable root-stock, when the world-power shall be at the summit of its prosperity. But from this root-stock, that is regarded as dead, a sprout shall still go forth (Isa_11:1). On it the Spirit of the Lord shall rest in the fulness of His manifold powers (Isa_11:2). This sprout will take delight in the fear of Jehovah; He will practise justice not after the deceptive sight of the eyes (Isa_11:3); on the contrary He will so do it that the poor and humble shall be helped, but the wicked not merely outwardly, but also inwardly subdued (Isa_11:4). For He shall stand firm in righteousnesss and truth (Isa_11:5). Thus His kingdom shall be one of peace in such a degree that even the impersonal creatures shall be filled with this spirit of peace (Isa_11:6-7), 8. For even the wildest beasts shall be no more wild, and no longer do harm on Jehovah’s holy mountain. The whole shall be full of the liveliest and deepest knowledge of Jehovah, like the bottom of the sea is covered with water (Isa_11:9).
2. And there shall come—his roots.
Isa_11:1. Without a hint as to the time when, the Prophet announced that a revirescence of David’s house shall be the correlative of destruction of the world-power that was compared to the forest of Lebanon. He says stock of Jesse, not stock of David, for he would intimate that David’s stock will be reduced to its rank previous to David, when it was only the stock of the obscure citizen of Bethlehem. This explanation seems to me more correct than the other that understands that by this term is intimated that the Messiah shall be the second David, for He is such not alongside of, but after and out of the first David. The Messiah is in fact the Son of David (2 Samuel 7). If this stock, dead and mutilated, only exists as a stump, (but we know when and how that happened,) then shall a slender twig emerge from His roots, thus out of that part concealed under ground and still fresh, a hardy shoot that shall not perish, but bear fruit, and therefore (as included in the statement) develop to a new tree.
He is called “branch” Isa_4:2; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12. At the beginning of 53. (Isa_11:2) is found a representation of the Messiah closely resembling our verse: “and He raised Himself before Him like the tender plant and like the root out of dry ground.” Ezek. too, (Eze_17:22-24) speaks of the shoot of the cedar (יוֹנֵק) that the Lord will plant on the high mountain of Israel (Isaiah 2) to show how He is able “to bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make flourish the dry tree.”
3. And the spirit—fear of the Lord
Isa_11:2. The Prophet immediately forsakes the figurative language. He speaks of the sprout as of a person. For on Him shall settle down (Isa_7:2; Isa_7:19; Num_11:25; 2Ki_2:15) the spirit of Jehovah. This is a generic designation. For in what follows a threefold species of this genus is named, each of which is represented in two modifications. The candlestick of the sanctuary has rightly been regarded as symbol of the spirit of Jehovah. The stem corresponds to what we have called the genus, the six branches to what we have called the species (Exo_25:31 sqq.; Isa_37:17 sqq.). The first species comprehends (חכמה and בינה) “wisdom and understanding.” It is not easy to determine wherein consists the difference between these. In not a few passages they are placed opposite to one another in the parallelism of the clauses: Pro_2:2 sqq.; Pro_4:5; Pro_4:7; Pro_9:10; Job_28:12; Job_28:20; Job_28:28; 2Ch_2:12, etc. In all these passages is observed, first of all, a formal distinction, a certain distinction of rank. “Wisdom” is the great all-comprehending chief name of all right knowledge. As the notion wisdom rises to personality, in fact to the dignity of divine personality (Pro_8:32 sqq.) the word becomes almost a proper name. “Understanding” (בינה with דַּעַת ,תְּבוּנָה, etc.) takes up a subordinate position. It signifies always only an element, although a very essential one of “wisdom” (comp. Pro_8:14). Many find in חכמה the fundamental meaning of firmitas solida, of πυκνότης, though the word is rather allied to בֵּךְplaatum, and thus, as in sapientia, σοφία “sapor” “taste” (comp. טעם) is the fundamental notion. In any case חכמה “wisdom” has more a positive meaning, whereas בינה “understanding” (comp. בֵּין and the meaning of the root words in the dialects) carries more the negative notion of διάκρισις, the art of distinguishing between true and false, good and bad.—עצה and גבורה “counsel” and “might” (Isa_36:5) are easily distinguished as proofs of practical wisdom in forming and executing good counsel. A third pair is (דַּעַת, stat. const. and(יִרְאַת יי) “knowledge and fear of the Lord:” for the first two pairs comprise those effects of the spirit that relate to the earthly life. The third pair appear to reach out beyond this earthly life. It names a knowledge and a fear whose object is Jehovah Himself. If the fear of God is named last here, whereas according to Pro_1:7; Pro_9:10; Psa_111:10 it is the beginning of all wisdom, that has its reason herein, that what is the deepest foundation may at the same time be designated as the loftiest height, like the great mountains form the inmost nucleus and the highest summits of the earth’s body. The entire enumeration progresses therefore from the bottom upwards. Moreover the view of the seven spirits of God, that is found Rev_1:4; Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5; Rev_5:6, rests on our text. On the anointing of the Messiah with the Spirit of God, comp. Isa_42:1; Isa_61:1; Mat_12:18; Luk_4:18; Joh_3:34.
4. And shall make—his reins.
Isa_11:3-5. On הריחו see Text and Gram. He has not only received the spirit from without; He receives it also within Him, so that He continually breathes in this spiritual air of life—this alone and no other. He has received (objectively) the spirit in absolute fulness. There appears to me to lie in these words, too, an allusion to Gen_2:7. There it is said that God breathed in men His spirit as the principle of life. But this principle of life performs its functions no matter in what element the man may find himself. Even in the godless it is constantly active. Yet how unsatisfying, how mournful is that breathing of the spirit in a sphere infected by sin. The Messiah lives wholly in “the fear of God.” He therefore breathes in an atmosphere homogeneous to Him. He therefore brings into use for mankind the right breathing by bringing them back into the pure element of spirit. He is the second Adam.
As king, the Messiah must display the divinity of His disposition pre-eminently in the perfectly adequate administration of justice. He will therefore never let His judgment depend on outward appearance, never on that which pleases the outward sense, but He will only suffer that to pass for right that is right. He will not, therefore, look on the person, but help the poor and lowly to their rights (comp. Isa_1:26 sqq.; Isa_3:13 sqq.). But the unjust He will punish. This is the meaning of Isa_11:4 b. For the earth (אֶרֶץ) that He smites with the rod of His mouth, (Rev_1:16) and that is put parallel with רָשָׁע “the wicked” can only be regarded as the territory of the world that is hostile to God. “The wicked” רָשָׁע is by the Chaldee, and since that by many expositors, construed not only as a collective = רשׁעים, but at the same time, (or even exclusively e.g.Delitzsch) in the sense of 2Th_2:8, as designation of an eschatological person, in whom enmity against God shall reach its climax. The staff of His mouth is the word that goes forth out of His mouth, and the breath of His lips is the same. For His word is in fact what His lips (spiritually) breathe out. Thus He proves Himself to be the one that can destroy in the same way as He created. By His word were things made; by His word they pass away. Comp. Psa_104:29. In this righteousness, however, consists His proper strength, and the guaranty for the eternal continuance of His kingdom. The powers of the world must pass away on account of unrighteousness (Pro_14:34).
The girdle is the symbol of vigorous, unimpeded development of strength, because the ancients could run, wrestle, and work only when the girdle confined their wide garments (comp. Job_12:18; Job_38:3; Job_40:2; Jer_1:17; Eph_6:14; 1Pe_1:13). Let the loins be girt with righteousness and truth, and the girded man stands strong and firm in righteousness and truth. He is strong by both. Therefore He does not further His cause by unrighteousness and lies, but by the contrary.
5. The wolf also——the sea.
Isa_11:6-9. The Prophet’s vision penetrates to the remotest time: he comprises the near and far in one look. The Assyria of the present, with its destruction in the near future, the Messiah in the inception of His appearance, and the latest fruits of His work of peace—all this he sees at once in a grand picture before him. When the Redeemer, as Prince of Peace (Isa_9:5) shall have done away with all violence, and put justice on the throne, then will peace be in the earth, and that, not only among men, but also among beasts. The Prophet, it is true, does not explain how the beasts are to be made accessible to this peaceful disposition. But it seems to me certain that only stupendous changes in nature, violent revolutions, world-ruin and resurrection, thus the slaying of the old Adam, and the regeneration of nature can bring forth these effects, (Revelation 20 sq.). “Behold I make all things new,” (Rev_21:5) says He, that sits upon the throne. But we see from passages like 35; Isa_43:18 sqq., that Isaiah himself had a presentiment of this grand, and all-comprehending world-renewal. I do not mean by this to defend a literal fulfilment of the word which the church fathers rejected as Judaizing, but only themselves to fall into the opposite extreme of spiritualizing and allegorizing. (Jerome appeals to Eph_1:3). The point is to find the happy medium. That, however, is not found by saying that Isaiah meant what he said in a real sense, only he deceived himself, but by recognizing that Isaiah, as organ of the Spirit of God, beheld stupendous, spirit-corporeal reality, but paints this reality with human, earthly, even national and temporal colors. In short there will be “a new creation,” (2Co_5:17) and this new creation will be at the same time a restitution of that oldest creation, that original one of Paradise, but on a higher plane. But how in the picture of the Prophet, to draw the boundary between absolute and relative reality, i.e., whether to exclude only single traits as not literal, or whether to divest the whole of its local and temporal construction, is difficult to say. Yet I decide for the latter. For all the traits of the picture painted by Isaiah bear the stamp of the existing earthly corporality. But in this sphere the prophecy cannot be realized. We must suppose a new basis of spiritual, glorified corporality made for this fulfilment. On this basis then the Prophet’s word will, mutatis mutandis, certainly be fulfilled.
The young lion (כפיר Isa_5:29) will lie quietly between the calf and the fattened ox, hitherto his favorite food; and a small boy will suffice to keep this entire, extraordinary, mixed up herd. Cow and bear graze, and their young rest by one another, while the old male-lion will devour chopped straw. Poisonous serpents will change their nature; the sucking child will play at the hole (vid. Text. and Gram.) of the adder. The holy mountain of Jehovah (comp. on Isa_2:2 sqq.), will not indeed physically comprise the earth, but it will rule the earth, and so far the Prophet can say, there shall no more harm be done, nor destruction devised on the holy mountain. The whole earth, in fact, is only the slope of the mount of God. But the reason why there is no more harm, is that the whole earth (notice how in the second clause “earth” is substituted for “holy mountain”) will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. No doubt the Prophet means here, not merely a dead knowing, which even the devils have (Jam_2:17); he means a living, experimental, practical knowledge of God, as is possible also to the impersonal creature. Therefore the whole earth, not merely man, shall know God living, and thus on the holy mountain shall no harm or destruction be devised. By the glorious picture of that knowledge filling the earth like the water the bottom of the sea, the Prophet signifies that he conceives of all creatures as filled with this living knowledge of God.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_7:1. “Hierosolyma oppugnatur, etc. Jerusalem is assaulted but not conquered. The church is pressed but not oppressed.”—Foerster.
2. On Isa_7:2. “Quando ecclesia, etc. When the Church is assaulted and Christ crucified over again in His elect, Rezin and Pekah, Herod and Pilate are wont to form alliance and enter into friendly relations. There are, so to speak, the foxes of Samson, joined indeed by the tails, but their heads are disconnected.”—Foerster.—“He that believes flees not (Isa_28:16). ‘The righteous is bold as a lion’ (Pro_28:1). Hypocrites and those that trust in works (work-saints) have neither reason nor faith. Therefore they cannot by any means quiet their heart. In prosperity they are, indeed, overweening, but in adversity they fall away (Jer_17:9).” Cramer.
3. On Isa_7:9. (“If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”) “Insignis sententia, etc. A striking sentiment that may be adapted generally to all temptation, because all earnest endeavor after anything, as you know, beguiles us in temptation. But only faith in the word of promise makes us abide and makes sure whatever we would execute. He warns Ahaz, therefore, as if he said: I now promise you by the word, it shall be that those two kings shall not hurt you. Believe this word! For if you do not, whatever you afterwards devise will deceive you: because all confidence is vain which is not supported by the word of God.”—Luther.
4. On Isa_7:10-12. “Wicked Ahaz pretends to great sanctity in abstaining from asking a sign through fear of God. Thus hypocrites are most conscientious where there is no need for it: on the other hand, when they ought to be humble, they are the most insolent. But where God commands to be bold, one must be bold. For to be obedient to the word is not tempting God. That is rather tempting God when one proposes something without having the word for it. It is, indeed, the greatest virtue to rest only in the word, and desire nothing more. But where God would add something more than the word, then it must not be thought a virtue to reject it as superfluous. We must therefore exercise such a faith in the word of God that we will not despise the helps that are given in addition to it as aids to faith. For example the Lord offers us in the gospel all that is necessary to salvation. Why then Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Are they to be treated as superfluous? By no means. For if one believes the word he will at the same time exhibit an entire obedience toward God. We ought therefore to learn to join the sign with the word, for no man has the power to sever the two.
But do you ask: is it permitted to ask God for a sign? We have an example of this in Gideon. Answer: Although Gideon was not told of God to ask a sign, yet he did it by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and not according to his own fancy. We must not therefore abuse his example, and must be content with the sign that is offered by the Lord. But there are extraordinary signs or miracles, like that of the text, and ordinary ones like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Yet both have the same object and use. For as Gideon was strengthened by that miraculous event, so, too, are we strengthened by Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, although no miracle appears before our eyes.” Heim and Hoffmann after Luther. Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, also asked the Lord to show him the right wife for Isaac by means of a sign of His own choosing, (Gen_24:14).
It ought to be said that this asking a sign (opening the Bible at a venture, or any other book) does not suit Christian perfection (Heb_6:1). A Christian ought to be inwardly sensible of the divine will. He ought to content himself with the guarantees that God Himself offers. Only one must have open eyes and ears for them. This thing of demanding a sign, if it is not directly an effect of superstition (Mat_12:39; Mat_16:4; 1Co_1:22), is certainly childish, and, because it easily leads to superstitious abuses, it is dangerous.
5. On Isa_7:13. “Non caret, etc. That the Prophet calls God his God is not without a peculiar emphasis. In Zec_2:12 it is said, that whoever touches the servants of God touches the pupil of God’s eye. Whoever opposes teacher and preacher will have to deal with God in heaven or with the Lord who has put them into office.”—Foerster.
6. On Isa_7:14. “The name Immanuel is one of the most beautiful and richest in contents of all the Holy Scripture. ‘God with us’ comprises God’s entire plan of salvation with sinful humanity. In a narrower sense it means ‘God-man’ (Mat_1:23), and points to the personal union of divinity and humanity, in the double nature of the Son of God become man. Jesus Christ was a God-with-us, however, in this, that for about 33 years He dwelt among us sinners (Joh_1:11; Joh_1:14). In a deeper and wider sense still He was such by the Immanuel’s work of the atonement (2Co_5:19; 1Ti_2:3). He will also be such to every one that believes on Him by the work of regeneration and sanctification and the daily renewal of His holy and divine communion of the Spirit (Joh_17:23; Joh_17:26; Joh_14:19-21; Joh_14:23). He is such now by His high-priestly and royal administration and government for His whole Church (Mat_28:20; Heb_7:25). He will be snch in the present time of the Church in a still more glorious fashion (Joh_10:16). The entire and complete meaning of the name Immanuel, however, will only come to light in the new earth, and in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev_21:3; Rev_21:23; Rev_22:5).”—Wilh. Fried. Roos.
Isa_8:7. On Isa_8:5 sqq. “Like boastful swimmers despise small and quiet waters, and on the other hand, for the better display of their skill, boast of the great sea and master it, but often are lost in it,—thus, too, did the hypocrites that despised the small kingdom of Judah, and bragged much and great things of the power and splendor of the kingdom of Israel and of the Syrians; such hypocrites are still to be found now-a-days—such that bear in their eye the admiranda Romae, the splendor, riches, power, ceremonies and pomp of the Romish church, and thereupon ‘set their bushel by the bigger-heap.’ It is but the devil’s temptation over again: ‘I will give all this to thee.’ ”—Cramer.—“Fons Siloa,” etc. “The fountain of Siloam, near the temple, daily reminded the Jews that Christ was coming.”—Calvin on Joh_9:7.
8. On Isa_8:10. “When the great Superlatives sit in their council chambers and have determined everything, how it ought to be, and especially how they will extinguish the gospel, then God sends the angel Gabriel to them, who must look through the window and say: nothing will come of it.”—Luther.—“Christ, who is our Immanuel, is with us by His becoming man, for us by His office of Mediator, in us by the work of His sanctification, by us by His personal, gracious presence.”—Cramer.
9. On Isa_8:14-15. Christ alone is set by God to be a stone by which we are raised up. That He is, however, an occasion of offence to many is because of their purpose, petulance and contempt (1Pe_2:8). Therefore we ought to fear lest we take offence at Him. For whoever falls on this stone will shatter to pieces (Mat_21:44).” Cramer.
10. On Isa_8:16 sqq. He warns His disciples against heathenish superstition, and exhorts them to show respect themselves always to law and testimony. “They must not think that God must answer them by visions and signs, therefore He refers them to the written word, that they may not become altogether too spiritual, like those now-a-days who cry: spirit! spirit! … Christ says, Luke 16 : They have Moses and the prophets, and again Joh_5:39 : Search the Scriptures. So Paul says, 2Ti_3:16 : The Scripture is profitable for doctrine. So says Peter, 2Pe_1:9 : We have a sure word of prophecy. It is the word that changes hearts and moves them. But revelations puff people up and make them insolent.” Heim and Hoffmann after Luther.
Chap. 9–11. On Isa_9:1 sqq. (2). “Postrema pars, etc. The latter part of chap. 8 was νομικὴ καὶ ἀπειλητική (legal and threatening) so, on the other hand, the first and best part of chap. 9 is εὐαγγελικὴ καὶ παραμυθητική, (evangelical and comforting). Thus must ever law and gospel, preaching wrath and grace, words of reproof and words of comfort, a voice of alarm and a voice of peace follow one another in the church.” Foerster.
12. On Isa_9:1 (2). Both in the Old Testament and New Testament Christ is often called light. Thus Isaiah calls Him “a light to the gentiles,” Isa_42:6; Isa_49:6. The same Prophet says: “Arise, shine (make thyself light), for thy light is come,” Isa_60:1. And again Isa_9:19 : “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light.” In the New Testament it is principally John that makes use of this expression: “The life was the light of men,” Joh_1:4, “and the light shined in the darkness,” Joh_9:5. John was not that light, but bore testimony to the light, Joh_9:8. “That was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” Joh_9:9. And further: “And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,” Joh_3:19. “I am the light of the world,” (Joh_8:12; Joh_9:5; comp. Joh_12:35).
13. On Isa_9:1 (2). The people that sit in darkness may be understood to comprise three grades. First, the inhabitants of Zebulon and Naphtali are called so (Isaiah 8:23), for the Prophet’s gaze is fixed first on that region lying in the extreme end of Palestine, which was neighbor to the heathen and mixed with them, and on this account was held in low esteem by the dwellers in Judah. The night that spreads over Israel in general is darkest there. But all Israel partakes of this night, therefore all Israel, too, may be understood, as among the people sitting in darkness. Finally, no one can deny that this night extends over the borders of Israel to the whole human race. For far as men dwell extends the night which Christ, as light of the world, came to dispel, Luk_1:76 sqq.
14. On Isa_9:5 (6). Many lay stress on the notion “child,” inasmuch as they see in that the reason for the reign of peace spoken of afterwards. It is not said a man, a king, a giant is given to us. But this is erroneous. For the child does not remain a child. He becomes a man: and the six names that are ascribed to Him and also the things predicted of His kingdom apply to Him, not as a child, but as a man. That His birth as a child is made prominent, has its reason in this, that thereby His relation to human kind should be designated as an organic one. He does not enter into humanity as a man, i.e. as one whose origin was outside of it, but He was born from it, and especially from the race of David. He is Son of man and Son of David. He is a natural offshoot, but also the crowning bloom of both. Precisely because He was to be conceived, carried and born of a human mother, and indeed of a virgin, this prophecy belongs here as the completion and definition of the two prophetic pictures Isa_7:10 sqq.; Isa_8:1 sqq.—“He came down from heaven for the sake of us men, and for our bliss (1Ti_1:15; Luk_2:7). For our advantage: for He undertook not for the seed of angels, but for the seed of Abraham (Heb_2:16). Not sold to us by God out of great love, but given (Rom_5:15; Joh_3:16). Therefore every one ought to make an application of the word ‘to us’ to himself, and to learn to say: this child was given to me, conceived for me, born to me.”—Cramer.—“Cur oportuit, etc. Why did it become the Redeemer of human kind to be not merely man nor merely God, but God and man conjoined or θεάνθρωπον? Anselm replies briefly, indeed, but pithily: Deum qui posset, hominem, qui deberet.” Foerster.
15. On Isa_9:5 (6). “You must not suppose here that He is to be named and called according to His person, as one usually calls another by his name; but these are names that one must preach, praise and celebrate on account of His act, works and office.” Luther.
16. On Isa_9:6. “Verba pauca, etc. A few words, but to be esteemed great, not for their number but for their weight.” Augustine. “Admirabilis in, etc. Wonderful in birth, counsellor in what He preaches, God in working, strong in suffering, father of the world to come in resurrection, Prince of peace in bliss perpetual.” Bernard of Clairvaux. In reference to “a child is born,” and “a son is given,” Joh. Cocceius remarks in his Heb. Lex. s. v. יֶלֶד: “respectu, etc., in respect to His human nature He is said to be born, and in respect to His divine nature and eternal generation not indeed born, but given, as, Joh_3:16, it reads God gave His only begotten Son.”
“In the application of this language all depends on the words is born to us, is given to us.” The angels are, in this matter, far from being as blessed as we are. They do not say: To us a Saviour is born this day, but; to you. As long as we do not regard Christ as ours, so long we shall have little joy in Him. But when we know Him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, as a gift that our heavenly Father designed for us, we will appropriate Him to ourselves in humble faith, and take possession of all His redeeming effects that He has acquired. For giving and taking go together. The Son is given to us; we must in faith receive Him.” J. J. Rambach, Betracht. über das Ev. Esaj., Halle, 1724.
On Isa_9:6 (7). “The government is on His shoulders.” “It is further shown how Christ differs in this respect from worldly kings. They remove from themselves the burden of government and lay it on the shoulders of the privy counsellors. But He does not lay His dominion as a burden on any other; He needs no prime minister and vicegerent to help Him bear the burden of administration, but He bears all by the word of His power as He to whom all things are given of the Father. Therefore He says to the house of Jacob (Isa_46:3 sq.): Hearken unto me ye who were laid on my shoulders from your mothers’ womb. I will carry you to old age. I will do it, I will lift, and carry and deliver,—on the contrary the heathen must bear and lift up their idols, (Isa_46:1; Isa_46:7).”—Rambach. “In the first place we must keep in mind His first name: He is called Wonderful. This name affects all the following.” “All is wonderful that belongs to this king: wonderfully does He counsel and comfort; wonderfully He helps to acquire and conquer, and all this in suffering and want of strength. (Luther, Jen. germ. Tom. III. Fol. 184 b.). ” “He uses weakness as a means of subduing all things to Himself. A wretched reed, a crown of thorns and an infamous cross, are the weapons of this almighty God, by means of which He achieves such great things. In the second place, He was a hero and conqueror in that just by death, He robbed him of his might who had the power of death, i.e., the devil (Heb_2:14); in that He, like Samson, buried His enemies with Himself, yea, became poison to death itself, and a plague to hell (Hos_13:14) and more gloriously resumed His life so freely laid down, which none of the greatest heroes can emulate.”—Rambach.
17. On Isa_9:18 (19) sqq. True friendship can never exist among the wicked. For every one loves only himself. Therefore they are enemies one of another; and they are in any case friends to each other, only as long as it concerns making war on a third party.
Isaiah 10-18. On Isa_10:4. (Comp. the same expression in chap. 10). God’s quiver is well filled. If one arrow does not attain His object, He takes another, and so on, until the rights of God, and justice have conquered.
19. On Isa_10:5-7. “God works through men in a threefold way. First, we all live, move and have our being in Him, in that all activity is an outflow of His power. Then, He uses the services of the wicked so that they mutually destroy each other, or He chastises His people by their hand. Of this sort the Prophet speaks here. In the third place, by governing His people by the Spirit of sanctification: and this takes place only in the elect.”—Heim and Hoffmann.
20. On Isa_10:5 sqq. “Ad hunc, etc. Such places are to be turned to uses of comfort. Although the objects of temptation vary and enemies differ, yet the effects are the same, and the same spirit works in the pious. We are therefore to learn not to regard the power of the enemy nor our own weakness, but to look steadily and simply into the word, that will assuredly establish our minds that they despair not, but expect help of God. For God will not subdue our enemies, either spiritual or corporal, by might and power, but by weakness, as says the text: my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2Co_12:9).—Luther.
21. On Isa_10:15. “Efficacia agendi penes Deum est, homines ministerium tantum praebent. Quare nunc sibilo suo se illos evocaturum minabatur (cap. Isa_5:26; Isa_7:18); nunc instar sagenae sibi fore ad irretiendos, nunc mallei instar ad feriendos Israelitas. Sed praecipue tum declaravit, quod non sit otiosus in illis, dum Sennacherib securim vocat, quae ad secandum manu sua et destinata fuit et impacta. Non male alicubi Augustinus ita definit, quod ipsi peccant, eorum esse; quod peccando hoc vel illud agant, ex virtute Dei esse, tenebras prout visum est dividentis (De praedest Sanctt.).”—Calvin Inst. II. 4, 4.
22. On Isa_10:20-27. “In time of need one ought to look back to the earlier great deliverances of the children of God, as to the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, or later, from the hand of the Midianites. Israel shall again grow out of the yoke.”—Diedrich.
Isaiah 11-23. On Isa_11:4. “The staff of His mouth.” “Evidence that the kingdom of Christ will not be like an earthly kingdom, but consist in the power of the word and of the sacraments; not in leathern, golden or silver girdles, but in girdles of righteousness and faith.”—Cramer.
24. On Isa_11:10 sqq. If the Prophet honors the heathen in saying that they will come to Christ before Israel, he may be the more readily believed, when Isa_11:11 sqq., he gives the assurance that the return out of the first, the Egyptian exile, shall be succeeded by a return out of the second, the Assyrian exile, (taking this word in the wider sense of Isaiah). It is manifest that the return that took place under Zerubbabel and Ezra was only an imperfect beginning of that promised return. For according to our passage this second return can only take place after the Messiah has appeared. Farthermore, all Israelites that belong to “the remnant of Israel,” in whatever land they may dwell, shall take part in it. It will be, therefore, a universal, not a partial return. If now the Prophet paints this return too with the colors of the present (Isa_11:13 sqq.), still that is no reason for questioning the reality of the matter. Israel will certainly not disappear, but arise to view in the church of the new covenant. But if the nation is to be known among the nations as a whole, though no more as a hostile contrast, but in fraternal harmony, why then shall not the land, too, assume a like position among the lands? But the nation can neither assume its place among nations, nor the land its place among lands, if they are not both united: the people Israel in the land of their fathers.
25. On Isaiah 11 “We may here recall briefly the older, so-called spiritual interpretation. Isa_11:1-5 were understood of Christ’s prophetic office that He exercised in the days of His flesh, then of the overthrow of the Roman Empire and of Antichrist, who was taken to be the Pope. But the most thorough-going of those old expositors must acknowledge, at Isa_11:4, that the Antichrist is not yet enough overthrown, and must be yet more overthrown. If such is the state of the case, then this interpretation is certainly false, for Isa_11:4 describes not a gradual judgment, but one accomplished at once. There have been many Antichrists, and among the Popes too, but the genuine Antichrist described 2 Thessalonians 2, is yet to be expected, and also the fulfillment of Isa_11:4 of our chapter. Thereby is proved at the same time that the peaceful state of things in the brute world and the return of the Jews to their native land are still things of the future, for they must happen in that period when the Antichristian world, and its head shall be judged by Christ. But then, too, the dwelling together of tame and wild beasts is not the entrance of the heathen into the church, to which they were heretofore hostile, and the return of the Jews is not the conversion of a small part of Israel that took place at Pentecost and after. The miracles and signs too, contained in Isa_11:15-16 did not take place then. We see just here how one must do violence to the word if he will not take it as it stands. But if we take it as we have done, then the whole chapter belongs to the doctrine of hope (Hoffnungslehre) of the Scripture, and constitutes an important member of it. The Lord procures right and room for His church. He overthrows the world-kingdom, together with Antichrist. He makes of the remnant of Israel a congregation of believers filled with the Spirit, to whom He is near in an unusual way, and from it causes His knowledge to go out into all the world. He creates peace in the restless creatures, and shows us here in advance what more glorious things we may look for in the new earth. He presents to the world a church which, united in itself, unmolested by neighbors, stands under God’s mighty protection. All these facts are parts of a chain of hope that must be valuable and dear to our hearts. The light of this future illumines the obscurity of the present; the comfort of that day makes the heart fresh.” Weber, der Prophet Jesaja, 1875.
Chap. 12–26. On Isa_12:4 sq. “These will not be the works of the New Testament: sacrificing and slaying, and make pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to the Holy Sepulchre, but praising God and giving thanks, preaching and hearing, believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth. For to praise our God is good; such praise is pleasant and lovely” (Psa_147:1). Cramer.
27. On Chap. 12 “With these words conclude the prophetic discourses on Immanuel. Through what obscurity of history have we not had to go, until we came to the bright light of the kingdom of Christ! How Israel and the nations had to pass through the fire of judgment before the sun arises in Israel and the entire gentile world is illumined! It is the, same way that every Christian has to travel. In and through the fire we become blessed. Much must be burnt up in us, before we press to the full knowledge of God and of His Son, before we become entirely one with Him, entirely glad and joyful in Him. Israel was brought up and is still brought up for glory, and we too. O that our end too were such a psalm of praise as this psalm!” Weber, Der Pr. Jes. 1875.
Footnotes:
[1]stump.
[2]shoot.
[3]bear fruit.
[4]And his breathing will be done in the fear of the Lord.
[5]Heb. scent, or smell.
[6]administer judgment.
[7]Or, argue.
[8]righten.
[9]panther.
[10]grass.
[11]Or, adders.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv2–3Spirit of the Lord--JEHOVAH. The Spirit by which the…
Spirit of the Lord--JEHOVAH. The Spirit by which the prophets spake: for Messiah was to be a Prophet (Isa 61:1; Deu 18:15, Deu 18:18). Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are specified, to imply that the perfection of them was to be in Him. Compare "the seven Spirits" (Rev 1:4), that is, the Holy Ghost in His perfect fulness: seven being the sacred number. The prophets had only a portion out of the "fulness" in the Son of God (Joh 1:16; Joh 3:34; Col 1:19).
rest--permanently; not merely come upon Him (Num 11:25-26).
Read full note →
wisdom-- (Co1 1:30; Eph 1:17; Col 2:3).
understanding--coupled with "wisdom," being its fruit. Discernment and discrimination (Mat 22:18; Joh 2:25).
counsel . . . might--the faculty of forming counsels, and that of executing them (Isa 28:29). Counsellor (Isa 9:6).
knowledge--of the deep things of God (Mat 11:27). The knowledge of Him gives us true knowledge (Eph 1:17).
fear of the Lord--reverential, obedient fear. The first step towards true "knowledge" (Job 28:28; Psa 111:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1–31. There shall come forth a rod out of…
1. There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse — The “rod” is a branch, a shoot, a sucker. The “stem” is a stump, or a nucleus of rootlets, either below or above ground.
A branch shall grow out of his roots — Netzer, “a branch,” is a verdant and vigorous shoot. The chosen remnant of the royal house of David, which has sunk down to the insignificance from which it sprang, is the twig, shoot, branch, or whichever of the terms here supplied be taken, and is to build up by the new growth another trunk and crown. Delitzsch and Kay think they see in the insignificant Netzer the figure for the despised Nazarene; despised now, but in the sense of the applied figure bright, verdant, growing, he is to be hereafter the universally acknowledged King of glory. Also, in the verb phara, to grow, to be fruitful, reference is supposed to be made to Ephratah, or Bethlehem, so that in this verse allusion is thought to be made by divine intent both to Nazareth, where Christ’s birth was announced, and to Bethlehem, where it occurred. Both places are humble, and, to worldly Jews, of little account. Such etymologies are of use chiefly in homiletic exegesis. There is coincidence of sound and sense in the words referred to; but beyond this there is vague uncertainty.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–31. The advent of the Messiah. Idea and figure…
1. The advent of the Messiah. Idea and figure correspond to those of ch. Isa_6:13; as a new Israel will spring up from the “stump” of the old, so the Messianic King will arise from the decayed family of David. Some commentators find in the image an intentional contrast to that of ch. Isa_10:34; while the forest of Assyria is cut down never to spring up again, the stock of Judah’s royal dynasty will sprout and flourish. The precise relation of the Messiah to the reigning branch of the family is purposely left indefinite (cf. Mic_5:2).
a rod] Better as R.V. a shoot. The word rendered “stem” occurs only twice again. Here it bears the same meaning as in Job_14:8; it is the stock which remains in the earth after the tree is cut down. In Isa_40:24 it means a “slip” planted in the ground in order to strike root. The figure, therefore, like “roots” in the next line, seems to imply the downfall of the dynasty.
Read full note →
a Branch shall grow out of his roots] Render as R.V. a branch out of his roots shall boar fruit—shall come to maturity. Jesse is mentioned instead of David probably because of the intentional vagueness in which the Messiah’s origin is left.
Ch. Isa_11:1-9. The Messiah and His Kingdom
It is interesting to compare this passage with ch. Isa_9:1-7. There the delineation of the Messianic age starts from its broadest and most general features—the light breaking on the land, the universally diffused joy of the redeemed nation—and only at the end centres itself in the person of the Wonderful Child who is born to ascend the throne. Here the person of the Messiah comes first, and then the healing and regenerating influences of which he is the channel. To what period of Isaiah’s career the prophecy belongs cannot be determined. The affinity with ch. Isa_9:1-7 suggests the reign of Ahaz, to which it is assigned by Guthe in accordance with a particular theory of the development of Isaiah’s eschatology. But since there is no evidence that the idea of the Messianic King ever lost its significance to the prophet’s mind, it might with equal propriety be referred to any subsequent period of his ministry. Duhm places this and the companion oracles of Isa_2:2-4, Isa_32:1-5 in the evening of Isaiah’s long life. In its present setting the passage is no doubt intended as a sequel to ch. Isa_10:5-34 and it might even belong to the same date.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv2–3(2) And the spirit of the Lord shall rest…
(2) And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . .—The words throw us at once back upon the memories of the past, and forwards upon the hopes of the future. It was the “spirit of the Lord” that had made men true heroes and judges in the days of old (Jdg_11:29; Jdg_13:25). It was in the “spirit of the Lord” descending on Jesus of Nazareth and abiding on Him (Joh_1:33) that men were taught to see the token that He was the Christ of God. And in this case the spirit was to give more than the heroic daring which had characterised Jephthah and Samson. The future King was to be as a David and Solomon in one, pre-eminent, chiefly, as the Prince of Peace (Isa_9:7), in the wisdom and counsel which had been the glory of the latter. “Wisdom,” in its highest form, as implying the comprehension of the secret things of God; “understanding,” as the sagacity which discerned the right thing to do and the right word to say (Heb_5:14) in all human relationships; these formed the first link in the chain of supernatural gifts. With these there was to be the “spirit of counsel and might,” the clear purpose and strength which fits a king for the right exercise of sovereignty; and lastly, as at once the crown and source of all, the “spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord,” the reverence and faith which is “the beginning of all wisdom” (Pro_1:7). The copious use of the vocabulary of the Book of Proverbs is interesting as showing the part which that book played in the prophet’s education. (See Introduction.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–3Vers. 1-9. A RENEWED PROPHECY OF MESSIAH AND OF…
Vers. 1-9. A RENEWED PROPHECY OF MESSIAH AND OF HIS KINGDOM. This chapter is closely connected with the preceding. With the final destruction of Assyria, which, being cut down, sends out no shoot, (Isa_10:33, Isa_10:34) is contrasted the recuperative energy of Israel, which, though equally leveled with the ground, (Isa_9:18, Isa_9:19) shall spring afresh into life, and "renew its youth." The recovery is connected or rather identified with the coming of Messiah, whose character is beautifully portrayed (vers. 2-5). An elaborate description of Messiah"s kingdom follows (vers. 6-10) an expansion of the briefer one in Isa_2:3, Isa_2:4.
There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. The blasted and ruined "stem" or stock of Jesse, cut down, and for ages hidden from sight, shall suddenly put forth a sprout a young green sapling, tender vet vigorous, weak seemingly, yet foil of life. (comp. Job_14:7-9, "There is hope of a tree, if it he cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not crease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant "The stem of Jesse" must mean the house of David, for there is but one Jesse (Ishai) in Scripture David"s father. A Branch shall grow out of his roots. That which is at first a sapling gains strength and grows into a "branch". (see Isa_4:2, where the word used, though different, is synonymous)
Read full note →
Vers. 1-5. The spiritual nature of Messiah"s perfections
It was certainly not from Isaiah that the Jews derived their notion that the Messiah would be a mighty temporal prince, the leader of armies, who would break the yoke of Rome from off their shoulders, and give them dominion over all the nations of the earth. Isaiah does, indeed, announce him as a King, (Isa_32:1) and could do no less, since he was indeed "King of kings, and Lord of lords." But he ever puts forward his spiritual character, his influence over men as a Teacher, his moral and mental excellences. Messiah"s qualifications for his high office (as here enumerated) are
I HIS POSSESSION OF WISDOM. "Wisdom" here may be that transcendental quality whereby God "established the heavens"; (Pro_3:19 Pro_8:27) or possibly that still more recondite faculty which Jehovah "possessed in the beginning of his way, before his works of. (Pro_8:22) Being distinguished from "understandings" "counsel," and knowledge of God," it must apparently be supra-mundane and abstract a power of which it is difficult for man to form a conception. Its sphere cannot be human life or mundane affairs, but the purely intellectual world of supra-sensuous ideas and concepts.
II HIS POSSESSION OF UNDERSTANDING. By "understanding" seems to he meant moral intelligence the power of appreciating the moral character, and judging aright the moral conduct of others. Our Lord possessed this quality in the most eminent degree, never misjudging the character or conduct of any one. His unerring insight gave him an absolute fitness to be the final Judge of men, but was far beyond what is needed by any earthly ruler or king.
III HIS POSSESSION OF THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL. Here, no doubt, is a quality of which a temporal ruler has need; but it was not as a temporal ruler, or for the most part in temporal matters, that our Lord"s counsel was given. The maxims of his lips were not maxims of worldly policy, but such as these: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;" "Take no thought for the morrow;" "Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor," and the like. He counseled men for their spiritual rather than for their worldly good, with a view to a spiritual and not a temporal kingdom.
IV HIS POSSESSION OF MIGHT. "Might," or ability to execute his designs, is, again, a quality of high value to an earthly ruler; and had our Lord used his might for earthly ends, he might easily have been all, and more than all, that the Jews expected. But he ever restrained himself from any exhibition of physical strength, or power of organization, or even of persuasive eloquence, exhibiting his might only for spiritual cuds, in miracles of mercy, whereby he sought to win men"s souls to himself, or once and again in miracles of power, shown forth as evidences of his mission.
V HIS POSSESSION OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. None could know God"s will so well as he, who was in the beginning with God, and was. (Joh_1:1) Partaker from everlasting of his Father"s counsels, the instrument whereby the Father worked in bringing all things into being, (Heb_1:2) he had sounded all the depths of that nature which he had in common with the Father, and knew even as he was known. This was spiritual knowledge of the highest kind, and enabled him to be man"s perfect spiritual Guide, capable of setting before him the true and "perfect will of God" (Rom_12:2) as none other ever was, or will be, capable.
VI HIS POSSESSION OF THE FEAR OF GOD. "Fear" in the Son is doubtless so mingled with love as to be something very different even from the fear which the angels feel, when they veil their faces before the throne. But the words "Father" and "Son" imply authority and submission, awfulness and reverence. And the human nature of Christ had the same experience of the "fear of God" as belongs to his perfected saints, whether in earth or heaven. (Psa_19:9 Psa_34:9 Ecc_12:13, etc.) "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name?" Messiah"s "fear" brought forth that perfect obedience which made him holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners", (Heb_7:26) and constituted him at once our perfect Pattern and our meritorious Sacrifice.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-9. The coming of the Messiah.
I HIS ORIGIN. "From Ishai"s worn stem a shoot will sprout forth, and a green branch burst forth from his roots." From the stock of David, now fallen very low, the coming Deliverer will arise in all the vigor of youth. Seldom does the great man come but of some pure and generous strain of blood. Like some stream which, long hidden underground, reappears again in the daylight, or some vein of precious ore, recovered after some extensive "fault," so it was believed the royal race and the spiritual prowess of David might be obscured for ages, but must be illustrated before the world again. As God saves and blesses the world by means of great men, so in a measure is this true of houses, families, tribes, and nations. There is a principle of providential selection running through life. Though men be of one blood in all their tribes, it is not to be denied that there are different qualities in that blood. Hence noblesse oblige, and great endowments make great expectations and imply great responsibilities. The thought of the seeming extinction, yet destined revival of David"s house, may remind us of the imperishableness of the germs of good. David"s house was never restored to the throne in the visible sense. Yet the memory of David persisted, begot hope, inspired patience, and was gradually converted into one of the mightiest of spiritual forces in the conscience of the nation. An idea may pass through many changes of form, but it dies not so long as the faith and passion of the heart in which it sprung are living.
II His SPIRIT. In the religious mode of thought a true temper of the mind is to be traced to Divine inspiration, no less than the great physical or mental ability. What meaning lies in our common expressions, "a gift," "an endowment," "a talent," an influence!" None of them but is deeply religious, if we trace them to their primary felt significance. Upon this chosen one there "rests the Spirit of Jehovah." And three characters, in the iterative idiom of the Hebrew, are given of this spirit. It is that
(1) of wisdom,
(2) of courage,
(3) of reverence. The qualities of the statesman, the soldier, the man of God. "His breathing is in Jehovah"s fear." There can be no simpler nor stronger expression of a man thoroughly "animated," as we say, by religious principle. And
(4) he has the attributes of the just judge. Prompt to redress the injuries of the oppressed and suffering, his rule of conduct is not the pleasure of his eyes and ears, but the eternal equity of him who is no respecter of persons. As the consequence of thus vitally living in communion with God as in the common and necessary air he breathes, he possesses irresistible strength. His mere word of judgment smites the earth more powerfully than the despot"s scepter, while his mere breath destroys the wicked like a pestilence. In a word, it is a sublime picture of moral majesty. This King needs not the weapons of ordinary warfare. He has a better defense of his throne than swords and spears, a better battle-array than the suit of armor. Justice and faithfulness themselves are his best, his only preparations.
III THE BLESSINGS OF HIS RULE. There will be a marvelous growth of peace and prosperity. The progress of true culture is marked by the subduing of savagery. The wild animals change their nature and become harmless to mankind. Wickedness is ferocious; men"s untamed passions are like the wolf, the bear, and the deadly serpent. There will be no sin nor sinners in Zion, because the knowledge of the true God wilt be all-diffused and all-inexhaustible as the ocean. To what state of life do these predictions refer? To the advent of Christ and his kingdom? Certainly; and yet when Christ came, not only did not universal peace set in, but the light of Zion and the glories of the sacred city were quenched in blood. And Christ himself opened up a gloomy perspective of the future in his closing prophecies. Where, then, and when this scene of bliss? Let us content ourselves with believing that the prophecy refers to some state to us unknown. Earth will be earth, and not heaven. This heaven is in the soul first; there we dream of it, nay, we realize it as we listen to the prophet"s glowing words, and believe that but a step may carry us into a world where it is realized by all. The prophecy is already fulfilled for us if God has made a heaven of hope in oar hearts. J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-5. Characteristics of Jesus Christ.
The expression of the prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," has a very close correspondence with the New Testament references to Jesus Christ.This (Mat_3:16 Luk_4:1, Luk_4:14, 18 Joh_3:34) full possession by our Lord of the Spirit of God revealed itself, and is still found, in these particulars which the prophecy indicates.
I His PERFECT PIETY. In him dwelt the "fear of the Lord" without measure (ver. 2), and he "delighted in the fear of Jehovah;" "the fear of Jehovah was fragrance to him" (emended readings for, "and shall make him of quick understanding," etc., ver. 3). He could say, "I delight to do thy will... yea, thy Law is within my heart". (Psa_40:8) To reverence, to please, to obey God, to consult his will and be subject to it, was the law of his life and the refreshment of his spirit.
II His INTUITIVE PERCEPTION OF THE BEST AND HIGHEST. In "him was the spirit of wisdom and understanding." He distinguished at once the false from the true, the glittering show from the genuine good, the passing pleasure from the abiding joy, the fictitious gain from the invaluable heritage, the vanity of earthly honors from the blessedness of the Divine favor. Christ saw all things on which he looked in their actual and essential nature, and in their true proportions. Hence
III HIS EXCELLENCY AS OUR GUIDE. In him was "the spirit of counsel". (see Homily on "Chief counsels of Christ," Isa_9:6)
a. His KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE AND OF THE FUTURE. Fallen, degenerate man, with conscience defiled and reason depraved, could know nothing certainly of these two supreme subjects: he wanted, urgently and imperatively, one who had "the spirit of knowledge" in him, and could tell him distinctly and finally, not what he guessed or what he hoped, but what he knew. This Jesus did. He revealed the Divine Father unto men. (Mat_11:27 Joh_1:18 Joh_10:15) And he made known to us the truth as to the future; he brought life and immortality out into the. (Joh_5:28, 29 11:25, 26 2Ti_1:10)
b. HIS PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART. He judged men, "not by the outward appearance," not "by the sight of his eyes or the hearing of his ears," but by looking down through the coverlet of the flesh, through the armory of speech, into the secret chambers of the soul. He not only saw through the fig tree, but through the flesh, and knew Nathanael"s simplicity of spirit "He knew what was in man" and knows now, discerning the hollowness of some men s pretensions, appreciating the excellency beneath some men"s doubts and diffidences.
VI HIS ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY. (Ver. 4.) He had one measure for the rich and the poor, for the mighty and the meek; he showed unvarying kindness towards the humblest, and he showed a constant readiness to receive those who were enriched with worldly wealth, or endowed with social honor. The testimony of his enemies was true enough; he "regarded not the person of men". (Mar_12:14) Such is the genius of his gospel common salvation". (see 1Co_3:11 Gal_3:28 Gal_5:6 Eph_6:8)
VII HIS RIGOROUS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Vers. 4, 5.) Christ, in his righteousness, demanded the spiritual service of all men, and he condemned all that withheld it. He showed himself the determined enemy of evil.
1. He denounced it in scathing terms when he was with us. (see Mt 23)
2. He announces himself as the Judge of all, who will punish the impenitent according, to their, deeds (see Mt 25)
VIII His FAITHFULNESS. (Ver. 5.) Having loved his own, he loved them to the end. He "never leaves nor forsakes" those who serve him. Throughout our fidelity to him his love to us is constant; in the time of our slackness or departure he visits us in his faithfulness with his kind correction, in order to attach us to himself, or to call us back to his side; in the hour of our suffering he makes good his presence of Divine support; when everything earthly fails us, the faithful Promiser will fulfill his word, and receive us to himself, that we may dwell in his glory. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Christ the Branch.
"But a shoot shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and a fruitful sprout shall grow up from his roots". (Henderson"s translation; see Isa_4:2) The idea is of a sucker springing up from a hewn stump. The word used (netser) is singularly suggestive of despised Nazareth, with which place the early life of Messiah was associated, and of which it could jeeringly be said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Wordsworth remarks on the sublime contrast in this prophecy and the foregoing," The mighty and haughty worldly power of Assyria the type of impiety and antichristianism will be hewn down, like a great forest, in the pride of its strength and glory, never to rise again; but the spirit of prophecy here reveals, that when the house of David seemed like a tree hewn down to a stump in the earth, then a sucker would spring up from the stump, and a branch shooting forth from its roots would bear fruit and overshadow the earth. And so it came to pass. At a time when the house of David seemed to be reduced to the lowest estate, when the Virgin was a poor maiden in a village of despised Galilee, then by God"s miraculous agency the Branch sprouted up from the hewn-down stump, and grew up into a mighty Tree, and brought forth much fruit, and received the world under its shade." It has been cleverly suggested that "the cedar of Lebanon, the symbol of the Assyrian power, was to be cut down, and, being of the pine genus, which sends forth no suckers, its fall was irretrievable. But the oak, the symbol of Israel, and of the monarchy of the house of David, had a life remaining in it after it had been cut down, and the rod or sucker that was to spring from its roots should flourish once again in greater glory than before." We fix attention on the sentiment entertained respecting suckers, which are usually despised, thought to be weak and frail things, from which nothing of value is ever to be expected.
I THE SURPRISE OF CHRIST"S LOWLY BEGINNINGS. Born into a poor family, at a time when David"s race was at its lowest humiliation; born, as one crowded out by the hurry of life, in the courtyard of an inn; brought up in a despised village. There were but a few gleams of glory resting on his infancy. Angels heralded the tidings, of his birth; Magi offered worship to him at the Bethlehem cottage, But Herod would, if he could, have broken off that sucker, almost ere it began to show its greenness. It would take a great power of imagination to picture a splendid career and a world-wide renown for that poor Bethlehem babe. "He came to his own, and his own received him not
II THE HOPE OF CHRIST"S EARLY YEARS. We need not accept the strange and foolish legends of Apocryphal Gospels concerning the infancy and childhood of Jesus. We have one all-sufficient historical incident, presenting the boy of twelve years, and convincing us that a wonderful manhood was in its unfolding. His mother observed much, and pondered over many things in her heart, and the story of Christianity has verified every hope which that good mother cherished.
III THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST"S GROWTH. The sucker became strong, grew into a branch, began to put forth branches of its own, became a tree whose beauty attracted the attention of all men. Two passages suggest illustration and detail: "And the Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him;" "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Other suggestions come from the statements, "All that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers;" and, "He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." Intelligence, submissiveness, obedience, were the beautiful features of his child-time the splendid promise of after-years.
IV THE AMAZING RICHNESS OF CHRIST"S FRUIT. When the sucker came to bearing-time, it altogether surpassed the old tree of David. Illustrate its fruitage
(1) of holy example;
(2) of wise teaching;
(3) of gracious healings;
(4) of heroic sufferings;
(5) of eternal triumph over sin.
Moral and spiritual fruitage answering to the needs of thirsting and hungry men. Fruit which was the Bread of life." The despised tree of David at last sent forth a sucker, which swiftly grew into a tree, whose leaves were for the healing of all the nations, and whose fruit was for the spiritual quickening of a world that was dead in trespasses and sins. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1–3And there shall come forth a rod out of…
Isa_11:1-16
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse
Read full note →
A prophecy concerning Messiah the Prince
I.
HIS RISE OUT OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID (Isa_11:1).
II. HIS QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS GREAT UNDERTAKING (Isa_11:2-3).
III. THE JUSTICE AND EQUITY OF HIS GOVERNMENT (Isa_11:3-5).
IV. THE PEACEABLENESS OF HIS KINGDOM (Isa_11:6-9).
V. THE ACCESSION OF THE GENTILES TO IT (Isa_11:10).
VI. And with them THE REMNANT OF THE JEWS that should be united with them in the Messiahs kingdom (Isa_11:11-16). (M. Henry.)
The picture of the future
The picture of the future which fills the eleventh chapter is one of the most extensive that Isaiah has drawn. Three prospects are unfolded in it.
I. A PROSPECT OF MIND (verses 2-5). The geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character, knowledge, and achievement.
II. A PROSPECT OF NATURE (verses 6-9). A vision of the restitution of nature--Paradise regained.
III. A PROSPECT OF HISTORY (verses 9-16). The geography of Israels redemption. To this third prospect chapter 12. forms a fitting conclusion, a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Three great ideals
1. The perfect indwelling of our humanity by the Spirit of God.
2. The peace and communion of all nature, covered with the knowledge of God.
3. The traversing of all history by the Divine purposes of redemption. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Assyria and Israel: a contrast
We should connect the opening of the eleventh chapter with the close of the tenth in order to feel the full force of the contrast. There we read: And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty One. Then comes the prophecy that there shall come forth a rod, etc. The cedar of Lebanon was the symbol of Assyrian power. It was a poor symbol. Looked at botanically, it very vividly represented the passing pomp of a pagan empire. It is of the pine genus, and sends out no suckers, and when it is cut down it is gone. The oak is the symbol of Israels power, and though it be cut down it grows again--there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots--out of the very lowest stump that is left in the ground. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Eternal youthfulness
What is the symbol of our power? Is ours an influence that can be cut down and never revive? or are we so rooted in the Eternal that though persecution may impoverish us, and we may suffer great deprivation and depletion of every kind, yet we shall come up again in eternal youthfulness? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Prophecy: a very good transition
It is a very good transition in prophecy (whether it be so in rhetoric or no) and a very common one, to pass from the prediction of the temporal deliverances of the Church to that of the great salvation, which, in the fulness of time, should be wrought out by Jesus Christ, of which the others were types and figures. (M. Henry.)
The Branch
The word translated Branch is in the Hebrew Netser. The word is said to be derived from a root which means bright or verdant. And this agrees with the character of the valley in which the town of Netzer or Natsoreth (Nazareth) stands. The bushes and aromatic shrubs, and especially the brilliant wild flowers, take away from the bleakness of the landscape. It is from this title, then, Netser or the Branch, that St. Matthew quotes when he says, He shall be called a Nazarene Mat_2:23). (Expository Times.)
The rod out of the stem of Jesse
Let us go back to the humblest point, the very starting line, and learn that this Son of God was not the son of a king only, but the son of a kings lowly father. Christianity is the religion of the common people. The Gospel appeals to all men, rich and poor, in every zone and clime, and is most to those who need it most. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christ the fruitful Branch
A shoot out of its roots brings fruit. The sprout shooting out below the soil becomes a tree, and this tree gets a crown with fruits; and thus a state of exaltation and completion follows the state of humiliation. (F. Delitzsch.)
The qualifications of Christ for His mediatorial office
I. The first verse of the text foretells THE BIRTH AND FAMILY OF THE MESSIAH. The Messiah was to be born of the house of David, the son of Jesse. But why is Jesse mentioned here, rather than David, his more illustrious son? Partly to point out the birthplace of the Messiah. Jesse appears always to have lived at Bethlehem, and was known as the Bethlehemite; whereas, David resided the greater part of his life at Hebron and Jerusalem. Jesse was in a more humble rank of life than Jesses son; and so Jesus, though superior to David, as a royal king, being Davids Lord, as well as Davids son, yet, in the actual circumstances of His life, was nearer to the humble rank of Jesse than the royal state of David. It was also out of the stem of Jesse that the rod was to come forth--from a stem where there was nothing but stem and root remaining; not out of a noble tree, with its wide-spreading branches. And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. It is intimated here, and elsewhere more clearly foretold, that the Branch should spring from the family of Jesse, when it was in lowly circumstances, at a time when the house of David should be much reduced, and that slender expectations should be formed of it at first, but that in process of time it should grow into a beautiful and glorious Branch. How exactly all this describes the birth and lineage of Jesus Christ. Yet was ever branch so glorious in its increase? What noble fruits have hung on that Branch l What Churches have clustered around it!
II. HIS FULL QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS OFFICE, as described in this prediction (Isa_11:2). The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. On Him was poured the unction of the Holy One in all its fulness. But, remember, the Spirit of the Lord rested on Him in His office of Mediator. Now, this is a public office, an office which Jesus sustains for the benefit of His people; and therefore the Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him for His people.
1. The spirit of wisdom. He had wisdom in full measure. He must have had a perfect comprehension of God in His nature, qualities, attributes, works, and Ways; He must have had a thorough understanding of the only method by which wretched man could be saved; He must have known what was in the mind of man, for He answered the Pharisees and Sadducees, and knew the difficulties and doubts of His disciples, even before they gave them utterance in words. How wise were all His provisions for His Church! How wise to win souls was Jesus Christ! And remember He has wisdom for you.
2. The spirit of understanding. This is enlarged on in the following verse. The Saviour had a quickness in understanding what might be for the glory or dishonour of His heavenly Father. No tinsel could hide from Him the foul deformity of sin; no hypocrisy could yell from Him the pride and corruption of the Pharisee. When Satan came with his temptations, and baited his snare with all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, Christ instantly understood the deceit, and, Get thee hence, Satan, was His indignant language.
3. The spirit of counsel. This, says our prophet, is the name whereby He shall be called, Wonderful Counsellor. Christ is able to give the wisest counsel in the kindest manner. He has advice suited to every case. He counsels the sinner. He says to the Church in a Laodicean state, I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. He counsels the Christian warrior how to maintain the fight against sin with persevering faith.
4. The spirit of might. He is a Lamb in meekness; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah in strength. His work required a very undaunted spirit, and He never quaked with fear, nor trembled with alarm. And He has the spirit of might for you also.
5. The spirit of knowledge. In Christ dwells all knowledge--the knowledge of Jehovah, His heavenly Father, of His holy will, His righteous claims, the blessedness of knowing God as Father. And this same knowledge of His Father He is able to impart to you.
6. And of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it is also one of the highest attainments of wisdom, and one of the best effects of the Holy Spirit on the heart. (J. Hambleton, M. A.)
The kingdom of Christ
We may well study this picture of the Messiahs reign on earth, drawn by a Divine hand and painted with unfading colours, because through it we see, as we cannot otherwise, what we are daily praying for. History does not fully interpret prophecy for us. If we knew just the changes in the nations before the fulness of the times comes, if we could be assured where and when and how Jesus would reign in an earthly way among men, still we should not have what the vision of Isaiah furnishes us. He saw nothing of this. And what did he see? First of all a mighty forest, whose tall trees sent their roots down deep into the earth, and whose branches east wide shadows. These were the proud nations that were oppressing Israel, and seemed strong enough to stand forever. But they were to lose their glory. Among them there was a stump, sending up from its decay and humiliation a small, tender, but vigorous shoot. This was the ancient but fallen house of David; and the green shoot coming up was only in fulfilment of the old covenant that there should always be one to sit on Davids throne. As we look, through the seers vision, we see the young tree dissolve into the form of a Man, a Man on whom the Holy Spirit rests with seven-fold gifts of wisdom and knowledge and counsel and might and understanding in the fear of the Lord. This Man is full of righteousness, and His robes are girdled with righteousness as He sits and judges among the people. And again, as we gaze, we see that the Man dissolves into a mountain--the mountain of the Lord which shall be established in the top of the mountains in the last days. This mountain is full of peace and security. Once more, as if to express in a sentence the whole thought and hope of the prophet, we see the whole earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Interpreting this vision there are two truths that may well be dwelt upon.
I. THE CHIEF FACT ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST IS CHRIST HIMSELF, WHO MAKES HIS KINGDOM BY DWELLING IN THE HEARTS OF MEN.
II. HIS REIGN IS LIKE THE REIGN OF THE LITTLE CHILD IN THE MIDST OF THE ANIMALS THAT NATURALLY HATE AND DEVOUR ONE ANOTHER. It is a reign of childlikeness and innocence, the power of weakness and purity over brute force. (E. N. Packard.)
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world, repeating His acts of mercy and love, uttering His eternal truths, scorching hypocrisy and error with the breath of His mouth, changing unruly wills ever into docile ones, cleansing and making glad everything everywhere. There is no reign of Christ of which we can form any idea but this. When men are holy, through His indwelling among them, that is Christs reign. Let us forget the scenic and dramatic elements in millennial glories and simply think of the kingdom as being the presence of the King. Here we see the difference between His reign and that of any earthly monarch who can transmit his power to his son and he to his posterity, and so, with precedent and law and tradition, there may be some approach to security and peace Frederick the Great dies, but his empire goes on and holds him in memory. But Christ has no successors, and there is no royal family save that which is made from all who are named after His name. Christ must be as truly among men at one age as another, and where He is not a living and controlling presence there is nothing but a name. What we call Christianity--the sum total of the influences that emanate from Christ and touch the complex life of man--has no inherent vitality of its own. It cannot abide upon traditions of One who founded it ages ago. Christs perpetual presence alone makes Christianity possible. The same is true of the Church. (E. N. Packard.)
Messiahs reign
I. THE PERSON.
II. THE CHARACTER.
III. THE KINGDOM of Messiah. (D. Brown, D. D.)
The stem from the rod of Jesse
That this refers to the Lord Jesus is undoubted.
I. HIS DESCENT. Three ideas seem to be involved.
1. Meanness or obscurity.
2. Progression. How decayed soever the tree might appear, yet a Branch was to shoot and grow up out of its roots. For a time, the growth was far from being rapid, but at length it appeared as a Plant of everlasting renown, a Secret and mysterious operation. The metaphor is taken from vegetation, that process of the wonder-working God which none can explain, yet the existence of which none can dispute.
II. HIS PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL ENDOWMENTS.
1. Their nature (Isa_11:2). They were--
(1) Diversified in their character.
(2) Unlimited in their range. The Spirit was imparted to Him without measure.
(3) Continuous in their possession. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.
2. The purposes for which them endowments were conferred.
(1) That He might discriminate the characters of men. And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, etc.
(2) To defend the cause of the oppressed. But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, etc.
(3) To punish the workers of iniquity. And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, etc.
III. THE BLESSED STATE OF THINGS WHICH WILL BE REALISED UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION. We dare not lose eight of the truth, that He is mighty to destroy; but how encouraging is it to remember, that He who speaks and acts in righteousness is also mighty to save. And the concluding portion of this prophecy shows in how signal a manner His saving power will be exerted.
1. The condition described. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, etc. We have here two leading ideas.
(1) Peace and harmony.
(2) Security.
2. In order thereto the most marvellous transformations will be effected.
3. The means of this transformation will be the universal diffusion of Divine knowledge (Isa_11:9).
Conclusion--
1. Let us pray that the Redeemers kingdom may come.
2. To us, personally, the great thing is to possess the knowledge of the Lord ourselves. (Anon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1
CHAPTER X
THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN MAN AND THE ANIMALS
Read full note →
ABOUT 720 B.C.
Isaiah 11and 12
BENEATH the crash of the Assyrian with which the tenth chapter closes, we pass out into the eleventh upon a glorious prospect of Israels future. The Assyrian when he falls shall fall forever like the cedars of Lebanon, that send no fresh sprout forth from their broken stumps. But out of the trunk of the Judaean oak, also brought down by these terrible storms, Isaiah sees springing a fair and powerful Branch. Assyria, he would tell us. has no future. Judah has a future, and at first the prophet sees it in a scion of her royal house. The nation shall be almost exterminated, the dynasty of David hewn to a stump; "yet there shall spring a shoot from the stock of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit."
The picture of this future, which fills the eleventh chapter, is one of the most extensive that Isaiah has drawn. Three great prospects are unfolded in it: a prospect of mind, a prospect of nature, and a prospect of history. To begin with, there is (Isa_11:2-5) the geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character, knowledge, and achievement. We have next (Isa_11:5-9) a vision of the restitution of nature, Paradise regained. And, thirdly (Isa_11:9-16), there is the geography of Israels redemption, the coasts and highways along which the hosts of the dispersion sweep up from captivity to a station of supremacy over the world. To this third prospect chapter 12 forms a fitting conclusion, a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles. The human mind, nature, and history are the three dimensions of life, and across them all the prophet tells us that the Spirit of the Lord will fill the future with His marvels of righteousness, wisdom, and peace. He presents to us three great ideals: the perfect indwelling of our humanity by the Spirit of God; the peace and communion of all nature, covered with the knowledge of God; the traversing of all history by the Divine purposes of redemption.
I. THE MESSIAH AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
{Isa_11:1-5}
The first form, in which Isaiah sees Israels longed-for future realised, is that which he so often exalts and makes glistering upon the threshold of the future-the form of a king. It is a peculiarity, which we cannot fail to remark about Isaiahs scattered representations of this brilliant figure, that they have no connecting link.
They do not allude to one another, nor employ a common terminology, even the word king dropping out of some of them. The earliest of the series bestows a name on the Messiah, which none of the others repeat, nor does Isaiah say in any of them, This is He of whom I have spoken before. Perhaps the disconnectedness of these oracles is as strong a proof as is necessary of the view we have formed that throughout his ministry our prophet had before him no distinct, identical individual, but rather an ideal of virtue and kinghood, whose features varied according to the conditions of the time. In this chapter Isaiah recalls nothing of Immanuel, or of the Prince-of-the-Four-Names. Nevertheless (besides for the first time deriving the Messiah from the house of David), he carries his description forward to a stage which lies beyond and to some extent implies his two previous portraits. Immanuel was only a Sufferer with His people in the day of their oppression. The Prince-of-the-Four-Names was the Redeemer of his people from their captivity, and stepped to his throne not only after victory, but with the promise of a long and just government shining from the titles by which He was proclaimed. But now Isaiah not only speaks at length of this peaceful reign-a chronological advance-but describes his hero so inwardly that we also feel a certain spiritual advance. The Messiah is no more a mere experience, as Immanuel was, nor only outward deed and promise, like the Prince-of-the-Four-Names, but at last, and very strongly, a character. The second verse is the definition of this character; the third describes the atmosphere in which it lives. And there shall rest upon him the Spirit of Jehovah, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah; and he shall draw breath in the fear of Jehovah-in other words, ripeness but also sharpness of mind; moral decision and heroic energy; piety in its two forms of knowing the will of God and feeling the constraint to perform it. We could not have a more concise summary of the strong elements of a ruling mind. But it is only as Judge and Ruler that Isaiah cares here to think of his hero. Nothing is said of the tender virtues, and we feel that the prophet still stands in the days of the need of inflexible government and purgation in Judah.
Dean Plumptre has plausibly suggested, that these verses may represent the programme which Isaiah set before his pupil Hezekiah on his accession to the charge of a nation, whom his weak predecessor had suffered to lapse into such abuse of justice and laxity of morals. The acts of government described are all of a punitive and repressive character. The hero speaks only to make the land tremble: "And He shall smite the land with the rod of His mouth" [what need, after the whispering, indecisive Ahaz!], "and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked."
This, though a fuller and more ethical picture of the Messiah than even the ninth chapter, is evidently wanting in many of the traits of a perfect man. Isaiah has to grow in his conception of his Hero, and will grow as the years go on, in tenderness. His thirty-second chapter is a much richer, a more gracious and humane picture of the Messiah. There the Victor of the ninth and righteous Judge of the eleventh chapters is represented as a Man, who shall not only punish but protect, and not only reign but inspire, who shall be life as well as victory and justice to His people-"a hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
A conception so limited to the qualifications of an earthly monarch, as this of chapter 11 gives us no ground for departing from our previous conclusion, that Isaiah had not a "supernatural" personality in his view. The Christian Church, however, has not confined the application of the passage to earthly kings and magistrates, but has seen its perfect fulfilment in the indwelling of Christs human nature by the Holy Ghost. But it is remarkable, that for this exegesis she has not made use of the most "supernatural" of the details of character here portrayed. If the Old Testament has a phrase for sinlessness, that phrase occurs here, in the beginning of the third verse. In the authorised English version it is translated, "and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," and in the Revised Version, "His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord," and on the margin the literal meaning of delight is given as scent. But the phrase may as well mean, "He shall draw his breath in the fear of the Lord"; and it is a great pity, that our revisers have not even on the margin given to English readers any suggestion of so picturesque, and probably so correct, a rendering. It is a most expressive definition of sinlessness-sinlessness which was the attribute of Christ alone. We, however purely intentioned we be, are compassed about by an atmosphere of sin. We cannot help breathing what now inflames our passions, now chills our warmest feelings, and makes our throats incapable of honest testimony or glorious praise. As oxygen to a dying fire, so the worldliness we breathe is to the sin within us. We cannot help it; it is the atmosphere into which we are born. But from this Christ alone of men was free. He was His own atmosphere, "drawing breath in the fear of the Lord." Of Him alone is it recorded, that, though living in the world, He was never infected with the worlds sin. The blast of no mans cruelty ever kindled unholy wrath within His breast; nor did mens unbelief carry to His soul its deadly chill. Not even when He was led of the devil into the atmosphere of temptation, did His heart throb with one rebellious ambition. Christ "drew breath in the fear of the Lord."
But draughts of this atmosphere are possible to us also, to whom the Holy Spirit is granted. We too, who sicken with the tainted breath of society, and see the characters of children about us fall away and the hidden evil within leap to swift flame before the blasts of the world-we too may, by Christs grace, "draw breath," like Him, "in the fear of the Lord." Recall some day when, leaving your close room and the smoky city, you breasted the hills of God, and into opened lungs drew deep draughts of the fresh air of heaven. What strength it gave your body, and with what a glow of happiness your mind was filled! What that is physically, Christ has made possible for us men morally. He has revealed stretches and eminences of life, where, following in His footsteps, we also shall draw for our breath the fear of God. This air is inspired up every steep hill of effort, and upon all summits of worship. In the most passion-haunted air, prayer will immediately bring this atmosphere about a man, and on the wings of praise the poorest soul may rise from the miasma of temptation, and sing forth her song into the azure with as clear a throat as the larks.
And what else is heaven to be, if not this? God, we are told, shall be its Sun; but its atmosphere shall be His fear, "which is clean and endureth for ever." Heaven seems most real as a moral open-air, where every breath is an inspiration, and every pulse a healthy joy, where no thoughts from within us find breath but those of obedience and praise, and all our passions and aspirations are of the will of God. He that lives near to Christ, and by Christ often seeks God in prayer, may create for himself even on earth such a heaven, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
II. THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD
{Isa_11:2-3}
This passage, which suggests so much of Christ, is also for Christian Theology and Art a classical passage on the Third Person of the Trinity. If the texts in the book of Revelation {Rev_1:4; Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5; Rev_5:6} upon the Seven Spirits of God were not themselves founded on this text of Isaiah, it is certain that the Church immediately began to interpret them by its details. While there are only six spirits of God named here-three pairs - yet, in order to complete the perfect number, the exegesis of earlyChristianity sometimes added "the Spirit of the Lord" at the beginning of Isa_11:2 as the central branch of a seven-branched candlestick; or sometimes "the quick understanding in the fear of the Lord" in the beginning of Isa_11:3 was attached as the seventh branch. {Compare Zec_4:6}
It is remarkable that there is almost no single text of Scripture which has more impressed itself upon Christian doctrine and symbol than this second verse of the eleventh chapter, interpreted as a definition of the Seven Spirits of God. In the theology, art, and worship of the Middle Ages it dominated the expression of the work of the Holy Ghost. First, and most native to its origin, arose the employment of this text at the coronation of kings and the fencing of tribunals of justice. What Isaiah wrote for Hezekiah of Judah became the official prayer, song, or ensample of the earliest Christian kings in Europe. It is evidently the model of that royal hymn-not by Charlemagne, as usually supposed, but by his grandson Charles the Bald-the "Veni Creator Spiritus." In a Greek miniature of the tenth century, the Holy Spirit, as a dove, is seen hovering over King David, who displays the prayer: "Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness to the kings son," while there stand on either side of him the figures of Wisdom and Prophecy. Henry IIIs order of knighthood, "Du Saint Esprit," was restricted to political men, and particularly to magistrates. But perhaps the most interesting identification of the Holy Spirit with the rigorous virtues of our passage occurs in a story of St. Dunstan, who, just before mass on the day of Pentecost, discovered that three coiners, who had been sentenced to death, were being respited till the Festival of the Holy Ghost should be over. "It shall not be thus," cried the indignant saint, and gave orders for their immediate execution. There was remonstance, but he, no doubt with the eleventh of Isaiah in mind, insisted, and was obeyed. "I now hope," he said, resuming the mass, "that God will be pleased to accept the sacrifice I am about to offer." "Whereupon," says the veracious "Acts of the Saints," "a snow-white dove did, in the vision of many, descend from heaven, and until the sacrifice was completed remain above his head in silence, with wings extended and motionless." Which may be as much legend as we have the heart to make it, but nevertheless remains a sure proof of the association, by discerning mediaevals who could read their Scriptures, of the Holy Spirit with the decisiveness and rigorous justice of Isaiahs "mirror for magistrates."
But the influence of our passage may be followed to that wider definition of the Spirits work, which made Him the Fountain of all intelligence. The Spirits of the Lord mentioned by Isaiah are prevailingly intellectual; and the mediaeval Church, using the details of this passage to interpret Christs own intimation of the Paraclete as the Spirit of truth, -remembering also the story of Pentecost, when the Spirit bestowed the gifts of tongues, and the case of Stephen, who, in the triumph of his eloquence and learning, was said to be full of the Holy Ghost, -did regard, as Gregory of Tours expressly declared, the Holy Spirit as the "God of the intellect more than of the heart." All Councils were opened by a mass to the Holy Ghost, and few, who have examined with care the windows of mediaeval churches, will have failed to be struck with the frequency with which the Dove is seen descending upon the heads of miraculously learned persons, or presiding at discussions, or hovering over groups of figures representing the sciences. To the mediaeval Church, then, the Holy Spirit was the Author of the intellect, more especially of the governing and political intellect; and there can be little doubt, after a study of the variations of this doctrine, that the first five verses of the eleventh of Isaiah formed upon it the classical text of appeal. To Christians, who have been accustomed by the use of the word Comforter to associate the Spirit only with the gentle and consoling influences of heaven, it may seem strange to find His energy identified with the stern rigour of the magistrate. But in its practical, intelligent, and reasonable uses the mediaeval doctrine is greatly to be preferred, on grounds both of Scripture and common sense, to those two comparatively modern corruptions of it, one of which emphasises the Spirits influence in the exclusive operation of the grace of orders, and the other, driving to an opposite extreme, dissipates it into the vaguest religiosity. It is one of the curiosities of Christian theology, that a Divine influence, asserted by Scripture and believed by the early Church to manifest itself in the successful conduct of civil offices and the fulness of intellectual learning, should in these latter days be so often set up in a sort of "supernatural" opposition to practical wisdom and the results of science. But we may go back to Isaiah for the same kind of correction on this doctrine, as he has given us on the doctrine of faith: and while we do not forget the richer meaning the New Testament bestows on the operation of the Divine Spirit, we may learn from the Hebrew prophet to seek the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in all the endeavours of science, and not to forget that it is His guidance alone which enables us to succeed in the conduct of our offices and fortunes.
III. THE REDEMPTION OF NATURE
{Isa_11:6-9}
But Isaiah will not be satisfied with the establishment of a strong government in the land and the redemption of human society from chaos. He prophesies the redemption of all nature as well. It is one of those errors, which distort both the poetry and truth of the Bible, to suppose that by the bears, lions, and reptiles which the prophet now sees tamed in the time of the regeneration, he intends the violent human characters which he so often attacks. When Isaiah here talks of the beasts, he means the beasts. The passage is not allegorical, but direct, and forms a parallel to the well-known passage in the eighth of Romans. Isaiah and Paul, chief apostles of the two covenants, both interrupt their magnificent odes upon the outpouring of the Spirit, to remind us that the benefits of this will be shared by the brute and unintelligent creation. And, perhaps, there is no finer contrast in the Scriptures than here, where beside so majestic a description of the intellectual faculties of humanity Isaiah places so charming a picture of the docility and sportfulness of wild animals, -"And a little child shall lead them."
We, who live in countries from which wild beasts have been exterminated, cannot understand the insecurity and terror that they cause in regions where they abound. A modern seer of the times of regeneration would leave the wild animals out of his vision. They do not impress any more the human conscience or imagination. But they once did so most terribly. The hostility between man and the beasts not only formed once upon a time the chief material obstacle in the progress of the race, but remains still to the religious thinker the most pathetic portion of that groaning and travailing of all creation, which is so heavy a burden on his heart. Isaiah, from his ancient point of view, is in thorough accord with the order of civilisation, when he represents the subjugation of wild animals as the first problem of man, after he has established a strong government in the land. So far from rhetorising or allegorising-above which literary forms it would appear to be impossible for the appreciation of some of his commentators to follow him-Isaiah is earnestly celebrating a very real moment in the laborious progress of mankind. Isaiah stands where Hercules stood, and Theseus, and Arthur when
"There grew great tracts of wilderness,
Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
But man was less and less till Arthur came.
And he drave
The heathen, and he slew the beast, and felled
The forest, and let in the sun, and made
Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight,
And so returned."
But Isaiah would solve the grim problem of the warfare between man and his lower fellow-creatures in a very different way from that, of which these heroes have set the example to humanity. Isaiah would not have the wild beasts exterminated, but tamed. There our Western and modern imagination may fail to follow him, especially when he includes reptiles in the regeneration, and prophesies of adders and lizards as the playthings of children. But surely there is no genial man, who has watched the varied forms of life that sport in the Southern sunshine, who will not sympathise with the prophet in his joyous vision. Upon a warm spring day in Palestine, to sit upon the grass, beside some old dyke or ruin with its face to the south, is indeed to obtain a rapturous view of the wealth of life, with which the bountiful God has blessed and. made merry mans dwelling-place. How the lizards come and go among the grey stones, and flash like jewels in the dust! And the timid snake rippling quickly past through the grass, and the leisurely tortoise, with his shiny back, and the chameleon, shivering into new colour as he passes from twig to stone and stone to straw, -all the air the while alive with the music of the cricket and the bee! You feel that the ideal is not to destroy these pretty things as vermin. What a loss of colour the lizards alone would imply! But, as Isaiah declares, -whom we may imagine walking with his children up the steep vineyard paths, to watch the creatures come and go upon the dry dykes on either hand, -the ideal is to bring them into sympathy with ourselves, make pets of them and playthings for children, who indeed stretch out their hands in joy to the pretty toys. Why should we need to fight with, or destroy, any of the happy life the Lord has created? Why have we this loathing to it, and need to defend ourselves from it, when there is so much suffering we could cure, and so much childlikeness we could amuse and be amused by, and yet it will not let us near? To these questions there is not another answer but the answer of the Bible: that this curse of conflict and distrust between man and his fellow-creatures is due to mans sin, and shall only be done away by mans redemption.
Nor is this Bible answer, -of which the book of Genesis gives us the one end, and this text of Isaiah the other, -a mere pious opinion, which the true history of mans dealing with wild beasts by extermination proves to be impracticable. We may take on scientific authority a few facts as hints from nature, that after all man is to blame for the wildness of the beasts, and that through his sanctification they may be restored to sympathy with himself. Charles Darwin says: "It deserves notice, that at an extremely ancient period, when man first entered any country the animals living there would have felt no instinctive or inherited fear of him, and would consequently have been tamed far more easily than at present." And he gives some very instructive facts in proof of this with regard to dogs, antelopes, manatees, and hawks. "Quadrupeds and birds which have seldom been disturbed by man dread him no more than do our English birds the cows or horses grazing in the fields." Darwins details are peculiarly pathetic in their revelation of the brutes utter trustfulness in man, before they get to know him. Persons, who have had to do with individual animals of a species that has never been thoroughly tamed, are aware that the difficulty of training them lies in convincing them of our sincerity and good-heartedness, and that when this is got over they will learn almost any trick, or habit. The well-known lines of Burns to the field-mouse gather up the cause of all this in a fashion very similar to the Bibles.
"Im truly sorry mans dominion
Has broken natures social union,
And justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor earth-born companion
And fellow-mortal."
How much the appeal of suffering animals to man-the look of a wounded horse or dog with a meaning which speech would only spoil, the tales of beasts of prey that in pain have turned to man as their physician, the approach of the wildest birds in winter to our feet as their Providence - how much all these prove Pauls saying that the "earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." And we have other signals, than those afforded by the pain and pressure of the beasts themselves, of the time when they and man shall sympathise. The natural history of many of our breeds of domesticated animals teaches us the lesson that their growth in skill and character-no one who has enjoyed the friendship of several dogs will dispute the possibility of character in the lower animals-has been proportionate to mans own.
Though savages are fond of keeping and taming animals, they fail to advance them to the stages of cunning and discipline, which animals reach under the influence of civilised man. "No instance is on record," says Darwin, "of such dogs as bloodhounds, spaniels, or true greyhounds having been kept by savages; they are the products of long-continued civilisation."
These facts, if few, certainly bear in the direction of Isaiahs prophecy, that not by extermination of the beasts, but by the influence upon them of mans greater force of character, may that warfare be brought to an end. of which mans sin, according to the Bible, is the original cause.
The practical "uses" of such a passage of Scripture as this are plain. Some of them are the awful responsibility of mans position as the keystone of creation, the material effects of sin, and especially the religiousness of our relation to the lower animals. More than once do the Hebrew prophets liken the Almightys dealings with man to merciful mans dealings with his beasts. {Isa_63:13-14; Hos_11:4} Both Isaiah and Paul virtually declare that man discharges to the lower creatures a mediatorial office. To say so will of course seem an exaggeration to some people, but not to those who, besides being grateful to remember what help in labour and cheer in dreariness we owe our humble fellow-creatures, have been fortunate enough to enjoy the affection and trust of a dumb friend. Men who abuse the lower animals sin very grievously against God; men who neglect them lose some of the religious possibilities of life. If it is our business in life to have the charge of animals, we should magnify our calling. Every coachman and carter ought to feel something of the priest about him; he should think no amount of skill and patience too heavy if it enables him to gain insight into the nature of creatures of God, all of whose hope, by Scripture and his own experience, is towards himself.
Our relation to the lower animals is one of the three great relations of our nature. For God our worship; for man our service; for the beasts our providence, and according both to Isaiah and Paul, the mediation of our holiness.
IV. THE RETURN AND SOVEREIGNTY OF ISRAEL
{Isa_11:10-16}
In passing from the second to the third part of this prophecy, we cannot but feel that we descend to a lower point of view and a less pure atmosphere of spiritual ambition. Isaiah, who has just declared peace between man and beast, finds that Judah must clear off certain scores against her neighbours before there can be peace between man and man. It is an interesting psychological study. The prophet, who has been able to shake off mans primeval distrust and loathing of wild animals, cannot divest himself of the political tempers of his age. He admits, indeed, the reconciliation of Ephraim and Judah; but the first act of the reconciled brethren, he prophesies with exultation, will be to "swoop down upon" their cousins Edom, Moab, and Ammon, and their neighbours the Philistines. We need not longer dwell on this remarkable limitation of the prophets spirit, except to point out that while Isaiah clearly saw that Israels own purity would not be perfected except by her political debasement, he could not as yet perceive any way for the conversion of the rest of the world except through Israels political supremacy.
The prophet, however, is more occupied with an event preliminary to Israels sovereignty, namely the return from exile. His large and emphatic assertions remind the not yet captive Judah through how much captivity she has to pass before she can see the margin of the blessed future which he has been describing to her. Isaiahs words imply a much more general captivity than had taken place by the time he spoke them, and we see that he is still keeping steadily in view that thorough reduction of his people, to the prospect of which he was forced in his inaugural vision. Judah has to be dispersed, even as Ephraim has been, before the glories of this chapter shall be realised.
We postpone further treatment of this prophecy, along with the hymn (chapter 12), which is attached to it, to a separate chapter, dealing with all the representations, which the first half of the book of Isaiah contains, of the return from exile.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v1This is one of the visions that Isaiah saw…
ISAIAH’S VISION OF THE KING AND OF HIS KINGDOM
CHAPTERS 11 AND 12
Read full note →
This is one of the visions that Isaiah saw (chap. Isa_1:1, Isa_2:1, &c.). He was a dreamer of dreams. With a keen perception, not surpassed, of the men and things actually surrounding him, much of his life was passed in an ideal and future world. There he found comfort and strength to endure the sorrows that otherwise would have crushed him. At the outset of his ministry, when the great king who had done so much to restore the prosperity of the nation was about to be removed, there was vouchsafed to him a vision of the King immortal, eternal, invisible, throned in the temple, and surrounded by the exalted intelligences who do His will (chap. Isa_6:1-4); and now, at the close of the wicked and disastrous reign of Ahaz, when his hopes concerning his race would naturally have failed, there was granted him a vision of a King of righteousness and peace, who on earth would rule over a kingdom such as the world had never seen. His soul had been stirred and appalled by a vision of disaster and woe. He saw the king of Assyria, then the terror of the earth, utterly broken, his vast armies hewn down as forests fall before the axes of the woodmen (chap. Isa_10:33-34); a vision of blood and terror which may well have filled him with trembling. But just as sometimes the sweetest day break follows a night of storm, this vision of terror fades away, and he sees—
I. A KING (chap. Isa_11:1-5).
1. Royally descended, “a rod out of the stem of Jesse,” A simple farmer on the hills of Bethlehem, and yet a father of kings. Not an accident. We are here confronted with the mystery of blood, of race. No common man was he from whom sprang David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, and a long line of kings. In his ordinary hours, Isaiah may well have derived assurance that the vision that gladdened him was given him from above, from the fact that it was in harmony with God’s promise (2Sa_7:12-16). Without dismay he could view the royal house lapsing into the obscurity from which it sprang—becoming merely a house of Jesse once more—assured that in His own time God would again raise it up to glory [979] It is always well when our hopes rest upon the Word of God.
2. Royally endowed; a King by truest “right divine,” because possessed of royal qualities of heart and mind (chap. Isa_11:2-3). Of the thousands who have sat on thrones, how few have possessed them! How many have ruled over the miserable wretches subject to their sway merely by the craft of the serpent or the cruelty of the tiger! Of those who have been popular, how many have owed their popularity to mere physical prowess and politic good-nature (Richard I., Charles II.)! How few have endeavoured to approach the Biblical conception of what a ruler ought to be (Deu_17:14-20; 2Sa_23:3; Psa_72:4; Pro_20:28)! In the marvellous superiority of that conception to anything that has prevailed among men, have we not another proof that the sacred writers were indeed inspired by the Spirit of God?
3. Ruling in righteousness; using His marvellous endowments for the welfare of those subjected to His authority (chap. Isa_11:3-5); not judging of things or men by their mere appearance, nor by common report; caring for the poor, befriending the shrinking and helpless, fearless in His dispensation of justice; His very words being swords that smote and overthrew the arrogant oppressor; made strong by the very righteousness which merely politic men would have feared to display in view of the might of iniquity in this disordered world; a Hero of the truest and divinest kind, in actual life setting forth the ideal to which the noblest knights in the purest days of chivalry strove to conform. Such was the King whom the prophet “saw” in an age when “ruler” was merely another word for tyrant and oppressor. Surely the vision so fair and wondrous was given him from above!
[979] The image is now transferred to the state and king of Israel, which is also to be cut down to the stump, like the tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. But out of that stump, and from its living roots, shall grow up a scion—one of those slender shoots which we see springing up from, and immediately around, the stock of a truncated tree. A king of the race of Jesse shall sit on the throne of his fathers, in accordance with the covenant made with David (Psa_89:3-4).—Strachey.
When the axe is laid to the imperial power of the world, it falls without hope (chap. Isa_10:33-34). But in Israel spring is returning (chap. Isa_11:1). The world-power resembles the cedar-forest of Lebanon; the house of David, on the other hand, because of its apostasy, is like the stump of a felled tree, like a root without stem, branches, or crown. The world-kingdom, at the height of its power, presents the most striking contrast to Israel and the house of David in the uttermost depth announced in chapter 6, fin., mutilated and reduced to the lowliness of its Bethlehemitish origin. But whereas the Lebanon of the imperial power is thrown down, to remain prostrate, the house of David renews its youth.… Out of the stump of Jesse—i.e., out of the remnant of the chosen royal family, which has sunk down to the insignificance of the house from which it sprang—there comes forth a twig (choter), which promises to supply the place of the trunk and crown; and down below, in the roots covered with earth, and only rising a little above it, there shows itself a nçtzer, i.e., a fresh, green shoot. In the historical account of the fulfilment, even the ring of the words of the prophecy is noticed: the nçtzer, at first so humble and insignificant, was a poor despised Nazarene (Mat_2:23).—Delitzsch.
II. He saw also THE KINGDOM.
1. A kingdom of righteousness (chap. Isa_11:9). The kingdom necessarily resembles the king. Appalling is the influence of a court upon a nation. Correspondingly great is the responsibility of those who sit in high places.
2. A kingdom of peace. Set forth by the most beautiful symbolism (chap. Isa_11:6-10; Isa_11:13).
3. A kingdom of prosperity. Those included in it are no longer miserable exiles and bond slaves; rather they rule over those by whom they were spoiled and oppressed (chap. Isa_11:14). This is the true interpretation of a symbol that is in itself harsh and repulsive. The coarseness of the symbol is due to the coarseness of the minds it was first intended to touch. 4. A kingdom of gladness and joy. There pervades it the gladness of exiles who have been restored to their own land (chap. Isa_11:15-16); the true and religious joy of men who recognise that the deliverances which inspire their songs have been wrought for them by God (chap. Isa_12:1-5); the joy of men who are absolutely assured of continual safety (chap. Isa_12:2; Isa_12:6).
Was all this merely a bright vision?
1. It has been already fulfilled in part.
2. In our own day it is being fulfilled more completely than ever before.
3. It shall yet be fulfilled triumphantly [982] Let us then,
1. Recognise and rejoice in the fact that we are living under the rule of this righteous King. This is at least the dawning of the “day” which Isaiah saw (Mat_13:16).
2. Exult in view of the certain future of our race. The kingdom of God shall come generation after generation with mightier power (H. E. I., 3421–3423).
3. Labour as well as pray that future may be hastened.
[982] For additional suggestions on this part of the subject, see outlines on pages 71–73, 101, 182, 186, 191–194.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
Isa_11:2. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.
This is declared concerning the Messiah. Short as this declaration is, some of the profoundest of all truths are involved in it. It is implied that God is a person, that from Him there goes forth an influence by which the character of other persons is affected, and that all that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah came from God. Let us think of these things. Do not be deterred from doing so by the idea that they are transcendental, far away from our daily life. They need not be so; we shall be very blameworthy if we make them so.
I. God is a person. There are those who would have us put away this faith. In their view, God is merely the great controlling Force behind all other forces, the life of the universe, diffused through it, manifesting itself in innumerable forms. As it is the same life in the tree that manifests itself in root, trunk, branch, spray, twig, leaf, blossom, fruit, so all things that exist are not the creations of a personal will, but the manifestations of an impersonal and all-pervading life; all forces, convertible the one into the other, are but varying forms of the one underlying force. Every individual life is but a wave that seems for a moment to be separated from the one universal ocean of life; it leaps up from it, falls back into it, is absorbed by it. True, these waves are often strangely diverse—Nero and St. Paul, John Howard and Napoleon, the Virgin Mary and Lucrezia Borgia; but in that great Unity of which they are all manifestations, there is an all-comprehensive reconciliation, though it may elude our grasp. For Pantheism, many would have us put away the doctrine of a personal God. But this exchange, if it could be forced upon us by some logical necessity (which it is not), would not be a gain, but a tremendous loss. For,
1. There would be a tremendous loss to the heart. A force may be feared, but not loved. To gravitation we owe much, but no one ever professed to love it. A force cannot be loved, because it does not love. Strike out of our life all that comes to us from the confidence that God loves us, and from the responsive love that springs up in our hearts towards Him, and how much is lost! Then there is no longer any assurance amid the mysteries of life, nor consolation in its sorrows. In a word, we are orphaned: we can no longer say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” There is no longer a Father, knowing us, loving us, causing all things to work together for our good; there is only a Force, to which it is useless to appeal, against which it is impossible to contend.
2. We should also lose one of the greatest of all helps to a noble life. Not to dwell on the fact that to speak of virtue or vice would then be absurd,—then we should no longer sin, we should merely make mistakes,—consider how much the world owes to the aspiration to be like God which has stirred so many noble souls. Through them the average morality of the world has been marvellously raised; but this would have been impossible but for the stimulus these inspiring souls found in the character of God. That is the first fact of which this text reminds us, that God is a person from whom a spirit—an influence—can go forth affecting the character of other persons.
II. From God such an influence does go forth. The possibility is a glorious fact. That from God a “spirit” should go forth, and that it should do so invisibly, is in accordance with all that we know of the universe which God has made, and which is in some sort a revelation of Him.
1. Nothing in the universe is unrelated. From orb to orb influences go forth by which they are mutually affected.
2. The mightiest influences are invisible. In all this, the material is a counterfact and revelation of the spiritual. It would be altogether abnormal, if from God there did not go forth an influence operating upon and affecting other persons. It is invisible, but its effects are recognisable. One of them is the activity of conscience, rightly understood. Another is the moral growth and refinement which those in whom it is most conspicuous, most invariably and distinctly attribute to influences exerted upon them by God. Even Socrates did so. This also is a doctrine full of hope and comfort. If we need moral transformation, there streams from God an influence capable of effecting it: to that influence let us submit ourselves, and the transformation shall come to pass; the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon us, and we shall become like Him.
III. To the influence exerted upon Him by the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth owed all that qualified Him to be the Messiah (Isa_11:2-5). That which was born of the Virgin Mary was a true human child. A sinless child, yet sinless not as the result of the sinlessness of the mother (as Rome teaches), but of the influence of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him from the beginning of His earthly life. His was a real humanity—our humanity sanctified. All that was pure, noble, Godlike in Him was “born not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” How full of comfort and hope is this truth also! To us also is offered the same Spirit. Nothing can be more express than the declarations that we may have it if we will, and that, if we have it, the ultimate result will be that we shall be found partakers of the holiness of God. Let us not be unwisely cast down by the frailty and pollution of our nature; if the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us, the purity and the strength of God will become ours, and at length the Father will say of each of us, as He did of Jesus of Nazareth, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE
Isa_11:3. And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears.
A glorious difference between our Lord and ourselves. “He knew what was in man,” and needed not the evidence of external signs, which often mislead us. He could deal with the motives of the heart (H. E. I., 3332, 4147). Not by human sight, but by Divine insight, He judged the conduct and character of men.
1. Our judgment is enfeebled by ignorance. We do not see and hear all, and from our imperfect knowledge of facts we draw wrong and often disastrous conclusions (H. E. I., 2997–3005). But our Lord could go behind the visible works, and detect what often deceived men—e.g., His treatment of pharisaism.
2. Our judgment is enfeebled by prejudice. This is often the result of ignorance. Seeing only certain sides of men, we dislike them, and frame our judgments accordingly—e.g., Nathanael (Joh_1:6). With no better reason than Nathanael had, we regard many a man as an enemy, or otherwise place him in a false light. But our Lord dealt with none in this way. Seeing men as they really were, no preconceived opinions led Him to unworthy conclusions.
3. Partiality enfeebles and perverts our judgment. Judging by sight and hearing, we approve of one man more than another, because he has certain artful or pleasing methods for winning our favour; flattery, offers of gain, &c. (P. D., 1275, 1281, 1283). But our Lord could not be won in this way (Mar_12:14; Joh_6:15). He was infinitely compassionate, tender, forgiving, but no feeble partiality interfered to prevent most righteous judgment.
4. Our judgment is often perverted by passion. In the pursuit of some unlawful and all-absorbing aim, we become too disturbed to weigh calmly even the evidences we can see and hear. We look at everything in the light of our false affection, and are thereby rendered absolutely incapable of beholding others in their true light, especially if they stand in our way and oppose our progress (P. D., 2060). But the one absorbing and unremittent purpose of Jesus of Nazareth was to do the will of His Heavenly Father, and to finish the work He had given Him to do. Hence He dwelt always on a pure altitude, in whose clear atmosphere He saw men and things as they are.
5. Our natural depravity is also a serious hindrance to our right judging. Our very organs of knowledge, our affections, our conscience, have been perverted. Let a man be ever so disposed to take correct views of men and things, there will be some flaw in his vision, some defect in his hearing. Hence there are times when we cannot accept as final the judgment of the best and holiest of men. But Christ had no secret evil to lead Him wrong.
In view of all this, how fitting it is that Christ should be our judge! How well, too, He is qualified to be the merciful High Priest whom we need (Heb_4:15-16). He who tenderly sympathises with us is He who perfectly knows us (H. E. I., 956; P. D., 462).—William Manning.
THE UNIVERSAL DIFFUSION AND REDEMPTIVE POWER OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
(Missionary Sermon.)
Isa_11:9. They shall not hurt nor destroy, &c.
We have here a picture of the golden age. I. The whole earth shall be as Mount Zion. II. Shall be freed from injustice and violence. III. Shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
1. Wherein this knowledge consists.
2. To what extent it shall prevail—universal, deep.
3. By what means it is to be diffused.—J. Lyth. D.D.: Homiletical Treasury (p. 18).
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” It seems clear that in these words the prophet intended to be understood as speaking of the whole earth. He would scarcely, in the same sentence, have used the expressions in question—the holy mountain in the first clause, and the earth in the other—if by these expressions he had not meant the same thing, namely, the whole globe of the earth, when the dwellers thereon should come to be true worshippers, like those who first worshipped at Mount Zion, and who were a type of the greater assembly of worshippers, the holy and universal Church, which in the fulness of time would be established.
I. The prophet grounds the hope of that reformed and purified state of the moral world, described in the beautiful words of the text, upon the increase of religious knowledge which he saw to be coming. “They shall not hurt … for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” II. These words may be taken as descriptive of the legitimate effect of Christian knowledge. The general scope, aim, and tendency of gospel principles is such as would produce the change described, were it not counteracted by the tendency within us to what is wrong. III. They are more than this: they are prophetic of the actual results of Christian knowledge. The gospel will render war impossible. True, so-called “Christian” nations have not yet ceased to wage war with one another, nor so-called “Christian” men to rob and circumvent and ruin each other. Nevertheless, this prophecy shall yet be fulfilled. We see it in the process of fulfilment. The condition of the moral world has been meliorated by Christianity. Wars have not ceased, but their conduct has been mitigated. In their private dealings with each other, men have become more just and trustworthy. Already there are millions of men who would shrink from doing harm of any kind to their fellow-men. Compare Christendom with heathendom, and you will see what mighty changes the gospel has already wrought. The practice even of Christian men falls short of their knowledge. Nevertheless, the practice and the morals of men are, generally speaking, the best where their knowledge is the most. The prophet’s words are justified by fact, and men forbear one another most, and hurt and destroy least, where knowledge is the greatest. It is a fact that life and property are more safe and secure in the Christian portion of the earth, than in any other portions. And the knowledge of the Lord grows year by year; partly through the labours of missionaries in many places; still more by the rapid growth of the nations that are Christian. The violent and lawless races of the earth are dwindling away. The only races that are increasing are those that fear God, and are willing to respect the rights, the properties, and the lives of their neighbours. Through the medium of this natural increase of peace-loving races, and through the conversion of many among the benighted nations, this prophecy is receiving a gradual, but very appreciable, fulfilment. The world is advancing, with ever-accelerating speed, towards knowledge and peace, and this declaration shall yet be literally fulfilled (H. E. I., 979, 1161–1168; P. D., 2465, 2466).
Application.—
1. We are permitted to rejoice in the hope of a period when justice and benevolence shall prevail in the world.
2. We are required to contribute towards the realisation of this hope. This we are to do
(1) by the purification of our own hearts; by the conquest of every passion and desire that would make us hurtful to our neighbours.
(2) By prayer (Mat_6:9-10).
(3) By helping to diffuse that “knowledge of the Lord” which is the great peace-maker in the earth.—A. Gibson, M.A.: Sermons on Various Subjects; Second Series (pp. 246–265).
In this and the preceding verses we have a beautiful picture of a state of human society entirely different from anything that has been witnessed since the Fall. The prophet beholds changes in human character so great that he feels he can only symbolise them by transformations in the members of the animal kingdom of the most astonishing kind. Isa_11:6-8 are symbolical, and are intended to excite within us the liveliest anticipations of the glorious effects that would follow the universal proclamation and acceptation of the gospel. Thus we are led to speak of the nature, the diffusion, and the effect of the knowledge of the Lord.
I. ITS EXALTED NATURE. By “the knowledge of the Lord” may be meant that of which He is the revealer (2Ch_30:22), or that of which He is the theme (2Pe_2:20). God can only be revealed by Himself; and He has given us a threefold revelation of Himself—in nature, in providence, and in Holy Scripture. In the latter we have the record of the fullest revelation which He has vouchsafed, that given us in His Son. God is never truly known by man until He is known in Christ. “The knowledge of the Lord” and “the gospel” are terms of the same meaning.
II. ITS DESTINED DIFFUSION. The figure employed by the prophet brings before us impressively the universality of its diffusion. The imagination is called in to instruct our faith [985] The world-wide diffusion of the gospel is a matter—
1. Of prophetic certainty. Nothing could be more plain than the prophetic declarations concerning this matter. But if any man asks when the promise will be fulfilled, only one answer can be given him (Act_1:7).
2. Involving Divine agency. Utterly false is the notion that, after creating the universe, God withdrew from it, and left it to go on by its own momentum (Joh_5:17); and utterly false is the notion that, after giving the gospel to the world, God has left it to make its own way therein. By Divine agency men are raised up to proclaim it (Eph_4:11). While they are so engaged Christ Himself is with them (Mat_28:20); and while they preach, the Holy Spirit strives in the hearts of men to prepare and dispose them to receive the glad tidings (1Th_1:5). When, therefore, we look at the glorious promise of our text, we must not forget that God Himself is working for its accomplishment. This will save us from unbelief and despair concerning it.
3. Involving human instrumentality. Not that this is absolutely necessary. Without human husbandry God could have caused the earth to bring forth food for man and beast, and without human instrumentality He could have saved the world. But it has pleased Him to commit to us the Word of reconciliation. The consequent duty of preaching it must be taken in connection with, and regarded as the condition of, the promise; just as the promise that there shall be a harvest till the end of the world is conditioned by man’s sowing the seed in the appointed season. The promise must not be used as an excuse for indolence, but as a stimulus to industry.
[985] “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The expression is remarkable for its force. In looking over the face of the ocean, no differences are to be perceived: one part is not fuller than the other; one part is not covered, and another left dry; but all is one unbroken stream, filling and covering the whole. So shall it be with the Word of God among men. It shall not be known to some, and hidden from others. It shall not be fully declared in one place, and only partially set forth in another. Whatever knowledge it pleases Him to give at all, shall be given to all men equally and without distinction. Such is clearly the purpose of God in His own appointed time.—W. H. Sulivan.
“As the waters cover the sea.” The idea of universality could scarcely have been better expressed than by this magnificent simile. You have looked forth on the illimitable expanse of waters with wonder and awe. Your imagination has followed the depths far beyond the lowest tide-line to the unfathomed valleys and caverns that form the ocean bed; and you have endeavoured to take fully into your mind the thought that the lowest depths and the most distant shores were filled and covered by the all-diffusive and all-searching element.—Rawlinson.
III. ITS BLESSED EFFECT. The gospel is a harmonising power. It has a transforming efficacy equal to any that would be needed to bring about a literal fulfilment of Isa_11:6-8. Where-ever it comes in its saving power, it new creates human hearts, and thus dries up the causes of hatred and discord at their fountain. For it is a principle, 1, of righteousness, and, 2, of love. Hence it brings peace. For all discord is due to injustice that is prompted by selfishness (Jas_4:1). Where righteousness and love combine and rule, there must be peace and security; for the very desire to injure is taken away. The universal prevalence of the gospel necessarily means universal peace (H. E. I., 1126, 1127, 1129).
1. This suggests the answer to the questions, Why Christian nations make war against each other, and why even in Christian churches there are fierce contentions? The answer is, either that those nations or churches are Christian only in name, or that they have only very partially attained to “the knowledge of the Lord.” They are only in the infant-class in Christ’s great school; as they learn of Him, their rivalries and hatreds will pass away.
2. The gospel being so blessed in its effects, it is plain that it is the duty of all good men to extend the knowledge of it.—John Rawlinson.
A remarkable declaration this, especially if the Hebrew prophets were, as some learned sceptics tell us, men of narrow mind, worshipping a merely local god, and hating all men not descended from Jacob. By the noble simile employed by Isaiah two ideas are suggested—
1. Universality. Mankind is the area to be covered.
2. Ease. All the creeks, bays, channels, and broad highways of the vast ocean are filled in their appointed time. The mighty tide rises, sweeps onward, and the work is done. There was one great flood-tide of gospel-truth in the days of the apostles, and there is a greater still to come. Meanwhile, many difficulties attend the efforts of God’s people to extend the knowledge of His truth; but, in the world’s fulness, great ease will characterise the progress and triumphs of the gospel (Psa_110:3; Heb_8:11). This declaration suggests two great subjects:—
I. THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. Shut the Bible, and our outlook on the world and its future is dark and sad. Open it, and let its light shine into our minds, and with the light will come encouragement and hope.
1. If it is true that “the earth … the sea,” then God takes an interest in the affairs of the world, and takes an interest in them now. This mighty world is not left to drift into an unknown and perilous future without a steersman to guide it.
2. If God makes such abundant provision for the instruction of men in the knowledge of Himself, then He will be accessible to them when, by that knowledge, they are led to approach Him; and He is accessible to us.
3. Himself opening for men a way of access to Him, we may be sure that when they avail themselves of it He will deal with them in the way of mercy and love; and so He will deal with us. Who can doubt this who looks on the face of Christ, through whom God has given us the truest knowledge of Himself (2Co_4:6)?
4. He means to be known to the world, and therefore His gracious offers extend to all, to us.
II. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH. In view of this declaration,
1. Take enlarged views of your work. Think how much remains to be done. Even if you could suppose that your family, your street, your town, your country were filled with the blessed tide of the knowledge of the Lord, yet think of the earth, and all its myriad claims resting upon the servants of God.
2. Spare no efforts in promoting the cause of Christian missions. In advancing these, you are working in harmony with the great purposes of God, and for an object which is dear to Him—that object for which He has already given His Son! Will you withhold from it the money with which He has entrusted you, and for which you will have to give account at the last day?
3. There are many present difficulties in the prosecution of mission-work, but meanwhile take comfort from the large purposes of God. “Have faith in God.” His plans are vast, but His glorious promises are great as His counsels, and His resources as glorious as His promises. The process of filling the earth with “the knowledge of the Lord” may seem to us to be tedious, the obstacles may be many, the time may be long; if the work were left to us, it would be hopeless; but GOD will hasten it all in His time.—William Manning.
It is here declared that there is yet to dawn upon the world an era of perfect light, and that that shall be also and therefore an era of perfect love. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, FOR the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”
It is a mystery, but it is a fact, that knowledge is not necessarily a blessing. The devils believe—and therefore know—yet remain devils still (Jas_3:15). Many men of unholy life have been men of eminent knowledge (Rom_1:21). But this is a moral monstrosity, a result of the unnatural condition into which we have been brought by sin; just as in certain forms of disease food becomes poison. Knowledge is one of those forces which naturally tend to elevate and sanctify (H. E. I., 3106); to know God truly is eternal life (Joh_17:3); and the declaration is, that knowledge shall be world-wide, and that by it the world shall be morally revolutionised. Remembrance of two facts will give intelligence and strength to our faith in these glorious predictions.
1. As man’s knowledge of God has grown, the human race has risen. Except in those abnormal cases already referred to, it may be declared that men cannot learn to know God and remain as they were—e.g., wherever the knowledge of the unity of God is restored to man, idolatry becomes impossible; as soon as the knowledge of the spirituality of God really enters the mind, formalism in worship becomes an impossibility. So every truth concerning God, as soon as it is really known, becomes a correcting and converting force. The tendency of this knowledge, as of light, is to quicken and beautify. The way to grow in grace is to grow in the knowledge of Christ (2Pe_3:18).
2. The knowledge of God is a thing that grows, and grows slowly, in the human soul. This is true of all knowledge [988] But in proportion as it grows, sanctification takes place in the individual life, reformation in the national life [991] It is the most radical and successful of all revolutionists. It is impossible for us to dream of the changes it will accomplish upon the earth. But this we know, that by it war and every form of violence shall be abolished (text; Isa_2:4, &c.)
[988] The knowledge of God comes into the soul as a king is born into a country over which he is ultimately to rule; at the beginning it is but a babe; for a long time it is weak, and needs to be defended and nurtured; many years elapse before it rules; rarely in this life does it exercise full power and undisputed sway.
[991] Many evils continue to exist and flourish even in Christian lands, because their contrariety to the character of God has not yet been apprehended and felt. Many godly men were slave-holders and slave-dealers, because they did not fully know God. But now the knowledge of God has so grown among men, that it is no longer possible in a Christian land for a godly man to be a slave-holder. So with polygamy, which was once practised without scruple by some of the noblest and most devout men who ever lived. This practice has been killed, not by any express prohibition, but by growth among men of the knowledge of God. That knowledge is predestined still further to grow, and to kill many things more.
In this subject there is,
1. A complete justification of all missionary enterprises. They are not visionary schemes foredoomed to failure; they are intensely practical, and shall be triumphantly successful. The time may be far off, but it is advancing, when every man shall know God (δ). The effect of that knowledge will be the destruction of the desire to destroy or injure.
2. An argument for patience. In view of the wrongs that prevail upon the earth, many noble souls find it difficult to exercise it. Of finer taste, of clearer vision, of truer sympathy with God than is common amongst men, the wickedness that triumphs in the world fills them with continual agony. It drives them almost into atheism. They ask, “Can God see these things, and not use His power to bring them to an end? If there were a God, would He not instantly smite the oppressors with destruction?” Let them be patient. God does see; God does feel; God is hastening on the better day by the only means by which it can really be brought in. Another deluge would not cleanse the world from crime; if but eight souls were spared, sin would once more begin to prevail. The era of purity and peace can be ushered in only by the revelation of God to man, and thus it is advancing towards us; thus it is already begun; between Christian and heathen lands there is a real contrast; and ere long there shall be as great a contrast between Christian lands uplifted by a fuller knowledge of God and these lands as they now are. The millennium is not merely a prophetic dream, it shall be a glorious fact. Patience! (H. E. I., 1134, 1135, 1166–1168, 3421–3423; P. D., 2465, 2466).
3. An argument for hopeful Christian effort. We must not merely dream of the millennium, we must labour to hasten its dawn. Work is needful: Sunday-school work, &c. Every one who prays, “Thy kingdom come,” thereby, unless he means to mock God, pledges Himself to work to hasten its coming, and thus to be a “fellow-labourer with God.” There is need for individual effort, and for united effort. Such effort should always be hopeful. We are not attempting what is impossible; we are working in the line of God’s promises, and with God! Remembering that the sense of our own weakness will not unduly depress us. It does not require a giant’s strength to row with the tide; and a mightier force than that of ocean is bearing us on to a victory that shall fill earth with blessing and heaven with gladness.
THE ENSIGN OF THE NATIONS
Isa_11:10. And in that day there shall be, &c.
I. In the two parts of this verse we have a twofold metaphorical representation of the Redeemer: one expressed, one implied.
1. An ensign of the people
= banner or standard, such as is set up as a rallying-point around which,
(1) the subjects of a king assemble to do him homage; and
(2) the soldiers of an army gather to receive the commands and exhortations of their general.
2. This second use of a standard leads to the second metaphorical representation of the Redeemer, that of a victorious general: “His rest shall be glorious.” We are thus directed to the final result of the uplifting of Christ as an ensign: the great campaign brought to a successful conclusion, the Victor in it rests gloriously, surrounded by the soldiers whom He has led on to triumph, and the people to whom He has given liberty and peace.
II. Consider how these predictions have been fulfilled.
1. By the preaching of the gospel Christ has been lifted up, and as the result men of all nations have sought unto Him, and will seek Him more and more.
2. Having done and suffered all that was necessary ultimately to secure the final victory, He has taken His place at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and rests there gloriously; the glory of His rest arising from the number of the subjects who do Him homage, and of the soldiers who delight to fight His battles, from the triumphs which He has already enabled them to achieve, and from the prosperity and peace of all His people.
We shall make a great mistake if we end by thus admiringly noting how this ancient prophecy has been, and is being, fulfilled in the history of the world. We are among the Gentiles of whom our text speaks: have we sought unto the glorious Person of whom it speaks? You desire to do so. Do so, then,
1. For right purposes; not merely that you may be delivered from suffering, but that you may be delivered from sin; not merely that you may ultimately gain admission to heaven, but that you may here and now render to Him the homage and the service to which He is entitled.
2. In a right spirit; not vainly dreaming that you have, or can win, any claim upon His regard, but recognising that you can appeal only to His mercy, and that without it you are lost; and making this appeal penitently and believingly. So coming to Him, He will be found of you. He will cause you to share in His rest, by causing you to share in His triumphs; inspired and upheld by Him, you shall trample under foot the world, the flesh, the devil, and the fear of death. Your whole being will be at rest; your understanding no longer harassed by perplexing doubts; your conscience stilled and gladdened by a righteous peace; your affections centred at last around Him who alone is worthy of their supreme love; and this threefold rest, so sweet and blessed now, shall be perfected and perpetuated in heaven.—George Smith, D.D.
The prophet here foresees that the Saviour’s mission and work will so exalt Him in the eyes of the nations, that they will turn to Him as the one object and desire of their souls. (Compare Joh_12:32.) The prediction declares that Christ would be a banner to attract men, that He would be the object of universal search, and that men in finding Him would attain to true rest and glory.
I. THE BANNER.
1. A banner is naturally “lifted up;” only thus can its purpose be accomplished (chap. Isa_13:2; Isa_18:3). Apt image this of Christ. Not merely in His death on Calvary. That exaltation was followed by His being lifted higher still by the preaching of the gospel, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Joh_16:14), by the devout lives of all His true followers.
2. A banner has usually some emblem or device representative of some great cause, or expressive of some great truth. (Give instances.) So when “Christ and Him crucified” are uplifted clearly in the view of men, they see God’s hatred of sin, His love of man, and His provision for man’s future happiness and glory.
II. THE OBJECT OF UNIVERSAL SEARCH. “To it shall the Gentiles seek.” Search for Christ characterises all races of men (Hag_2:7) and all periods of time (Luk_10:24). The search is often prosecuted in ignorance. Men know not for what and for whom their souls yearn; but it is Christ of whom unconsciously they are in quest; and it is towards Him, that by the else insatiable desires of their spiritual nature, they are being led.
III. THE FINDING OF TRUE REST. “His rest shall be glorious.”
1. The rest we find in Christ is connected with a vital change effected in the heart and life. He does not simply do something for us; He also does a work within us. Every intelligent seeker knows that there can be no rest until the evil that is lodged within us is resisted and cast out (H. E. I., 1324). It is as we enter into the spirit of Christ and share His life, that we enter into rest (Mat_11:28-30).
2. Our new relations to God, entered into by faith in Christ Jesus, makes our rest very glorious. God is then known to us by the most precious and endearing names; He is our rock, our shield, &c. Each of these names represents to us some tender aspects of His love, some sweet ministry of His grace.
Are you in search of the highest peace, joy, holiness, rest? Here you may end your quest (1Co_1:30; P. D., 481).—William Manning.
THE RECONCILER OF MEN
Isa_11:10-16. And in that day there shall be, &c.
Several eminent commentators are of opinion that this prophecy will not be fulfilled until the Jews are restored as a nation to their own land. Others believe that the prophet used (it may be unconsciously) transient geographical phrases as symbols of eternal truths. Without entering upon this controversy, which can be settled only by the actual unfolding and accomplishment of God’s plans as to the history of this world, let us think of the fundamental fact of the vision, that in it “the Root of David” was revealed to the prophet as the reconciler of men. His appearing in the world would be the setting up of a standard unto which all men, Gentiles (Isa_11:10) and Jews (Isa_11:11-12), would seek; and before the influence then exerted upon them by Him rivalries and enmities, even though they were as inveterate and malignant as those of Judah and Ephraim (Isa_11:13), would disappear. No obstacles, even though they should be as immense as the geographical ones which are specified, would hinder their coming together and forming one united and triumphant people under His benignant sway. This is only saying what the prophet has said already (chap. Isa_2:4; Isa_9:7), that the kingdom of Christ would be a kingdom of peace. Consider—
I. How marvellously and gloriously this prediction has been fulfilled. To appreciate this, we must recall the condition of the world at the time when “the day” of which our text speaks dawned upon it. Nations were everywhere divided from each other by jealousies and hatreds as virulent as those that divided Ephraim from Judah; there was peace only because they were restrained from active hostility by the strong hand of Roman power. Hatred of other nations was regarded, not as a crime, but as a duty [994] But Christ inaugurated the empire of universal brotherhood and love. Wars have not yet ceased even among nations professing Christianity, but they are no longer openly gloried in by those who wage them; they are apologised for as sad necessities. The apology is often insincere, but the fact that it is made at all is a marvellous tribute to the influence and authority of Christ. Wherever His true followers meet, national distinctions are forgotten, and they feel drawn to each other by a mightier and sweeter bond. As the centuries pass away, the love of Christ becomes more and more the uniting power of the world.
[994] Ancient morality was essentially national and exclusive. Its creed was that a man is born not for himself, but for his parents, his family, and the state. The state was surrounded by others with which, unless some treaty had been concluded, it was at war. To do as much good as possible to one’s own state, and as much harm as possible to all other states, was therefore the whole duty of a man.”—Ecce Homo, p. 125, small edition. (The student will do well to read the whole chapter in which these sentences occur.)
II. How sadly imperfect the fulfilment of this prediction still is! The era of universal peace has not yet dawned. The world is still cursed by wars and rumours of wars. Millions of men are maintained in constant readiness for war. There are bitter contentions among the sections of the Christian Church, these tribes of the modern Israel. Class is divided from class. So-called Christian families are saddened by bitter feuds.
III. The blessedness of the era that shall yet dawn upon this world. The Christian often dreams of it; his dreams are sweet as those which hungry men have of banquets, and shipwrecked sailors drifting helplessly on rafts in the wide ocean have of their native village and of meeting with their loved ones there; and in their waking hours they, too, are apt to be saddened by the fear that their dreams too are as utterly incapable of realisation. But it is not so. They shall all be realised, for the authority of Christ shall yet be universal, real, absolute; and all the listening angels shall not be able to detect one sound of discord rising from the round world, for the whole world shall be full of the peace of Christ (P. D., 2465, 2466, 2676).
IV. Our duty in regard to this prediction. We are not merely to dream dreams of the blessedness of the era that shall yet be ushered in. We are to do something to hasten its dawning.
1. We are to pray for it with yearning hearts.
2. We are to do our utmost, in every possible way, to extend the knowledge of the gospel throughout the world. The gospel, not commerce, is the true civiliser and uniter of nations: commerce will prosper on the gospel triumphs. True, many converts are only nominally Christians, but in many cases that is the first step towards their becoming real Christians, i.e., men who will pray and labour for universal peace.
3. Minor and contributory duties.
(1.) The diffusion of knowledge that will tend to bring home to the understandings and hearts of men the hurtfulness of war, and of preparation for war.
(2.) The discouragement and overthrow of those statesmen, to whichever party they may belong, whose policy tends to foster national animosities.
(3.) The discouragement of all pursuits and things that tend to familiarise men with war and keep alive in them a passion for it, e.g., the volunteer movement; pictures, poems, and newspapers that glorify successful soldiers, as if in them the noblest ideal of manhood were realised.
(4.) Careful education of our children in Christ-like sentiments concerning foreign nations and war. By constant heedfulness of these duties, we shall do something to hasten the dawning of the era of universal peace and blessedness, and we shall not have lived in vain.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1This is Isaiah’s description of the Spirit of Whitsuntide,…
Isa 11:2
This is Isaiah’s description of the Spirit of Whitsuntide, the royal Spirit which was to descend, and did descend without measure, on the ideal and perfect King, even on Jesus Christ our Lord, the only-begotten Son of God.
Read full note →
I. That Spirit is the Spirit of God, and therefore the Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit of love. For God is love, and He is the Spirit of God. But the text describes Him as the Spirit of wisdom. Experience will show us that the Spirit of love is the same as the Spirit of wisdom; that if any man wishes to be truly wise and prudent, his best way—I may say his only way—is to be loving and charitable.
II. The text describes the Spirit as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, i.e. as the knowledge of human nature, the understanding of men and their ways. If we do not understand our fellow-creatures, we shall never love them. But it is equally true that if we do not love them, we shall never understand them. Want of charity, want of sympathy, want of good-feeling and fellow-feeling,- -what does it, what can it, breed but endless mistakes and ignorances, both of men’s characters and men’s circumstances?
III. This royal Spirit is described as the Spirit of counsel and might, that is, the Spirit of prudence and practical power; the Spirit which sees how to deal with human beings, and has the practical power of making them obey. Now that power, again, can only be got by loving human beings. There is nothing so blind as hardness, nothing so weak as violence.
IV. This Spirit is also "the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." They, indeed, both begin in love and end in love. (1) If you wish for knowledge, you must begin by loving knowledge for its own sake. And if this be true of things earthly and temporal, how much more of things heavenly and eternal? We must begin by loving them with a sort of child’s love, without understanding them; by that simple instinct and longing after what is good and beautiful and true, which is indeed the inspiration of the Spirit of God. (2) The spirit of the fear of the Lord must be the spirit of love, not only to God, but to our fellow-creatures.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 25.
Reference: Isa 11:3.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 225.
Isa 11:4
As it may in many ways be shown that the Church of Christ, though one Church with the Jewish, differs from it as being a kingdom, so now let me dwell on this point: that though a kingdom like empires of the earth, it differs from them in being a Church, i.e. a kingdom of truth and righteousness. That Scripture speaks of the kingdom of Christ as not an earthly kingdom, not supported by strength of arm or force of mind, or any other faculty or gift of the natural man, is plain. But consider some objections to which the circumstances of its actual history and condition give rise.
I. It may be said that the event has not fulfilled the prophecies; that the kingdom has indeed been large and powerful, but it has not ruled according to justice and truth; that at times it has had very wicked men among its rulers, and that great corruptions, religious and moral, have been found in it; and that, as has sometimes been said, worse crimes have been perpetrated under colour of religion than in any other way. But this may be granted in the argument; yet the Scripture account of the Church remains uncompromised. It is a kingdom of righteousness, because it is a kingdom founded, based, in righteousness.
II. In the Gospel, Christ’s followers are represented as poor, despised, weak, and helpless,—such preeminently were the Apostles. But in the Prophets, especially in Isaiah, the kingdom is represented as rich and flourishing and honoured, and powerful and happy. If the Church of Christ were to seek power, wealth, and honour, this were to fall from grace; but it is not less true that she will have them, though she seeks them not—or rather, if she seeks them not. Such is the law of Christ’s kingdom, such the paradox which is seen in its history. It belongs to the poor in spirit; it belongs to the persecuted; it is possessed by the meek; it is sustained by the patient. It conquers by suffering; it advances by retiring; it is made wise through foolishness.
III. Temporal power and wealth, though not essential to the Church, are almost necessary attendants on it. They cannot be long absent from it; it is but a matter of time, as we speak, when they will be added.
J. H. Newman, Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 237.
Isa 11:6
It is plain, from the words of the text, that Isaiah was one of those prophets and righteous men who desired to see and hear the things which Christ’s disciples saw and heard. But it may be said that he desired to see the kingdom of Christ, because he thought that it would bring with it a greater and happier change in the state of the world than it has done; because he looked forward to it as to a time when the wolf should dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid—that is, when there should be nothing but peace and comfort everywhere. What, then, are we to think of such passages as those in my text? The question deserves to be answered, because unless we understand it we must read very great portions of the books of the prophets with no benefit; and it may be useful also in order to find out whether there be not more reality of happiness in the Gospel than we are commonly inclined to give it credit for.
I. The Gospel makes a man industrious, sober, and careful of his time; which no one, I suppose, would deny to be three great benefits. It is the great excellence of the Gospel, that it furnishes us with the strongest of all helps to overcome temptation,—the fear of God and the hope of reward, at first; and afterwards, as the Spirit of Christ changes us more and. more into Christ’s image, it really makes us lose our relish for what is bad; so that, at last, there is much less temptation to overcome.
II. The Gospel makes us care as much as we ought, and no more, for the things of this life; for worldly cares or sorrows, or prospects of gain or loss, of honour or disgrace. He who went through life as a Christian, learning to look at the world from the beginning with a Christian’s eye, would find himself strong in the strength of Christ to bear whatever was laid upon him, and would say with the Apostle, in perfect sincerity, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 47.
References: Isa 11:6.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 188; J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 9.
Isa 11:9
I. Most exactly have the figures which the Holy Spirit condescended to apply to Himself been fulfilled in the course of the dispensation; nay, even to this day. His operation has been calm, equable, gradual, far-spreading, overtaking, intimate, irresistible. What is so awfully silent, so mighty, so inevitable, so encompassing as a flood of water? Such was the power of the Spirit in the beginning, when He vouchsafed to descend as an invisible wind, as an outpoured flood. Thus He changed the whole face of the world. The ark of God moved upon the face of the waters.
II. And what the power of the Spirit has been in the world at large, that it is also in every human heart to which it comes. (1) Any spirit which professes to come to us alone, and not to others, which makes no- claim of having moved the body of the Church at all times and places, is not of God, but a private spirit of error. (2) Vehemence, tumult, confusion, are no attributes of that benignant flood with which God has replenished the earth. That flood of grace is sedate, majestic, gentle in its operation. (3) The Divine Baptism, wherewith God visits us, penetrates through our whole soul and body. It leaves no part of us uncleansed, unsanctified. It claims the whole man for God. Any spirit which is content with what is short of this, which does not lead us to utter self-surrender and devotion, is not from God.
III. The heart of every Christian ought to represent in miniature the Catholic Church, since one Spirit makes both the whole Church and every member of it to be His temple. As He makes the Church one, which, left to itself, would separate into many parts, so He makes the soul one, in spite of its various affections and faculties, and its contradictory aims.
J. H. Newman, Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 126.
References: Isa 11:9.—J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii., p. 226; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 145.
Isa 11:10
I. "There shall be a root of Jesse," i.e. a thrifty scion shall spring forth from that old decayed family. The prophet does not represent our Saviour as a stately and luxuriant tree, but as a sucker from an unpromising and apparently dead root.
II. The prophet goes on to portray His glorious office: "He shall stand for an ensign of the people." It was customary, in olden time, during the continuance of a war, for the prince or commander to set up an ensign on a lofty tower or mountain top, and to summon the people to rally round it. So, also, was the Lord Jesus to be lifted up on the Cross, that He might draw all men unto Him, and through the faithful preaching of the Gospel to gather together into one great army the true children of God who are dispersed abroad. He stands as an ensign of the people, not merely to attract the eyes of all, and to fix them on Himself, but to warn them of the silent but sure approach of deadly foes, and to indicate the spot where weapons offensive and defensive may be obtained.
III. To this glorious ensign the prophet declares that "the Gentiles shall seek." When St. Paul quotes the verse (Rom 15:12) he varies the language by a single word. "In His name shall the Gentiles trust." There is no inconsistency between this seeking and trusting. The one is the cause, the other the effect; or rather each, in turn, is both cause and effect. When we trust in Christ we seek Him; and when we seek Him we are sure to find how worthy He is of our confidence.
J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 11.
References: Isa 11:10.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 274. Isa 11:12, Isa 11:13.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 254. Isa 12:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 928. Isa 12:1-3.—R. M. McCheyne, Additional Remains, p. 217.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v1Isa 11:1 - Isa 11:10.
Isaiah
THE SUCKER FROM THE FELLED OAK
Read full note →
Isa 11:1 - Isa 11:10.
The hopeless fall of Assyria is magnificently pictured in the close of Isa 10:1 - Isa 10:16, as the felling of the cedars of Lebanon by the axe swung by Jehovah’s own hand. A cedar once cut down puts out no new shoots; and so the Assyrian power, when it falls, will fall for ever. The metaphor is carried on with surpassing beauty in the first part of this prophecy, which contrasts the indestructible vitality of the Davidic monarchy with the irremediable destruction fated for its formidable antagonist. The one is a cedar, the stump of which rots slowly, but never recovers. The other is an oak, which, every woodman knows, will put out new growth from the ‘stool.’ But instead of a crowd of little suckers, the prophet sees but one shoot, and that rising to more than the original height and fruitfulness of the tree. The prophecy is distinctly that of One Person, in whom the Davidic monarchy is concentrated, and all its decadence more than recovered.
Isaiah does not bring the rise of the Messiah into chronological connection with the fall of Assyria; for he contemplates a period of decay for the Israelitish monarchy, and it was the very burden of his message as to Assyria that it should pass away without harming that monarchy. The contrast is not intended to suggest continuity in time. The period of fulfilment is entirely undetermined.
The first point in the prophecy is the descent of the Messiah from the royal stock. That is more than Isaiah’s previous Messianic prophecies had told. He is to come at a time when the fortunes of David’s house were at their worst. There is to be nothing left but the stump of the tree, and out of it is to come a ‘shoot,’ slender and insignificant, and in strange contrast with the girth of the truncated bole, stately even in its mutilation. We do not talk of a growth from the stump as being a ‘branch’; and ‘sprout’ would better convey Isaiah’s meaning. From the top of the stump, a shoot; from the roots half buried in the ground, an outgrowth,-these two images mean but one person, a descendant of David, coming at a time of humiliation and obscurity. But this lowly shoot will ‘bear fruit,’ which presupposes its growth.
The King-Messiah thus brought on the scene is then described in regard to His character {Isa 11:2}, the nature of His rule {Isa 11:3 - Isa 11:5}, the universal harmony and peace which He will diffuse through nature {Isa 11:6 - Isa 11:9}, and the gathering of all mankind under His dominion. There is much in the prophetic ideal of the Messiah which finds no place in this prophecy. The gentler aspects of His reign are not here, nor the deeper characteristics of His ‘spirit,’ nor the chiefest blessings in His gift. The suffering Messiah is not yet the theme of the prophet.
The main point as to the character of the Messiah which this prophecy sets forth is that, whatever He was to be, He was to be by reason of the resting on Him of the Spirit of Jehovah. The directness, fulness, and continuousness of His inspiration are emphatically proclaimed in that word ‘shall rest,’ which can scarcely fail to recall John’s witness, ‘I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon Him.’ The humanity on which the Divine Spirit uninterruptedly abides, ungrieved and unrestrained, must be free from the stains which so often drive that heavenly visitant from our breasts. The white-breasted Dove of God cannot brood over foulness. There has never been but one manhood capable of receiving and retaining the whole fulness of the Spirit of God.
The gifts of that Spirit, which become qualities of the Messiah in whom He dwells, are arranged {if we may use so cold a word} in three pairs; so that, if we include the introductory designation, we have a sevenfold characterisation of the Spirit, recalling the seven lamps before the throne and the seven eyes of the Lamb in the Apocalypse, and symbolising by the number the completeness and sacredness of that inspiration. The resulting character of the Messiah is a fair picture of one who realises the very ideal of a strong and righteous ruler of men. ‘Wisdom and understanding’ refer mainly to the clearness of intellectual and moral insight; ‘counsel and might,’ to the qualities which give sound practical direction and vigour to follow, and carry through, the decisions of practical wisdom; while ‘the knowledge and fear of the Lord’ define religion by its two parts of acquaintance with God founded on love, and reverential awe which prompts to obedience. The fulfilment, and far more than fulfilment, of this ideal is in Jesus, in whom were ‘hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,’ to whom no circumstances of difficulty ever brought the shadow of perplexity, who always saw clearly before Him the path to tread, and had always ‘might’ to tread it, however rough, who lived all His days in unbroken fellowship with the Father and in lowly obedience.
The prophet saw not all the wonders of perfect human character which that indwelling Spirit would bring to realisation in Him; but what he saw was indispensable to a perfect King, and was, at all events, an arc of the mighty circle of perfection, which has now been revealed in the life of Jesus. The possibilities of humanity under the influence of the Divine Spirit are revealed here no less than the actuality of the Messiah’s character. What Jesus is, He gives it to His subjects to become by the dwelling in them of the spirit of life which was in Him.
The rule of the King is accordant with His character. It is described in Isa 11:3 - Isa 11:5. The first characteristic named may be understood in different ways. According to some commentators, who deserve respectful consideration, it means, ‘He shall draw His breath in the fear of Jehovah’; that is, that that fear has become, as it were, His very life-breath. But the meaning of ‘breathing’ is doubtful; and the phrase seems rather to express, as the Revised Version puts it, ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.’ That might mean that those who fear Jehovah shall be His delight, and this would free the expression from any shade of tautology, when compared with the previous clause, and would afford a natural transition to the description of His rule. It might, on the other hand, continue the description of His personal character, and describe the inward cheerfulness of His obedience, like ‘I delight to do Thy will.’ In any case, the ‘fear of the Lord’ is represented as a sweet-smelling fragrance; and, if we adopt the former explanation, then it is almost a divine characteristic which is here attributed to the Messiah; for it is God to whom the fear of Him in men’s hearts is ‘an odour of a sweet smell.’
Then follow the features of His rule. His unerring judgment pierces through the seen and heard. That is the quality of a monarch after the antique pattern, when kings were judges. It does not appear that the prophet rose to the height of perceiving the divine nature of the Messiah; but we cannot but remember how far the reality transcends the prophecy, since He whose ‘eyes are as a flame of fire’ knows what is in man, and the earliest prayers of the Church were addressed to Jesus as ‘Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men.’
The relation of Messiah to two classes is next set forth. The oppressed and the meek shall have Him for their defender and avenger,-a striking contrast to the oppressive monarchs whom Isaiah had seen. We remember who said ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ ‘Blessed are the meek.’ The King Himself has taught us to deepen the meaning of the words of the prophet, and to find in them the expression of the law of His kingdom by which its blessings belong to those who know their need and come with humble hearts. But the same acts which are for the poor are against the oppressors. The emendation which reads ‘tyrant’ {arits} for ‘earth’ {erets} brings the two clauses descriptive of the punitive acts into parallelism, and is probably to be preferred. The same pillar was light to Israel and darkness to the Egyptians. Christ is the savour of life unto life and of death unto death. But what is His instrument of destruction? ‘The rod of His mouth’ or ‘the breath of His lips.’ And who is He whose bare word thus has power to kill and make alive? Is not this a divine prerogative? and does it not belong in the fullest sense to Him whose voice rebuked fevers, storms, and demons, and pierced the dull, cold ear of death? Further, righteousness, the absolute conformity of character and act to the standard in the will of God, and faithfulness, the inflexible constancy, which makes a character consistent with itself, and so reliable, are represented by a striking figure as being twined together to make the girdle, which holds the vestments in place, and girds up the whole frame for effort. This righteous King ‘shall not fail nor be discouraged.’ He is to be reckoned on to the uttermost, or, as the New Testament puts it, He is ‘the faithful and true witness.’ This is the strong Son of God, who gathered all His powers together to run with patience the race set before Him, and to whom all may turn with the confidence that He is faithful ‘as a Son over His own house,’ and will inviolably keep the promise of His word and of His past acts.
We pass from the picture of the character and rule of the King over men to that fair vision of Paradise regained, which celebrates the universal restoration of peace between man and the animals. The picture is not to be taken as a mere allegory, as if ‘lions’ and ‘wolves’ and ‘snakes’ meant bad men; but it falls into line with other hints in Scripture, which trace the hostility between man and the lower creatures to sin, and shadow a future when ‘the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.’ The psalm which sings of man’s dominion over the creatures is to be one day fulfilled; and the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches that it is already fulfilled in Christ, who will raise His brethren, for whom He tasted death, to partake in His dominion. The present order of things is transient; and if earth is to be, as some shadowy hints seem to suggest, the scene of the future glories of redeemed humanity, it may be the theatre of a fulfilment of such visions as this. But we cannot dogmatise on a subject of which we know so little, nor be sure of the extent to which symbolism enters into this sweet picture. Enough that there surely comes a time when the King of men and Lord of nature shall bring back peace between both, and restore ‘the fair music that all creatures made To their great Lord.’
Isa 11:10 begins an entirely new section, which describes the relations of Messiah’s kingdom to the surrounding peoples. The picture preceding closed with the vision of the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and this verse proclaims the universality of Messiah’s kingdom. By ‘the root of Jesse’ is meant, not the root from which Jesse sprang, but, in accordance with Isa 11:1, the sprout from the house of Jesse. Just as in that verse the sprout was prophesied of as growing up to be fruitbearing, so here the lowly sucker shoots to a height which makes it conspicuous from afar, and becomes, like some tall mast, a sign for the nations. The contrast between the obscure beginning and the conspicuous destiny of Messiah is the point of the prophecy. ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.’ Strange elevation for a king is a cross! But it is because He has died for men that He has the right to reign over them, and that they ‘shall seek’ to Him. ‘His resting-place shall be glorious.’
The seat of His dominion is also the seat of His repose. The beneficent activity just described is wielded from a calm, central palace, and does not break the King’s tranquillity. That is a paradox, except to those who know that Jesus Christ, sitting in undisturbed rest at the right hand of God, thence works with and for His servants. His repose is full of active energy; His active energy is full of repose. And that place of calm abode is ‘glorious’ or, more emphatically and literally, ‘glory. He shall dwell in the blaze of the uncreated glory of God,-a prediction which is only fulfilled in its true meaning by Christ’s ascension and session at the right hand of God, in the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, and into which He has borne that lowly manhood which He drew from the cut-down stem of Jesse.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v11. Rod out of the stem] RV 'shoot out…
1. Rod out of the stem] RV 'shoot out of the stock,' implying that the tree has been cut down. The Assyrians have been compared in the vv. preceding to cedars, which when felled throw out no fresh suckers; now the house of David is likened to an oak whose life remains in it after it has been cut down (Isa_6:13). From the royal family of Judah, though it may seem ruined, is to spring the ideal Ruler in the future. It has been already implied (Isa_9:7), and is here expressly stated, that the Messiah is to be of the house of David (Mic_5:2).
2. Leaving the figure Isaiah here indicates the character of the future Ruler. The gifts of the divine Spirit bestowed upon Him are arranged in three pairs, the first pair indicating perfection of intellectual endowment, the second pair full possession of a ruler's practical qualities, and the third referring to the religious spirit which is to crown and direct all other gifts.
Read full note →
3. Make him of quick understanding] RV 'his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah,' i.e. when He sees it in others. Not judge, etc.] i.e. by appearances or hearsay.
4. The ideal Ruler combines mercy and judgment (Psa_101:1). With the rod of his mouth] The power ascribed to the word of Messiah is a striking feature (Isa_49:2; Zec_9:10), and suggests a superhuman personality (Hos_6:5).
5. The girdle] stands for readiness for action—He shall be always ready for righteousness and faithfulness.
6. From the person and character of the Ruler Isaiah now passes on to the effects of His rule. Evil having been eradicated from human society, there will be a corresponding regeneration of the rest of creation (Isa_65:25; Rom_8:19.).
8. Cockatrice] RV 'basilisk,' or 'adder' (RM): probably the great yellow viper common in Palestine.
9. My holy mountain] i.e. Zion wonderfully transformed according to the prophecy in Isa_2:2 (Zec_14:10-11).
10. RV 'And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the people, unto him shall the nations seek.' Root of Jesse] the same as the shoot growing from the root (Isa_11:1). The great scion of the house of David is not only to be king of Israel, but the nations of the world shall rally to him. Seek] i.e. resort, a word specially used of resorting for prayer (Isa_55:6) or of consulting oracles (Isa_8:19; Isa_19:3). Rest] i.e. resting-place: referring to Jerusalem, the seat of the royal house.
11. Next the prophet speaks of the restoration of the dispersed Israelites from their exile in the various kingdoms by which Judah was surrounded. The second time] The first time was at the Mosaic exodus. Recover] RM 'purchase': cp. Exo_15:16. Pathros] upper, or southern, Egypt. Cush] Ethiopia, still further S. (Isa_18:1; Isa_37:9). Elam] the country at the head of the Persian Gulf. Shinar] i.e. Babylonia.
Hamath] see on Isa_10:9. Islands of the sea] a phrase found here only in Isaiah 1-39, but several times in Isaiah 40-66. It denotes the islands of, and lands bordering upon, the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes stands for distant countries generally.
13. A further feature of Messiah's sign. The bitter feeling between the N. kingdom and Judah (Isa_9:21) shall cease. The adversaries of] RV 'they that vex.'
14. The reunited people will be victorious over their old enemies, the tribes immediately surrounding Palestine. Shoulders] 'shoulder,' i.e. side or border, as in Jos_15:8, Jos_15:10, Jos_15:11. Them of the east] lit. 'the children of the east,' i.e. the Bedouin Arabs: Jdg_6:8; 2Ch_21:16.
15. 16. Isaiah pictures a miraculous deliverance of the exiles parallel to the former deliverance from Egypt. The tongue, etc.] i.e. the Gulf of Akaba. Tongue is used for an arm of the sea as in Jos_15:2; Jos_18:19. The river] i.e. Euphrates. In the seven] RV 'into seven.'
An highway] i.e. a raised road such as Eastern monarchs made for the passage of their armies (Isa_19:23; Isa_49:11). It was] RV 'there was.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn vv1–3The Davidic kingdom
The Davidic kingdom
The order of events in Isaiah 10, 11, is noteworthy. Isaiah 10. gives the distress of the Remnant in Palestine in the great tribulation. Psa 2:5; Rev 7:14 and the approach and destruction of the Gentile host under the Beast.; Dan 7:8; Rev 19:20. Is. 11. immediately follows with its glorious picture of the kingdom-age. Precisely the same order is found in Revelation 19, 20. (See "Kingdom," O.T.,; Gen 1:26-28; Zec 12:8 N.T.; Luk 1:31-33; 1Co 15:28. Also (See Scofield "Mat 3:2") See Scofield "Mat 6:33".
Read full note →
That nothing of this occurred at the first coming of Christ is evident from a comparison of the history of the times of Christ with this and all the other parallel prophecies. So far from regathering dispersed Israel and establishing peace in the earth, His crucifixion was soon followed (A.D. 70) by the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter scattering of the Palestinian Jews amongst the nations.
shall come forth a rod
This chapter is a prophetic picture of the glory of the future kingdom. This is the kingdom announced by John Baptist as "at hand." It was then rejected, but will be set up when David’s Son returns in glory Luk 1:31; Luk 1:32; Act 15:15; Act 15:16.
Branch (See Scofield "Isa 4:2")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v1The Coming King and His Kingdom
CHAPTER 11
The Coming King and His Kingdom
Read full note →
1. The King: Who He is and what He will do (Isa 11:1-5) 2. The peace and blessing He brings (Isa 11:6-10) 3. The gathering of scattered Israel (Isa 11:11-16) It is a great vision of the future which this chapter unfolds. The critics deny that the blessed Person mentioned in the opening verses is our Lord Jesus. They think Hezekiah or Josiah is meant. 2Th 2:8 shows that it is our Lord. Link Isa 11:1-5 with Isa 9:6-7. Again His coming in humiliation and His coming in exaltation are here interwoven. We behold His reign in righteousness. Isa 11:6-10 need not to be spiritualized, as it is so often done. Romans tells us (Rom 8:18-23) that a literal groaning creation, travailing together in pain until now, will be delivered of its groans and curses. The hour of deliverance strikes with the “manifestation of the Sons of God.” However, this manifestation does not take place till the Lord is manifested the second time. In the coming kingdom to be established on earth and ruled over by the King from above, creation will be put back into its original condition.
Israel’s regathering will be from a worldwide dispersion. It will be “the second time.” It does not and cannot mean the return from Babylon, but the return from their present exile of almost 2,000 years.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1The Messiah, The Branch out of the Stem Of…
The Messiah, The Branch out of the Stem Of Jesse
v. 1. And there shall come forth a Rod, a fresh shoot or twig, out of the stem of Jesse, out of the dead stock, the stump, of the former proud tree of the house of David, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, Zec 3:8; Zec 4:12; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, the root-stock being all that was left of the former grandeur of David’s house, the renewal of his family by this singular Scion would indeed be a miracle;
Read full note →
v. 2. and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the sevenfold Spirit, Himself God from eternity, lighting or settling upon Him, Psa 45:7, with the fullness of His divine power, the Spirit of wisdom, which searches all things, even the secrets of God, and understanding, able to make the proper distinction concerning all things, the Spirit of counsel, by whom the Messiah is endowed to be the Counselor, and might, for Christ is the mighty God, Isa 7:6, the Spirit of knowledge, by means of which He is familiar with all the mysteries of God, and of the fear of the Lord, which culminates in both adoration and communion, Christ, according to His human nature, praying to His heavenly Father and seeking His fellowship, but according to His divine nature united with Him in an everlasting union, which now exists according to both natures;
v. 3. and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, literally, His pleasant savor is in the fear of Jehovah, He is highly pleased when men bring to Him the sacrifice of their fear of God; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, rendering judgment not according to external appearances, rather according to His understanding of the heart and soul;
v. 4. but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, His Savior’s-interest turning especially to the lowly, to those who bear the enmity of the world on account of their faith with the proper meekness, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, taking the part of those who are persecuted for their confession’s sake; and He, in His care for the poor small crew of His Church, shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, rebuking in a most emphatic manner the hostility of the ungodly world, and with the breath of His lips, His Word, which bears almighty power, shall He slay the wicked, overthrowing the power of Satan even here in time, revealing his true character by the preaching of the Gospel, His last condemnation being reserved for the final Judgment.
v. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness, upon which His believers may rely with full confidence, the girdle of His reins, holding up His clothes at His hips. Even as the girdle confined the wide garments of the ancients and enabled them to work, run, and fight without hindrance, so the Messiah furthers His cause and makes use of His full strength by righteousness and truth. The conditions of His reign are now described.
v. 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, a figurative representation of ideal spiritual conditions.
v. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed, all the bloodthirstiness of the latter forgotten; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, his nature so completely changed that he is no longer a carnivorous, but a herbivorous animal.
v. 8. And the sucking child, the unweaned infant, shall play on the hole of the asp, on the entrance of the adder’s cave, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den, or, stretch out his arm to touch the sparkling eye of the basilisk, the poisonous serpents having lost all their vicious habits. All this poetic description is now explained:
v. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, all the members of the Messiah’s kingdom, whose former state was characterized by the comparison with the various animals named above, would lose and lay aside their hostile habits toward one another; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Knowledge of Jehovah, love and fear of God, is the motive in all acts of the believers; because they fear the Lord in truth, because they know Him the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent as the Savior of the world, therefore they, the inhabitants of His holy mountain, the members of His holy Church, give expression of their faith in their entire conduct; therefore they, in the midst of the general hatred and hostility of the world, live together in peace and love.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 3A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse…
A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse ... a branch out of his roots will bear fruit
Isaiah speaks of Jesse and his descendants as if they were a tree that had been cut down. Both of these phrases tell about a descendant of Jesse who would be king. AT: "As a shoot sprouts out of a tree stump, so a descendant of Jesse will become king over what remains of Israel" (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
Read full note →
the stump of Jesse
A stump is what remains of a tree after it is chopped down. The "stump of Jesse" represents what was left of the kingdom that Jesse's son David was once king of. (See: Metaphor)
The Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him
Resting upon him represents being with him and helping him. The word "him" refers to the one who would become king. (See: Metaphor)
the Spirit of wisdom ... the Spirit of instruction ... the Spirit of knowledge ... the fear of Yahweh
Here the word "Spirit" refers to an ability or quality that the Spirit of Yahweh would give him. AT: "and he will cause him to have wisdom and understanding, instruction and might, knowledge and the fear of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1–311:1-16 The kingdom of the Messiah, first introduced in…
11:1-16 The kingdom of the Messiah, first introduced in 9:1-7, is now considered in more detail. Isaiah challenged the Israelites about why they would trust in any of the nations when God had far better plans in mind.
11:1 stump . . . shoot . . . new Branch . . . from the old root: This new growth refers to the continuity of David’s royal family line despite its virtual cessation during the Exile (see also 6:13; 39:7; Rev 22:16). The new growth from the old roots would not be like the former frail and unjust descendants of David (see Isa 4:2). Jesus, the Messiah, is the final fulfillment.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v1 Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of…
Because the captivity of Babylon was a figure of the spiritual captivity under sin, he showeth that our true deliverance must come by Christ: for as David came out of Jesse a man without dignity, so Christ should come of a poor carpenter’s house as out of a dead stock, Isa. 53:2.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod…
Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Ver. 1. And there shall come forth a rod,] i.e., Christ shall be born; whom our prophet having called "the anointing" or Messiah, {Isa 10:27} maketh him and his kingdom henceforward the chief matter of his discourse, to the end of his book. Here he beginneth with his nativity, calling him a rod or twig, springing, not out of the stock of David, but out of the stump of Jesse, a mean man, and that then, when the royal family was sunk so low as from David the king to Joseph the carpenter. Well might Chrysostom say that the foundation of our philosophy was humility. And another, {a} that at Bethlehem brake forth that well of salvation which, in the type, once David so thirsted after. {2Sa 23:15}
Read full note →
And a Branch.] Or, The Nazarene born at Nazareth, saith Junius, which signifieth "a branch"; for so it was generally deemed; and our Saviour styleth himself Jesus of Nazareth; {Act 22:8} and on his cross they wrote Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, wherein that prodigy, saith A. Lapide, seemeth to have fallen out concerning which the poet inquireth -
“ Dic quibus in terris inscripti nomine Regis
Nascantur flores. ”
Tell who is noted in the earth by the name of a King, Let him in flowers. For Nazareth he interpreteth a flower, or something flowery; and for shall grow, others render shall bud, or bear fruit.
{a} Scultet.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–3 The prophet having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s…
The prophet having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s people with the promise of their deliverance from that formidable enemy, now he proceeds further, and declares that God will do greater things than that for them, that he will give them their long-expected and much desired Messiah, and by him will work wonders of mercy for them. For this is the manner of the prophets, to take the occasion of particular deliverances, to fix the people’s minds upon their great and everlasting deliverance from all their enemies by the Messiah. And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, Isa 10:27, he now more particularly explains who that anointed person was. A rod, or twig, called a Branch in the next clause. Parents are oft compared to roots or trees, and their children to branches. He speaks of the most eminent Branch, of that famous Son of a virgin, Isa 7:14, of that wonderful Child, Isa 9:6; not of Hezekiah, as some of the Jews and judaizing Christians conceit; but of the Messiah, as will evidently appear from the following description. The stem, or trunk; or rather, stump; for the word properly signifies a trunk cut off from the root; or, root, as the LXX. here render the word, and as it is explained in the next clause. By which he clearly implies that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn and contemptible condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground; which really was the state of David’s family when Christ was born, as is notoriously known, but was in a far better condition when Hezekiah was born. Of Jesse; he doth not say of David, but
of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, 1Sa 18:18,23; 20:30, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
Read full note →
A Branch shall grow: he speaks of one not yet born, and therefore not of Hezekiah, who was born divers years before his father Ahaz (in whose time this prophecy was delivered) was king, by comparing 2Ki 16:2; 18:2; but of the Messiah.
Out of his roots; out of one of his roots, i.e. branches, as this word root is sometimes used, by a very usual figure called a metonymy, as it is here below, Isa 11:10; Isa 53:2; Hos 14:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 The prophet had before, in this sermon, spoken of…
The prophet had before, in this sermon, spoken of a child that should be born, a son that should be given, on whose shoulders the government should be, intending this for the comfort of the people of God in times of trouble, as dying Jacob, many ages before, had intended the prospect of Shiloh for the comfort of his seed in their affliction in Egypt. He had said (Isa 10:27) that the yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing; now here he tells us on whom that anointing should rest. He foretels,
I. That the Messiah should, in due time, arise out of the house of David, as that branch of the Lord which he had said (Isa 4:2) should be excellent and glorious; the word is Netzer, which some think is referred to in Mat 2:23, where it is said to be spoken by the prophets of the Messiah that he should be called a Nazarene. Observe here, 1. Whence this branch should arise-from Jesse. He should 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, Act 2:30. David is often called the son of Jesse, and Christ is called so, because he was to be not only the Son of David, but David himself, Hos 3:5. 2. The meanness of his appearance. (1.) He is called a rod, and a branch; both the words here used signify a weak, small, tender product, a twig and a sprig (so some render them), such as is easily broken off. The enemies of God's church were just before compared to strong and stately boughs (Isa 10:33), which will not, without great labour, be hewn down, but Christ to a tender branch (Isa 53:2); yet he shall be victorious over them. (2.) 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 (Sa1 18:18), and it was in a way of contempt and reproach that David was sometimes called the son of Jesse, Sa1 22:7. (3.) He comes forth out of the stem, or stump, of Jesse. 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, and, like the roots of flowers in the winter, have no stem appearing above ground. 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. The Messiah was thus to begin his estate of humiliation, for submitting to which he should be highly exalted, and would thus give early notice that his kingdom was not of this world. The Chaldee paraphrase reads this, There shall come forth a King from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah (or Christ) shall be anointed out of his sons' sons.
Read full note →
II. That he should be every way qualified for that great work to which he was designed, that this tender branch should be so watered with the dews of heaven as to become a strong rod for a sceptre to rule, Isa 11:2. 1. In general, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The Holy Spirit, in all his gifts and graces, shall not only come, but rest and abide upon him; he shall have the Spirit not by measure, but without measure, the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him, Col 1:19; Col 2:9. He began his preaching with this (Luk 4:18), The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 2. 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 (Joh 5:22, Joh 5:27), and not only so, but should be made the fountain and treasury of all grace to believers, that from his fulness they might all receive the Spirit of grace, as all the members of the body derive animal spirits from the head. (1.) He shall have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge; he shall thoroughly understand the business he is to be employed in. No man knows the Father but the Son, Mat 11:27. What he is to make known to the children of men concerning God, and his mind and will, he shall be himself acquainted with and apprised of, Joh 1:18. He shall know how to administer the affairs of his spiritual kingdom in all the branches of it, 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: treasures of wisdom shall be hid in him; he shall be our counsellor, and shall be made of God to us wisdom. (2.) The spirit of courage, or might, or fortitude. The undertaking was very great, abundance of difficulty must be broken through, and therefore it was necessary that he should be so endowed that he might not fail or be discouraged, Isa 42:4. He was famed for courage in his teaching the way of God in truth, and not caring for any man, Mat 22:16. (3.) The spirit of religion, or the fear of the Lord; not only he shall himself have a reverent affection for his Father, as his servant (Isa 42:1), and he was heard in that he feared (Heb 5:7), but he shall have a zeal for religion, and shall design the advancement of it in his whole undertaking. Our faith in Christ was never designed to supersede and jostle out, but to increase and support, our fear of the Lord.
III. That he should be accurate, and critical, and very exact in the administration of his government and the exercise of the power committed to him (Isa 11:3): The Spirit wherewith he shall be clothed shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord - of an acute smell or scent (so the word is), for the apprehensions of the mind are often expressed by the sensations of the body. Note, 1. Those are most truly and valuably intelligent that are so in the fear of the Lord, in the business of religion, for that is both the foundation and top-stone of wisdom. 2. By this it will appear that we have the Spirit of God, if we have spiritual senses exercised, and are of quick understanding in the fear of the lord. Those have divine illumination that know their duty and know how to go about it. 3. Therefore Jesus Christ had the spirit without measure, that he might perfectly understand his undertaking; and he did so, as appears not only in the admirable answers he gave to all that questioned with him, which proved him to be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, but in the management of his whole undertaking. He has settled the great affair of religion so unexpectedly well (so as effectually to secure both God's honour and man's happiness) that, it must be owned, he thoroughly understood it.
IV. That he should be just and righteous in all the acts of his government, and there should appear in it as much equity as wisdom. He shall judge as he expresses it himself, and as he himself would be judged of, Joh 7:24. 1. Not according to outward appearance (Isa 11:3): he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, with respect of persons (Job 34:19) and according to outward shows and appearances, not reprove after the hearing of his ears, by common fame and report, and the representations of others, as men commonly do; nor does he judge of men by the fair words they speak, calling him, Lord, Lord, or their plausible actions before the eye of the world, which they do to be seen of men; but he will judge by the hidden man of the heart, and the inward principles men are governed by, of which he is an infallible witness. Christ will judge the secrets of men (Rom 2:16), will determine concerning them, not according to their own pretensions and appearances (that were to judge after the sight of the eyes), not according to the opinion others have of them (that were to judge after the hearing of the ears), but we are sure that his judgment is according to truth. 2. He will judge righteous judgment (Isa 11:5): Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins. 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. Particularly, (1.) He shall in righteousness plead for the people that are poor and oppressed; he will be their protector (Isa 11:4): With righteousness shall he judge the poor; he shall judge in favour and defence of those that have right on their side, though they are poor in the world, and because they are poor in spirit. It is the duty of princes to defend and deliver the poor (Psa 82:3, Psa 82:4), and the honour of Christ that he is the poor man's King, Psa 72:2, Psa 72:4. He shall debate with evenness for the meek of the earth, or of the land; those that bear the injuries done them with meekness and patience are in a special manner entitled to the divine care and protection. I, as a deaf man, heard not, for thou wilt hear, Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14. Some read it, He shall reprove or correct the meek of the earth with equity. If his own people, the meek of the land, do amiss, he will visit their transgression with the rod. (2.) He shall in righteousness plead against his enemies that are proud and oppressors (Isa 11:4): But he shall smite the earth, the man of the earth, that doth oppress (see Psa 10:18), the men of the world, that mind earthly things only (Psa 17:14); these he shall smite with the rod of his mouth, the word of his mouth, speaking terror and ruin to them; his threatenings shall take hold of them, and be executed upon them. With the breath of his lips, by the operation of his Spirit, 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, Joh 18:6. Killing terrors shall arrest their consciences, killing judgments shall ruin them, their power, and all their interests; and in the other world everlasting tribulation will be recompensed to those that trouble his poor people. The apostle applies this to the destruction of the man of sin, whom he calls that wicked one (Th2 2:8) whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of his mouth. And the Chaldee here reads it, He shall slay that wicked Romulus, or Rome, as Mr. Hugh Broughton understands it.
V. That there should be great peace and tranquillity under his government; this is an explication of what was said in Isa 9:6, that he should be the Prince of peace. Peace signifies two things: -
1. Unity or concord, which is intimated in these figurative promises, that even the wolf shall dwell peaceably with the lamb; men of the most fierce and furious dispositions, who used to bite and devour all about them, shall have their temper so strangely altered by the efficacy of the gospel and grace of Christ that they shall live in love even with the weakest and such as formerly they would have made an easy prey of. So far shall the sheep be from hurting one another, as sometimes they have done (Eze 34:20, Eze 34:21), that even the wolves shall agree with them. Christ, who is our peace, came to slay all enmities and to settle lasting friendships among his followers, particularly between Jews and Gentiles: when multitudes of both, being converted to the faith of Christ, united in one sheep-fold, then the wolf and the lamb dwelt together; the wolf did not so much as threaten the lamb, nor was the lamb afraid of the wolf. The leopard shall not only not tear the kid, but shall lie down with her: even their young ones shall lie down together, and shall be trained up in a blessed amity, in order to the perpetuating of it. The lion shall cease to be ravenous and shall eat straw like the ox, as some think all the beasts of prey did before the fall. The asp and the cockatrice shall cease to be venomous, so that parents shall let their children play with them and put their hands among them. A generation of vipers shall become a seed of saints, and the old complaint of homo homini lupus - man is a wolf to man, shall be at an end. Those that inhabit the holy mountain shall live as amicably as the creatures did that were with Noah in the ark, and it shall be a means of their preservation, for they shall not hurt nor destroy one another as they have done. Now, (1.) This is fulfilled in the wonderful effect of the gospel upon the minds of those that sincerely embrace it; it changes the nature, and makes those that trampled on the meek of the earth, not only meek like them, but affectionate towards them. When Paul, who had persecuted the saints, joined himself to them, then the wolf dwelt with the lamb. (2.) Some are willing to hope it shall yet have a further accomplishment in the latter days, when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares.
2. Safety or security. Christ, the great Shepherd, shall take such care of the flock that those who would hurt them shall not; they shall not only not destroy one another, but no enemy from without shall be permitted to give them any molestation. The property of troubles, and of death itself, shall be so altered that they shall not do any real hurt to, much less shall they be the destruction of, any that have their conversation in the holy mountain, Pe1 3:13. Who, or what, can harm us, if we be followers of him that is good? God's people shall be delivered, not only from evil, but from the fear of it. Even the sucking child shall without any terror play upon the hole of the asp; blessed Paul does so when he says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? and, O death! where is thy sting?
Lastly, Observe what shall be the effect, and what the cause, of this wonderful softening and sweetening of men's tempers by the grace of God. 1. The effect of it shall be tractableness, and a willingness to receive instruction: A little child shall lead those who formerly scorned to be controlled by the strongest man. Calvin understands it of their willing submission to the ministers of Christ, who are to instruct with meekness and not to use any coercive power, but to be as little children, Mat 18:3. See Co2 8:5. 2. The cause of it shall be the knowledge of God. The more there is of that the more there is of a disposition to peace. They shall thus live in love, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, which shall extinguish men's heats and animosities. The better acquainted we are with the God of love the more shall we be changed into the same image and the better affected shall we be to all those that bear his image. The earth shall be as full of this knowledge as the channels of the sea are of water - so broad and extensive shall this knowledge be and so far shall it spread - so deep and substantial shall this knowledge be, and so long shall it last. There is much more of the knowledge of God to be got by the gospel of Christ than could be got by the law of Moses; and, whereas then in Judah only was God known, now all shall know him, Heb 8:11. But that is knowledge falsely so called which sows discord among men; the right knowledge of God settles peace.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–3 And there shall come forth a rod out of…
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,.... By which is meant, not Hezekiah, as R. Moses (o) the priest, and others, since he was now born, and must be at least ten or twelve years of age; but the Messiah, as both the text and context show, and as is owned by many Jewish writers (p), ancient and modern: and he is called a "rod", either because of his unpromising appearance, arising "out of the stem of Jesse"; from him, in the line of David, when that family was like a tree cut down, and its stump only left in the ground, which was the case when Jesus was born of it: Jesse's family was at first but a mean and obscure one; it became very illustrious in David's time, and in some following reigns; from the Babylonish captivity, till the time of Christ, it was very low; and at the birth of Christ was low indeed, his supposed father being a carpenter, and his real mother Mary a poor virgin, dwelling at Nazareth; and it seemed very unlikely, under these circumstances, that he should be the King Messiah, and be so great as was foretold he should; and have that power, authority, and wisdom he had; and do such mighty works as he did; and especially be the author of eternal salvation; and bring forth such fruits, and be the cause of such blessings of grace, as he was: or else because of his kingly power and majesty, the rod or branch being put for a sceptre, and so a symbol of that; to which the Targum agrees, paraphrasing the words thus,
"and a King shall come forth from the sons of Jesse:''
Read full note →
and the sense is, that though Jesse's or David's family should be brought so very low as to be as the stem or stump of a tree, without a body, branches, leaves, and fruit; yet from thence should arise a mighty King, even the King Messiah, who is spoken of by so many august names and titles, Isa 9:6 and this is observed for the comfort of the people of Israel, when distressed by the Assyrians, as in the preceding chapter Isa 10:1; when those high ones, comparable to the loftiest cedars in Lebanon, and to the tallest trees in the forest, should be hewn down, a rod should come out of Jesse's stem, which should rise higher, and spread more than ever they did:
and a branch shall grow out of his roots; the roots of Jesse, out of his family, compared to the stump of a tree; meaning either his ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Boaz, and Obed; or his posterity, as David, Joseph, and Mary; and so the Targum,
"and the Messiah shall be anointed (or exalted) from his children's children.''
The branch is a well known name of the Messiah; See Gill on Isa 4:2 the word Netzer, here used, is the name of the city of Nazareth (q); which perhaps was so called, from the trees, plants, and grass, which grew here; and so our Lord's dwelling here fulfilled a prophecy, that he should be called a Nazarene; or an inhabitant of Netzer, Mat 2:23. The Jews (r) speak of one Ben Netzer, who they say was a robber, took cities, and reigned over them, and became the head of robbers; and make (s) him to be the little horn in Dan 7:8 and wickedly and maliciously say (t) he was Jesus; and yet, under all this wickedness, they tacitly own that Jesus of Nazareth is the Netzer this prophecy speaks of; the design of which is to show the meanness of Christ's descent as man, and that he should be as a root out of a dry ground, Isa 53:2 or rather as a rod and branch out of a dry root.
(o) Apud Aben Ezra in loc. (p) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 85. fol. 75. 1. Midrash Tillim in Psal. lxxii. 1. Apud Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 112. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 8. 4. Aben Ezra, Jarchi, & Kimchi, in loc. Nachman. Disputat. cum Fratre Paulo, p. 53. (q) David de Pomis Lexic. p. 141. (r) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 51. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (s) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 76. fol. 67. 2. (t) Abarbinel in Dan. vii. 8. fol. 44. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse,…
Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse, endued with the spirit of the Lord, should set up a kingdom by the preaching of his word, ver. 1-5. The members of his church should live in peace and unity, ver. 6-9. And be victorious over their enemies: and to him should the Gentiles seek, ver. 10-16.
And - And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, he now explains who that anointed person was. The stem - Or, stump: for the word signifies properly a trunk cut off from the root. By which he clearly implies, that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground. Of Jesse - He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ's birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v1 The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up…
CHAPTER XI
The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up from the
Read full note →
root of an old withered stem, which tender plant, so extremely
weak in its first appearance, should nevertheless become
fruitful and mighty, 1-4.
Great equity of the Messiah's government, 5.
Beautiful assemblages of images by which the great peace and
happiness of his kingdom are set forth, 6-8.
The extent of his dominion shall be ultimately that of the
whole habitable globe, 9.
The prophet, borrowing his imagery from the exodus from Egypt,
predicts, with great majesty of language, the future
restoration of the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of
Judah, (viz., the whole of the twelve tribes of Israel,) from
their several dispersions, and also that blessed period when
both Jews and Gentiles shall assemble under the banner of
Jesus, and zealously unite in extending the limits of his
kingdom, 10-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. XI
The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees growing thick together, and of a great height; of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut down and laid level with the ground by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent. In opposition to this image he represents the great Person who makes the subject of this chapter as a slender twig shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper. This contrast shows plainly the connexion between this and the preceding chapter, which is moreover expressed by the connecting particle; and we have here a remarkable instance of that method so common with the prophets, and particularly with Isaiah, of taking occasion, from the mention of some great temporal deliverance, to launch out into the display of the spiritual deliverance of God's people by the Messiah; for that this prophecy relates to the Messiah we have the express authority of St. Paul, Ro 15:12. 'He joins this paragraph, with respect to the days of the Messiah, with the fidelity that was in the days of Hezekiah." - Kimchi, in Isa 11:1. Thus in the latter part of Isaiah's prophecies the subject of the great redemption, and of the glories of the Messiah's kingdom, arises out of the restoration of Judah by the deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, and is all along connected and intermixed with it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Isa 11:1. And, &c. — The fifth section of…
Isa 11:1. And, &c. — The fifth section of the fifth discourse begins here, and concludes with the next chapter. It is two-fold: in the first part the kingdom of Christ is described; in what manner, arising from the smallest beginnings, it should go on to increase, till, at length, it attained the highest perfection, Isa 11:1-9. In the second part are set forth some remarkable events of that kingdom, illustrating its glory, with their consequences, Isa 11:10 to chap. 12:6: see Vitringa. There shall come forth a rod — The prophet, having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s people with the promise of their deliverance from that formidable enemy, now proceeds further, and declares that God would do greater things than that for them; that he would give them their long-expected and much-desired Messiah, and by him would work wonders of mercy for them. For this is the manner of the prophets, to take occasion, from particular deliverances, to fix the people’s minds upon that great and everlasting deliverance from all their enemies by the Messiah. And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed, because of the anointing, he now more particularly explains who that anointed person was. Bishop Lowth mentions another particular, which he thinks plainly shows the connection between this and the preceding chapter. “The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees, growing thick together, and of a great height: of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut down, and laid level with the ground, by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent; in opposition to this image he represents the great person, who makes the subject of this chapter, as a slender twig, shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper.” Out of the stem — Or, rather, stump, as the word properly signifies: by which he clearly implies that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump, or root under ground. Of Jesse — He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–3 And there shall come forth a rod - In…
And there shall come forth a rod - In the previous chapter, the prophet had represented the Assyrian monarch and his army under the image of a dense and flourishing forest, with all its glory and grandeur. In opposition to this, he describes the illustrious personage who is the subject of this chapter, under the image of a slender twig or shoot, sprouting up from the root of a decayed and fallen tree. Between the Assyrian, therefore, and the person who is the subject of this chapter, there is a most striking and beautiful contrast. The one was at first magnificent - like a vast spreading forest - yet should soon fall and decay; the other was the little sprout of a decayed tree, which should yet rise, expand and flourish.
A rod - (חטר choṭı̂r). This word occurs in but one other place; Pro 14:3 : ‘In the mouth of the foolish is a “rod” of pride.’ Here it means, evidently, a branch, a twig, a shoot, such as starts up from the roots of a decayed tree, and is synonymous with the word rendered “branch” (צמח tsemach) in Isa 4:2; see the Note on that place.
Read full note →
Out of the stem - (מגזע mı̂geza‛). This word occurs but three times in the Old Testament; see Job 14:8; where it is rendered “stock:”
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground;
And in Isa 40:24 : ‘Yea, their “stock” shall not take root in the earth.’ It means, therefore, the stock or stump of a tree that has been cut down - a stock, however, which may not be quite dead, but where it may send up a branch or shoot from its roots. It is beautifully applied to an ancient family that is fallen into decay, yet where there may be a descendant that shall rise and flourish; as a tree may fall and decay, but still there may be vitality in the root, and it shall send up a tender germ or sprout.
Of Jesse - The father of David. It means, that he who is here spoken of should be of the family of Jesse, or David. Though Jesse had died, and though the ancient family of David would fall into decay, yet there would arise from that family an illustrious descendant. The beauty of this description is apparent, if we bear in recollection that, when the Messiah was born, the ancient and much honored family of David had fallen into decay; that the mother of Jesus, though pertaining to that family, was poor, obscure, and unknown; and that, to all appearance, the glory of the family had departed. Yet from that, as from a long-decayed root in the ground, he should spring who would restore the family to more than its ancient glory, and shed additional luster on the honored name of Jesse.
And a branch - (נצר nêtser). A twig, branch, or shoot; a slip, scion, or young sucker of a tree, that is selected for transplanting, and that requires to be watched with special care. The word occurs but four times; Isa 60:21 : ‘They shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting;’ Isa 14:19 : ‘But thou art cast out of thy grave as an abominable branch;’ Dan 11:7. The word rendered branch in Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, is a different word in the original (צמח tsemach), though meaning substantially the same thing. The word “branch” is also used by our translators, in rendering several other Hebrew words; “see” Taylor’s “Concordance.” Here the word is synonymous with that which is rendered “rod” in the previous part of the verse - a shoot, or twig, from the root of a decayed tree.
Out of his roots - As a shoot starts up from the roots of a decayed tree. The Septuagint renders this, ‘And a flower (ἄνθος anthos) shall arise from the root.’ The Chaldee, ‘And a king shall proceed from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah from his sons’ sons shall arise;’ showing conclusively that the ancient Jews referred this to the Messiah.
That this verse, and the subsequent parts of the chapter, refer to the Messiah, may be argued from the following considerations:
(1) The fact that it is expressly applied to him in the New Testament. Thus Paul, in Rom 15:12, quotes the tenth verse of this chapter as expressly applicable to the times of the Messiah.
(2) The Chaldee Paraphrase shows, that this was the sense which the ancient Jews put upon the passage. That paraphrase is of authority, only to show that this was the sense which appeared to be the true one by the ancient interpreters.
(3) The description in the chapter is not applicable to any other personage than the Messiah. Grotius supposes that the passage refers to Hezekiah; though, ‘in a more sublime sense,’ to the Messiah. Others have referred it to Zerubbabel. But none of the things here related apply to either, except the fact that they had a descent from the family of Jesse; for neither of those families had fallen into the decay which the prophet here describes.
(4) The peace, prosperity, harmony and order, referred to in the subsequent portions of the chapter, are not descriptive of any portion of the reign of Hezekiah.
(5) The terms and dcscriptions here accord with other portions of the Scriptures, as applicable to the Messiah. Thus Jeremiah Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15 describes the Messiah under the similitude of a “branch, a germ or shoot - using, indeed, a different Hebrew word, but retaining the same idea and image; compare Zec 3:8. It accords also with the description by Isaiah of the same personage in Isa 4:2; see the note on the place.
(6) I may add, that nearly all commentators have referred this to the Messiah; and, perhaps, it would not be possible to find greater unanimity in regard to the interpretation of any passage of Scripture than on this.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Root. Juda shall not be exterminated, like the Assyrians.…
Root. Juda shall not be exterminated, like the Assyrians. (Calmet) --- Christ shall spring from the blessed Virgin [Mary], (Worthington) for the salvation of mankind. The Jews agree, that this prediction regards the Messias; though some, with Grotius, would explain it literally of Ezechias. They do not reflect that he was now ten years old, and that the prophet speaks of an event which should still take place after he had been a long while upon the throne. If we were to look for any figure of the Messias, to whom this might be applicable, it would be Zorobabel, Zacharias iii. 8. But how disproportionate would be the promises to the execution? Some passages may indeed relate to the return of the captives, (ver. 11.) as the people must have a more immediate object, to insure the accomplishment of the more elevated predictions concerning the Messias: but these also refer ultimately to the propagation of the gospel, which the prophet had also in view. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Isa_11:1 to Isa_12:6
III. ISRAEL’S REDEMPTION IN RELATION TO THE MESSIAH
Isa_11:1 to Isa_12:6
Read full note →
1. FROM THE APPARENTLY DRIED UP ROOT OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID SHALL GO FORTH A SPROUT THAT SHALL FOUND A KINGDOM OF MOST GLORIOUS PEACE
Isa_11:1-9
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the 1stem of Jesse,
And a 2Branch 3shall 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 4And shall make him of 5quick understanding in the fear of the Lord:
And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
Neither 6reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor,
And 78reprove with equity for the meek of 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.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
And the 9leopard 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 10straw 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 11cockatrice’ 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.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
On Isa_11:1. גֶּזַע occurs again only Isa_40:24; Job_14:8. The root גָּזַע is not found. The meaning is that of גָּדַע (Isa_10:33). caedere “to cut down.” In the three places that it occurs גזע is “the hewn, cut up stem that still sticks in the ground.” Hence גזע ישׁי and not גזע דָּוִד.—חֹטֶר again only Pro_14:3, meaning: “rod, pliant twig.”—נֵצֶר, Isa_14:19; Isa_60:21; Dan_11:7 (from נָצַר unused root, splendere, nitere), “a hardy, fresh young branch.”—משׁרשׁיו, though the accents are against it, must be connected with נצר. For what does it mean that the shoot right from the root on shall bear fruit? Is something unnatural and impossible said of this shoot? Or was not Christ a Tree when He bore fruit? The thought is rather that from the extinct trunk and shoot a sprout shall proceed that shall give evidence of adequate vital power, and grow up to be a fruit-bearing tree. Hence it is quite unjustifiable to impose upon the verb יפרה the meaning of יִפְרַח (Hitzig, Umbreit).
On Isa_11:3. It is natural to regard הריהו as antithesis of the objective communication of the Spirit spoken of, Isa_11:2. For first, הֵרִיחַ means “smell anything with pleasure” (Lev_26:31; Amo_5:21). But if ביראת י׳ should be the object of הריחו, then it ceases to be predicate, and then the sentence is without predicate; or if it is construed as predicate, then the emphatic use of בְּ after verbs of sensation cannot be appealed to, because then בְּ no longer depends on the notion of smelling, but on a modification of the notion of being (happens in the fear of Jehovah, is directed to the fear of Jehovah), which must be supplied to accommodate the subject to the predicate. Second: What means the one sided emphasis of smelling? If smelling may be construed in the wider sense as inhaling and exhaling air through the nose, so that it coincides with breathing, that would suit. I construe it in this wider sense as do others (Clericus, Hendewerk, Ewald, Meier). [See Comment of J. A. Alexander, added, p. 162, top.] Then הריח is to be construed as direct causative Hiphil, in the sense of “to make רוּחַ,” as one says חֶאְְזִין “to make ears” = to “hear,” הִלְשִׁין “to make a tongue,” züngeln, “to blaspheme.” רוּמַ then = “breath, life’s breath,” Gen_6:17; Gen_7:15; Gen_7:22, etc. But still much depends on whether bodily or spiritual breath is meant. The context decides for the latter. For our הריחו ביראת י׳ stands in evident antithesis to רוח יראת י׳, Isa_11:2. The latter designates the objective communication of the Spirit, the former the subjective reception.—לְ secundum, comp. לְצֶדֶק Isa_32:1 : לָבֶטַח, etc.—הוכיח with לְ like Isa_2:4.
On Isa_11:4. מִישׁוֹר comp. Isa_40:4; Isa_42:16.
On Isa_11:5. Gesenius makes the remark here that the repetition of אֵזוֹר (instead of using once חגור) can give no surprise in Isaiah, because he often uses the same word in parallel clauses: Isa_14:4; Isa_15:1; Isa_15:8; Isa_16:7; Isa_17:12-13; Isa_19:7; Isa_31:8; Isa_32:17; Isa_42:19; Isa_44:3; Isa_54:13; Isa_55:4; Isa_55:13; Isa_59:10. But in saying this Gesenius, as Drechsler remarks, forgot that he denies Isaiah’s authorship of chaps. 40–66
On Isa_11:6. זְאֵב is found in Isaiah only here and Isa_65:25, that resembles this.—כֶּבֶשׂ is “the lamb;” comp. Isa_1:11; Isa_5:17. נָמֵר = “the striped” is “the panther” (Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23). Isaiah has it only here.—נהג with בְּ like 1Ch_13:7; comp. on נֹגֵשׂ בּוֹ Isa_9:3.
On Isa_11:7. אריה Isa_35:9.—תֶּבֶן again only Isa_65:25.
On Isa_11:8. שׁעשׁע Pilpel from שׁעע delimre, mulcere, comp. the pass. Isa_66:12.—חֻר Isa_42:22—פתן only here in Isaiah.—מְאוּרָת is ἅπ. λεγ. מָאוֹר is “light,” i.e., “an illuminating body” (Gen_1:16); מְאוּרָה would then be a “light opening,” and we might understand under that term both the entrance of the cave and the sparkling eye of the animal gleaming like a precious stone (so the Targ. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, etc.). But the parallelism with חֻר prompts the conjecture, that originally מְעוּרָה, which otherwise never occurs, = מְעָרָה “cave,” stood in the text (Gesenius). What is correct is hard to make out.—הָדָה doubtless kindred to יָדָה, immittere is ἅπ. λεγ.—The צִפְעוֹנִי (Isa_59:5) is likely identical with צֶפַע (Isa_14:29). The root צָפַע means halare, sibilare. Doubtless a very poisonous serpent is meant, perhaps the basilisk, which is said to have been called sibilus. Comp. Gesenius, Thes. p. 1182.
On Isa_11:9. That the beasts are subject of ירעו (comp. Isa_65:25) the context puts beyond doubt.—יָם is here manifestly the sea-bed, the bottom of the sea; (comp. Psa_104:6). The prefix לְ before יָם is explained by the causative sense in which Piel is used here, as it is often.—כִּסָּה means “covering,” make covering, like הִצִּיל “provide rescue,” הוֹכִיחַ “provide justice,” הֶאֱרִיךְ “make length,” etc., and is accordingly, like the verbs named, construed with the dative. So, too, is כִּסָּה עַל “to make a cover, to spread as a cover over something” (Num_16:33; Job_36:32; Hab_2:14, where our text is reproduced.—[J. A. Alexander on verse 3. “And his sense of smelling (i.e., his power of perception, with a seeming reference to the pleasure it affords him) shall be exercised in (or upon) the fear of Jehovah (as an attribute of others”). The only sense of הריחו confirmed by usage is to smell. This, as a figure, comprehends discernment or discrimination between false and true religion, and the act of taking pleasure as the sense does in a grateful odor. In ביראת י׳ the בְּ is a connective which the verb הריח commonly takes after it, and adds no more to the meaning of the phrase than the English prepositions when we speak of smelling to or of a thing, instead of simply smelling it.”
Ibid. On Isa_11:9. “They shall not hurt nor destroy,” etc. The absence of the copulative shows that this is not so much a direct continuation of the previous description as a summary explanation of it. The true construction, therefore, is indefinite, and the verbs do not agree with the nouns (animals) of Isa_11:8.”]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The destruction of the proud, towering forest, which, meaning primarily Assyria, comprehends also the world-powers generally, is followed by a contrasted picture in the renewed flourishing of the house of David and of his kingdom. That house of David will be reduced to a stunted and inconsiderable root-stock, when the world-power shall be at the summit of its prosperity. But from this root-stock, that is regarded as dead, a sprout shall still go forth (Isa_11:1). On it the Spirit of the Lord shall rest in the fulness of His manifold powers (Isa_11:2). This sprout will take delight in the fear of Jehovah; He will practise justice not after the deceptive sight of the eyes (Isa_11:3); on the contrary He will so do it that the poor and humble shall be helped, but the wicked not merely outwardly, but also inwardly subdued (Isa_11:4). For He shall stand firm in righteousnesss and truth (Isa_11:5). Thus His kingdom shall be one of peace in such a degree that even the impersonal creatures shall be filled with this spirit of peace (Isa_11:6-7), 8. For even the wildest beasts shall be no more wild, and no longer do harm on Jehovah’s holy mountain. The whole shall be full of the liveliest and deepest knowledge of Jehovah, like the bottom of the sea is covered with water (Isa_11:9).
2. And there shall come—his roots.
Isa_11:1. Without a hint as to the time when, the Prophet announced that a revirescence of David’s house shall be the correlative of destruction of the world-power that was compared to the forest of Lebanon. He says stock of Jesse, not stock of David, for he would intimate that David’s stock will be reduced to its rank previous to David, when it was only the stock of the obscure citizen of Bethlehem. This explanation seems to me more correct than the other that understands that by this term is intimated that the Messiah shall be the second David, for He is such not alongside of, but after and out of the first David. The Messiah is in fact the Son of David (2 Samuel 7). If this stock, dead and mutilated, only exists as a stump, (but we know when and how that happened,) then shall a slender twig emerge from His roots, thus out of that part concealed under ground and still fresh, a hardy shoot that shall not perish, but bear fruit, and therefore (as included in the statement) develop to a new tree.
He is called “branch” Isa_4:2; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15; Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12. At the beginning of 53. (Isa_11:2) is found a representation of the Messiah closely resembling our verse: “and He raised Himself before Him like the tender plant and like the root out of dry ground.” Ezek. too, (Eze_17:22-24) speaks of the shoot of the cedar (יוֹנֵק) that the Lord will plant on the high mountain of Israel (Isaiah 2) to show how He is able “to bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make flourish the dry tree.”
3. And the spirit—fear of the Lord
Isa_11:2. The Prophet immediately forsakes the figurative language. He speaks of the sprout as of a person. For on Him shall settle down (Isa_7:2; Isa_7:19; Num_11:25; 2Ki_2:15) the spirit of Jehovah. This is a generic designation. For in what follows a threefold species of this genus is named, each of which is represented in two modifications. The candlestick of the sanctuary has rightly been regarded as symbol of the spirit of Jehovah. The stem corresponds to what we have called the genus, the six branches to what we have called the species (Exo_25:31 sqq.; Isa_37:17 sqq.). The first species comprehends (חכמה and בינה) “wisdom and understanding.” It is not easy to determine wherein consists the difference between these. In not a few passages they are placed opposite to one another in the parallelism of the clauses: Pro_2:2 sqq.; Pro_4:5; Pro_4:7; Pro_9:10; Job_28:12; Job_28:20; Job_28:28; 2Ch_2:12, etc. In all these passages is observed, first of all, a formal distinction, a certain distinction of rank. “Wisdom” is the great all-comprehending chief name of all right knowledge. As the notion wisdom rises to personality, in fact to the dignity of divine personality (Pro_8:32 sqq.) the word becomes almost a proper name. “Understanding” (בינה with דַּעַת ,תְּבוּנָה, etc.) takes up a subordinate position. It signifies always only an element, although a very essential one of “wisdom” (comp. Pro_8:14). Many find in חכמה the fundamental meaning of firmitas solida, of πυκνότης, though the word is rather allied to בֵּךְplaatum, and thus, as in sapientia, σοφία “sapor” “taste” (comp. טעם) is the fundamental notion. In any case חכמה “wisdom” has more a positive meaning, whereas בינה “understanding” (comp. בֵּין and the meaning of the root words in the dialects) carries more the negative notion of διάκρισις, the art of distinguishing between true and false, good and bad.—עצה and גבורה “counsel” and “might” (Isa_36:5) are easily distinguished as proofs of practical wisdom in forming and executing good counsel. A third pair is (דַּעַת, stat. const. and(יִרְאַת יי) “knowledge and fear of the Lord:” for the first two pairs comprise those effects of the spirit that relate to the earthly life. The third pair appear to reach out beyond this earthly life. It names a knowledge and a fear whose object is Jehovah Himself. If the fear of God is named last here, whereas according to Pro_1:7; Pro_9:10; Psa_111:10 it is the beginning of all wisdom, that has its reason herein, that what is the deepest foundation may at the same time be designated as the loftiest height, like the great mountains form the inmost nucleus and the highest summits of the earth’s body. The entire enumeration progresses therefore from the bottom upwards. Moreover the view of the seven spirits of God, that is found Rev_1:4; Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5; Rev_5:6, rests on our text. On the anointing of the Messiah with the Spirit of God, comp. Isa_42:1; Isa_61:1; Mat_12:18; Luk_4:18; Joh_3:34.
4. And shall make—his reins.
Isa_11:3-5. On הריחו see Text and Gram. He has not only received the spirit from without; He receives it also within Him, so that He continually breathes in this spiritual air of life—this alone and no other. He has received (objectively) the spirit in absolute fulness. There appears to me to lie in these words, too, an allusion to Gen_2:7. There it is said that God breathed in men His spirit as the principle of life. But this principle of life performs its functions no matter in what element the man may find himself. Even in the godless it is constantly active. Yet how unsatisfying, how mournful is that breathing of the spirit in a sphere infected by sin. The Messiah lives wholly in “the fear of God.” He therefore breathes in an atmosphere homogeneous to Him. He therefore brings into use for mankind the right breathing by bringing them back into the pure element of spirit. He is the second Adam.
As king, the Messiah must display the divinity of His disposition pre-eminently in the perfectly adequate administration of justice. He will therefore never let His judgment depend on outward appearance, never on that which pleases the outward sense, but He will only suffer that to pass for right that is right. He will not, therefore, look on the person, but help the poor and lowly to their rights (comp. Isa_1:26 sqq.; Isa_3:13 sqq.). But the unjust He will punish. This is the meaning of Isa_11:4 b. For the earth (אֶרֶץ) that He smites with the rod of His mouth, (Rev_1:16) and that is put parallel with רָשָׁע “the wicked” can only be regarded as the territory of the world that is hostile to God. “The wicked” רָשָׁע is by the Chaldee, and since that by many expositors, construed not only as a collective = רשׁעים, but at the same time, (or even exclusively e.g.Delitzsch) in the sense of 2Th_2:8, as designation of an eschatological person, in whom enmity against God shall reach its climax. The staff of His mouth is the word that goes forth out of His mouth, and the breath of His lips is the same. For His word is in fact what His lips (spiritually) breathe out. Thus He proves Himself to be the one that can destroy in the same way as He created. By His word were things made; by His word they pass away. Comp. Psa_104:29. In this righteousness, however, consists His proper strength, and the guaranty for the eternal continuance of His kingdom. The powers of the world must pass away on account of unrighteousness (Pro_14:34).
The girdle is the symbol of vigorous, unimpeded development of strength, because the ancients could run, wrestle, and work only when the girdle confined their wide garments (comp. Job_12:18; Job_38:3; Job_40:2; Jer_1:17; Eph_6:14; 1Pe_1:13). Let the loins be girt with righteousness and truth, and the girded man stands strong and firm in righteousness and truth. He is strong by both. Therefore He does not further His cause by unrighteousness and lies, but by the contrary.
5. The wolf also——the sea.
Isa_11:6-9. The Prophet’s vision penetrates to the remotest time: he comprises the near and far in one look. The Assyria of the present, with its destruction in the near future, the Messiah in the inception of His appearance, and the latest fruits of His work of peace—all this he sees at once in a grand picture before him. When the Redeemer, as Prince of Peace (Isa_9:5) shall have done away with all violence, and put justice on the throne, then will peace be in the earth, and that, not only among men, but also among beasts. The Prophet, it is true, does not explain how the beasts are to be made accessible to this peaceful disposition. But it seems to me certain that only stupendous changes in nature, violent revolutions, world-ruin and resurrection, thus the slaying of the old Adam, and the regeneration of nature can bring forth these effects, (Revelation 20 sq.). “Behold I make all things new,” (Rev_21:5) says He, that sits upon the throne. But we see from passages like 35; Isa_43:18 sqq., that Isaiah himself had a presentiment of this grand, and all-comprehending world-renewal. I do not mean by this to defend a literal fulfilment of the word which the church fathers rejected as Judaizing, but only themselves to fall into the opposite extreme of spiritualizing and allegorizing. (Jerome appeals to Eph_1:3). The point is to find the happy medium. That, however, is not found by saying that Isaiah meant what he said in a real sense, only he deceived himself, but by recognizing that Isaiah, as organ of the Spirit of God, beheld stupendous, spirit-corporeal reality, but paints this reality with human, earthly, even national and temporal colors. In short there will be “a new creation,” (2Co_5:17) and this new creation will be at the same time a restitution of that oldest creation, that original one of Paradise, but on a higher plane. But how in the picture of the Prophet, to draw the boundary between absolute and relative reality, i.e., whether to exclude only single traits as not literal, or whether to divest the whole of its local and temporal construction, is difficult to say. Yet I decide for the latter. For all the traits of the picture painted by Isaiah bear the stamp of the existing earthly corporality. But in this sphere the prophecy cannot be realized. We must suppose a new basis of spiritual, glorified corporality made for this fulfilment. On this basis then the Prophet’s word will, mutatis mutandis, certainly be fulfilled.
The young lion (כפיר Isa_5:29) will lie quietly between the calf and the fattened ox, hitherto his favorite food; and a small boy will suffice to keep this entire, extraordinary, mixed up herd. Cow and bear graze, and their young rest by one another, while the old male-lion will devour chopped straw. Poisonous serpents will change their nature; the sucking child will play at the hole (vid. Text. and Gram.) of the adder. The holy mountain of Jehovah (comp. on Isa_2:2 sqq.), will not indeed physically comprise the earth, but it will rule the earth, and so far the Prophet can say, there shall no more harm be done, nor destruction devised on the holy mountain. The whole earth, in fact, is only the slope of the mount of God. But the reason why there is no more harm, is that the whole earth (notice how in the second clause “earth” is substituted for “holy mountain”) will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. No doubt the Prophet means here, not merely a dead knowing, which even the devils have (Jam_2:17); he means a living, experimental, practical knowledge of God, as is possible also to the impersonal creature. Therefore the whole earth, not merely man, shall know God living, and thus on the holy mountain shall no harm or destruction be devised. By the glorious picture of that knowledge filling the earth like the water the bottom of the sea, the Prophet signifies that he conceives of all creatures as filled with this living knowledge of God.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_7:1. “Hierosolyma oppugnatur, etc. Jerusalem is assaulted but not conquered. The church is pressed but not oppressed.”—Foerster.
2. On Isa_7:2. “Quando ecclesia, etc. When the Church is assaulted and Christ crucified over again in His elect, Rezin and Pekah, Herod and Pilate are wont to form alliance and enter into friendly relations. There are, so to speak, the foxes of Samson, joined indeed by the tails, but their heads are disconnected.”—Foerster.—“He that believes flees not (Isa_28:16). ‘The righteous is bold as a lion’ (Pro_28:1). Hypocrites and those that trust in works (work-saints) have neither reason nor faith. Therefore they cannot by any means quiet their heart. In prosperity they are, indeed, overweening, but in adversity they fall away (Jer_17:9).” Cramer.
3. On Isa_7:9. (“If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”) “Insignis sententia, etc. A striking sentiment that may be adapted generally to all temptation, because all earnest endeavor after anything, as you know, beguiles us in temptation. But only faith in the word of promise makes us abide and makes sure whatever we would execute. He warns Ahaz, therefore, as if he said: I now promise you by the word, it shall be that those two kings shall not hurt you. Believe this word! For if you do not, whatever you afterwards devise will deceive you: because all confidence is vain which is not supported by the word of God.”—Luther.
4. On Isa_7:10-12. “Wicked Ahaz pretends to great sanctity in abstaining from asking a sign through fear of God. Thus hypocrites are most conscientious where there is no need for it: on the other hand, when they ought to be humble, they are the most insolent. But where God commands to be bold, one must be bold. For to be obedient to the word is not tempting God. That is rather tempting God when one proposes something without having the word for it. It is, indeed, the greatest virtue to rest only in the word, and desire nothing more. But where God would add something more than the word, then it must not be thought a virtue to reject it as superfluous. We must therefore exercise such a faith in the word of God that we will not despise the helps that are given in addition to it as aids to faith. For example the Lord offers us in the gospel all that is necessary to salvation. Why then Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Are they to be treated as superfluous? By no means. For if one believes the word he will at the same time exhibit an entire obedience toward God. We ought therefore to learn to join the sign with the word, for no man has the power to sever the two.
But do you ask: is it permitted to ask God for a sign? We have an example of this in Gideon. Answer: Although Gideon was not told of God to ask a sign, yet he did it by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and not according to his own fancy. We must not therefore abuse his example, and must be content with the sign that is offered by the Lord. But there are extraordinary signs or miracles, like that of the text, and ordinary ones like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Yet both have the same object and use. For as Gideon was strengthened by that miraculous event, so, too, are we strengthened by Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, although no miracle appears before our eyes.” Heim and Hoffmann after Luther. Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, also asked the Lord to show him the right wife for Isaac by means of a sign of His own choosing, (Gen_24:14).
It ought to be said that this asking a sign (opening the Bible at a venture, or any other book) does not suit Christian perfection (Heb_6:1). A Christian ought to be inwardly sensible of the divine will. He ought to content himself with the guarantees that God Himself offers. Only one must have open eyes and ears for them. This thing of demanding a sign, if it is not directly an effect of superstition (Mat_12:39; Mat_16:4; 1Co_1:22), is certainly childish, and, because it easily leads to superstitious abuses, it is dangerous.
5. On Isa_7:13. “Non caret, etc. That the Prophet calls God his God is not without a peculiar emphasis. In Zec_2:12 it is said, that whoever touches the servants of God touches the pupil of God’s eye. Whoever opposes teacher and preacher will have to deal with God in heaven or with the Lord who has put them into office.”—Foerster.
6. On Isa_7:14. “The name Immanuel is one of the most beautiful and richest in contents of all the Holy Scripture. ‘God with us’ comprises God’s entire plan of salvation with sinful humanity. In a narrower sense it means ‘God-man’ (Mat_1:23), and points to the personal union of divinity and humanity, in the double nature of the Son of God become man. Jesus Christ was a God-with-us, however, in this, that for about 33 years He dwelt among us sinners (Joh_1:11; Joh_1:14). In a deeper and wider sense still He was such by the Immanuel’s work of the atonement (2Co_5:19; 1Ti_2:3). He will also be such to every one that believes on Him by the work of regeneration and sanctification and the daily renewal of His holy and divine communion of the Spirit (Joh_17:23; Joh_17:26; Joh_14:19-21; Joh_14:23). He is such now by His high-priestly and royal administration and government for His whole Church (Mat_28:20; Heb_7:25). He will be snch in the present time of the Church in a still more glorious fashion (Joh_10:16). The entire and complete meaning of the name Immanuel, however, will only come to light in the new earth, and in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev_21:3; Rev_21:23; Rev_22:5).”—Wilh. Fried. Roos.
Isa_8:7. On Isa_8:5 sqq. “Like boastful swimmers despise small and quiet waters, and on the other hand, for the better display of their skill, boast of the great sea and master it, but often are lost in it,—thus, too, did the hypocrites that despised the small kingdom of Judah, and bragged much and great things of the power and splendor of the kingdom of Israel and of the Syrians; such hypocrites are still to be found now-a-days—such that bear in their eye the admiranda Romae, the splendor, riches, power, ceremonies and pomp of the Romish church, and thereupon ‘set their bushel by the bigger-heap.’ It is but the devil’s temptation over again: ‘I will give all this to thee.’ ”—Cramer.—“Fons Siloa,” etc. “The fountain of Siloam, near the temple, daily reminded the Jews that Christ was coming.”—Calvin on Joh_9:7.
8. On Isa_8:10. “When the great Superlatives sit in their council chambers and have determined everything, how it ought to be, and especially how they will extinguish the gospel, then God sends the angel Gabriel to them, who must look through the window and say: nothing will come of it.”—Luther.—“Christ, who is our Immanuel, is with us by His becoming man, for us by His office of Mediator, in us by the work of His sanctification, by us by His personal, gracious presence.”—Cramer.
9. On Isa_8:14-15. Christ alone is set by God to be a stone by which we are raised up. That He is, however, an occasion of offence to many is because of their purpose, petulance and contempt (1Pe_2:8). Therefore we ought to fear lest we take offence at Him. For whoever falls on this stone will shatter to pieces (Mat_21:44).” Cramer.
10. On Isa_8:16 sqq. He warns His disciples against heathenish superstition, and exhorts them to show respect themselves always to law and testimony. “They must not think that God must answer them by visions and signs, therefore He refers them to the written word, that they may not become altogether too spiritual, like those now-a-days who cry: spirit! spirit! … Christ says, Luke 16 : They have Moses and the prophets, and again Joh_5:39 : Search the Scriptures. So Paul says, 2Ti_3:16 : The Scripture is profitable for doctrine. So says Peter, 2Pe_1:9 : We have a sure word of prophecy. It is the word that changes hearts and moves them. But revelations puff people up and make them insolent.” Heim and Hoffmann after Luther.
Chap. 9–11. On Isa_9:1 sqq. (2). “Postrema pars, etc. The latter part of chap. 8 was νομικὴ καὶ ἀπειλητική (legal and threatening) so, on the other hand, the first and best part of chap. 9 is εὐαγγελικὴ καὶ παραμυθητική, (evangelical and comforting). Thus must ever law and gospel, preaching wrath and grace, words of reproof and words of comfort, a voice of alarm and a voice of peace follow one another in the church.” Foerster.
12. On Isa_9:1 (2). Both in the Old Testament and New Testament Christ is often called light. Thus Isaiah calls Him “a light to the gentiles,” Isa_42:6; Isa_49:6. The same Prophet says: “Arise, shine (make thyself light), for thy light is come,” Isa_60:1. And again Isa_9:19 : “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light.” In the New Testament it is principally John that makes use of this expression: “The life was the light of men,” Joh_1:4, “and the light shined in the darkness,” Joh_9:5. John was not that light, but bore testimony to the light, Joh_9:8. “That was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” Joh_9:9. And further: “And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,” Joh_3:19. “I am the light of the world,” (Joh_8:12; Joh_9:5; comp. Joh_12:35).
13. On Isa_9:1 (2). The people that sit in darkness may be understood to comprise three grades. First, the inhabitants of Zebulon and Naphtali are called so (Isaiah 8:23), for the Prophet’s gaze is fixed first on that region lying in the extreme end of Palestine, which was neighbor to the heathen and mixed with them, and on this account was held in low esteem by the dwellers in Judah. The night that spreads over Israel in general is darkest there. But all Israel partakes of this night, therefore all Israel, too, may be understood, as among the people sitting in darkness. Finally, no one can deny that this night extends over the borders of Israel to the whole human race. For far as men dwell extends the night which Christ, as light of the world, came to dispel, Luk_1:76 sqq.
14. On Isa_9:5 (6). Many lay stress on the notion “child,” inasmuch as they see in that the reason for the reign of peace spoken of afterwards. It is not said a man, a king, a giant is given to us. But this is erroneous. For the child does not remain a child. He becomes a man: and the six names that are ascribed to Him and also the things predicted of His kingdom apply to Him, not as a child, but as a man. That His birth as a child is made prominent, has its reason in this, that thereby His relation to human kind should be designated as an organic one. He does not enter into humanity as a man, i.e. as one whose origin was outside of it, but He was born from it, and especially from the race of David. He is Son of man and Son of David. He is a natural offshoot, but also the crowning bloom of both. Precisely because He was to be conceived, carried and born of a human mother, and indeed of a virgin, this prophecy belongs here as the completion and definition of the two prophetic pictures Isa_7:10 sqq.; Isa_8:1 sqq.—“He came down from heaven for the sake of us men, and for our bliss (1Ti_1:15; Luk_2:7). For our advantage: for He undertook not for the seed of angels, but for the seed of Abraham (Heb_2:16). Not sold to us by God out of great love, but given (Rom_5:15; Joh_3:16). Therefore every one ought to make an application of the word ‘to us’ to himself, and to learn to say: this child was given to me, conceived for me, born to me.”—Cramer.—“Cur oportuit, etc. Why did it become the Redeemer of human kind to be not merely man nor merely God, but God and man conjoined or θεάνθρωπον? Anselm replies briefly, indeed, but pithily: Deum qui posset, hominem, qui deberet.” Foerster.
15. On Isa_9:5 (6). “You must not suppose here that He is to be named and called according to His person, as one usually calls another by his name; but these are names that one must preach, praise and celebrate on account of His act, works and office.” Luther.
16. On Isa_9:6. “Verba pauca, etc. A few words, but to be esteemed great, not for their number but for their weight.” Augustine. “Admirabilis in, etc. Wonderful in birth, counsellor in what He preaches, God in working, strong in suffering, father of the world to come in resurrection, Prince of peace in bliss perpetual.” Bernard of Clairvaux. In reference to “a child is born,” and “a son is given,” Joh. Cocceius remarks in his Heb. Lex. s. v. יֶלֶד: “respectu, etc., in respect to His human nature He is said to be born, and in respect to His divine nature and eternal generation not indeed born, but given, as, Joh_3:16, it reads God gave His only begotten Son.”
“In the application of this language all depends on the words is born to us, is given to us.” The angels are, in this matter, far from being as blessed as we are. They do not say: To us a Saviour is born this day, but; to you. As long as we do not regard Christ as ours, so long we shall have little joy in Him. But when we know Him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, as a gift that our heavenly Father designed for us, we will appropriate Him to ourselves in humble faith, and take possession of all His redeeming effects that He has acquired. For giving and taking go together. The Son is given to us; we must in faith receive Him.” J. J. Rambach, Betracht. über das Ev. Esaj., Halle, 1724.
On Isa_9:6 (7). “The government is on His shoulders.” “It is further shown how Christ differs in this respect from worldly kings. They remove from themselves the burden of government and lay it on the shoulders of the privy counsellors. But He does not lay His dominion as a burden on any other; He needs no prime minister and vicegerent to help Him bear the burden of administration, but He bears all by the word of His power as He to whom all things are given of the Father. Therefore He says to the house of Jacob (Isa_46:3 sq.): Hearken unto me ye who were laid on my shoulders from your mothers’ womb. I will carry you to old age. I will do it, I will lift, and carry and deliver,—on the contrary the heathen must bear and lift up their idols, (Isa_46:1; Isa_46:7).”—Rambach. “In the first place we must keep in mind His first name: He is called Wonderful. This name affects all the following.” “All is wonderful that belongs to this king: wonderfully does He counsel and comfort; wonderfully He helps to acquire and conquer, and all this in suffering and want of strength. (Luther, Jen. germ. Tom. III. Fol. 184 b.). ” “He uses weakness as a means of subduing all things to Himself. A wretched reed, a crown of thorns and an infamous cross, are the weapons of this almighty God, by means of which He achieves such great things. In the second place, He was a hero and conqueror in that just by death, He robbed him of his might who had the power of death, i.e., the devil (Heb_2:14); in that He, like Samson, buried His enemies with Himself, yea, became poison to death itself, and a plague to hell (Hos_13:14) and more gloriously resumed His life so freely laid down, which none of the greatest heroes can emulate.”—Rambach.
17. On Isa_9:18 (19) sqq. True friendship can never exist among the wicked. For every one loves only himself. Therefore they are enemies one of another; and they are in any case friends to each other, only as long as it concerns making war on a third party.
Isaiah 10-18. On Isa_10:4. (Comp. the same expression in chap. 10). God’s quiver is well filled. If one arrow does not attain His object, He takes another, and so on, until the rights of God, and justice have conquered.
19. On Isa_10:5-7. “God works through men in a threefold way. First, we all live, move and have our being in Him, in that all activity is an outflow of His power. Then, He uses the services of the wicked so that they mutually destroy each other, or He chastises His people by their hand. Of this sort the Prophet speaks here. In the third place, by governing His people by the Spirit of sanctification: and this takes place only in the elect.”—Heim and Hoffmann.
20. On Isa_10:5 sqq. “Ad hunc, etc. Such places are to be turned to uses of comfort. Although the objects of temptation vary and enemies differ, yet the effects are the same, and the same spirit works in the pious. We are therefore to learn not to regard the power of the enemy nor our own weakness, but to look steadily and simply into the word, that will assuredly establish our minds that they despair not, but expect help of God. For God will not subdue our enemies, either spiritual or corporal, by might and power, but by weakness, as says the text: my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2Co_12:9).—Luther.
21. On Isa_10:15. “Efficacia agendi penes Deum est, homines ministerium tantum praebent. Quare nunc sibilo suo se illos evocaturum minabatur (cap. Isa_5:26; Isa_7:18); nunc instar sagenae sibi fore ad irretiendos, nunc mallei instar ad feriendos Israelitas. Sed praecipue tum declaravit, quod non sit otiosus in illis, dum Sennacherib securim vocat, quae ad secandum manu sua et destinata fuit et impacta. Non male alicubi Augustinus ita definit, quod ipsi peccant, eorum esse; quod peccando hoc vel illud agant, ex virtute Dei esse, tenebras prout visum est dividentis (De praedest Sanctt.).”—Calvin Inst. II. 4, 4.
22. On Isa_10:20-27. “In time of need one ought to look back to the earlier great deliverances of the children of God, as to the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, or later, from the hand of the Midianites. Israel shall again grow out of the yoke.”—Diedrich.
Isaiah 11-23. On Isa_11:4. “The staff of His mouth.” “Evidence that the kingdom of Christ will not be like an earthly kingdom, but consist in the power of the word and of the sacraments; not in leathern, golden or silver girdles, but in girdles of righteousness and faith.”—Cramer.
24. On Isa_11:10 sqq. If the Prophet honors the heathen in saying that they will come to Christ before Israel, he may be the more readily believed, when Isa_11:11 sqq., he gives the assurance that the return out of the first, the Egyptian exile, shall be succeeded by a return out of the second, the Assyrian exile, (taking this word in the wider sense of Isaiah). It is manifest that the return that took place under Zerubbabel and Ezra was only an imperfect beginning of that promised return. For according to our passage this second return can only take place after the Messiah has appeared. Farthermore, all Israelites that belong to “the remnant of Israel,” in whatever land they may dwell, shall take part in it. It will be, therefore, a universal, not a partial return. If now the Prophet paints this return too with the colors of the present (Isa_11:13 sqq.), still that is no reason for questioning the reality of the matter. Israel will certainly not disappear, but arise to view in the church of the new covenant. But if the nation is to be known among the nations as a whole, though no more as a hostile contrast, but in fraternal harmony, why then shall not the land, too, assume a like position among the lands? But the nation can neither assume its place among nations, nor the land its place among lands, if they are not both united: the people Israel in the land of their fathers.
25. On Isaiah 11 “We may here recall briefly the older, so-called spiritual interpretation. Isa_11:1-5 were understood of Christ’s prophetic office that He exercised in the days of His flesh, then of the overthrow of the Roman Empire and of Antichrist, who was taken to be the Pope. But the most thorough-going of those old expositors must acknowledge, at Isa_11:4, that the Antichrist is not yet enough overthrown, and must be yet more overthrown. If such is the state of the case, then this interpretation is certainly false, for Isa_11:4 describes not a gradual judgment, but one accomplished at once. There have been many Antichrists, and among the Popes too, but the genuine Antichrist described 2 Thessalonians 2, is yet to be expected, and also the fulfillment of Isa_11:4 of our chapter. Thereby is proved at the same time that the peaceful state of things in the brute world and the return of the Jews to their native land are still things of the future, for they must happen in that period when the Antichristian world, and its head shall be judged by Christ. But then, too, the dwelling together of tame and wild beasts is not the entrance of the heathen into the church, to which they were heretofore hostile, and the return of the Jews is not the conversion of a small part of Israel that took place at Pentecost and after. The miracles and signs too, contained in Isa_11:15-16 did not take place then. We see just here how one must do violence to the word if he will not take it as it stands. But if we take it as we have done, then the whole chapter belongs to the doctrine of hope (Hoffnungslehre) of the Scripture, and constitutes an important member of it. The Lord procures right and room for His church. He overthrows the world-kingdom, together with Antichrist. He makes of the remnant of Israel a congregation of believers filled with the Spirit, to whom He is near in an unusual way, and from it causes His knowledge to go out into all the world. He creates peace in the restless creatures, and shows us here in advance what more glorious things we may look for in the new earth. He presents to the world a church which, united in itself, unmolested by neighbors, stands under God’s mighty protection. All these facts are parts of a chain of hope that must be valuable and dear to our hearts. The light of this future illumines the obscurity of the present; the comfort of that day makes the heart fresh.” Weber, der Prophet Jesaja, 1875.
Chap. 12–26. On Isa_12:4 sq. “These will not be the works of the New Testament: sacrificing and slaying, and make pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to the Holy Sepulchre, but praising God and giving thanks, preaching and hearing, believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth. For to praise our God is good; such praise is pleasant and lovely” (Psa_147:1). Cramer.
27. On Chap. 12 “With these words conclude the prophetic discourses on Immanuel. Through what obscurity of history have we not had to go, until we came to the bright light of the kingdom of Christ! How Israel and the nations had to pass through the fire of judgment before the sun arises in Israel and the entire gentile world is illumined! It is the, same way that every Christian has to travel. In and through the fire we become blessed. Much must be burnt up in us, before we press to the full knowledge of God and of His Son, before we become entirely one with Him, entirely glad and joyful in Him. Israel was brought up and is still brought up for glory, and we too. O that our end too were such a psalm of praise as this psalm!” Weber, Der Pr. Jes. 1875.
Footnotes:
[1]stump.
[2]shoot.
[3]bear fruit.
[4]And his breathing will be done in the fear of the Lord.
[5]Heb. scent, or smell.
[6]administer judgment.
[7]Or, argue.
[8]righten.
[9]panther.
[10]grass.
[11]Or, adders.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Spirit of the Lord--JEHOVAH. The Spirit by which the…
Spirit of the Lord--JEHOVAH. The Spirit by which the prophets spake: for Messiah was to be a Prophet (Isa 61:1; Deu 18:15, Deu 18:18). Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are specified, to imply that the perfection of them was to be in Him. Compare "the seven Spirits" (Rev 1:4), that is, the Holy Ghost in His perfect fulness: seven being the sacred number. The prophets had only a portion out of the "fulness" in the Son of God (Joh 1:16; Joh 3:34; Col 1:19).
rest--permanently; not merely come upon Him (Num 11:25-26).
Read full note →
wisdom-- (Co1 1:30; Eph 1:17; Col 2:3).
understanding--coupled with "wisdom," being its fruit. Discernment and discrimination (Mat 22:18; Joh 2:25).
counsel . . . might--the faculty of forming counsels, and that of executing them (Isa 28:29). Counsellor (Isa 9:6).
knowledge--of the deep things of God (Mat 11:27). The knowledge of Him gives us true knowledge (Eph 1:17).
fear of the Lord--reverential, obedient fear. The first step towards true "knowledge" (Job 28:28; Psa 111:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–3 1. There shall come forth a rod out of…
1. There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse — The “rod” is a branch, a shoot, a sucker. The “stem” is a stump, or a nucleus of rootlets, either below or above ground.
A branch shall grow out of his roots — Netzer, “a branch,” is a verdant and vigorous shoot. The chosen remnant of the royal house of David, which has sunk down to the insignificance from which it sprang, is the twig, shoot, branch, or whichever of the terms here supplied be taken, and is to build up by the new growth another trunk and crown. Delitzsch and Kay think they see in the insignificant Netzer the figure for the despised Nazarene; despised now, but in the sense of the applied figure bright, verdant, growing, he is to be hereafter the universally acknowledged King of glory. Also, in the verb phara, to grow, to be fruitful, reference is supposed to be made to Ephratah, or Bethlehem, so that in this verse allusion is thought to be made by divine intent both to Nazareth, where Christ’s birth was announced, and to Bethlehem, where it occurred. Both places are humble, and, to worldly Jews, of little account. Such etymologies are of use chiefly in homiletic exegesis. There is coincidence of sound and sense in the words referred to; but beyond this there is vague uncertainty.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–3 1. The advent of the Messiah. Idea and figure…
1. The advent of the Messiah. Idea and figure correspond to those of ch. Isa_6:13; as a new Israel will spring up from the “stump” of the old, so the Messianic King will arise from the decayed family of David. Some commentators find in the image an intentional contrast to that of ch. Isa_10:34; while the forest of Assyria is cut down never to spring up again, the stock of Judah’s royal dynasty will sprout and flourish. The precise relation of the Messiah to the reigning branch of the family is purposely left indefinite (cf. Mic_5:2).
a rod] Better as R.V. a shoot. The word rendered “stem” occurs only twice again. Here it bears the same meaning as in Job_14:8; it is the stock which remains in the earth after the tree is cut down. In Isa_40:24 it means a “slip” planted in the ground in order to strike root. The figure, therefore, like “roots” in the next line, seems to imply the downfall of the dynasty.
Read full note →
a Branch shall grow out of his roots] Render as R.V. a branch out of his roots shall boar fruit—shall come to maturity. Jesse is mentioned instead of David probably because of the intentional vagueness in which the Messiah’s origin is left.
Ch. Isa_11:1-9. The Messiah and His Kingdom
It is interesting to compare this passage with ch. Isa_9:1-7. There the delineation of the Messianic age starts from its broadest and most general features—the light breaking on the land, the universally diffused joy of the redeemed nation—and only at the end centres itself in the person of the Wonderful Child who is born to ascend the throne. Here the person of the Messiah comes first, and then the healing and regenerating influences of which he is the channel. To what period of Isaiah’s career the prophecy belongs cannot be determined. The affinity with ch. Isa_9:1-7 suggests the reign of Ahaz, to which it is assigned by Guthe in accordance with a particular theory of the development of Isaiah’s eschatology. But since there is no evidence that the idea of the Messianic King ever lost its significance to the prophet’s mind, it might with equal propriety be referred to any subsequent period of his ministry. Duhm places this and the companion oracles of Isa_2:2-4, Isa_32:1-5 in the evening of Isaiah’s long life. In its present setting the passage is no doubt intended as a sequel to ch. Isa_10:5-34 and it might even belong to the same date.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–3 (2) And the spirit of the Lord shall rest…
(2) And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . .—The words throw us at once back upon the memories of the past, and forwards upon the hopes of the future. It was the “spirit of the Lord” that had made men true heroes and judges in the days of old (Jdg_11:29; Jdg_13:25). It was in the “spirit of the Lord” descending on Jesus of Nazareth and abiding on Him (Joh_1:33) that men were taught to see the token that He was the Christ of God. And in this case the spirit was to give more than the heroic daring which had characterised Jephthah and Samson. The future King was to be as a David and Solomon in one, pre-eminent, chiefly, as the Prince of Peace (Isa_9:7), in the wisdom and counsel which had been the glory of the latter. “Wisdom,” in its highest form, as implying the comprehension of the secret things of God; “understanding,” as the sagacity which discerned the right thing to do and the right word to say (Heb_5:14) in all human relationships; these formed the first link in the chain of supernatural gifts. With these there was to be the “spirit of counsel and might,” the clear purpose and strength which fits a king for the right exercise of sovereignty; and lastly, as at once the crown and source of all, the “spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord,” the reverence and faith which is “the beginning of all wisdom” (Pro_1:7). The copious use of the vocabulary of the Book of Proverbs is interesting as showing the part which that book played in the prophet’s education. (See Introduction.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Vers. 1-9. A RENEWED PROPHECY OF MESSIAH AND OF…
Vers. 1-9. A RENEWED PROPHECY OF MESSIAH AND OF HIS KINGDOM. This chapter is closely connected with the preceding. With the final destruction of Assyria, which, being cut down, sends out no shoot, (Isa_10:33, Isa_10:34) is contrasted the recuperative energy of Israel, which, though equally leveled with the ground, (Isa_9:18, Isa_9:19) shall spring afresh into life, and "renew its youth." The recovery is connected or rather identified with the coming of Messiah, whose character is beautifully portrayed (vers. 2-5). An elaborate description of Messiah"s kingdom follows (vers. 6-10) an expansion of the briefer one in Isa_2:3, Isa_2:4.
There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. The blasted and ruined "stem" or stock of Jesse, cut down, and for ages hidden from sight, shall suddenly put forth a sprout a young green sapling, tender vet vigorous, weak seemingly, yet foil of life. (comp. Job_14:7-9, "There is hope of a tree, if it he cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not crease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant "The stem of Jesse" must mean the house of David, for there is but one Jesse (Ishai) in Scripture David"s father. A Branch shall grow out of his roots. That which is at first a sapling gains strength and grows into a "branch". (see Isa_4:2, where the word used, though different, is synonymous)
Read full note →
Vers. 1-5. The spiritual nature of Messiah"s perfections
It was certainly not from Isaiah that the Jews derived their notion that the Messiah would be a mighty temporal prince, the leader of armies, who would break the yoke of Rome from off their shoulders, and give them dominion over all the nations of the earth. Isaiah does, indeed, announce him as a King, (Isa_32:1) and could do no less, since he was indeed "King of kings, and Lord of lords." But he ever puts forward his spiritual character, his influence over men as a Teacher, his moral and mental excellences. Messiah"s qualifications for his high office (as here enumerated) are
I HIS POSSESSION OF WISDOM. "Wisdom" here may be that transcendental quality whereby God "established the heavens"; (Pro_3:19 Pro_8:27) or possibly that still more recondite faculty which Jehovah "possessed in the beginning of his way, before his works of. (Pro_8:22) Being distinguished from "understandings" "counsel," and knowledge of God," it must apparently be supra-mundane and abstract a power of which it is difficult for man to form a conception. Its sphere cannot be human life or mundane affairs, but the purely intellectual world of supra-sensuous ideas and concepts.
II HIS POSSESSION OF UNDERSTANDING. By "understanding" seems to he meant moral intelligence the power of appreciating the moral character, and judging aright the moral conduct of others. Our Lord possessed this quality in the most eminent degree, never misjudging the character or conduct of any one. His unerring insight gave him an absolute fitness to be the final Judge of men, but was far beyond what is needed by any earthly ruler or king.
III HIS POSSESSION OF THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL. Here, no doubt, is a quality of which a temporal ruler has need; but it was not as a temporal ruler, or for the most part in temporal matters, that our Lord"s counsel was given. The maxims of his lips were not maxims of worldly policy, but such as these: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;" "Take no thought for the morrow;" "Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor," and the like. He counseled men for their spiritual rather than for their worldly good, with a view to a spiritual and not a temporal kingdom.
IV HIS POSSESSION OF MIGHT. "Might," or ability to execute his designs, is, again, a quality of high value to an earthly ruler; and had our Lord used his might for earthly ends, he might easily have been all, and more than all, that the Jews expected. But he ever restrained himself from any exhibition of physical strength, or power of organization, or even of persuasive eloquence, exhibiting his might only for spiritual cuds, in miracles of mercy, whereby he sought to win men"s souls to himself, or once and again in miracles of power, shown forth as evidences of his mission.
V HIS POSSESSION OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. None could know God"s will so well as he, who was in the beginning with God, and was. (Joh_1:1) Partaker from everlasting of his Father"s counsels, the instrument whereby the Father worked in bringing all things into being, (Heb_1:2) he had sounded all the depths of that nature which he had in common with the Father, and knew even as he was known. This was spiritual knowledge of the highest kind, and enabled him to be man"s perfect spiritual Guide, capable of setting before him the true and "perfect will of God" (Rom_12:2) as none other ever was, or will be, capable.
VI HIS POSSESSION OF THE FEAR OF GOD. "Fear" in the Son is doubtless so mingled with love as to be something very different even from the fear which the angels feel, when they veil their faces before the throne. But the words "Father" and "Son" imply authority and submission, awfulness and reverence. And the human nature of Christ had the same experience of the "fear of God" as belongs to his perfected saints, whether in earth or heaven. (Psa_19:9 Psa_34:9 Ecc_12:13, etc.) "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name?" Messiah"s "fear" brought forth that perfect obedience which made him holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners", (Heb_7:26) and constituted him at once our perfect Pattern and our meritorious Sacrifice.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-9. The coming of the Messiah.
I HIS ORIGIN. "From Ishai"s worn stem a shoot will sprout forth, and a green branch burst forth from his roots." From the stock of David, now fallen very low, the coming Deliverer will arise in all the vigor of youth. Seldom does the great man come but of some pure and generous strain of blood. Like some stream which, long hidden underground, reappears again in the daylight, or some vein of precious ore, recovered after some extensive "fault," so it was believed the royal race and the spiritual prowess of David might be obscured for ages, but must be illustrated before the world again. As God saves and blesses the world by means of great men, so in a measure is this true of houses, families, tribes, and nations. There is a principle of providential selection running through life. Though men be of one blood in all their tribes, it is not to be denied that there are different qualities in that blood. Hence noblesse oblige, and great endowments make great expectations and imply great responsibilities. The thought of the seeming extinction, yet destined revival of David"s house, may remind us of the imperishableness of the germs of good. David"s house was never restored to the throne in the visible sense. Yet the memory of David persisted, begot hope, inspired patience, and was gradually converted into one of the mightiest of spiritual forces in the conscience of the nation. An idea may pass through many changes of form, but it dies not so long as the faith and passion of the heart in which it sprung are living.
II His SPIRIT. In the religious mode of thought a true temper of the mind is to be traced to Divine inspiration, no less than the great physical or mental ability. What meaning lies in our common expressions, "a gift," "an endowment," "a talent," an influence!" None of them but is deeply religious, if we trace them to their primary felt significance. Upon this chosen one there "rests the Spirit of Jehovah." And three characters, in the iterative idiom of the Hebrew, are given of this spirit. It is that
(1) of wisdom,
(2) of courage,
(3) of reverence. The qualities of the statesman, the soldier, the man of God. "His breathing is in Jehovah"s fear." There can be no simpler nor stronger expression of a man thoroughly "animated," as we say, by religious principle. And
(4) he has the attributes of the just judge. Prompt to redress the injuries of the oppressed and suffering, his rule of conduct is not the pleasure of his eyes and ears, but the eternal equity of him who is no respecter of persons. As the consequence of thus vitally living in communion with God as in the common and necessary air he breathes, he possesses irresistible strength. His mere word of judgment smites the earth more powerfully than the despot"s scepter, while his mere breath destroys the wicked like a pestilence. In a word, it is a sublime picture of moral majesty. This King needs not the weapons of ordinary warfare. He has a better defense of his throne than swords and spears, a better battle-array than the suit of armor. Justice and faithfulness themselves are his best, his only preparations.
III THE BLESSINGS OF HIS RULE. There will be a marvelous growth of peace and prosperity. The progress of true culture is marked by the subduing of savagery. The wild animals change their nature and become harmless to mankind. Wickedness is ferocious; men"s untamed passions are like the wolf, the bear, and the deadly serpent. There will be no sin nor sinners in Zion, because the knowledge of the true God wilt be all-diffused and all-inexhaustible as the ocean. To what state of life do these predictions refer? To the advent of Christ and his kingdom? Certainly; and yet when Christ came, not only did not universal peace set in, but the light of Zion and the glories of the sacred city were quenched in blood. And Christ himself opened up a gloomy perspective of the future in his closing prophecies. Where, then, and when this scene of bliss? Let us content ourselves with believing that the prophecy refers to some state to us unknown. Earth will be earth, and not heaven. This heaven is in the soul first; there we dream of it, nay, we realize it as we listen to the prophet"s glowing words, and believe that but a step may carry us into a world where it is realized by all. The prophecy is already fulfilled for us if God has made a heaven of hope in oar hearts. J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-5. Characteristics of Jesus Christ.
The expression of the prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," has a very close correspondence with the New Testament references to Jesus Christ.This (Mat_3:16 Luk_4:1, Luk_4:14, 18 Joh_3:34) full possession by our Lord of the Spirit of God revealed itself, and is still found, in these particulars which the prophecy indicates.
I His PERFECT PIETY. In him dwelt the "fear of the Lord" without measure (ver. 2), and he "delighted in the fear of Jehovah;" "the fear of Jehovah was fragrance to him" (emended readings for, "and shall make him of quick understanding," etc., ver. 3). He could say, "I delight to do thy will... yea, thy Law is within my heart". (Psa_40:8) To reverence, to please, to obey God, to consult his will and be subject to it, was the law of his life and the refreshment of his spirit.
II His INTUITIVE PERCEPTION OF THE BEST AND HIGHEST. In "him was the spirit of wisdom and understanding." He distinguished at once the false from the true, the glittering show from the genuine good, the passing pleasure from the abiding joy, the fictitious gain from the invaluable heritage, the vanity of earthly honors from the blessedness of the Divine favor. Christ saw all things on which he looked in their actual and essential nature, and in their true proportions. Hence
III HIS EXCELLENCY AS OUR GUIDE. In him was "the spirit of counsel". (see Homily on "Chief counsels of Christ," Isa_9:6)
a. His KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE AND OF THE FUTURE. Fallen, degenerate man, with conscience defiled and reason depraved, could know nothing certainly of these two supreme subjects: he wanted, urgently and imperatively, one who had "the spirit of knowledge" in him, and could tell him distinctly and finally, not what he guessed or what he hoped, but what he knew. This Jesus did. He revealed the Divine Father unto men. (Mat_11:27 Joh_1:18 Joh_10:15) And he made known to us the truth as to the future; he brought life and immortality out into the. (Joh_5:28, 29 11:25, 26 2Ti_1:10)
b. HIS PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART. He judged men, "not by the outward appearance," not "by the sight of his eyes or the hearing of his ears," but by looking down through the coverlet of the flesh, through the armory of speech, into the secret chambers of the soul. He not only saw through the fig tree, but through the flesh, and knew Nathanael"s simplicity of spirit "He knew what was in man" and knows now, discerning the hollowness of some men s pretensions, appreciating the excellency beneath some men"s doubts and diffidences.
VI HIS ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY. (Ver. 4.) He had one measure for the rich and the poor, for the mighty and the meek; he showed unvarying kindness towards the humblest, and he showed a constant readiness to receive those who were enriched with worldly wealth, or endowed with social honor. The testimony of his enemies was true enough; he "regarded not the person of men". (Mar_12:14) Such is the genius of his gospel common salvation". (see 1Co_3:11 Gal_3:28 Gal_5:6 Eph_6:8)
VII HIS RIGOROUS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Vers. 4, 5.) Christ, in his righteousness, demanded the spiritual service of all men, and he condemned all that withheld it. He showed himself the determined enemy of evil.
1. He denounced it in scathing terms when he was with us. (see Mt 23)
2. He announces himself as the Judge of all, who will punish the impenitent according, to their, deeds (see Mt 25)
VIII His FAITHFULNESS. (Ver. 5.) Having loved his own, he loved them to the end. He "never leaves nor forsakes" those who serve him. Throughout our fidelity to him his love to us is constant; in the time of our slackness or departure he visits us in his faithfulness with his kind correction, in order to attach us to himself, or to call us back to his side; in the hour of our suffering he makes good his presence of Divine support; when everything earthly fails us, the faithful Promiser will fulfill his word, and receive us to himself, that we may dwell in his glory. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Christ the Branch.
"But a shoot shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and a fruitful sprout shall grow up from his roots". (Henderson"s translation; see Isa_4:2) The idea is of a sucker springing up from a hewn stump. The word used (netser) is singularly suggestive of despised Nazareth, with which place the early life of Messiah was associated, and of which it could jeeringly be said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Wordsworth remarks on the sublime contrast in this prophecy and the foregoing," The mighty and haughty worldly power of Assyria the type of impiety and antichristianism will be hewn down, like a great forest, in the pride of its strength and glory, never to rise again; but the spirit of prophecy here reveals, that when the house of David seemed like a tree hewn down to a stump in the earth, then a sucker would spring up from the stump, and a branch shooting forth from its roots would bear fruit and overshadow the earth. And so it came to pass. At a time when the house of David seemed to be reduced to the lowest estate, when the Virgin was a poor maiden in a village of despised Galilee, then by God"s miraculous agency the Branch sprouted up from the hewn-down stump, and grew up into a mighty Tree, and brought forth much fruit, and received the world under its shade." It has been cleverly suggested that "the cedar of Lebanon, the symbol of the Assyrian power, was to be cut down, and, being of the pine genus, which sends forth no suckers, its fall was irretrievable. But the oak, the symbol of Israel, and of the monarchy of the house of David, had a life remaining in it after it had been cut down, and the rod or sucker that was to spring from its roots should flourish once again in greater glory than before." We fix attention on the sentiment entertained respecting suckers, which are usually despised, thought to be weak and frail things, from which nothing of value is ever to be expected.
I THE SURPRISE OF CHRIST"S LOWLY BEGINNINGS. Born into a poor family, at a time when David"s race was at its lowest humiliation; born, as one crowded out by the hurry of life, in the courtyard of an inn; brought up in a despised village. There were but a few gleams of glory resting on his infancy. Angels heralded the tidings, of his birth; Magi offered worship to him at the Bethlehem cottage, But Herod would, if he could, have broken off that sucker, almost ere it began to show its greenness. It would take a great power of imagination to picture a splendid career and a world-wide renown for that poor Bethlehem babe. "He came to his own, and his own received him not
II THE HOPE OF CHRIST"S EARLY YEARS. We need not accept the strange and foolish legends of Apocryphal Gospels concerning the infancy and childhood of Jesus. We have one all-sufficient historical incident, presenting the boy of twelve years, and convincing us that a wonderful manhood was in its unfolding. His mother observed much, and pondered over many things in her heart, and the story of Christianity has verified every hope which that good mother cherished.
III THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST"S GROWTH. The sucker became strong, grew into a branch, began to put forth branches of its own, became a tree whose beauty attracted the attention of all men. Two passages suggest illustration and detail: "And the Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him;" "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Other suggestions come from the statements, "All that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers;" and, "He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." Intelligence, submissiveness, obedience, were the beautiful features of his child-time the splendid promise of after-years.
IV THE AMAZING RICHNESS OF CHRIST"S FRUIT. When the sucker came to bearing-time, it altogether surpassed the old tree of David. Illustrate its fruitage
(1) of holy example;
(2) of wise teaching;
(3) of gracious healings;
(4) of heroic sufferings;
(5) of eternal triumph over sin.
Moral and spiritual fruitage answering to the needs of thirsting and hungry men. Fruit which was the Bread of life." The despised tree of David at last sent forth a sucker, which swiftly grew into a tree, whose leaves were for the healing of all the nations, and whose fruit was for the spiritual quickening of a world that was dead in trespasses and sins. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1–3 And there shall come forth a rod out of…
Isa_11:1-16
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse
Read full note →
A prophecy concerning Messiah the Prince
I.
HIS RISE OUT OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID (Isa_11:1).
II. HIS QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS GREAT UNDERTAKING (Isa_11:2-3).
III. THE JUSTICE AND EQUITY OF HIS GOVERNMENT (Isa_11:3-5).
IV. THE PEACEABLENESS OF HIS KINGDOM (Isa_11:6-9).
V. THE ACCESSION OF THE GENTILES TO IT (Isa_11:10).
VI. And with them THE REMNANT OF THE JEWS that should be united with them in the Messiahs kingdom (Isa_11:11-16). (M. Henry.)
The picture of the future
The picture of the future which fills the eleventh chapter is one of the most extensive that Isaiah has drawn. Three prospects are unfolded in it.
I. A PROSPECT OF MIND (verses 2-5). The geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character, knowledge, and achievement.
II. A PROSPECT OF NATURE (verses 6-9). A vision of the restitution of nature--Paradise regained.
III. A PROSPECT OF HISTORY (verses 9-16). The geography of Israels redemption. To this third prospect chapter 12. forms a fitting conclusion, a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Three great ideals
1. The perfect indwelling of our humanity by the Spirit of God.
2. The peace and communion of all nature, covered with the knowledge of God.
3. The traversing of all history by the Divine purposes of redemption. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Assyria and Israel: a contrast
We should connect the opening of the eleventh chapter with the close of the tenth in order to feel the full force of the contrast. There we read: And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty One. Then comes the prophecy that there shall come forth a rod, etc. The cedar of Lebanon was the symbol of Assyrian power. It was a poor symbol. Looked at botanically, it very vividly represented the passing pomp of a pagan empire. It is of the pine genus, and sends out no suckers, and when it is cut down it is gone. The oak is the symbol of Israels power, and though it be cut down it grows again--there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots--out of the very lowest stump that is left in the ground. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Eternal youthfulness
What is the symbol of our power? Is ours an influence that can be cut down and never revive? or are we so rooted in the Eternal that though persecution may impoverish us, and we may suffer great deprivation and depletion of every kind, yet we shall come up again in eternal youthfulness? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Prophecy: a very good transition
It is a very good transition in prophecy (whether it be so in rhetoric or no) and a very common one, to pass from the prediction of the temporal deliverances of the Church to that of the great salvation, which, in the fulness of time, should be wrought out by Jesus Christ, of which the others were types and figures. (M. Henry.)
The Branch
The word translated Branch is in the Hebrew Netser. The word is said to be derived from a root which means bright or verdant. And this agrees with the character of the valley in which the town of Netzer or Natsoreth (Nazareth) stands. The bushes and aromatic shrubs, and especially the brilliant wild flowers, take away from the bleakness of the landscape. It is from this title, then, Netser or the Branch, that St. Matthew quotes when he says, He shall be called a Nazarene Mat_2:23). (Expository Times.)
The rod out of the stem of Jesse
Let us go back to the humblest point, the very starting line, and learn that this Son of God was not the son of a king only, but the son of a kings lowly father. Christianity is the religion of the common people. The Gospel appeals to all men, rich and poor, in every zone and clime, and is most to those who need it most. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christ the fruitful Branch
A shoot out of its roots brings fruit. The sprout shooting out below the soil becomes a tree, and this tree gets a crown with fruits; and thus a state of exaltation and completion follows the state of humiliation. (F. Delitzsch.)
The qualifications of Christ for His mediatorial office
I. The first verse of the text foretells THE BIRTH AND FAMILY OF THE MESSIAH. The Messiah was to be born of the house of David, the son of Jesse. But why is Jesse mentioned here, rather than David, his more illustrious son? Partly to point out the birthplace of the Messiah. Jesse appears always to have lived at Bethlehem, and was known as the Bethlehemite; whereas, David resided the greater part of his life at Hebron and Jerusalem. Jesse was in a more humble rank of life than Jesses son; and so Jesus, though superior to David, as a royal king, being Davids Lord, as well as Davids son, yet, in the actual circumstances of His life, was nearer to the humble rank of Jesse than the royal state of David. It was also out of the stem of Jesse that the rod was to come forth--from a stem where there was nothing but stem and root remaining; not out of a noble tree, with its wide-spreading branches. And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. It is intimated here, and elsewhere more clearly foretold, that the Branch should spring from the family of Jesse, when it was in lowly circumstances, at a time when the house of David should be much reduced, and that slender expectations should be formed of it at first, but that in process of time it should grow into a beautiful and glorious Branch. How exactly all this describes the birth and lineage of Jesus Christ. Yet was ever branch so glorious in its increase? What noble fruits have hung on that Branch l What Churches have clustered around it!
II. HIS FULL QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS OFFICE, as described in this prediction (Isa_11:2). The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. On Him was poured the unction of the Holy One in all its fulness. But, remember, the Spirit of the Lord rested on Him in His office of Mediator. Now, this is a public office, an office which Jesus sustains for the benefit of His people; and therefore the Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him for His people.
1. The spirit of wisdom. He had wisdom in full measure. He must have had a perfect comprehension of God in His nature, qualities, attributes, works, and Ways; He must have had a thorough understanding of the only method by which wretched man could be saved; He must have known what was in the mind of man, for He answered the Pharisees and Sadducees, and knew the difficulties and doubts of His disciples, even before they gave them utterance in words. How wise were all His provisions for His Church! How wise to win souls was Jesus Christ! And remember He has wisdom for you.
2. The spirit of understanding. This is enlarged on in the following verse. The Saviour had a quickness in understanding what might be for the glory or dishonour of His heavenly Father. No tinsel could hide from Him the foul deformity of sin; no hypocrisy could yell from Him the pride and corruption of the Pharisee. When Satan came with his temptations, and baited his snare with all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, Christ instantly understood the deceit, and, Get thee hence, Satan, was His indignant language.
3. The spirit of counsel. This, says our prophet, is the name whereby He shall be called, Wonderful Counsellor. Christ is able to give the wisest counsel in the kindest manner. He has advice suited to every case. He counsels the sinner. He says to the Church in a Laodicean state, I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. He counsels the Christian warrior how to maintain the fight against sin with persevering faith.
4. The spirit of might. He is a Lamb in meekness; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah in strength. His work required a very undaunted spirit, and He never quaked with fear, nor trembled with alarm. And He has the spirit of might for you also.
5. The spirit of knowledge. In Christ dwells all knowledge--the knowledge of Jehovah, His heavenly Father, of His holy will, His righteous claims, the blessedness of knowing God as Father. And this same knowledge of His Father He is able to impart to you.
6. And of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it is also one of the highest attainments of wisdom, and one of the best effects of the Holy Spirit on the heart. (J. Hambleton, M. A.)
The kingdom of Christ
We may well study this picture of the Messiahs reign on earth, drawn by a Divine hand and painted with unfading colours, because through it we see, as we cannot otherwise, what we are daily praying for. History does not fully interpret prophecy for us. If we knew just the changes in the nations before the fulness of the times comes, if we could be assured where and when and how Jesus would reign in an earthly way among men, still we should not have what the vision of Isaiah furnishes us. He saw nothing of this. And what did he see? First of all a mighty forest, whose tall trees sent their roots down deep into the earth, and whose branches east wide shadows. These were the proud nations that were oppressing Israel, and seemed strong enough to stand forever. But they were to lose their glory. Among them there was a stump, sending up from its decay and humiliation a small, tender, but vigorous shoot. This was the ancient but fallen house of David; and the green shoot coming up was only in fulfilment of the old covenant that there should always be one to sit on Davids throne. As we look, through the seers vision, we see the young tree dissolve into the form of a Man, a Man on whom the Holy Spirit rests with seven-fold gifts of wisdom and knowledge and counsel and might and understanding in the fear of the Lord. This Man is full of righteousness, and His robes are girdled with righteousness as He sits and judges among the people. And again, as we gaze, we see that the Man dissolves into a mountain--the mountain of the Lord which shall be established in the top of the mountains in the last days. This mountain is full of peace and security. Once more, as if to express in a sentence the whole thought and hope of the prophet, we see the whole earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Interpreting this vision there are two truths that may well be dwelt upon.
I. THE CHIEF FACT ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST IS CHRIST HIMSELF, WHO MAKES HIS KINGDOM BY DWELLING IN THE HEARTS OF MEN.
II. HIS REIGN IS LIKE THE REIGN OF THE LITTLE CHILD IN THE MIDST OF THE ANIMALS THAT NATURALLY HATE AND DEVOUR ONE ANOTHER. It is a reign of childlikeness and innocence, the power of weakness and purity over brute force. (E. N. Packard.)
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world, repeating His acts of mercy and love, uttering His eternal truths, scorching hypocrisy and error with the breath of His mouth, changing unruly wills ever into docile ones, cleansing and making glad everything everywhere. There is no reign of Christ of which we can form any idea but this. When men are holy, through His indwelling among them, that is Christs reign. Let us forget the scenic and dramatic elements in millennial glories and simply think of the kingdom as being the presence of the King. Here we see the difference between His reign and that of any earthly monarch who can transmit his power to his son and he to his posterity, and so, with precedent and law and tradition, there may be some approach to security and peace Frederick the Great dies, but his empire goes on and holds him in memory. But Christ has no successors, and there is no royal family save that which is made from all who are named after His name. Christ must be as truly among men at one age as another, and where He is not a living and controlling presence there is nothing but a name. What we call Christianity--the sum total of the influences that emanate from Christ and touch the complex life of man--has no inherent vitality of its own. It cannot abide upon traditions of One who founded it ages ago. Christs perpetual presence alone makes Christianity possible. The same is true of the Church. (E. N. Packard.)
Messiahs reign
I. THE PERSON.
II. THE CHARACTER.
III. THE KINGDOM of Messiah. (D. Brown, D. D.)
The stem from the rod of Jesse
That this refers to the Lord Jesus is undoubted.
I. HIS DESCENT. Three ideas seem to be involved.
1. Meanness or obscurity.
2. Progression. How decayed soever the tree might appear, yet a Branch was to shoot and grow up out of its roots. For a time, the growth was far from being rapid, but at length it appeared as a Plant of everlasting renown, a Secret and mysterious operation. The metaphor is taken from vegetation, that process of the wonder-working God which none can explain, yet the existence of which none can dispute.
II. HIS PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL ENDOWMENTS.
1. Their nature (Isa_11:2). They were--
(1) Diversified in their character.
(2) Unlimited in their range. The Spirit was imparted to Him without measure.
(3) Continuous in their possession. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.
2. The purposes for which them endowments were conferred.
(1) That He might discriminate the characters of men. And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, etc.
(2) To defend the cause of the oppressed. But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, etc.
(3) To punish the workers of iniquity. And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, etc.
III. THE BLESSED STATE OF THINGS WHICH WILL BE REALISED UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION. We dare not lose eight of the truth, that He is mighty to destroy; but how encouraging is it to remember, that He who speaks and acts in righteousness is also mighty to save. And the concluding portion of this prophecy shows in how signal a manner His saving power will be exerted.
1. The condition described. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, etc. We have here two leading ideas.
(1) Peace and harmony.
(2) Security.
2. In order thereto the most marvellous transformations will be effected.
3. The means of this transformation will be the universal diffusion of Divine knowledge (Isa_11:9).
Conclusion--
1. Let us pray that the Redeemers kingdom may come.
2. To us, personally, the great thing is to possess the knowledge of the Lord ourselves. (Anon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
CHAPTER X
THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN MAN AND THE ANIMALS
Read full note →
ABOUT 720 B.C.
Isaiah 11and 12
BENEATH the crash of the Assyrian with which the tenth chapter closes, we pass out into the eleventh upon a glorious prospect of Israels future. The Assyrian when he falls shall fall forever like the cedars of Lebanon, that send no fresh sprout forth from their broken stumps. But out of the trunk of the Judaean oak, also brought down by these terrible storms, Isaiah sees springing a fair and powerful Branch. Assyria, he would tell us. has no future. Judah has a future, and at first the prophet sees it in a scion of her royal house. The nation shall be almost exterminated, the dynasty of David hewn to a stump; "yet there shall spring a shoot from the stock of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit."
The picture of this future, which fills the eleventh chapter, is one of the most extensive that Isaiah has drawn. Three great prospects are unfolded in it: a prospect of mind, a prospect of nature, and a prospect of history. To begin with, there is (Isa_11:2-5) the geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character, knowledge, and achievement. We have next (Isa_11:5-9) a vision of the restitution of nature, Paradise regained. And, thirdly (Isa_11:9-16), there is the geography of Israels redemption, the coasts and highways along which the hosts of the dispersion sweep up from captivity to a station of supremacy over the world. To this third prospect chapter 12 forms a fitting conclusion, a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles. The human mind, nature, and history are the three dimensions of life, and across them all the prophet tells us that the Spirit of the Lord will fill the future with His marvels of righteousness, wisdom, and peace. He presents to us three great ideals: the perfect indwelling of our humanity by the Spirit of God; the peace and communion of all nature, covered with the knowledge of God; the traversing of all history by the Divine purposes of redemption.
I. THE MESSIAH AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
{Isa_11:1-5}
The first form, in which Isaiah sees Israels longed-for future realised, is that which he so often exalts and makes glistering upon the threshold of the future-the form of a king. It is a peculiarity, which we cannot fail to remark about Isaiahs scattered representations of this brilliant figure, that they have no connecting link.
They do not allude to one another, nor employ a common terminology, even the word king dropping out of some of them. The earliest of the series bestows a name on the Messiah, which none of the others repeat, nor does Isaiah say in any of them, This is He of whom I have spoken before. Perhaps the disconnectedness of these oracles is as strong a proof as is necessary of the view we have formed that throughout his ministry our prophet had before him no distinct, identical individual, but rather an ideal of virtue and kinghood, whose features varied according to the conditions of the time. In this chapter Isaiah recalls nothing of Immanuel, or of the Prince-of-the-Four-Names. Nevertheless (besides for the first time deriving the Messiah from the house of David), he carries his description forward to a stage which lies beyond and to some extent implies his two previous portraits. Immanuel was only a Sufferer with His people in the day of their oppression. The Prince-of-the-Four-Names was the Redeemer of his people from their captivity, and stepped to his throne not only after victory, but with the promise of a long and just government shining from the titles by which He was proclaimed. But now Isaiah not only speaks at length of this peaceful reign-a chronological advance-but describes his hero so inwardly that we also feel a certain spiritual advance. The Messiah is no more a mere experience, as Immanuel was, nor only outward deed and promise, like the Prince-of-the-Four-Names, but at last, and very strongly, a character. The second verse is the definition of this character; the third describes the atmosphere in which it lives. And there shall rest upon him the Spirit of Jehovah, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah; and he shall draw breath in the fear of Jehovah-in other words, ripeness but also sharpness of mind; moral decision and heroic energy; piety in its two forms of knowing the will of God and feeling the constraint to perform it. We could not have a more concise summary of the strong elements of a ruling mind. But it is only as Judge and Ruler that Isaiah cares here to think of his hero. Nothing is said of the tender virtues, and we feel that the prophet still stands in the days of the need of inflexible government and purgation in Judah.
Dean Plumptre has plausibly suggested, that these verses may represent the programme which Isaiah set before his pupil Hezekiah on his accession to the charge of a nation, whom his weak predecessor had suffered to lapse into such abuse of justice and laxity of morals. The acts of government described are all of a punitive and repressive character. The hero speaks only to make the land tremble: "And He shall smite the land with the rod of His mouth" [what need, after the whispering, indecisive Ahaz!], "and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked."
This, though a fuller and more ethical picture of the Messiah than even the ninth chapter, is evidently wanting in many of the traits of a perfect man. Isaiah has to grow in his conception of his Hero, and will grow as the years go on, in tenderness. His thirty-second chapter is a much richer, a more gracious and humane picture of the Messiah. There the Victor of the ninth and righteous Judge of the eleventh chapters is represented as a Man, who shall not only punish but protect, and not only reign but inspire, who shall be life as well as victory and justice to His people-"a hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
A conception so limited to the qualifications of an earthly monarch, as this of chapter 11 gives us no ground for departing from our previous conclusion, that Isaiah had not a "supernatural" personality in his view. The Christian Church, however, has not confined the application of the passage to earthly kings and magistrates, but has seen its perfect fulfilment in the indwelling of Christs human nature by the Holy Ghost. But it is remarkable, that for this exegesis she has not made use of the most "supernatural" of the details of character here portrayed. If the Old Testament has a phrase for sinlessness, that phrase occurs here, in the beginning of the third verse. In the authorised English version it is translated, "and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," and in the Revised Version, "His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord," and on the margin the literal meaning of delight is given as scent. But the phrase may as well mean, "He shall draw his breath in the fear of the Lord"; and it is a great pity, that our revisers have not even on the margin given to English readers any suggestion of so picturesque, and probably so correct, a rendering. It is a most expressive definition of sinlessness-sinlessness which was the attribute of Christ alone. We, however purely intentioned we be, are compassed about by an atmosphere of sin. We cannot help breathing what now inflames our passions, now chills our warmest feelings, and makes our throats incapable of honest testimony or glorious praise. As oxygen to a dying fire, so the worldliness we breathe is to the sin within us. We cannot help it; it is the atmosphere into which we are born. But from this Christ alone of men was free. He was His own atmosphere, "drawing breath in the fear of the Lord." Of Him alone is it recorded, that, though living in the world, He was never infected with the worlds sin. The blast of no mans cruelty ever kindled unholy wrath within His breast; nor did mens unbelief carry to His soul its deadly chill. Not even when He was led of the devil into the atmosphere of temptation, did His heart throb with one rebellious ambition. Christ "drew breath in the fear of the Lord."
But draughts of this atmosphere are possible to us also, to whom the Holy Spirit is granted. We too, who sicken with the tainted breath of society, and see the characters of children about us fall away and the hidden evil within leap to swift flame before the blasts of the world-we too may, by Christs grace, "draw breath," like Him, "in the fear of the Lord." Recall some day when, leaving your close room and the smoky city, you breasted the hills of God, and into opened lungs drew deep draughts of the fresh air of heaven. What strength it gave your body, and with what a glow of happiness your mind was filled! What that is physically, Christ has made possible for us men morally. He has revealed stretches and eminences of life, where, following in His footsteps, we also shall draw for our breath the fear of God. This air is inspired up every steep hill of effort, and upon all summits of worship. In the most passion-haunted air, prayer will immediately bring this atmosphere about a man, and on the wings of praise the poorest soul may rise from the miasma of temptation, and sing forth her song into the azure with as clear a throat as the larks.
And what else is heaven to be, if not this? God, we are told, shall be its Sun; but its atmosphere shall be His fear, "which is clean and endureth for ever." Heaven seems most real as a moral open-air, where every breath is an inspiration, and every pulse a healthy joy, where no thoughts from within us find breath but those of obedience and praise, and all our passions and aspirations are of the will of God. He that lives near to Christ, and by Christ often seeks God in prayer, may create for himself even on earth such a heaven, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
II. THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD
{Isa_11:2-3}
This passage, which suggests so much of Christ, is also for Christian Theology and Art a classical passage on the Third Person of the Trinity. If the texts in the book of Revelation {Rev_1:4; Rev_3:1; Rev_4:5; Rev_5:6} upon the Seven Spirits of God were not themselves founded on this text of Isaiah, it is certain that the Church immediately began to interpret them by its details. While there are only six spirits of God named here-three pairs - yet, in order to complete the perfect number, the exegesis of earlyChristianity sometimes added "the Spirit of the Lord" at the beginning of Isa_11:2 as the central branch of a seven-branched candlestick; or sometimes "the quick understanding in the fear of the Lord" in the beginning of Isa_11:3 was attached as the seventh branch. {Compare Zec_4:6}
It is remarkable that there is almost no single text of Scripture which has more impressed itself upon Christian doctrine and symbol than this second verse of the eleventh chapter, interpreted as a definition of the Seven Spirits of God. In the theology, art, and worship of the Middle Ages it dominated the expression of the work of the Holy Ghost. First, and most native to its origin, arose the employment of this text at the coronation of kings and the fencing of tribunals of justice. What Isaiah wrote for Hezekiah of Judah became the official prayer, song, or ensample of the earliest Christian kings in Europe. It is evidently the model of that royal hymn-not by Charlemagne, as usually supposed, but by his grandson Charles the Bald-the "Veni Creator Spiritus." In a Greek miniature of the tenth century, the Holy Spirit, as a dove, is seen hovering over King David, who displays the prayer: "Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness to the kings son," while there stand on either side of him the figures of Wisdom and Prophecy. Henry IIIs order of knighthood, "Du Saint Esprit," was restricted to political men, and particularly to magistrates. But perhaps the most interesting identification of the Holy Spirit with the rigorous virtues of our passage occurs in a story of St. Dunstan, who, just before mass on the day of Pentecost, discovered that three coiners, who had been sentenced to death, were being respited till the Festival of the Holy Ghost should be over. "It shall not be thus," cried the indignant saint, and gave orders for their immediate execution. There was remonstance, but he, no doubt with the eleventh of Isaiah in mind, insisted, and was obeyed. "I now hope," he said, resuming the mass, "that God will be pleased to accept the sacrifice I am about to offer." "Whereupon," says the veracious "Acts of the Saints," "a snow-white dove did, in the vision of many, descend from heaven, and until the sacrifice was completed remain above his head in silence, with wings extended and motionless." Which may be as much legend as we have the heart to make it, but nevertheless remains a sure proof of the association, by discerning mediaevals who could read their Scriptures, of the Holy Spirit with the decisiveness and rigorous justice of Isaiahs "mirror for magistrates."
But the influence of our passage may be followed to that wider definition of the Spirits work, which made Him the Fountain of all intelligence. The Spirits of the Lord mentioned by Isaiah are prevailingly intellectual; and the mediaeval Church, using the details of this passage to interpret Christs own intimation of the Paraclete as the Spirit of truth, -remembering also the story of Pentecost, when the Spirit bestowed the gifts of tongues, and the case of Stephen, who, in the triumph of his eloquence and learning, was said to be full of the Holy Ghost, -did regard, as Gregory of Tours expressly declared, the Holy Spirit as the "God of the intellect more than of the heart." All Councils were opened by a mass to the Holy Ghost, and few, who have examined with care the windows of mediaeval churches, will have failed to be struck with the frequency with which the Dove is seen descending upon the heads of miraculously learned persons, or presiding at discussions, or hovering over groups of figures representing the sciences. To the mediaeval Church, then, the Holy Spirit was the Author of the intellect, more especially of the governing and political intellect; and there can be little doubt, after a study of the variations of this doctrine, that the first five verses of the eleventh of Isaiah formed upon it the classical text of appeal. To Christians, who have been accustomed by the use of the word Comforter to associate the Spirit only with the gentle and consoling influences of heaven, it may seem strange to find His energy identified with the stern rigour of the magistrate. But in its practical, intelligent, and reasonable uses the mediaeval doctrine is greatly to be preferred, on grounds both of Scripture and common sense, to those two comparatively modern corruptions of it, one of which emphasises the Spirits influence in the exclusive operation of the grace of orders, and the other, driving to an opposite extreme, dissipates it into the vaguest religiosity. It is one of the curiosities of Christian theology, that a Divine influence, asserted by Scripture and believed by the early Church to manifest itself in the successful conduct of civil offices and the fulness of intellectual learning, should in these latter days be so often set up in a sort of "supernatural" opposition to practical wisdom and the results of science. But we may go back to Isaiah for the same kind of correction on this doctrine, as he has given us on the doctrine of faith: and while we do not forget the richer meaning the New Testament bestows on the operation of the Divine Spirit, we may learn from the Hebrew prophet to seek the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in all the endeavours of science, and not to forget that it is His guidance alone which enables us to succeed in the conduct of our offices and fortunes.
III. THE REDEMPTION OF NATURE
{Isa_11:6-9}
But Isaiah will not be satisfied with the establishment of a strong government in the land and the redemption of human society from chaos. He prophesies the redemption of all nature as well. It is one of those errors, which distort both the poetry and truth of the Bible, to suppose that by the bears, lions, and reptiles which the prophet now sees tamed in the time of the regeneration, he intends the violent human characters which he so often attacks. When Isaiah here talks of the beasts, he means the beasts. The passage is not allegorical, but direct, and forms a parallel to the well-known passage in the eighth of Romans. Isaiah and Paul, chief apostles of the two covenants, both interrupt their magnificent odes upon the outpouring of the Spirit, to remind us that the benefits of this will be shared by the brute and unintelligent creation. And, perhaps, there is no finer contrast in the Scriptures than here, where beside so majestic a description of the intellectual faculties of humanity Isaiah places so charming a picture of the docility and sportfulness of wild animals, -"And a little child shall lead them."
We, who live in countries from which wild beasts have been exterminated, cannot understand the insecurity and terror that they cause in regions where they abound. A modern seer of the times of regeneration would leave the wild animals out of his vision. They do not impress any more the human conscience or imagination. But they once did so most terribly. The hostility between man and the beasts not only formed once upon a time the chief material obstacle in the progress of the race, but remains still to the religious thinker the most pathetic portion of that groaning and travailing of all creation, which is so heavy a burden on his heart. Isaiah, from his ancient point of view, is in thorough accord with the order of civilisation, when he represents the subjugation of wild animals as the first problem of man, after he has established a strong government in the land. So far from rhetorising or allegorising-above which literary forms it would appear to be impossible for the appreciation of some of his commentators to follow him-Isaiah is earnestly celebrating a very real moment in the laborious progress of mankind. Isaiah stands where Hercules stood, and Theseus, and Arthur when
"There grew great tracts of wilderness,
Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
But man was less and less till Arthur came.
And he drave
The heathen, and he slew the beast, and felled
The forest, and let in the sun, and made
Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight,
And so returned."
But Isaiah would solve the grim problem of the warfare between man and his lower fellow-creatures in a very different way from that, of which these heroes have set the example to humanity. Isaiah would not have the wild beasts exterminated, but tamed. There our Western and modern imagination may fail to follow him, especially when he includes reptiles in the regeneration, and prophesies of adders and lizards as the playthings of children. But surely there is no genial man, who has watched the varied forms of life that sport in the Southern sunshine, who will not sympathise with the prophet in his joyous vision. Upon a warm spring day in Palestine, to sit upon the grass, beside some old dyke or ruin with its face to the south, is indeed to obtain a rapturous view of the wealth of life, with which the bountiful God has blessed and. made merry mans dwelling-place. How the lizards come and go among the grey stones, and flash like jewels in the dust! And the timid snake rippling quickly past through the grass, and the leisurely tortoise, with his shiny back, and the chameleon, shivering into new colour as he passes from twig to stone and stone to straw, -all the air the while alive with the music of the cricket and the bee! You feel that the ideal is not to destroy these pretty things as vermin. What a loss of colour the lizards alone would imply! But, as Isaiah declares, -whom we may imagine walking with his children up the steep vineyard paths, to watch the creatures come and go upon the dry dykes on either hand, -the ideal is to bring them into sympathy with ourselves, make pets of them and playthings for children, who indeed stretch out their hands in joy to the pretty toys. Why should we need to fight with, or destroy, any of the happy life the Lord has created? Why have we this loathing to it, and need to defend ourselves from it, when there is so much suffering we could cure, and so much childlikeness we could amuse and be amused by, and yet it will not let us near? To these questions there is not another answer but the answer of the Bible: that this curse of conflict and distrust between man and his fellow-creatures is due to mans sin, and shall only be done away by mans redemption.
Nor is this Bible answer, -of which the book of Genesis gives us the one end, and this text of Isaiah the other, -a mere pious opinion, which the true history of mans dealing with wild beasts by extermination proves to be impracticable. We may take on scientific authority a few facts as hints from nature, that after all man is to blame for the wildness of the beasts, and that through his sanctification they may be restored to sympathy with himself. Charles Darwin says: "It deserves notice, that at an extremely ancient period, when man first entered any country the animals living there would have felt no instinctive or inherited fear of him, and would consequently have been tamed far more easily than at present." And he gives some very instructive facts in proof of this with regard to dogs, antelopes, manatees, and hawks. "Quadrupeds and birds which have seldom been disturbed by man dread him no more than do our English birds the cows or horses grazing in the fields." Darwins details are peculiarly pathetic in their revelation of the brutes utter trustfulness in man, before they get to know him. Persons, who have had to do with individual animals of a species that has never been thoroughly tamed, are aware that the difficulty of training them lies in convincing them of our sincerity and good-heartedness, and that when this is got over they will learn almost any trick, or habit. The well-known lines of Burns to the field-mouse gather up the cause of all this in a fashion very similar to the Bibles.
"Im truly sorry mans dominion
Has broken natures social union,
And justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor earth-born companion
And fellow-mortal."
How much the appeal of suffering animals to man-the look of a wounded horse or dog with a meaning which speech would only spoil, the tales of beasts of prey that in pain have turned to man as their physician, the approach of the wildest birds in winter to our feet as their Providence - how much all these prove Pauls saying that the "earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." And we have other signals, than those afforded by the pain and pressure of the beasts themselves, of the time when they and man shall sympathise. The natural history of many of our breeds of domesticated animals teaches us the lesson that their growth in skill and character-no one who has enjoyed the friendship of several dogs will dispute the possibility of character in the lower animals-has been proportionate to mans own.
Though savages are fond of keeping and taming animals, they fail to advance them to the stages of cunning and discipline, which animals reach under the influence of civilised man. "No instance is on record," says Darwin, "of such dogs as bloodhounds, spaniels, or true greyhounds having been kept by savages; they are the products of long-continued civilisation."
These facts, if few, certainly bear in the direction of Isaiahs prophecy, that not by extermination of the beasts, but by the influence upon them of mans greater force of character, may that warfare be brought to an end. of which mans sin, according to the Bible, is the original cause.
The practical "uses" of such a passage of Scripture as this are plain. Some of them are the awful responsibility of mans position as the keystone of creation, the material effects of sin, and especially the religiousness of our relation to the lower animals. More than once do the Hebrew prophets liken the Almightys dealings with man to merciful mans dealings with his beasts. {Isa_63:13-14; Hos_11:4} Both Isaiah and Paul virtually declare that man discharges to the lower creatures a mediatorial office. To say so will of course seem an exaggeration to some people, but not to those who, besides being grateful to remember what help in labour and cheer in dreariness we owe our humble fellow-creatures, have been fortunate enough to enjoy the affection and trust of a dumb friend. Men who abuse the lower animals sin very grievously against God; men who neglect them lose some of the religious possibilities of life. If it is our business in life to have the charge of animals, we should magnify our calling. Every coachman and carter ought to feel something of the priest about him; he should think no amount of skill and patience too heavy if it enables him to gain insight into the nature of creatures of God, all of whose hope, by Scripture and his own experience, is towards himself.
Our relation to the lower animals is one of the three great relations of our nature. For God our worship; for man our service; for the beasts our providence, and according both to Isaiah and Paul, the mediation of our holiness.
IV. THE RETURN AND SOVEREIGNTY OF ISRAEL
{Isa_11:10-16}
In passing from the second to the third part of this prophecy, we cannot but feel that we descend to a lower point of view and a less pure atmosphere of spiritual ambition. Isaiah, who has just declared peace between man and beast, finds that Judah must clear off certain scores against her neighbours before there can be peace between man and man. It is an interesting psychological study. The prophet, who has been able to shake off mans primeval distrust and loathing of wild animals, cannot divest himself of the political tempers of his age. He admits, indeed, the reconciliation of Ephraim and Judah; but the first act of the reconciled brethren, he prophesies with exultation, will be to "swoop down upon" their cousins Edom, Moab, and Ammon, and their neighbours the Philistines. We need not longer dwell on this remarkable limitation of the prophets spirit, except to point out that while Isaiah clearly saw that Israels own purity would not be perfected except by her political debasement, he could not as yet perceive any way for the conversion of the rest of the world except through Israels political supremacy.
The prophet, however, is more occupied with an event preliminary to Israels sovereignty, namely the return from exile. His large and emphatic assertions remind the not yet captive Judah through how much captivity she has to pass before she can see the margin of the blessed future which he has been describing to her. Isaiahs words imply a much more general captivity than had taken place by the time he spoke them, and we see that he is still keeping steadily in view that thorough reduction of his people, to the prospect of which he was forced in his inaugural vision. Judah has to be dispersed, even as Ephraim has been, before the glories of this chapter shall be realised.
We postpone further treatment of this prophecy, along with the hymn (chapter 12), which is attached to it, to a separate chapter, dealing with all the representations, which the first half of the book of Isaiah contains, of the return from exile.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 This is one of the visions that Isaiah saw…
ISAIAH’S VISION OF THE KING AND OF HIS KINGDOM
CHAPTERS 11 AND 12
Read full note →
This is one of the visions that Isaiah saw (chap. Isa_1:1, Isa_2:1, &c.). He was a dreamer of dreams. With a keen perception, not surpassed, of the men and things actually surrounding him, much of his life was passed in an ideal and future world. There he found comfort and strength to endure the sorrows that otherwise would have crushed him. At the outset of his ministry, when the great king who had done so much to restore the prosperity of the nation was about to be removed, there was vouchsafed to him a vision of the King immortal, eternal, invisible, throned in the temple, and surrounded by the exalted intelligences who do His will (chap. Isa_6:1-4); and now, at the close of the wicked and disastrous reign of Ahaz, when his hopes concerning his race would naturally have failed, there was granted him a vision of a King of righteousness and peace, who on earth would rule over a kingdom such as the world had never seen. His soul had been stirred and appalled by a vision of disaster and woe. He saw the king of Assyria, then the terror of the earth, utterly broken, his vast armies hewn down as forests fall before the axes of the woodmen (chap. Isa_10:33-34); a vision of blood and terror which may well have filled him with trembling. But just as sometimes the sweetest day break follows a night of storm, this vision of terror fades away, and he sees—
I. A KING (chap. Isa_11:1-5).
1. Royally descended, “a rod out of the stem of Jesse,” A simple farmer on the hills of Bethlehem, and yet a father of kings. Not an accident. We are here confronted with the mystery of blood, of race. No common man was he from whom sprang David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, and a long line of kings. In his ordinary hours, Isaiah may well have derived assurance that the vision that gladdened him was given him from above, from the fact that it was in harmony with God’s promise (2Sa_7:12-16). Without dismay he could view the royal house lapsing into the obscurity from which it sprang—becoming merely a house of Jesse once more—assured that in His own time God would again raise it up to glory [979] It is always well when our hopes rest upon the Word of God.
2. Royally endowed; a King by truest “right divine,” because possessed of royal qualities of heart and mind (chap. Isa_11:2-3). Of the thousands who have sat on thrones, how few have possessed them! How many have ruled over the miserable wretches subject to their sway merely by the craft of the serpent or the cruelty of the tiger! Of those who have been popular, how many have owed their popularity to mere physical prowess and politic good-nature (Richard I., Charles II.)! How few have endeavoured to approach the Biblical conception of what a ruler ought to be (Deu_17:14-20; 2Sa_23:3; Psa_72:4; Pro_20:28)! In the marvellous superiority of that conception to anything that has prevailed among men, have we not another proof that the sacred writers were indeed inspired by the Spirit of God?
3. Ruling in righteousness; using His marvellous endowments for the welfare of those subjected to His authority (chap. Isa_11:3-5); not judging of things or men by their mere appearance, nor by common report; caring for the poor, befriending the shrinking and helpless, fearless in His dispensation of justice; His very words being swords that smote and overthrew the arrogant oppressor; made strong by the very righteousness which merely politic men would have feared to display in view of the might of iniquity in this disordered world; a Hero of the truest and divinest kind, in actual life setting forth the ideal to which the noblest knights in the purest days of chivalry strove to conform. Such was the King whom the prophet “saw” in an age when “ruler” was merely another word for tyrant and oppressor. Surely the vision so fair and wondrous was given him from above!
[979] The image is now transferred to the state and king of Israel, which is also to be cut down to the stump, like the tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. But out of that stump, and from its living roots, shall grow up a scion—one of those slender shoots which we see springing up from, and immediately around, the stock of a truncated tree. A king of the race of Jesse shall sit on the throne of his fathers, in accordance with the covenant made with David (Psa_89:3-4).—Strachey.
When the axe is laid to the imperial power of the world, it falls without hope (chap. Isa_10:33-34). But in Israel spring is returning (chap. Isa_11:1). The world-power resembles the cedar-forest of Lebanon; the house of David, on the other hand, because of its apostasy, is like the stump of a felled tree, like a root without stem, branches, or crown. The world-kingdom, at the height of its power, presents the most striking contrast to Israel and the house of David in the uttermost depth announced in chapter 6, fin., mutilated and reduced to the lowliness of its Bethlehemitish origin. But whereas the Lebanon of the imperial power is thrown down, to remain prostrate, the house of David renews its youth.… Out of the stump of Jesse—i.e., out of the remnant of the chosen royal family, which has sunk down to the insignificance of the house from which it sprang—there comes forth a twig (choter), which promises to supply the place of the trunk and crown; and down below, in the roots covered with earth, and only rising a little above it, there shows itself a nçtzer, i.e., a fresh, green shoot. In the historical account of the fulfilment, even the ring of the words of the prophecy is noticed: the nçtzer, at first so humble and insignificant, was a poor despised Nazarene (Mat_2:23).—Delitzsch.
II. He saw also THE KINGDOM.
1. A kingdom of righteousness (chap. Isa_11:9). The kingdom necessarily resembles the king. Appalling is the influence of a court upon a nation. Correspondingly great is the responsibility of those who sit in high places.
2. A kingdom of peace. Set forth by the most beautiful symbolism (chap. Isa_11:6-10; Isa_11:13).
3. A kingdom of prosperity. Those included in it are no longer miserable exiles and bond slaves; rather they rule over those by whom they were spoiled and oppressed (chap. Isa_11:14). This is the true interpretation of a symbol that is in itself harsh and repulsive. The coarseness of the symbol is due to the coarseness of the minds it was first intended to touch. 4. A kingdom of gladness and joy. There pervades it the gladness of exiles who have been restored to their own land (chap. Isa_11:15-16); the true and religious joy of men who recognise that the deliverances which inspire their songs have been wrought for them by God (chap. Isa_12:1-5); the joy of men who are absolutely assured of continual safety (chap. Isa_12:2; Isa_12:6).
Was all this merely a bright vision?
1. It has been already fulfilled in part.
2. In our own day it is being fulfilled more completely than ever before.
3. It shall yet be fulfilled triumphantly [982] Let us then,
1. Recognise and rejoice in the fact that we are living under the rule of this righteous King. This is at least the dawning of the “day” which Isaiah saw (Mat_13:16).
2. Exult in view of the certain future of our race. The kingdom of God shall come generation after generation with mightier power (H. E. I., 3421–3423).
3. Labour as well as pray that future may be hastened.
[982] For additional suggestions on this part of the subject, see outlines on pages 71–73, 101, 182, 186, 191–194.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
Isa_11:2. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.
This is declared concerning the Messiah. Short as this declaration is, some of the profoundest of all truths are involved in it. It is implied that God is a person, that from Him there goes forth an influence by which the character of other persons is affected, and that all that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah came from God. Let us think of these things. Do not be deterred from doing so by the idea that they are transcendental, far away from our daily life. They need not be so; we shall be very blameworthy if we make them so.
I. God is a person. There are those who would have us put away this faith. In their view, God is merely the great controlling Force behind all other forces, the life of the universe, diffused through it, manifesting itself in innumerable forms. As it is the same life in the tree that manifests itself in root, trunk, branch, spray, twig, leaf, blossom, fruit, so all things that exist are not the creations of a personal will, but the manifestations of an impersonal and all-pervading life; all forces, convertible the one into the other, are but varying forms of the one underlying force. Every individual life is but a wave that seems for a moment to be separated from the one universal ocean of life; it leaps up from it, falls back into it, is absorbed by it. True, these waves are often strangely diverse—Nero and St. Paul, John Howard and Napoleon, the Virgin Mary and Lucrezia Borgia; but in that great Unity of which they are all manifestations, there is an all-comprehensive reconciliation, though it may elude our grasp. For Pantheism, many would have us put away the doctrine of a personal God. But this exchange, if it could be forced upon us by some logical necessity (which it is not), would not be a gain, but a tremendous loss. For,
1. There would be a tremendous loss to the heart. A force may be feared, but not loved. To gravitation we owe much, but no one ever professed to love it. A force cannot be loved, because it does not love. Strike out of our life all that comes to us from the confidence that God loves us, and from the responsive love that springs up in our hearts towards Him, and how much is lost! Then there is no longer any assurance amid the mysteries of life, nor consolation in its sorrows. In a word, we are orphaned: we can no longer say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” There is no longer a Father, knowing us, loving us, causing all things to work together for our good; there is only a Force, to which it is useless to appeal, against which it is impossible to contend.
2. We should also lose one of the greatest of all helps to a noble life. Not to dwell on the fact that to speak of virtue or vice would then be absurd,—then we should no longer sin, we should merely make mistakes,—consider how much the world owes to the aspiration to be like God which has stirred so many noble souls. Through them the average morality of the world has been marvellously raised; but this would have been impossible but for the stimulus these inspiring souls found in the character of God. That is the first fact of which this text reminds us, that God is a person from whom a spirit—an influence—can go forth affecting the character of other persons.
II. From God such an influence does go forth. The possibility is a glorious fact. That from God a “spirit” should go forth, and that it should do so invisibly, is in accordance with all that we know of the universe which God has made, and which is in some sort a revelation of Him.
1. Nothing in the universe is unrelated. From orb to orb influences go forth by which they are mutually affected.
2. The mightiest influences are invisible. In all this, the material is a counterfact and revelation of the spiritual. It would be altogether abnormal, if from God there did not go forth an influence operating upon and affecting other persons. It is invisible, but its effects are recognisable. One of them is the activity of conscience, rightly understood. Another is the moral growth and refinement which those in whom it is most conspicuous, most invariably and distinctly attribute to influences exerted upon them by God. Even Socrates did so. This also is a doctrine full of hope and comfort. If we need moral transformation, there streams from God an influence capable of effecting it: to that influence let us submit ourselves, and the transformation shall come to pass; the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon us, and we shall become like Him.
III. To the influence exerted upon Him by the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth owed all that qualified Him to be the Messiah (Isa_11:2-5). That which was born of the Virgin Mary was a true human child. A sinless child, yet sinless not as the result of the sinlessness of the mother (as Rome teaches), but of the influence of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him from the beginning of His earthly life. His was a real humanity—our humanity sanctified. All that was pure, noble, Godlike in Him was “born not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” How full of comfort and hope is this truth also! To us also is offered the same Spirit. Nothing can be more express than the declarations that we may have it if we will, and that, if we have it, the ultimate result will be that we shall be found partakers of the holiness of God. Let us not be unwisely cast down by the frailty and pollution of our nature; if the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us, the purity and the strength of God will become ours, and at length the Father will say of each of us, as He did of Jesus of Nazareth, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE
Isa_11:3. And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears.
A glorious difference between our Lord and ourselves. “He knew what was in man,” and needed not the evidence of external signs, which often mislead us. He could deal with the motives of the heart (H. E. I., 3332, 4147). Not by human sight, but by Divine insight, He judged the conduct and character of men.
1. Our judgment is enfeebled by ignorance. We do not see and hear all, and from our imperfect knowledge of facts we draw wrong and often disastrous conclusions (H. E. I., 2997–3005). But our Lord could go behind the visible works, and detect what often deceived men—e.g., His treatment of pharisaism.
2. Our judgment is enfeebled by prejudice. This is often the result of ignorance. Seeing only certain sides of men, we dislike them, and frame our judgments accordingly—e.g., Nathanael (Joh_1:6). With no better reason than Nathanael had, we regard many a man as an enemy, or otherwise place him in a false light. But our Lord dealt with none in this way. Seeing men as they really were, no preconceived opinions led Him to unworthy conclusions.
3. Partiality enfeebles and perverts our judgment. Judging by sight and hearing, we approve of one man more than another, because he has certain artful or pleasing methods for winning our favour; flattery, offers of gain, &c. (P. D., 1275, 1281, 1283). But our Lord could not be won in this way (Mar_12:14; Joh_6:15). He was infinitely compassionate, tender, forgiving, but no feeble partiality interfered to prevent most righteous judgment.
4. Our judgment is often perverted by passion. In the pursuit of some unlawful and all-absorbing aim, we become too disturbed to weigh calmly even the evidences we can see and hear. We look at everything in the light of our false affection, and are thereby rendered absolutely incapable of beholding others in their true light, especially if they stand in our way and oppose our progress (P. D., 2060). But the one absorbing and unremittent purpose of Jesus of Nazareth was to do the will of His Heavenly Father, and to finish the work He had given Him to do. Hence He dwelt always on a pure altitude, in whose clear atmosphere He saw men and things as they are.
5. Our natural depravity is also a serious hindrance to our right judging. Our very organs of knowledge, our affections, our conscience, have been perverted. Let a man be ever so disposed to take correct views of men and things, there will be some flaw in his vision, some defect in his hearing. Hence there are times when we cannot accept as final the judgment of the best and holiest of men. But Christ had no secret evil to lead Him wrong.
In view of all this, how fitting it is that Christ should be our judge! How well, too, He is qualified to be the merciful High Priest whom we need (Heb_4:15-16). He who tenderly sympathises with us is He who perfectly knows us (H. E. I., 956; P. D., 462).—William Manning.
THE UNIVERSAL DIFFUSION AND REDEMPTIVE POWER OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
(Missionary Sermon.)
Isa_11:9. They shall not hurt nor destroy, &c.
We have here a picture of the golden age. I. The whole earth shall be as Mount Zion. II. Shall be freed from injustice and violence. III. Shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
1. Wherein this knowledge consists.
2. To what extent it shall prevail—universal, deep.
3. By what means it is to be diffused.—J. Lyth. D.D.: Homiletical Treasury (p. 18).
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” It seems clear that in these words the prophet intended to be understood as speaking of the whole earth. He would scarcely, in the same sentence, have used the expressions in question—the holy mountain in the first clause, and the earth in the other—if by these expressions he had not meant the same thing, namely, the whole globe of the earth, when the dwellers thereon should come to be true worshippers, like those who first worshipped at Mount Zion, and who were a type of the greater assembly of worshippers, the holy and universal Church, which in the fulness of time would be established.
I. The prophet grounds the hope of that reformed and purified state of the moral world, described in the beautiful words of the text, upon the increase of religious knowledge which he saw to be coming. “They shall not hurt … for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” II. These words may be taken as descriptive of the legitimate effect of Christian knowledge. The general scope, aim, and tendency of gospel principles is such as would produce the change described, were it not counteracted by the tendency within us to what is wrong. III. They are more than this: they are prophetic of the actual results of Christian knowledge. The gospel will render war impossible. True, so-called “Christian” nations have not yet ceased to wage war with one another, nor so-called “Christian” men to rob and circumvent and ruin each other. Nevertheless, this prophecy shall yet be fulfilled. We see it in the process of fulfilment. The condition of the moral world has been meliorated by Christianity. Wars have not ceased, but their conduct has been mitigated. In their private dealings with each other, men have become more just and trustworthy. Already there are millions of men who would shrink from doing harm of any kind to their fellow-men. Compare Christendom with heathendom, and you will see what mighty changes the gospel has already wrought. The practice even of Christian men falls short of their knowledge. Nevertheless, the practice and the morals of men are, generally speaking, the best where their knowledge is the most. The prophet’s words are justified by fact, and men forbear one another most, and hurt and destroy least, where knowledge is the greatest. It is a fact that life and property are more safe and secure in the Christian portion of the earth, than in any other portions. And the knowledge of the Lord grows year by year; partly through the labours of missionaries in many places; still more by the rapid growth of the nations that are Christian. The violent and lawless races of the earth are dwindling away. The only races that are increasing are those that fear God, and are willing to respect the rights, the properties, and the lives of their neighbours. Through the medium of this natural increase of peace-loving races, and through the conversion of many among the benighted nations, this prophecy is receiving a gradual, but very appreciable, fulfilment. The world is advancing, with ever-accelerating speed, towards knowledge and peace, and this declaration shall yet be literally fulfilled (H. E. I., 979, 1161–1168; P. D., 2465, 2466).
Application.—
1. We are permitted to rejoice in the hope of a period when justice and benevolence shall prevail in the world.
2. We are required to contribute towards the realisation of this hope. This we are to do
(1) by the purification of our own hearts; by the conquest of every passion and desire that would make us hurtful to our neighbours.
(2) By prayer (Mat_6:9-10).
(3) By helping to diffuse that “knowledge of the Lord” which is the great peace-maker in the earth.—A. Gibson, M.A.: Sermons on Various Subjects; Second Series (pp. 246–265).
In this and the preceding verses we have a beautiful picture of a state of human society entirely different from anything that has been witnessed since the Fall. The prophet beholds changes in human character so great that he feels he can only symbolise them by transformations in the members of the animal kingdom of the most astonishing kind. Isa_11:6-8 are symbolical, and are intended to excite within us the liveliest anticipations of the glorious effects that would follow the universal proclamation and acceptation of the gospel. Thus we are led to speak of the nature, the diffusion, and the effect of the knowledge of the Lord.
I. ITS EXALTED NATURE. By “the knowledge of the Lord” may be meant that of which He is the revealer (2Ch_30:22), or that of which He is the theme (2Pe_2:20). God can only be revealed by Himself; and He has given us a threefold revelation of Himself—in nature, in providence, and in Holy Scripture. In the latter we have the record of the fullest revelation which He has vouchsafed, that given us in His Son. God is never truly known by man until He is known in Christ. “The knowledge of the Lord” and “the gospel” are terms of the same meaning.
II. ITS DESTINED DIFFUSION. The figure employed by the prophet brings before us impressively the universality of its diffusion. The imagination is called in to instruct our faith [985] The world-wide diffusion of the gospel is a matter—
1. Of prophetic certainty. Nothing could be more plain than the prophetic declarations concerning this matter. But if any man asks when the promise will be fulfilled, only one answer can be given him (Act_1:7).
2. Involving Divine agency. Utterly false is the notion that, after creating the universe, God withdrew from it, and left it to go on by its own momentum (Joh_5:17); and utterly false is the notion that, after giving the gospel to the world, God has left it to make its own way therein. By Divine agency men are raised up to proclaim it (Eph_4:11). While they are so engaged Christ Himself is with them (Mat_28:20); and while they preach, the Holy Spirit strives in the hearts of men to prepare and dispose them to receive the glad tidings (1Th_1:5). When, therefore, we look at the glorious promise of our text, we must not forget that God Himself is working for its accomplishment. This will save us from unbelief and despair concerning it.
3. Involving human instrumentality. Not that this is absolutely necessary. Without human husbandry God could have caused the earth to bring forth food for man and beast, and without human instrumentality He could have saved the world. But it has pleased Him to commit to us the Word of reconciliation. The consequent duty of preaching it must be taken in connection with, and regarded as the condition of, the promise; just as the promise that there shall be a harvest till the end of the world is conditioned by man’s sowing the seed in the appointed season. The promise must not be used as an excuse for indolence, but as a stimulus to industry.
[985] “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The expression is remarkable for its force. In looking over the face of the ocean, no differences are to be perceived: one part is not fuller than the other; one part is not covered, and another left dry; but all is one unbroken stream, filling and covering the whole. So shall it be with the Word of God among men. It shall not be known to some, and hidden from others. It shall not be fully declared in one place, and only partially set forth in another. Whatever knowledge it pleases Him to give at all, shall be given to all men equally and without distinction. Such is clearly the purpose of God in His own appointed time.—W. H. Sulivan.
“As the waters cover the sea.” The idea of universality could scarcely have been better expressed than by this magnificent simile. You have looked forth on the illimitable expanse of waters with wonder and awe. Your imagination has followed the depths far beyond the lowest tide-line to the unfathomed valleys and caverns that form the ocean bed; and you have endeavoured to take fully into your mind the thought that the lowest depths and the most distant shores were filled and covered by the all-diffusive and all-searching element.—Rawlinson.
III. ITS BLESSED EFFECT. The gospel is a harmonising power. It has a transforming efficacy equal to any that would be needed to bring about a literal fulfilment of Isa_11:6-8. Where-ever it comes in its saving power, it new creates human hearts, and thus dries up the causes of hatred and discord at their fountain. For it is a principle, 1, of righteousness, and, 2, of love. Hence it brings peace. For all discord is due to injustice that is prompted by selfishness (Jas_4:1). Where righteousness and love combine and rule, there must be peace and security; for the very desire to injure is taken away. The universal prevalence of the gospel necessarily means universal peace (H. E. I., 1126, 1127, 1129).
1. This suggests the answer to the questions, Why Christian nations make war against each other, and why even in Christian churches there are fierce contentions? The answer is, either that those nations or churches are Christian only in name, or that they have only very partially attained to “the knowledge of the Lord.” They are only in the infant-class in Christ’s great school; as they learn of Him, their rivalries and hatreds will pass away.
2. The gospel being so blessed in its effects, it is plain that it is the duty of all good men to extend the knowledge of it.—John Rawlinson.
A remarkable declaration this, especially if the Hebrew prophets were, as some learned sceptics tell us, men of narrow mind, worshipping a merely local god, and hating all men not descended from Jacob. By the noble simile employed by Isaiah two ideas are suggested—
1. Universality. Mankind is the area to be covered.
2. Ease. All the creeks, bays, channels, and broad highways of the vast ocean are filled in their appointed time. The mighty tide rises, sweeps onward, and the work is done. There was one great flood-tide of gospel-truth in the days of the apostles, and there is a greater still to come. Meanwhile, many difficulties attend the efforts of God’s people to extend the knowledge of His truth; but, in the world’s fulness, great ease will characterise the progress and triumphs of the gospel (Psa_110:3; Heb_8:11). This declaration suggests two great subjects:—
I. THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. Shut the Bible, and our outlook on the world and its future is dark and sad. Open it, and let its light shine into our minds, and with the light will come encouragement and hope.
1. If it is true that “the earth … the sea,” then God takes an interest in the affairs of the world, and takes an interest in them now. This mighty world is not left to drift into an unknown and perilous future without a steersman to guide it.
2. If God makes such abundant provision for the instruction of men in the knowledge of Himself, then He will be accessible to them when, by that knowledge, they are led to approach Him; and He is accessible to us.
3. Himself opening for men a way of access to Him, we may be sure that when they avail themselves of it He will deal with them in the way of mercy and love; and so He will deal with us. Who can doubt this who looks on the face of Christ, through whom God has given us the truest knowledge of Himself (2Co_4:6)?
4. He means to be known to the world, and therefore His gracious offers extend to all, to us.
II. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH. In view of this declaration,
1. Take enlarged views of your work. Think how much remains to be done. Even if you could suppose that your family, your street, your town, your country were filled with the blessed tide of the knowledge of the Lord, yet think of the earth, and all its myriad claims resting upon the servants of God.
2. Spare no efforts in promoting the cause of Christian missions. In advancing these, you are working in harmony with the great purposes of God, and for an object which is dear to Him—that object for which He has already given His Son! Will you withhold from it the money with which He has entrusted you, and for which you will have to give account at the last day?
3. There are many present difficulties in the prosecution of mission-work, but meanwhile take comfort from the large purposes of God. “Have faith in God.” His plans are vast, but His glorious promises are great as His counsels, and His resources as glorious as His promises. The process of filling the earth with “the knowledge of the Lord” may seem to us to be tedious, the obstacles may be many, the time may be long; if the work were left to us, it would be hopeless; but GOD will hasten it all in His time.—William Manning.
It is here declared that there is yet to dawn upon the world an era of perfect light, and that that shall be also and therefore an era of perfect love. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, FOR the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”
It is a mystery, but it is a fact, that knowledge is not necessarily a blessing. The devils believe—and therefore know—yet remain devils still (Jas_3:15). Many men of unholy life have been men of eminent knowledge (Rom_1:21). But this is a moral monstrosity, a result of the unnatural condition into which we have been brought by sin; just as in certain forms of disease food becomes poison. Knowledge is one of those forces which naturally tend to elevate and sanctify (H. E. I., 3106); to know God truly is eternal life (Joh_17:3); and the declaration is, that knowledge shall be world-wide, and that by it the world shall be morally revolutionised. Remembrance of two facts will give intelligence and strength to our faith in these glorious predictions.
1. As man’s knowledge of God has grown, the human race has risen. Except in those abnormal cases already referred to, it may be declared that men cannot learn to know God and remain as they were—e.g., wherever the knowledge of the unity of God is restored to man, idolatry becomes impossible; as soon as the knowledge of the spirituality of God really enters the mind, formalism in worship becomes an impossibility. So every truth concerning God, as soon as it is really known, becomes a correcting and converting force. The tendency of this knowledge, as of light, is to quicken and beautify. The way to grow in grace is to grow in the knowledge of Christ (2Pe_3:18).
2. The knowledge of God is a thing that grows, and grows slowly, in the human soul. This is true of all knowledge [988] But in proportion as it grows, sanctification takes place in the individual life, reformation in the national life [991] It is the most radical and successful of all revolutionists. It is impossible for us to dream of the changes it will accomplish upon the earth. But this we know, that by it war and every form of violence shall be abolished (text; Isa_2:4, &c.)
[988] The knowledge of God comes into the soul as a king is born into a country over which he is ultimately to rule; at the beginning it is but a babe; for a long time it is weak, and needs to be defended and nurtured; many years elapse before it rules; rarely in this life does it exercise full power and undisputed sway.
[991] Many evils continue to exist and flourish even in Christian lands, because their contrariety to the character of God has not yet been apprehended and felt. Many godly men were slave-holders and slave-dealers, because they did not fully know God. But now the knowledge of God has so grown among men, that it is no longer possible in a Christian land for a godly man to be a slave-holder. So with polygamy, which was once practised without scruple by some of the noblest and most devout men who ever lived. This practice has been killed, not by any express prohibition, but by growth among men of the knowledge of God. That knowledge is predestined still further to grow, and to kill many things more.
In this subject there is,
1. A complete justification of all missionary enterprises. They are not visionary schemes foredoomed to failure; they are intensely practical, and shall be triumphantly successful. The time may be far off, but it is advancing, when every man shall know God (δ). The effect of that knowledge will be the destruction of the desire to destroy or injure.
2. An argument for patience. In view of the wrongs that prevail upon the earth, many noble souls find it difficult to exercise it. Of finer taste, of clearer vision, of truer sympathy with God than is common amongst men, the wickedness that triumphs in the world fills them with continual agony. It drives them almost into atheism. They ask, “Can God see these things, and not use His power to bring them to an end? If there were a God, would He not instantly smite the oppressors with destruction?” Let them be patient. God does see; God does feel; God is hastening on the better day by the only means by which it can really be brought in. Another deluge would not cleanse the world from crime; if but eight souls were spared, sin would once more begin to prevail. The era of purity and peace can be ushered in only by the revelation of God to man, and thus it is advancing towards us; thus it is already begun; between Christian and heathen lands there is a real contrast; and ere long there shall be as great a contrast between Christian lands uplifted by a fuller knowledge of God and these lands as they now are. The millennium is not merely a prophetic dream, it shall be a glorious fact. Patience! (H. E. I., 1134, 1135, 1166–1168, 3421–3423; P. D., 2465, 2466).
3. An argument for hopeful Christian effort. We must not merely dream of the millennium, we must labour to hasten its dawn. Work is needful: Sunday-school work, &c. Every one who prays, “Thy kingdom come,” thereby, unless he means to mock God, pledges Himself to work to hasten its coming, and thus to be a “fellow-labourer with God.” There is need for individual effort, and for united effort. Such effort should always be hopeful. We are not attempting what is impossible; we are working in the line of God’s promises, and with God! Remembering that the sense of our own weakness will not unduly depress us. It does not require a giant’s strength to row with the tide; and a mightier force than that of ocean is bearing us on to a victory that shall fill earth with blessing and heaven with gladness.
THE ENSIGN OF THE NATIONS
Isa_11:10. And in that day there shall be, &c.
I. In the two parts of this verse we have a twofold metaphorical representation of the Redeemer: one expressed, one implied.
1. An ensign of the people
= banner or standard, such as is set up as a rallying-point around which,
(1) the subjects of a king assemble to do him homage; and
(2) the soldiers of an army gather to receive the commands and exhortations of their general.
2. This second use of a standard leads to the second metaphorical representation of the Redeemer, that of a victorious general: “His rest shall be glorious.” We are thus directed to the final result of the uplifting of Christ as an ensign: the great campaign brought to a successful conclusion, the Victor in it rests gloriously, surrounded by the soldiers whom He has led on to triumph, and the people to whom He has given liberty and peace.
II. Consider how these predictions have been fulfilled.
1. By the preaching of the gospel Christ has been lifted up, and as the result men of all nations have sought unto Him, and will seek Him more and more.
2. Having done and suffered all that was necessary ultimately to secure the final victory, He has taken His place at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and rests there gloriously; the glory of His rest arising from the number of the subjects who do Him homage, and of the soldiers who delight to fight His battles, from the triumphs which He has already enabled them to achieve, and from the prosperity and peace of all His people.
We shall make a great mistake if we end by thus admiringly noting how this ancient prophecy has been, and is being, fulfilled in the history of the world. We are among the Gentiles of whom our text speaks: have we sought unto the glorious Person of whom it speaks? You desire to do so. Do so, then,
1. For right purposes; not merely that you may be delivered from suffering, but that you may be delivered from sin; not merely that you may ultimately gain admission to heaven, but that you may here and now render to Him the homage and the service to which He is entitled.
2. In a right spirit; not vainly dreaming that you have, or can win, any claim upon His regard, but recognising that you can appeal only to His mercy, and that without it you are lost; and making this appeal penitently and believingly. So coming to Him, He will be found of you. He will cause you to share in His rest, by causing you to share in His triumphs; inspired and upheld by Him, you shall trample under foot the world, the flesh, the devil, and the fear of death. Your whole being will be at rest; your understanding no longer harassed by perplexing doubts; your conscience stilled and gladdened by a righteous peace; your affections centred at last around Him who alone is worthy of their supreme love; and this threefold rest, so sweet and blessed now, shall be perfected and perpetuated in heaven.—George Smith, D.D.
The prophet here foresees that the Saviour’s mission and work will so exalt Him in the eyes of the nations, that they will turn to Him as the one object and desire of their souls. (Compare Joh_12:32.) The prediction declares that Christ would be a banner to attract men, that He would be the object of universal search, and that men in finding Him would attain to true rest and glory.
I. THE BANNER.
1. A banner is naturally “lifted up;” only thus can its purpose be accomplished (chap. Isa_13:2; Isa_18:3). Apt image this of Christ. Not merely in His death on Calvary. That exaltation was followed by His being lifted higher still by the preaching of the gospel, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Joh_16:14), by the devout lives of all His true followers.
2. A banner has usually some emblem or device representative of some great cause, or expressive of some great truth. (Give instances.) So when “Christ and Him crucified” are uplifted clearly in the view of men, they see God’s hatred of sin, His love of man, and His provision for man’s future happiness and glory.
II. THE OBJECT OF UNIVERSAL SEARCH. “To it shall the Gentiles seek.” Search for Christ characterises all races of men (Hag_2:7) and all periods of time (Luk_10:24). The search is often prosecuted in ignorance. Men know not for what and for whom their souls yearn; but it is Christ of whom unconsciously they are in quest; and it is towards Him, that by the else insatiable desires of their spiritual nature, they are being led.
III. THE FINDING OF TRUE REST. “His rest shall be glorious.”
1. The rest we find in Christ is connected with a vital change effected in the heart and life. He does not simply do something for us; He also does a work within us. Every intelligent seeker knows that there can be no rest until the evil that is lodged within us is resisted and cast out (H. E. I., 1324). It is as we enter into the spirit of Christ and share His life, that we enter into rest (Mat_11:28-30).
2. Our new relations to God, entered into by faith in Christ Jesus, makes our rest very glorious. God is then known to us by the most precious and endearing names; He is our rock, our shield, &c. Each of these names represents to us some tender aspects of His love, some sweet ministry of His grace.
Are you in search of the highest peace, joy, holiness, rest? Here you may end your quest (1Co_1:30; P. D., 481).—William Manning.
THE RECONCILER OF MEN
Isa_11:10-16. And in that day there shall be, &c.
Several eminent commentators are of opinion that this prophecy will not be fulfilled until the Jews are restored as a nation to their own land. Others believe that the prophet used (it may be unconsciously) transient geographical phrases as symbols of eternal truths. Without entering upon this controversy, which can be settled only by the actual unfolding and accomplishment of God’s plans as to the history of this world, let us think of the fundamental fact of the vision, that in it “the Root of David” was revealed to the prophet as the reconciler of men. His appearing in the world would be the setting up of a standard unto which all men, Gentiles (Isa_11:10) and Jews (Isa_11:11-12), would seek; and before the influence then exerted upon them by Him rivalries and enmities, even though they were as inveterate and malignant as those of Judah and Ephraim (Isa_11:13), would disappear. No obstacles, even though they should be as immense as the geographical ones which are specified, would hinder their coming together and forming one united and triumphant people under His benignant sway. This is only saying what the prophet has said already (chap. Isa_2:4; Isa_9:7), that the kingdom of Christ would be a kingdom of peace. Consider—
I. How marvellously and gloriously this prediction has been fulfilled. To appreciate this, we must recall the condition of the world at the time when “the day” of which our text speaks dawned upon it. Nations were everywhere divided from each other by jealousies and hatreds as virulent as those that divided Ephraim from Judah; there was peace only because they were restrained from active hostility by the strong hand of Roman power. Hatred of other nations was regarded, not as a crime, but as a duty [994] But Christ inaugurated the empire of universal brotherhood and love. Wars have not yet ceased even among nations professing Christianity, but they are no longer openly gloried in by those who wage them; they are apologised for as sad necessities. The apology is often insincere, but the fact that it is made at all is a marvellous tribute to the influence and authority of Christ. Wherever His true followers meet, national distinctions are forgotten, and they feel drawn to each other by a mightier and sweeter bond. As the centuries pass away, the love of Christ becomes more and more the uniting power of the world.
[994] Ancient morality was essentially national and exclusive. Its creed was that a man is born not for himself, but for his parents, his family, and the state. The state was surrounded by others with which, unless some treaty had been concluded, it was at war. To do as much good as possible to one’s own state, and as much harm as possible to all other states, was therefore the whole duty of a man.”—Ecce Homo, p. 125, small edition. (The student will do well to read the whole chapter in which these sentences occur.)
II. How sadly imperfect the fulfilment of this prediction still is! The era of universal peace has not yet dawned. The world is still cursed by wars and rumours of wars. Millions of men are maintained in constant readiness for war. There are bitter contentions among the sections of the Christian Church, these tribes of the modern Israel. Class is divided from class. So-called Christian families are saddened by bitter feuds.
III. The blessedness of the era that shall yet dawn upon this world. The Christian often dreams of it; his dreams are sweet as those which hungry men have of banquets, and shipwrecked sailors drifting helplessly on rafts in the wide ocean have of their native village and of meeting with their loved ones there; and in their waking hours they, too, are apt to be saddened by the fear that their dreams too are as utterly incapable of realisation. But it is not so. They shall all be realised, for the authority of Christ shall yet be universal, real, absolute; and all the listening angels shall not be able to detect one sound of discord rising from the round world, for the whole world shall be full of the peace of Christ (P. D., 2465, 2466, 2676).
IV. Our duty in regard to this prediction. We are not merely to dream dreams of the blessedness of the era that shall yet be ushered in. We are to do something to hasten its dawning.
1. We are to pray for it with yearning hearts.
2. We are to do our utmost, in every possible way, to extend the knowledge of the gospel throughout the world. The gospel, not commerce, is the true civiliser and uniter of nations: commerce will prosper on the gospel triumphs. True, many converts are only nominally Christians, but in many cases that is the first step towards their becoming real Christians, i.e., men who will pray and labour for universal peace.
3. Minor and contributory duties.
(1.) The diffusion of knowledge that will tend to bring home to the understandings and hearts of men the hurtfulness of war, and of preparation for war.
(2.) The discouragement and overthrow of those statesmen, to whichever party they may belong, whose policy tends to foster national animosities.
(3.) The discouragement of all pursuits and things that tend to familiarise men with war and keep alive in them a passion for it, e.g., the volunteer movement; pictures, poems, and newspapers that glorify successful soldiers, as if in them the noblest ideal of manhood were realised.
(4.) Careful education of our children in Christ-like sentiments concerning foreign nations and war. By constant heedfulness of these duties, we shall do something to hasten the dawning of the era of universal peace and blessedness, and we shall not have lived in vain.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 This is Isaiah’s description of the Spirit of Whitsuntide,…
Isa 11:2
This is Isaiah’s description of the Spirit of Whitsuntide, the royal Spirit which was to descend, and did descend without measure, on the ideal and perfect King, even on Jesus Christ our Lord, the only-begotten Son of God.
Read full note →
I. That Spirit is the Spirit of God, and therefore the Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit of love. For God is love, and He is the Spirit of God. But the text describes Him as the Spirit of wisdom. Experience will show us that the Spirit of love is the same as the Spirit of wisdom; that if any man wishes to be truly wise and prudent, his best way—I may say his only way—is to be loving and charitable.
II. The text describes the Spirit as the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, i.e. as the knowledge of human nature, the understanding of men and their ways. If we do not understand our fellow-creatures, we shall never love them. But it is equally true that if we do not love them, we shall never understand them. Want of charity, want of sympathy, want of good-feeling and fellow-feeling,- -what does it, what can it, breed but endless mistakes and ignorances, both of men’s characters and men’s circumstances?
III. This royal Spirit is described as the Spirit of counsel and might, that is, the Spirit of prudence and practical power; the Spirit which sees how to deal with human beings, and has the practical power of making them obey. Now that power, again, can only be got by loving human beings. There is nothing so blind as hardness, nothing so weak as violence.
IV. This Spirit is also "the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." They, indeed, both begin in love and end in love. (1) If you wish for knowledge, you must begin by loving knowledge for its own sake. And if this be true of things earthly and temporal, how much more of things heavenly and eternal? We must begin by loving them with a sort of child’s love, without understanding them; by that simple instinct and longing after what is good and beautiful and true, which is indeed the inspiration of the Spirit of God. (2) The spirit of the fear of the Lord must be the spirit of love, not only to God, but to our fellow-creatures.
C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 25.
Reference: Isa 11:3.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 225.
Isa 11:4
As it may in many ways be shown that the Church of Christ, though one Church with the Jewish, differs from it as being a kingdom, so now let me dwell on this point: that though a kingdom like empires of the earth, it differs from them in being a Church, i.e. a kingdom of truth and righteousness. That Scripture speaks of the kingdom of Christ as not an earthly kingdom, not supported by strength of arm or force of mind, or any other faculty or gift of the natural man, is plain. But consider some objections to which the circumstances of its actual history and condition give rise.
I. It may be said that the event has not fulfilled the prophecies; that the kingdom has indeed been large and powerful, but it has not ruled according to justice and truth; that at times it has had very wicked men among its rulers, and that great corruptions, religious and moral, have been found in it; and that, as has sometimes been said, worse crimes have been perpetrated under colour of religion than in any other way. But this may be granted in the argument; yet the Scripture account of the Church remains uncompromised. It is a kingdom of righteousness, because it is a kingdom founded, based, in righteousness.
II. In the Gospel, Christ’s followers are represented as poor, despised, weak, and helpless,—such preeminently were the Apostles. But in the Prophets, especially in Isaiah, the kingdom is represented as rich and flourishing and honoured, and powerful and happy. If the Church of Christ were to seek power, wealth, and honour, this were to fall from grace; but it is not less true that she will have them, though she seeks them not—or rather, if she seeks them not. Such is the law of Christ’s kingdom, such the paradox which is seen in its history. It belongs to the poor in spirit; it belongs to the persecuted; it is possessed by the meek; it is sustained by the patient. It conquers by suffering; it advances by retiring; it is made wise through foolishness.
III. Temporal power and wealth, though not essential to the Church, are almost necessary attendants on it. They cannot be long absent from it; it is but a matter of time, as we speak, when they will be added.
J. H. Newman, Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 237.
Isa 11:6
It is plain, from the words of the text, that Isaiah was one of those prophets and righteous men who desired to see and hear the things which Christ’s disciples saw and heard. But it may be said that he desired to see the kingdom of Christ, because he thought that it would bring with it a greater and happier change in the state of the world than it has done; because he looked forward to it as to a time when the wolf should dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid—that is, when there should be nothing but peace and comfort everywhere. What, then, are we to think of such passages as those in my text? The question deserves to be answered, because unless we understand it we must read very great portions of the books of the prophets with no benefit; and it may be useful also in order to find out whether there be not more reality of happiness in the Gospel than we are commonly inclined to give it credit for.
I. The Gospel makes a man industrious, sober, and careful of his time; which no one, I suppose, would deny to be three great benefits. It is the great excellence of the Gospel, that it furnishes us with the strongest of all helps to overcome temptation,—the fear of God and the hope of reward, at first; and afterwards, as the Spirit of Christ changes us more and. more into Christ’s image, it really makes us lose our relish for what is bad; so that, at last, there is much less temptation to overcome.
II. The Gospel makes us care as much as we ought, and no more, for the things of this life; for worldly cares or sorrows, or prospects of gain or loss, of honour or disgrace. He who went through life as a Christian, learning to look at the world from the beginning with a Christian’s eye, would find himself strong in the strength of Christ to bear whatever was laid upon him, and would say with the Apostle, in perfect sincerity, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 47.
References: Isa 11:6.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 188; J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 9.
Isa 11:9
I. Most exactly have the figures which the Holy Spirit condescended to apply to Himself been fulfilled in the course of the dispensation; nay, even to this day. His operation has been calm, equable, gradual, far-spreading, overtaking, intimate, irresistible. What is so awfully silent, so mighty, so inevitable, so encompassing as a flood of water? Such was the power of the Spirit in the beginning, when He vouchsafed to descend as an invisible wind, as an outpoured flood. Thus He changed the whole face of the world. The ark of God moved upon the face of the waters.
II. And what the power of the Spirit has been in the world at large, that it is also in every human heart to which it comes. (1) Any spirit which professes to come to us alone, and not to others, which makes no- claim of having moved the body of the Church at all times and places, is not of God, but a private spirit of error. (2) Vehemence, tumult, confusion, are no attributes of that benignant flood with which God has replenished the earth. That flood of grace is sedate, majestic, gentle in its operation. (3) The Divine Baptism, wherewith God visits us, penetrates through our whole soul and body. It leaves no part of us uncleansed, unsanctified. It claims the whole man for God. Any spirit which is content with what is short of this, which does not lead us to utter self-surrender and devotion, is not from God.
III. The heart of every Christian ought to represent in miniature the Catholic Church, since one Spirit makes both the whole Church and every member of it to be His temple. As He makes the Church one, which, left to itself, would separate into many parts, so He makes the soul one, in spite of its various affections and faculties, and its contradictory aims.
J. H. Newman, Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 126.
References: Isa 11:9.—J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii., p. 226; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 145.
Isa 11:10
I. "There shall be a root of Jesse," i.e. a thrifty scion shall spring forth from that old decayed family. The prophet does not represent our Saviour as a stately and luxuriant tree, but as a sucker from an unpromising and apparently dead root.
II. The prophet goes on to portray His glorious office: "He shall stand for an ensign of the people." It was customary, in olden time, during the continuance of a war, for the prince or commander to set up an ensign on a lofty tower or mountain top, and to summon the people to rally round it. So, also, was the Lord Jesus to be lifted up on the Cross, that He might draw all men unto Him, and through the faithful preaching of the Gospel to gather together into one great army the true children of God who are dispersed abroad. He stands as an ensign of the people, not merely to attract the eyes of all, and to fix them on Himself, but to warn them of the silent but sure approach of deadly foes, and to indicate the spot where weapons offensive and defensive may be obtained.
III. To this glorious ensign the prophet declares that "the Gentiles shall seek." When St. Paul quotes the verse (Rom 15:12) he varies the language by a single word. "In His name shall the Gentiles trust." There is no inconsistency between this seeking and trusting. The one is the cause, the other the effect; or rather each, in turn, is both cause and effect. When we trust in Christ we seek Him; and when we seek Him we are sure to find how worthy He is of our confidence.
J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 11.
References: Isa 11:10.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 274. Isa 11:12, Isa 11:13.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 254. Isa 12:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 928. Isa 12:1-3.—R. M. McCheyne, Additional Remains, p. 217.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v1 Isa 11:1 - Isa 11:10.
Isaiah
THE SUCKER FROM THE FELLED OAK
Read full note →
Isa 11:1 - Isa 11:10.
The hopeless fall of Assyria is magnificently pictured in the close of Isa 10:1 - Isa 10:16, as the felling of the cedars of Lebanon by the axe swung by Jehovah’s own hand. A cedar once cut down puts out no new shoots; and so the Assyrian power, when it falls, will fall for ever. The metaphor is carried on with surpassing beauty in the first part of this prophecy, which contrasts the indestructible vitality of the Davidic monarchy with the irremediable destruction fated for its formidable antagonist. The one is a cedar, the stump of which rots slowly, but never recovers. The other is an oak, which, every woodman knows, will put out new growth from the ‘stool.’ But instead of a crowd of little suckers, the prophet sees but one shoot, and that rising to more than the original height and fruitfulness of the tree. The prophecy is distinctly that of One Person, in whom the Davidic monarchy is concentrated, and all its decadence more than recovered.
Isaiah does not bring the rise of the Messiah into chronological connection with the fall of Assyria; for he contemplates a period of decay for the Israelitish monarchy, and it was the very burden of his message as to Assyria that it should pass away without harming that monarchy. The contrast is not intended to suggest continuity in time. The period of fulfilment is entirely undetermined.
The first point in the prophecy is the descent of the Messiah from the royal stock. That is more than Isaiah’s previous Messianic prophecies had told. He is to come at a time when the fortunes of David’s house were at their worst. There is to be nothing left but the stump of the tree, and out of it is to come a ‘shoot,’ slender and insignificant, and in strange contrast with the girth of the truncated bole, stately even in its mutilation. We do not talk of a growth from the stump as being a ‘branch’; and ‘sprout’ would better convey Isaiah’s meaning. From the top of the stump, a shoot; from the roots half buried in the ground, an outgrowth,-these two images mean but one person, a descendant of David, coming at a time of humiliation and obscurity. But this lowly shoot will ‘bear fruit,’ which presupposes its growth.
The King-Messiah thus brought on the scene is then described in regard to His character {Isa 11:2}, the nature of His rule {Isa 11:3 - Isa 11:5}, the universal harmony and peace which He will diffuse through nature {Isa 11:6 - Isa 11:9}, and the gathering of all mankind under His dominion. There is much in the prophetic ideal of the Messiah which finds no place in this prophecy. The gentler aspects of His reign are not here, nor the deeper characteristics of His ‘spirit,’ nor the chiefest blessings in His gift. The suffering Messiah is not yet the theme of the prophet.
The main point as to the character of the Messiah which this prophecy sets forth is that, whatever He was to be, He was to be by reason of the resting on Him of the Spirit of Jehovah. The directness, fulness, and continuousness of His inspiration are emphatically proclaimed in that word ‘shall rest,’ which can scarcely fail to recall John’s witness, ‘I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon Him.’ The humanity on which the Divine Spirit uninterruptedly abides, ungrieved and unrestrained, must be free from the stains which so often drive that heavenly visitant from our breasts. The white-breasted Dove of God cannot brood over foulness. There has never been but one manhood capable of receiving and retaining the whole fulness of the Spirit of God.
The gifts of that Spirit, which become qualities of the Messiah in whom He dwells, are arranged {if we may use so cold a word} in three pairs; so that, if we include the introductory designation, we have a sevenfold characterisation of the Spirit, recalling the seven lamps before the throne and the seven eyes of the Lamb in the Apocalypse, and symbolising by the number the completeness and sacredness of that inspiration. The resulting character of the Messiah is a fair picture of one who realises the very ideal of a strong and righteous ruler of men. ‘Wisdom and understanding’ refer mainly to the clearness of intellectual and moral insight; ‘counsel and might,’ to the qualities which give sound practical direction and vigour to follow, and carry through, the decisions of practical wisdom; while ‘the knowledge and fear of the Lord’ define religion by its two parts of acquaintance with God founded on love, and reverential awe which prompts to obedience. The fulfilment, and far more than fulfilment, of this ideal is in Jesus, in whom were ‘hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,’ to whom no circumstances of difficulty ever brought the shadow of perplexity, who always saw clearly before Him the path to tread, and had always ‘might’ to tread it, however rough, who lived all His days in unbroken fellowship with the Father and in lowly obedience.
The prophet saw not all the wonders of perfect human character which that indwelling Spirit would bring to realisation in Him; but what he saw was indispensable to a perfect King, and was, at all events, an arc of the mighty circle of perfection, which has now been revealed in the life of Jesus. The possibilities of humanity under the influence of the Divine Spirit are revealed here no less than the actuality of the Messiah’s character. What Jesus is, He gives it to His subjects to become by the dwelling in them of the spirit of life which was in Him.
The rule of the King is accordant with His character. It is described in Isa 11:3 - Isa 11:5. The first characteristic named may be understood in different ways. According to some commentators, who deserve respectful consideration, it means, ‘He shall draw His breath in the fear of Jehovah’; that is, that that fear has become, as it were, His very life-breath. But the meaning of ‘breathing’ is doubtful; and the phrase seems rather to express, as the Revised Version puts it, ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.’ That might mean that those who fear Jehovah shall be His delight, and this would free the expression from any shade of tautology, when compared with the previous clause, and would afford a natural transition to the description of His rule. It might, on the other hand, continue the description of His personal character, and describe the inward cheerfulness of His obedience, like ‘I delight to do Thy will.’ In any case, the ‘fear of the Lord’ is represented as a sweet-smelling fragrance; and, if we adopt the former explanation, then it is almost a divine characteristic which is here attributed to the Messiah; for it is God to whom the fear of Him in men’s hearts is ‘an odour of a sweet smell.’
Then follow the features of His rule. His unerring judgment pierces through the seen and heard. That is the quality of a monarch after the antique pattern, when kings were judges. It does not appear that the prophet rose to the height of perceiving the divine nature of the Messiah; but we cannot but remember how far the reality transcends the prophecy, since He whose ‘eyes are as a flame of fire’ knows what is in man, and the earliest prayers of the Church were addressed to Jesus as ‘Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men.’
The relation of Messiah to two classes is next set forth. The oppressed and the meek shall have Him for their defender and avenger,-a striking contrast to the oppressive monarchs whom Isaiah had seen. We remember who said ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ ‘Blessed are the meek.’ The King Himself has taught us to deepen the meaning of the words of the prophet, and to find in them the expression of the law of His kingdom by which its blessings belong to those who know their need and come with humble hearts. But the same acts which are for the poor are against the oppressors. The emendation which reads ‘tyrant’ {arits} for ‘earth’ {erets} brings the two clauses descriptive of the punitive acts into parallelism, and is probably to be preferred. The same pillar was light to Israel and darkness to the Egyptians. Christ is the savour of life unto life and of death unto death. But what is His instrument of destruction? ‘The rod of His mouth’ or ‘the breath of His lips.’ And who is He whose bare word thus has power to kill and make alive? Is not this a divine prerogative? and does it not belong in the fullest sense to Him whose voice rebuked fevers, storms, and demons, and pierced the dull, cold ear of death? Further, righteousness, the absolute conformity of character and act to the standard in the will of God, and faithfulness, the inflexible constancy, which makes a character consistent with itself, and so reliable, are represented by a striking figure as being twined together to make the girdle, which holds the vestments in place, and girds up the whole frame for effort. This righteous King ‘shall not fail nor be discouraged.’ He is to be reckoned on to the uttermost, or, as the New Testament puts it, He is ‘the faithful and true witness.’ This is the strong Son of God, who gathered all His powers together to run with patience the race set before Him, and to whom all may turn with the confidence that He is faithful ‘as a Son over His own house,’ and will inviolably keep the promise of His word and of His past acts.
We pass from the picture of the character and rule of the King over men to that fair vision of Paradise regained, which celebrates the universal restoration of peace between man and the animals. The picture is not to be taken as a mere allegory, as if ‘lions’ and ‘wolves’ and ‘snakes’ meant bad men; but it falls into line with other hints in Scripture, which trace the hostility between man and the lower creatures to sin, and shadow a future when ‘the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.’ The psalm which sings of man’s dominion over the creatures is to be one day fulfilled; and the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches that it is already fulfilled in Christ, who will raise His brethren, for whom He tasted death, to partake in His dominion. The present order of things is transient; and if earth is to be, as some shadowy hints seem to suggest, the scene of the future glories of redeemed humanity, it may be the theatre of a fulfilment of such visions as this. But we cannot dogmatise on a subject of which we know so little, nor be sure of the extent to which symbolism enters into this sweet picture. Enough that there surely comes a time when the King of men and Lord of nature shall bring back peace between both, and restore ‘the fair music that all creatures made To their great Lord.’
Isa 11:10 begins an entirely new section, which describes the relations of Messiah’s kingdom to the surrounding peoples. The picture preceding closed with the vision of the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and this verse proclaims the universality of Messiah’s kingdom. By ‘the root of Jesse’ is meant, not the root from which Jesse sprang, but, in accordance with Isa 11:1, the sprout from the house of Jesse. Just as in that verse the sprout was prophesied of as growing up to be fruitbearing, so here the lowly sucker shoots to a height which makes it conspicuous from afar, and becomes, like some tall mast, a sign for the nations. The contrast between the obscure beginning and the conspicuous destiny of Messiah is the point of the prophecy. ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.’ Strange elevation for a king is a cross! But it is because He has died for men that He has the right to reign over them, and that they ‘shall seek’ to Him. ‘His resting-place shall be glorious.’
The seat of His dominion is also the seat of His repose. The beneficent activity just described is wielded from a calm, central palace, and does not break the King’s tranquillity. That is a paradox, except to those who know that Jesus Christ, sitting in undisturbed rest at the right hand of God, thence works with and for His servants. His repose is full of active energy; His active energy is full of repose. And that place of calm abode is ‘glorious’ or, more emphatically and literally, ‘glory. He shall dwell in the blaze of the uncreated glory of God,-a prediction which is only fulfilled in its true meaning by Christ’s ascension and session at the right hand of God, in the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, and into which He has borne that lowly manhood which He drew from the cut-down stem of Jesse.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 1. Rod out of the stem] RV 'shoot out…
1. Rod out of the stem] RV 'shoot out of the stock,' implying that the tree has been cut down. The Assyrians have been compared in the vv. preceding to cedars, which when felled throw out no fresh suckers; now the house of David is likened to an oak whose life remains in it after it has been cut down (Isa_6:13). From the royal family of Judah, though it may seem ruined, is to spring the ideal Ruler in the future. It has been already implied (Isa_9:7), and is here expressly stated, that the Messiah is to be of the house of David (Mic_5:2).
2. Leaving the figure Isaiah here indicates the character of the future Ruler. The gifts of the divine Spirit bestowed upon Him are arranged in three pairs, the first pair indicating perfection of intellectual endowment, the second pair full possession of a ruler's practical qualities, and the third referring to the religious spirit which is to crown and direct all other gifts.
Read full note →
3. Make him of quick understanding] RV 'his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah,' i.e. when He sees it in others. Not judge, etc.] i.e. by appearances or hearsay.
4. The ideal Ruler combines mercy and judgment (Psa_101:1). With the rod of his mouth] The power ascribed to the word of Messiah is a striking feature (Isa_49:2; Zec_9:10), and suggests a superhuman personality (Hos_6:5).
5. The girdle] stands for readiness for action—He shall be always ready for righteousness and faithfulness.
6. From the person and character of the Ruler Isaiah now passes on to the effects of His rule. Evil having been eradicated from human society, there will be a corresponding regeneration of the rest of creation (Isa_65:25; Rom_8:19.).
8. Cockatrice] RV 'basilisk,' or 'adder' (RM): probably the great yellow viper common in Palestine.
9. My holy mountain] i.e. Zion wonderfully transformed according to the prophecy in Isa_2:2 (Zec_14:10-11).
10. RV 'And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the people, unto him shall the nations seek.' Root of Jesse] the same as the shoot growing from the root (Isa_11:1). The great scion of the house of David is not only to be king of Israel, but the nations of the world shall rally to him. Seek] i.e. resort, a word specially used of resorting for prayer (Isa_55:6) or of consulting oracles (Isa_8:19; Isa_19:3). Rest] i.e. resting-place: referring to Jerusalem, the seat of the royal house.
11. Next the prophet speaks of the restoration of the dispersed Israelites from their exile in the various kingdoms by which Judah was surrounded. The second time] The first time was at the Mosaic exodus. Recover] RM 'purchase': cp. Exo_15:16. Pathros] upper, or southern, Egypt. Cush] Ethiopia, still further S. (Isa_18:1; Isa_37:9). Elam] the country at the head of the Persian Gulf. Shinar] i.e. Babylonia.
Hamath] see on Isa_10:9. Islands of the sea] a phrase found here only in Isaiah 1-39, but several times in Isaiah 40-66. It denotes the islands of, and lands bordering upon, the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes stands for distant countries generally.
13. A further feature of Messiah's sign. The bitter feeling between the N. kingdom and Judah (Isa_9:21) shall cease. The adversaries of] RV 'they that vex.'
14. The reunited people will be victorious over their old enemies, the tribes immediately surrounding Palestine. Shoulders] 'shoulder,' i.e. side or border, as in Jos_15:8, Jos_15:10, Jos_15:11. Them of the east] lit. 'the children of the east,' i.e. the Bedouin Arabs: Jdg_6:8; 2Ch_21:16.
15. 16. Isaiah pictures a miraculous deliverance of the exiles parallel to the former deliverance from Egypt. The tongue, etc.] i.e. the Gulf of Akaba. Tongue is used for an arm of the sea as in Jos_15:2; Jos_18:19. The river] i.e. Euphrates. In the seven] RV 'into seven.'
An highway] i.e. a raised road such as Eastern monarchs made for the passage of their armies (Isa_19:23; Isa_49:11). It was] RV 'there was.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1–3 The Davidic kingdom
The Davidic kingdom
The order of events in Isaiah 10, 11, is noteworthy. Isaiah 10. gives the distress of the Remnant in Palestine in the great tribulation. Psa 2:5; Rev 7:14 and the approach and destruction of the Gentile host under the Beast.; Dan 7:8; Rev 19:20. Is. 11. immediately follows with its glorious picture of the kingdom-age. Precisely the same order is found in Revelation 19, 20. (See "Kingdom," O.T.,; Gen 1:26-28; Zec 12:8 N.T.; Luk 1:31-33; 1Co 15:28. Also (See Scofield "Mat 3:2") See Scofield "Mat 6:33".
Read full note →
That nothing of this occurred at the first coming of Christ is evident from a comparison of the history of the times of Christ with this and all the other parallel prophecies. So far from regathering dispersed Israel and establishing peace in the earth, His crucifixion was soon followed (A.D. 70) by the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter scattering of the Palestinian Jews amongst the nations.
shall come forth a rod
This chapter is a prophetic picture of the glory of the future kingdom. This is the kingdom announced by John Baptist as "at hand." It was then rejected, but will be set up when David’s Son returns in glory Luk 1:31; Luk 1:32; Act 15:15; Act 15:16.
Branch (See Scofield "Isa 4:2")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Coming King and His Kingdom
CHAPTER 11
The Coming King and His Kingdom
Read full note →
1. The King: Who He is and what He will do (Isa 11:1-5) 2. The peace and blessing He brings (Isa 11:6-10) 3. The gathering of scattered Israel (Isa 11:11-16) It is a great vision of the future which this chapter unfolds. The critics deny that the blessed Person mentioned in the opening verses is our Lord Jesus. They think Hezekiah or Josiah is meant. 2Th 2:8 shows that it is our Lord. Link Isa 11:1-5 with Isa 9:6-7. Again His coming in humiliation and His coming in exaltation are here interwoven. We behold His reign in righteousness. Isa 11:6-10 need not to be spiritualized, as it is so often done. Romans tells us (Rom 8:18-23) that a literal groaning creation, travailing together in pain until now, will be delivered of its groans and curses. The hour of deliverance strikes with the “manifestation of the Sons of God.” However, this manifestation does not take place till the Lord is manifested the second time. In the coming kingdom to be established on earth and ruled over by the King from above, creation will be put back into its original condition.
Israel’s regathering will be from a worldwide dispersion. It will be “the second time.” It does not and cannot mean the return from Babylon, but the return from their present exile of almost 2,000 years.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Messiah, The Branch out of the Stem Of…
The Messiah, The Branch out of the Stem Of Jesse
v. 1. And there shall come forth a Rod, a fresh shoot or twig, out of the stem of Jesse, out of the dead stock, the stump, of the former proud tree of the house of David, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, Zec 3:8; Zec 4:12; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15, the root-stock being all that was left of the former grandeur of David’s house, the renewal of his family by this singular Scion would indeed be a miracle;
Read full note →
v. 2. and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the sevenfold Spirit, Himself God from eternity, lighting or settling upon Him, Psa 45:7, with the fullness of His divine power, the Spirit of wisdom, which searches all things, even the secrets of God, and understanding, able to make the proper distinction concerning all things, the Spirit of counsel, by whom the Messiah is endowed to be the Counselor, and might, for Christ is the mighty God, Isa 7:6, the Spirit of knowledge, by means of which He is familiar with all the mysteries of God, and of the fear of the Lord, which culminates in both adoration and communion, Christ, according to His human nature, praying to His heavenly Father and seeking His fellowship, but according to His divine nature united with Him in an everlasting union, which now exists according to both natures;
v. 3. and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, literally, His pleasant savor is in the fear of Jehovah, He is highly pleased when men bring to Him the sacrifice of their fear of God; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, rendering judgment not according to external appearances, rather according to His understanding of the heart and soul;
v. 4. but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, His Savior’s-interest turning especially to the lowly, to those who bear the enmity of the world on account of their faith with the proper meekness, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, taking the part of those who are persecuted for their confession’s sake; and He, in His care for the poor small crew of His Church, shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, rebuking in a most emphatic manner the hostility of the ungodly world, and with the breath of His lips, His Word, which bears almighty power, shall He slay the wicked, overthrowing the power of Satan even here in time, revealing his true character by the preaching of the Gospel, His last condemnation being reserved for the final Judgment.
v. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness, upon which His believers may rely with full confidence, the girdle of His reins, holding up His clothes at His hips. Even as the girdle confined the wide garments of the ancients and enabled them to work, run, and fight without hindrance, so the Messiah furthers His cause and makes use of His full strength by righteousness and truth. The conditions of His reign are now described.
v. 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, a figurative representation of ideal spiritual conditions.
v. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed, all the bloodthirstiness of the latter forgotten; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, his nature so completely changed that he is no longer a carnivorous, but a herbivorous animal.
v. 8. And the sucking child, the unweaned infant, shall play on the hole of the asp, on the entrance of the adder’s cave, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den, or, stretch out his arm to touch the sparkling eye of the basilisk, the poisonous serpents having lost all their vicious habits. All this poetic description is now explained:
v. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, all the members of the Messiah’s kingdom, whose former state was characterized by the comparison with the various animals named above, would lose and lay aside their hostile habits toward one another; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Knowledge of Jehovah, love and fear of God, is the motive in all acts of the believers; because they fear the Lord in truth, because they know Him the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent as the Savior of the world, therefore they, the inhabitants of His holy mountain, the members of His holy Church, give expression of their faith in their entire conduct; therefore they, in the midst of the general hatred and hostility of the world, live together in peace and love.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse…
A shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse ... a branch out of his roots will bear fruit
Isaiah speaks of Jesse and his descendants as if they were a tree that had been cut down. Both of these phrases tell about a descendant of Jesse who would be king. AT: "As a shoot sprouts out of a tree stump, so a descendant of Jesse will become king over what remains of Israel" (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
Read full note →
the stump of Jesse
A stump is what remains of a tree after it is chopped down. The "stump of Jesse" represents what was left of the kingdom that Jesse's son David was once king of. (See: Metaphor)
The Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him
Resting upon him represents being with him and helping him. The word "him" refers to the one who would become king. (See: Metaphor)
the Spirit of wisdom ... the Spirit of instruction ... the Spirit of knowledge ... the fear of Yahweh
Here the word "Spirit" refers to an ability or quality that the Spirit of Yahweh would give him. AT: "and he will cause him to have wisdom and understanding, instruction and might, knowledge and the fear of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Jesse
fruit
Holy Spirit
Yahweh
wise
might
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–3 11:1-16 The kingdom of the Messiah, first introduced in…
11:1-16 The kingdom of the Messiah, first introduced in 9:1-7, is now considered in more detail. Isaiah challenged the Israelites about why they would trust in any of the nations when God had far better plans in mind.
11:1 stump . . . shoot . . . new Branch . . . from the old root: This new growth refers to the continuity of David’s royal family line despite its virtual cessation during the Exile (see also 6:13; 39:7; Rev 22:16). The new growth from the old roots would not be like the former frail and unjust descendants of David (see Isa 4:2). Jesus, the Messiah, is the final fulfillment.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.