Isaiah 11:3

3 He will delight in obeying the LORD . He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.

Isaiah 11:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 11:3

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of
the Lord
Or "cause him to smell the fear of the Lord" ^F23; that is, to discern in whom it was: this is one effect of the Spirit's resting upon him, and particularly as the spirit of understanding, and of the fear of the Lord, whereby he has a quick and sharp discerning of it; not merely of the grace of fear, so as to know what that is, and what the exercise of it; or so as to make it the rule of his actions, though all this is true; but so as to discern where and in whom it was, and was not; he could distinguish between him that feared God and him that feared him not; he knew Nathanael to be an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, ( John 1:47 ) and the Scribes and Pharisees to be hypocrites, ( Matthew 22:18 ) . As the Jews ^F24 understand this passage of the Messiah, and of his quick smell, as the word used signifies, or of his discerning of good and bad men, they make this to be a rule of judging the Messiah by; and accordingly made use of it with one that set up himself for the Messiah, and took the name of Barcochab, the son of a star, referring to ( Numbers 24:17 ) and tried him whether he could discern a good man from a bad man; and because he could not, they rejected him as a false Messiah, and called him Barcoziba, the son of a lie ^F25: compare with this ( Luke 7:39 ) where it may be seen the same notion obtained among the Jews in Christ's time:

and, he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes;
or according to the outward appearance, the external guise of sanctity and religion men might put on; as the Scribes and Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men, but not to Christ, who knew their hearts; they seemed to be somewhat to others, but nothing to him, because he judged not by appearances to the eyes:

neither reprove after the hearing of his ears;
he needed no testimony of men, for he knew what was in men; nor did he regard the words of men, the boastings of a Pharisee, any more than his outward actions; nor would he reprove or condemn, nor will he, upon a human testimony.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (hwhy taryb wxyrhw) "et faciet odorari eum timorem Jehovae", Munster, Vatablus; "et odorabitur timorem Jehovae", Cocceius.
F24 Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 3. & 86. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 62. 3.
F25 T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 93. 2.

Isaiah 11:3 In-Context

1 Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD .

3 He will delight in obeying the LORD . He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.

4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.