Isaiah 11:1-10

The Branch’s Righteous Reign

1 And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.
2 And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him-- a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
3 And his {breath} [is] in the fear of Yahweh. And he shall judge not by his eyesight, and he shall rebuke not by {what he hears with} his ears.
4 But he shall judge [the] poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for [the] needy of [the] earth with rectitude. And he shall strike [the] earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill [the] wicked person with the breath of his lips.
5 And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6 And a wolf shall {stay} with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together {as a small boy leads} them.
7 And a cow and a bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together. And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle.
8 And {an infant} shall play over a serpent's hole, and {a toddler} shall put his hand on a viper's hole.
9 They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my {holy mountain}, for the earth will be full [of the] knowledge [of] Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
10 And this shall happen on that day: [the] nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse, which shall be standing as a signal to [the] peoples, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Isaiah 11:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 11

This chapter is a prophecy of the Messiah, and gives an account of his descent, as man; of his qualifications for his office, as a Judge and King; of his performance of it; of the peaceableness of his kingdom; of the spread of it among the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; and of the last and general conversion of the Jews. His original and descent from David the son of Jesse, under the titles of a rod and branch, is described as mean and obscure, expressed by stem and roots, Isa 11:1 his gifts and qualifications for his work, in general and particular, Isa 11:2 the performance of it, both with respect to good men and bad men, in the fear of the Lord, with all equity, righteousness, and readiness, Isa 11:3-5 the peaceableness of his kingdom is figuratively expressed, by the agreement of savage and tame creatures, the former becoming the latter, and so losing their malignant and hurtful nature, through the efficacy of the Gospel, spreading the knowledge of Christ all over the world, Isa 11:6-9 particularly among the Gentiles, comparable to those savage creatures, who, upon the exhibition of Christ in the Gospel; should seek to him, and find rest in him, Isa 11:10 which will be followed or accompanied with a collection of the Jews out of all lands, and the conversion of them, which will be brought about by the power and grace of God, all impediments being by him removed out of the way; the consequences of which will be, peace among themselves, and obedience among the Gentiles, Isa 11:11-16.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Hebrew "smelling," perhaps metaphorically as "delight" as in Amos 5:14; perhaps this line was accidentally copied twice from the preceding line
  • [b]. Literally "the rumors of"
  • [c]. Literally "dwell as an alien"
  • [d]. Literally "and a small boy leading"
  • [e]. Literally "one nursing"
  • [f]. Literally "one who is weaned"
  • [g]. Literally "mountain of holiness"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.