Isaiah 11

A new shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

NoteJesse was the father of King David, so "the stump of Jesse" points to David's royal family. A stump is what is left when a tree is cut down: the image assumes the dynasty has been felled, and says new growth will come from the remaining roots. "Branch" here translates a Hebrew word for a green shoot; in Isaiah and later prophets it hardens into a title for a coming king of David's line.

2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

2And 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;

Note"The fear of the LORD" in Hebrew means reverence and awe before God, the attitude of someone who takes God seriously, not fright. The same phrase runs through verses 2 and 3.

3He will take delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what his eyes see, and he will not settle cases by what his ears hear.

3And 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:

NoteThe Hebrew verb behind "take delight" is built on the word for smelling, so the line literally reads something like "his scenting will be in the fear of the LORD." Translators differ: the King James took it as quickness of perception ("quick understanding"), most modern versions as delight or pleasure. "Judge by what his eyes see" and "by what his ears hear" describe a judge who decides on appearances and hearsay rather than on the facts.

4Instead, he will judge the poor with righteousness, and he will decide fairly for the lowly people of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.

4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Note"The lowly" translates a Hebrew word for the poor and powerless, people with no standing in court, rather than people who are mild-mannered; the King James "meek" has drifted toward the second sense. The "rod" is a ruler's staff, used both as a symbol of authority and as a stick for striking; "the rod of his mouth" means his spoken verdict acts as the weapon. "Breath of his lips" is the same idea: he executes sentence by speaking it.

5Righteousness will be the belt around his hips, and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

5And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

NoteMen wore long robes; a belt pulled the robe tight so a person could work, run, or fight. To be belted was to be ready for action, and what a man wore at his waist (a sword, a badge of office) showed who he was. The verse says righteousness and faithfulness are what this ruler straps on.

6The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened animal will be together, and a little child will lead them.

6The 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.

NoteThe "fattened animal" is livestock deliberately fed up for slaughter, the prize meat at a feast, and normally the first thing a predator would take.

7The cow and the bear will graze, and their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like an ox.

7And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8The nursing baby will play near the hole of the cobra, and the small child just off the breast will put his hand into the viper's nest.

8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

NoteBoth animals are venomous snakes. The King James "cockatrice" was a legendary serpent in medieval lore, used by the 1611 translators as a name for a deadly snake; the Hebrew word means an ordinary viper or adder. The two children named are at the two most helpless ages: still nursing, and just weaned.

9They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, the way water fills the sea.

9They 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.

Note"My holy mountain" is Zion, the temple hill in Jerusalem, standing here for the whole land God rules.

10On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will come looking for him, and his place of rest will be full of glory.

10And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

NoteA banner (the King James "ensign") was a pole or standard raised on a high place as a rallying signal, armies and scattered people gathered to it and knew where to go. "The nations" translates the word the King James renders "Gentiles": it means the peoples other than Israel.

11On that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people who are left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the islands of the sea.

11And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Note"A second time" measures against the first rescue, the exodus out of Egypt. The "remnant" is the survivors, the fraction of the people left after war and deportation. The place names sweep from one end of the known world to the other: Pathros is southern (Upper) Egypt; Cush is the region up the Nile beyond Egypt, roughly modern Sudan; Elam lay east of Babylon in what is now southwestern Iran; Shinar is an old name for Babylonia; Hamath was a city-state in Syria to the north; "the islands of the sea" means the islands and coastlands of the Mediterranean.

12He will raise a banner for the nations. He will gather the exiles of Israel and bring together the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

12And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Note"The four corners of the earth" is an idiom for every direction, the way we say "the ends of the earth." Israel and Judah are named separately because the kingdom had split in two (see the note on verse 13), and both halves had been carried off.

13Ephraim's jealousy will be gone, and those who fight against Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, and Judah will no longer harass Ephraim.

13The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

NoteAfter Solomon the kingdom split: the ten northern tribes became Israel, often called Ephraim after its dominant tribe, and the south became Judah, ruled from Jerusalem. The two were rivals and at times fought each other outright. The verse promises the end of that feud.

14They will swoop down on the western slopes where the Philistines live. Together they will plunder the peoples of the east. They will take control of Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be under their rule.

14But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

NoteThese are Israel's immediate neighbors: the Philistines on the coastal plain to the west, and Edom, Moab and Ammon east and southeast across the Jordan and the Dead Sea. "Slopes" translates a Hebrew word meaning "shoulder," used for the flank of a range of hills, here the hill country running down to Philistine territory.

15The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea. With a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River and split it into seven streams, so people can walk across without getting their feet wet.

15And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

Note"The gulf of the Egyptian sea" is the narrow arm of water at the head of the Red Sea, the barrier crossed in the exodus; "the river" in the King James is the Euphrates, the far boundary in the other direction, and splitting it into seven shallow channels makes it fordable on foot. The whole picture replays the escape from Egypt on a larger map.

16There will be a highway for the remnant of his people who are left in Assyria, just as there was for Israel on the day it came up out of the land of Egypt.

16And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

NoteA highway meant a road built up and cleared of stones for travel, a made road rather than a track. Assyria is named because it was Assyria that had destroyed the northern kingdom and deported its people, in 722 BC.