Isaiah 11 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 11

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11:1   There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
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 the fear of the LORD.
3   And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
  He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4   but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
  and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5   Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6   The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
  and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
7   The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8   The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9   They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,¹ from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12   He will raise a signal for the nations
    and will assemble the banished of Israel,
  and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
13   The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
  Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14   But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
  They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
    and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15   And the LORD will utterly destroy²
    the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
  and will wave his hand over the River³
    with his scorching breath,⁴
  and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
16   And there will be a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
  as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

[1] 11:11 Probably Nubia
[2] 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
[3] 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
[4] 11:15 Or wind

Commentary

v1: The emergence of the Messiah. He would spring forth from the line of Jesse, being the father of King David. There is a hint here of a 'second David,' a man of wise leadership and godly character. The stump is the nation brought very low; this certainly happened at the time of Hezekiah, but the greater fulfilment is in Christ. Notice that the Hebrew word for branch (NETZER) has the same root as Nazarene (Matt 2.23), underlining the fulfilment in Christ.

v2: The excellence of His character; wisdom and understanding, counsel and power, knowledge and the fear of the Lord God, matching 9.6-7. The Messiah was one marked out as full of the Spirit of God.

v3-5: The equity of His government, and the exercise of His judgment; to Him is given divine authority, which He will exercise with perfect fairness. He will reign from David's throne (9.7), and rule all the nations.

v6-9: The effects of His reign; a period of peace, reconciliation and safety. This is not the work of human effort, nor even the influence of the church, but rather the direct intervention of God in human affairs through His Messiah, Jesus.

v10: The extent of His dominion will be world wide, as nations and peoples will rally to Him.

v11: The exiles will return, the final restoration of the Jewish people. There was a regathering during Hezekiah's reign (2 Chr 30.11) which Isaiah doubtless witnessed. But these verses speak of something greater and later.

v12: The regathering from the four corners of the earth, where the people of Judah have been scattered. This verse speaks of a geographical gathering, rather than spiritual restoration, although that is described elsewhere. The banner is Christ Himself.

v13: Enemies will be defeated, and internal squabbles finished, as Israel and Judah are once more reunited. There is some fulfilment in the church, as people of different nations are part of the same family. But the context here is of another later bringing together of all nations.

v14-15: There will be an authority over surrounding nations.

v16: The highway from Assyria, to facilitate Israel's return.