וְיָצָא חֹטֶר מִגֵּזַע יִשָׁי וְנֵצֶר מִשָּׁרָשָׁיו יִפְרֶה׃ 11:1
Isai. 11:1 And a shoot shall come forth
From the stock of Jesse,
And a twig shall be brought forth
From his roots.
The shoot from the stock of Jesse, David’s father, could be the Jewish Messiah. However, it can also be the remnant of the children of Israel. The remainder of this chapter is ambiguous about this. However, it seems to certainly refer to the end time.
וְנָחָה עָלָיו רוּחַ יְהוָה רוּחַ חָכְמָה וּבִינָה רוּחַ עֵצָה וּגְבוּרָה רוּחַ דַּעַת וְיִרְאַת יְהוָה׃ 11:2
Isai. 11:2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and power,
The spirit of knowledge and reverence of the Lord.
וַהֲרִיחוֹ בְּיִרְאַת יְהוָה וְלֹא־לְמַרְאֵה עֵינָיו יִשְׁפּוֹט וְלֹא־לְמִשְׁמַע אָזְנָיו יוֹכִיחַ׃ 11:3
Isai. 11:3 And his strength shall be in the reverence of the Lord,
That not by the sight of his own eyes will he judge
And not by the hearing of his own ears will he decide.
וְשָׁפַט בְּצֶדֶק דַּלִּים וְהוֹכִיחַ בְּמִישׁוֹר לְעַנְוֵי־אָרֶץ וְהִכָּה־אֶרֶץ בְּשֵׁבֶט פִּיו וּבְרוּחַ שְׂפָתָיו יָמִית רָשָׁע׃ 11:4
Isai. 11:4 But he will judge the poor with righteousness,
And plead for the meek of the land with equity.
And he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth,
And he shall slay the wicked with the breath of his lips.
וְהָיָה צֶדֶק אֵזוֹר מָתְנָיו וְהָאֱמוּנָה אֵזוֹר חֲלָצָיו׃ 11:5
Isai. 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins
And faithfulness the belt of his reins.
וְגָר זְאֵב עִם־כֶּבֶשׂ וְנָמֵר עִם־גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּם׃ 11:6
Isai. 11:6 And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
And the lamb and the lion and the fatling together.
And the little child shall be a leader among them.
וּפָרָה וָדֹב תִּרְעֶינָה יַחְדָּו יִרְבְּצוּ יַלְדֵיהֶן וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל־תֶּבֶן׃ 11:7
Isai. 11:7 And the cow will feed with the bear.
Their young ones will lie down together.
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
וְשִׁעֲשַׁע יוֹנֵק עַל־חֻר פָּתֶן וְעַל מְאוּרַת צִפְעוֹנִי גָּמוּל יָדוֹ הָדָה׃ 11:8
Isai. 11:8 And the suckling child will play
About the hole of the asp,
And the weaned will be putting his hand
Upon the den of the viper.
לֹא־יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא־יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכָל־הַר קָדְשִׁי כִּי־מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ דֵּעָה אֶת־יְהוָה כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּים׃ 11:9
Isai. 11:9 “They will not harm and they will not destroy
In all the mountain of My holiness,”
When the land confirms the Lord,
The knowledge covering like the sea’s waters.
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא שֹׁרֶשׁ יִשַׁי אֲשֶׁר עֹמֵד לְנֵס עַמִּים אֵלָיו גּוֹיִם יִדְרֹשׁוּ וְהָיְתָה מְנֻחָתוֹ כָּבוֹד׃ 11:10
Isai. 11:10 And it shall be on that day,
The root of Jesse
Who has been appointed to be
An ensign of the peoples,
To him the nations shall seek,
And his resting place will be glorious.
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יוֹסִיף אֲדֹנָי שֵׁנִית יָדוֹ לִקְנוֹת אֶת־שְׁאָר עַמּוֹ אֲשֶׁר יִשָּׁאֵר מֵאַשּׁוּר וּמִמִּצְרַיִם 11:11 וּמִפַּתְרוֹס וּמִכּוּשׁ וּמֵעֵילָם וּמִשִּׁנְעָר וּמֵחֲמָת וּמֵאִיֵּי הַיָּם׃
Isai. 11:11 And it shall be on that day,
The Master will extend His hand a second time
To recover the remnant of His people
That will have remained 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.
וְנָשָׂא נֵס לַגּוֹיִם וְאָסַף נִדְחֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּנְפֻצוֹת יְהוּדָה יְקַבֵּץ מֵאַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ׃ 11:12
Isai. 11:12 And He will raise up an ensign for the nations,
And He will assemble the dispersed of Israel,
And He will gather together the scattered of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
Many bible commentators, pointing back to v. 11:10, believe this ensign is again the Messiah. But I suspect it may instead refer to Israel reborn. The first line of the verse is, I believe, introductory to the remainder of this verse as well as the next one.
וְסָרָה קִנְאַת אֶפְרַיִם וְצֹרְרֵי יְהוּדָה יִכָּרֵתוּ אֶפְרַיִם לֹא־יְקַנֵּא אֶת־יְהוּדָה וִיהוּדָה לֹא־יָצֹר 11:13 אֶת־אֶפְרָיִם׃
Isai. 11:13 And the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the oppressors of Judah shall be cut off.
Ephraim shall not envy Judah
And Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
A remarkable phenomenon indeed! Not only the end of fighting among Jews, but the end of anti-Semitism as well! Hallelujah! This can be nothing but the end time. There doesn’t seem to be the excess of world violence as depicted by the Christian bible in Revelation.
וְעָפוּ בְכָתֵף פְּלִשְׁתִּים יָמָּה יַחְדָּו יָבֹזּוּ אֶת־בְּנֵי־קֶדֶם אֱדוֹם וּמוֹאָב מִשְׁלוֹח יָדָם וּבְנֵי עַמּוֹן 11:14 מִשְׁמַעְתָּם׃
Isai. 11:14 And they shall fly into the shoulder of the Philistines of the west.
Together they shall spoil the children of the east,
Edom and Moab, putting forth their hand.
And the children of Ammon shall be their obeyers.
וְהֶחֱרִים יְהוָה אֵת לְשׁוֹן יָם־מִצְרַיִם וְהֵנִיף יָדוֹ עַל־הַנָּהָר בַּעְיָם רוּחוֹ וְהִכָּהוּ לְשִׁבְעָה נְחָלִים 11:15
וְהִדְרִיךְ בַּנְּעָלִים׃
Isai. 11:15 And the Lord shall destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt,
And wave His hand over the River
With the might of His breath
As He smites it to seven streams,
That He will tread down with a sandal.
וְהָיְתָה מְסִלָּה לִשְׁאָר עַמּוֹ אֲשֶׁר יִשָּׁאֵר מֵאַשּׁוּר כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיְתָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיוֹם עֲלֹתוֹ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ 11:16
Isai. 11:16 And there shall be a highway
For the remnant of His people
That will have remained from Assyria,
As there was for Israel on the day of its ascendance
From the land of Egypt.
The idyllic picture described in verses 11:6 to 11:13 seems to belie the violence depicted in v. 11:14 (and 11:15?). It’s difficult for me not to think of the first picture as Eden. The second picture would not be accurate if that were the case. So I have to assume that Isaiah simply interposed a reiteration of his divine messages of the Lord’s “anger.”
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