Isaiah 11

Chap. XI. Ver. 1—16. The peaceable kingdom of Messiah, the return of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles.—In the close of the preceding chapter, Bp. Lowth remarks, “the prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army, under the image of a mighty forest…. now laid low by the axe, wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent. In opposition to this, he represents the Great Person who makes the subject of this chapter, as a slender twig, shooting up from the trunk of an old tree, cut down and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful, and prosper. This contrast shows plainly the connexion between this and the preceding chapter,….

and affords a striking instance of that method so common with the prophets, especially with Isaiah, of taking occasion from the mention of some great temporal deliverance, to launch out into the display of the spiritual deliverance of God’s people by the Messiah.” The beautiful assemblage of images by which the peace and happiness of his kingdom are set forth in this chapter, cannot be sufficiently admired. The wolf and the leopard, no longer fierce, lie down with the lamb and the kid; the calf and the young lion, are led in the same peaceful band and that by a little child; also the heifer and the she-bear feed together, and lodge their young, of whom they used to be so ferocious, in the same place; all the serpent kind are so harmless, that the sucking child may put his hand on the basilisk’s den, and play on the hole of the aspic.

“The Greek and Latin poets have painted their golden age in very beautiful colours, but the exquisite imagery of Isaiah stands unequalled and inimitable. “It is hardly necessary to observe, that these figurative expressions of the prophet denote the power of the gospel in changing the hearts, tempers, and lives of the worst of men. Of this happy power there has been, in every age, a cloud of witnesses, although its most glorious era, predicted here, may not yet be arrived.” “The latter part of the chapter, in which there are many beautiful allusions to the Exodus from Egypt, seems to refer principally to the future restoration of the Jews from their several dispersions, and to that happy period when they and the Gentiles shall stand together under the banner of Jesus, and unite their zeal in extending the limits of his kingdom.”—Dr.

J. Smith, Any. With this prediction the following hymn is evidently connected, by the opening words, “in that day thou shalt say,” &c. Certainly whenever that day shall come which is here alluded to; when Israel shall be restored to their own land, under the standard of that Messiah, whom they have so long rejected; it will be a matter of universal joy to all the church of God.

Notes on the verses

Chap. XI. Ver. 1. A branch shall grow.—Hebrew, ‘* Shall become fruitful.” [The prophet having described the destruction of the Assyrian army under that of a mighty forest, here takes occasion to represent the great Person, who makes the subject of this chapter, as a slender twig, shooting out of the trunk of an old tree; which tender twig, though weak in appearance, should become fruitful and prosper.]—Bagster. The Targum of Jonathan expressly refers this to the Messiah, and St. John applies it to our Lord. (Revelation 5:5).; xxii. 16. Ver. 4. Rod—or sceptre; Chaldee, “word.” But Houbigant and Lowth read (by the exchange of a letter) “blast.” Compare (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Ver. 6. Wolf also.—(The Oriental poets elegantly apply the same ideas to show the effects of justice impartially administered.

“Through the influence of righteousness, the hungry wolf becomes mild, though in the presence of the white kid.”)—Bagster. Ver. 7. Shall feed.—That is, feed together, as in the next clause. So LXX, and Syriac.—Eat straw.—That is, chopped straw, which was used to fodder cattle. See (Genesis 24:25). Ver. 8. The weaned.—Lowth, “The new-weaned child.”—Cockatrice,— Lowth, “Basilisk.”—Cover the sea,—Lowth, “The depths of the sea.” Ver. 11. Pathros.—[Pathros is probably the same as the Phaturites of Pliny, a nome or district in the Thebais in Upper or Southern Egypt. This is a prophecy which certainly remains to be fulfilled,]—Bagster. Cush, Ethiopia, or Arabia; Elam is Persia; Shinar, Babylon; Hamath, on the confines of Judea; Islands of the sea, Europe.

Ver. 14. They shall fly upon the shoulders.—Lowth, “Invade the borders of the Philistines.” “I take the expression to be idiomatic.” Boothroyd.—Spoil them—i.e. ‘the children of the East.”—They shall lay, &c.—[Edom and Moab shall be the laying on of their hand; the children of Ammon their obedience.]—Bagster. Ver. 15. Utterly destroy.—Lowth, “Smite with a drought;” i.e. dry it, so as to render it fordable. Compare (Revelation 16:12).—Shall smite it in, &c.—Lowth, “Shall smite it into seven streams.” This has been sometimes done by cutting various streams from a river, to divide the current. See Orient. Cus. No. 1066. The pete, a sea, or river, is its bay.