Isaiah 11

This chapter belongs to the prophecy concerning the house of David and the coming king that begins in chapter 7 of Isaiah. After the close of Isaiah 10, which depicts a judgment that hews down the lofty trees, this chapter opens with a new shoot sprouting from the house of Jesse, of which only a stump remains.

Outline

• Verses 1-5 A shoot comes forth from the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of the LORD rests upon him. He judges the poor and the meek not by what his eyes see or his ears hear but with righteousness and equity.
• Verses 6-9 The wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, and the lion and the calf dwell together, and a nursing child can play at the hole of the asp without harm. The knowledge of the LORD fills the earth as the waters cover the sea.
• Verse 10 The root of Jesse stands as an ensign (banner) for the peoples, and the nations turn to him.
• Verses 11-16 The Lord gathers the remnant of his people scattered among the nations. The strife between Ephraim and Judah ceases, and a highway opens for the return from Assyria, as at the time of the Exodus.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 11:1 "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse": a classic messianic prophecy concerning the king who will come from the house of David.
• Isaiah 11:6 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb": widely known as a picture of the kingdom of peace.
• Isaiah 11:10 "Which shall stand for an ensign of the people": quoted in Romans 15:12 as a basis for the salvation of the Gentiles.

People and Places

• Jesse: The father of David. "The stem of Jesse" refers to the house of David.
• Assyria, Egypt: Named first among the lands where the remnant is scattered.
• Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath: Respectively, southern Egypt, the region of the upper Nile farther south, a region east of Babylon, the land of Babylon, and a city in Syria.
• Ephraim: A name representing the northern kingdom of Israel, paired with Judah in the south.
• Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon: Peoples surrounding Israel.

Interpretive Considerations

• Christians generally read the "shoot" of verses 1-5 as Jesus Christ. Jewish tradition has likewise read this chapter as a prophecy of the messianic king. Some scholars regard it as a poem depicting the ideal king hoped for in the prophet's own day.
• In the Hebrew text, the Spirit in verse 2 is described with six attributes. The Septuagint and the Vulgate add "piety," yielding seven, and the Catholic teaching on the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit" derives from this rendering.
• Premillennialism and dispensationalism read verses 6-9 as describing what will literally take place in the millennial kingdom, whereas amillennialism tends to read them as symbols of the peace brought by the gospel or of the new creation. A similar picture appears in Isaiah 65:17-25.
• Interpretations of the return in verses 11-16 are divided between those that see it as the restoration of the nation of Israel and those that see it as the nations gathering into the church.

In Korean Churches

• Isaiah 11:1-10 is the Old Testament reading for the Second Sunday of Advent in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary (a schedule of Scripture readings arranged according to the church year). For this reason, churches that follow the church year often preach on it during Advent and around Christmas.
• Verses 6-9 are frequently quoted in sermons on the theme of peace.