9 They shall not hurt H7489 nor destroy H7843 in all my holy H6944 mountain: H2022 for the earth H776 shall be full H4390 of the knowledge H1844 of the LORD, H3068 as the waters H4325 cover H3680 the sea. H3220
The LORD H3068 hath made known H3045 his salvation: H3444 his righteousness H6666 hath he openly shewed H1540 in the sight H5869 of the heathen. H1471 He hath remembered H2142 his mercy H2617 and his truth H530 toward the house H1004 of Israel: H3478 all the ends H657 of the earth H776 have seen H7200 the salvation H3444 of our God. H430
Then G3303 G3767 they that gladly G780 received G588 his G846 word G3056 were baptized: G907 and G2532 the same G1565 day G2250 there were added G4369 unto them about G5616 three thousand G5153 souls. G5590 And G1161 they continued G2258 stedfastly G4342 in the apostles' G652 doctrine G1322 and G2532 fellowship, G2842 and G2532 in breaking G2800 of bread, G740 and G2532 in prayers. G4335 And G1161 fear G5401 came upon G1096 every G3956 soul: G5590 and G5037 many G4183 wonders G5059 and G2532 signs G4592 were done G1096 by G1223 the apostles. G652 And G1161 all G3956 that believed G4100 were G2258 together, G1909 G846 and G2532 had G2192 all things G537 common; G2839 And G2532 sold G4097 their possessions G2933 and G2532 goods, G5223 and G2532 parted G1266 them G846 to all G3956 men, as G2530 every man G5100 had G302 G2192 need. G5532 And G5037 they, continuing G4342 daily G2596 G2250 with one accord G3661 in G1722 the temple, G2411 and G5037 breaking G2806 bread G740 from G2596 house to house, G3624 did eat G3335 their meat G5160 with G1722 gladness G20 and G2532 singleness G858 of heart, G2588 Praising G134 God, G2316 and G2532 having G2192 favour G5485 with G4314 all G3650 the people. G2992 And G1161 the Lord G2962 added G4369 to the church G1577 daily G2596 G2250 such as should be saved. G4982
And G2532 he laid hold on G2902 the dragon, G1404 that old G744 serpent, G3789 which G3739 is G2076 the Devil, G1228 and G2532 Satan, G4567 and G2532 bound G1210 him G846 a thousand G5507 years, G2094 And G2532 cast G906 him G846 into G1519 the bottomless pit, G12 and G2532 shut G2808 him G846 up, G2808 and G2532 set a seal G4972 upon G1883 him, G846 that G3363 he should deceive G4105 the nations G1484 no G3363 more, G2089 till G891 the thousand G5507 years G2094 should be fulfilled: G5055 and G2532 after G3326 that G5023 he G846 must G1163 be loosed G3089 a little G3398 season. G5550 And G2532 I saw G1492 thrones, G2362 and G2532 they sat G2523 upon G1909 them, G846 and G2532 judgment G2917 was given G1325 unto them: G846 and G2532 I saw the souls G5590 of them that were beheaded G3990 for G1223 the witness G3141 of Jesus, G2424 and G2532 for G1223 the word G3056 of God, G2316 and G2532 which G3748 had G4352 not G3756 worshipped G4352 the beast, G2342 neither G3777 his G846 image, G1504 G2532 neither G3756 had received G2983 his mark G5480 upon G1909 their G846 foreheads, G3359 or G2532 in G1909 their G846 hands; G5495 and G2532 they lived G2198 and G2532 reigned G936 with G3326 Christ G5547 a thousand G5507 years. G2094 But G1161 the rest G3062 of the dead G3498 lived G326 not G3756 again G326 until G2193 the thousand G5507 years G2094 were finished. G5055 This G3778 is the first G4413 resurrection. G386 Blessed G3107 and G2532 holy G40 is he that hath G2192 part G3313 in G1722 the first G4413 resurrection: G386 on G1909 such G5130 the second G1208 death G2288 hath G2192 no G3756 power, G1849 but G235 they shall be G2071 priests G2409 of God G2316 and G2532 of Christ, G5547 and G2532 shall reign G936 with G3326 him G846 a thousand G5507 years. G2094
Do G4160 all things G3956 without G5565 murmurings G1112 and G2532 disputings: G1261 That G2443 ye may be G1096 blameless G273 and G2532 harmless, G185 the sons G5043 of God, G2316 without rebuke, G298 in G1722 the midst G3319 of a crooked G4646 and G2532 perverse G1294 nation, G1074 among G1722 whom G3739 ye shine G5316 as G5613 lights G5458 in G1722 the world; G2889
But G1161 the fruit G2590 of the Spirit G4151 is G2076 love, G26 joy, G5479 peace, G1515 longsuffering, G3115 gentleness, G5544 goodness, G19 faith, G4102 Meekness, G4236 temperance: G1466 against G2596 such G5108 there is G2076 no G3756 law. G3551 And G1161 they that are G3588 Christ's G5547 have crucified G4717 the flesh G4561 with G4862 the affections G3804 and G2532 lusts. G1939
Recompense G591 to no man G3367 evil G2556 for G473 evil. G2556 Provide G4306 things honest G2570 in the sight G1799 of all G3956 men. G444 If G1487 it be possible, G1415 as much as lieth in G1537 you, G5216 live peaceably G1514 with G3326 all G3956 men. G444 Dearly beloved, G27 avenge G1556 not G3361 yourselves, G1438 but G235 rather give G1325 place G5117 unto wrath: G3709 for G1063 it is written, G1125 Vengeance G1557 is mine; G1698 I G1473 will repay, G467 saith G3004 the Lord. G2962 Therefore G3767 if G1437 thine G4675 enemy G2190 hunger, G3983 feed G5595 him; G846 if G1437 he thirst, G1372 give G4222 him G846 drink: G4222 for G1063 in so G5124 doing G4160 thou shalt heap G4987 coals G440 of fire G4442 on G1909 his G846 head. G2776 Be G3528 not G3361 overcome G3528 of G5259 evil, G2556 but G235 overcome G3528 evil G2556 with G1722 good. G18
For G1063 I would G2309 not, G3756 brethren, G80 that ye G5209 should be ignorant G50 of this G5124 mystery, G3466 lest G3363 ye should be G5600 wise G5429 in G3844 your own conceits; G1438 that G3754 blindness G4457 in G575 part G3313 is happened G1096 to Israel, G2474 until G891 G3739 the fulness G4138 of the Gentiles G1484 be come in. G1525 And G2532 so G3779 all G3956 Israel G2474 shall be saved: G4982 as G2531 it is written, G1125 There shall come G2240 out of G1537 Sion G4622 the Deliverer, G4506 and G2532 shall turn away G654 ungodliness G763 from G575 Jacob: G2384
And G2532 now, G3569 Lord, G2962 behold G1896 G1909 their G846 threatenings: G547 and G2532 grant unto G1325 thy G4675 servants, G1401 that with G3326 all G3956 boldness G3954 they may speak G2980 thy G4675 word, G3056 By G1722 G4571 stretching forth G1614 thine G4675 hand G5495 to G1519 heal; G2392 and G2532 that signs G4592 and G2532 wonders G5059 may be done G1096 by G1223 the name G3686 of thy G4675 holy G40 child G3816 Jesus. G2424 And G2532 when they G846 had prayed, G1189 the place G5117 was shaken G4531 where G1722 G3739 they were G2258 assembled together; G4863 and G2532 they were G4130 all G537 filled G4130 with the Holy G40 Ghost, G4151 and G2532 they spake G2980 the word G3056 of God G2316 with G3326 boldness. G3954 And G1161 the multitude G4128 of them that believed G4100 were G2258 of one heart G2588 and G2532 of one G3391 soul: G5590 neither G2532 G3761 said G3004 any G1520 of them that ought G5100 of the things which he G846 possessed G5224 was G1511 his own; G2398 but G235 they G846 had G2258 all things G537 common. G2839 And G2532 with great G3173 power G1411 gave G591 the apostles G652 witness G3142 of the resurrection G386 of the Lord G2962 Jesus: G2424 and G5037 great G3173 grace G5485 was G2258 upon G1909 them G846 all. G3956 Neither G3761 G1063 was G5225 there any G5100 among G1722 them G846 that lacked: G1729 for G1063 as many as G3745 were G5225 possessors G2935 of lands G5564 or G2228 houses G3614 sold them, G4453 and brought G5342 the prices G5092 of the things that were sold, G4097 And G2532 laid them down G5087 at G3844 the apostles' G652 feet: G4228 and G1161 distribution was made G1239 unto every man G1538 according G2530 as G302 he had G2192 need. G5100 G5532
But G1161 I G1473 say G3004 unto you, G5213 Love G25 your G5216 enemies, G2190 bless G2127 them that curse G2672 you, G5209 do G4160 good G2573 to them that hate G3404 you, G5209 and G2532 pray G4336 for G5228 them which G3588 despitefully use G1908 you, G5209 and G2532 persecute G1377 you; G5209 That G3704 ye may be G1096 the children G5207 of your G5216 Father G3962 which G3588 is in G1722 heaven: G3772 for G3754 he maketh G393 his G846 sun G2246 to rise G393 on G1909 the evil G4190 and G2532 on the good, G18 and G2532 sendeth rain G1026 on G1909 the just G1342 and G2532 on the unjust. G94
And many H7227 nations H1471 shall come, H1980 and say, H559 Come, H3212 and let us go up H5927 to the mountain H2022 of the LORD, H3068 and to the house H1004 of the God H430 of Jacob; H3290 and he will teach H3384 us of his ways, H1870 and we will walk H3212 in his paths: H734 for the law H8451 shall go forth H3318 of Zion, H6726 and the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 from Jerusalem. H3389 And he shall judge H8199 among many H7227 people, H5971 and rebuke H3198 strong H6099 nations H1471 afar off; H7350 and they shall beat H3807 their swords H2719 into plowshares, H855 and their spears H2595 into pruninghooks: H4211 nation H1471 shall not lift up H5375 a sword H2719 against nation, H1471 neither shall they learn H3925 war H4421 any more. But they shall sit H3427 every man H376 under his vine H1612 and under his fig tree; H8384 and none shall make them afraid: H2729 for the mouth H6310 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 hath spoken H1696 it.
Arise, H6965 shine; H215 for thy light H216 is come, H935 and the glory H3519 of the LORD H3068 is risen H2224 upon thee. For, behold, the darkness H2822 shall cover H3680 the earth, H776 and gross darkness H6205 the people: H3816 but the LORD H3068 shall arise H2224 upon thee, and his glory H3519 shall be seen H7200 upon thee. And the Gentiles H1471 shall come H1980 to thy light, H216 and kings H4428 to the brightness H5051 of thy rising. H2225 Lift up H5375 thine eyes H5869 round about, H5439 and see: H7200 all they gather themselves together, H6908 they come H935 to thee: thy sons H1121 shall come H935 from far, H7350 and thy daughters H1323 shall be nursed H539 at thy side. H6654 Then thou shalt see, H7200 H3372 and flow together, H5102 and thine heart H3824 shall fear, H6342 and be enlarged; H7337 because the abundance H1995 of the sea H3220 shall be converted H2015 unto thee, the forces H2428 of the Gentiles H1471 shall come H935 unto thee. The multitude H8229 of camels H1581 shall cover H3680 thee, the dromedaries H1070 of Midian H4080 and Ephah; H5891 all they from Sheba H7614 shall come: H935 they shall bring H5375 gold H2091 and incense; H3828 and they shall shew forth H1319 the praises H8416 of the LORD. H3068 All the flocks H6629 of Kedar H6938 shall be gathered together H6908 unto thee, the rams H352 of Nebaioth H5032 shall minister H8334 unto thee: they shall come up H5927 with acceptance H7522 on mine altar, H4196 and I will glorify H6286 the house H1004 of my glory. H8597 Who are these that fly H5774 as a cloud, H5645 and as the doves H3123 to their windows? H699 Surely the isles H339 shall wait H6960 for me, and the ships H591 of Tarshish H8659 first, H7223 to bring H935 thy sons H1121 from far, H7350 their silver H3701 and their gold H2091 with them, unto the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and to the Holy One H6918 of Israel, H3478 because he hath glorified H6286 thee. And the sons H1121 of strangers H5236 shall build up H1129 thy walls, H2346 and their kings H4428 shall minister H8334 unto thee: for in my wrath H7110 I smote H5221 thee, but in my favour H7522 have I had mercy H7355 on thee. Therefore thy gates H8179 shall be open H6605 continually; H8548 they shall not be shut H5462 day H3119 nor night; H3915 that men may bring H935 unto thee the forces H2428 of the Gentiles, H1471 and that their kings H4428 may be brought. H5090 For the nation H1471 and kingdom H4467 that will not serve H5647 thee shall perish; H6 yea, those nations H1471 shall be utterly H2717 wasted. H2717 The glory H3519 of Lebanon H3844 shall come H935 unto thee, the fir tree, H1265 the pine tree, H8410 and the box H8391 together, H3162 to beautify H6286 the place H4725 of my sanctuary; H4720 and I will make the place H4725 of my feet H7272 glorious. H3513 The sons H1121 also of them that afflicted H6031 thee shall come H1980 bending H7817 unto thee; and all they that despised H5006 thee shall bow themselves down H7812 at the soles H3709 of thy feet; H7272 and they shall call H7121 thee, The city H5892 of the LORD, H3068 The Zion H6726 of the Holy One H6918 of Israel. H3478 Whereas H8478 thou hast been forsaken H5800 and hated, H8130 so that no man went through H5674 thee, I will make H7760 thee an eternal H5769 excellency, H1347 a joy H4885 of many H1755 generations. H1755 Thou shalt also suck H3243 the milk H2461 of the Gentiles, H1471 and shalt suck H3243 the breast H7699 of kings: H4428 and thou shalt know H3045 that I the LORD H3068 am thy Saviour H3467 and thy Redeemer, H1350 the mighty One H46 of Jacob. H3290 For brass H5178 I will bring H935 gold, H2091 and for iron H1270 I will bring H935 silver, H3701 and for wood H6086 brass, H5178 and for stones H68 iron: H1270 I will also make H7760 thy officers H6486 peace, H7965 and thine exactors H5065 righteousness. H6666 Violence H2555 shall no more be heard H8085 in thy land, H776 wasting H7701 nor destruction H7667 within thy borders; H1366 but thou shalt call H7121 thy walls H2346 Salvation, H3444 and thy gates H8179 Praise. H8416 The sun H8121 shall be no more thy light H216 by day; H3119 neither for brightness H5051 shall the moon H3394 give light H216 unto thee: but the LORD H3068 shall be unto thee an everlasting H5769 light, H215 and thy God H430 thy glory. H8597 Thy sun H8121 shall no more go down; H935 neither shall thy moon H3391 withdraw H622 itself: for the LORD H3068 shall be thine everlasting H5769 light, H216 and the days H3117 of thy mourning H60 shall be ended. H7999 Thy people H5971 also shall be all righteous: H6662 they shall inherit H3423 the land H776 for ever, H5769 the branch H5342 of my planting, H4302 the work H4639 of my hands, H3027 that I may be glorified. H6286 A little one H6996 shall become a thousand, H505 and a small one H6810 a strong H6099 nation: H1471 I the LORD H3068 will hasten H2363 it in his time. H6256
All the ends H657 of the world H776 shall remember H2142 and turn H7725 unto the LORD: H3068 and all the kindreds H4940 of the nations H1471 shall worship H7812 before H6440 thee. For the kingdom H4410 is the LORD'S: H3068 and he is the governor H4910 among the nations. H1471 All they that be fat H1879 upon earth H776 shall eat H398 and worship: H7812 all they that go down H3381 to the dust H6083 shall bow H3766 before H6440 him: and none can keep alive H2421 his own soul. H5315 A seed H2233 shall serve H5647 him; it shall be accounted H5608 to the Lord H136 for a generation. H1755 They shall come, H935 and shall declare H5046 his righteousness H6666 unto a people H5971 that shall be born, H3205 that he hath done H6213 this.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 11
Commentary on Isaiah 11 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
This is the fate of the imperial power of the world. When the axe is laid to it, it falls without hope. But in Israel spring is returning. “And there cometh forth a twig out of the stump of Jesse, and a shoot from its roots bringeth forth fruit.” The world-power resembles the cedar-forest of Lebanon; the house of David, on the other hand, because of its apostasy, is like the stump of a felled tree ( geza‛ , truncus , from gâza‛ , truncare ), like a root without stem, branches, or crown. The world-kingdom, at the height of its power, presents the most striking contrast to Israel and the house of David in the uttermost depth announced in Isaiah 6:1-13 fin ., mutilated and reduced to the lowliness of its Bethlehemitish origin. But whereas the Lebanon of the imperial power is thrown down, to remain prostrate; the house of David renews its youth. And whilst the former has no sooner reached the summit of its glory, than it is suddenly cast down; the latter, having been reduced to the utmost danger of destruction, is suddenly exalted. What Pliny says of certain trees, “ inarescunt rursusque adolescunt, senescunt quidem, sed e radicibus repullulant ,” is fulfilled in the tree of Davidic royalty, that has its roots in Jesse (for the figure itself, see F. V. Lasaulx, Philosophie der Geschichte , pp. 117-119). Out of the stumps of Jesse, i.e., out of the remnant of the chosen royal family which has sunk down to the insignificance of the house from which it sprang, there comes forth a twig ( choter ), which promises to supply the place of the trunk and crown; and down below, in the roots covered with earth, and only rising a little above it, there shows itself a nētzer , i.e., a fresh green shoot (from nâtzēr , to shine or blossom). In the historical account of the fulfilment, even the ring of the words of the prophecy is noticed: the nētzer , at first so humble and insignificant, was a poor despised Nazarene (Matthew 2:23). But the expression yiphreh shows at once that it will not stop at this lowliness of origin. The shoot will bring forth fruit ( pârâh , different in meaning, and possibly
(Note: We say possibly, for the Indo-Germanic root bhar, to bear (Sanscr. bharâmi = φέρω , fero , cf., ferax , fertilis ), which Gesenius takes as determining the radical meaning of pârach , cannot be traced with any certainty in the Semitic. Nevertheless peri and perach bear the same relation to one another, in the ordinary usage of the language, as fruit and blossom: the former is so called, as that which has broken through (cf., pĕtĕr ); the latter, as that which has broken up, or budded.)
also in root, from pârach , to blossom and bud). In the humble beginning there lies a power which will carry it up to a great height by a steady and certain process (Ezekiel 17:22-23). The twig which is shooting up on the ground will become a tree, and this tree will have a crown laden with fruit. Consequently the state of humiliation will be followed by one of exaltation and perfection.
Jehovah acknowledges Him, and consecrates and equips Him for His great work with the seven spirits. ”And the Spirit of Jehovah descends upon Him, spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and might, spirit of knowledge and fear of Jehovah.” “The Spirit of Jehovah” ( ruach Yehovah ) is the Divine Spirit, as the communicative vehicle of the whole creative fulness of divine powers. Then follow the six spirits, comprehended by the ruach Yehovah in three pairs, of which the first relates to the intellectual life, the second to the practical life, and the third to the direct relation to God. For c hocmâh (wisdom) is the power of discerning the nature of things through the appearance, and bı̄nâh (understanding) the power of discerning the differences of things in their appearance; the former is σοφία , the latter διάκρισις or σύνεσις . “Counsel” ( etzâh ) is the gift of forming right conclusions, and “might” ( gebūrâh ) the ability to carry them out with energy. “The knowledge of Jehovah” ( da‛ath Yehovah ) is knowledge founded upon the fellowship of love; and “the fear of Jehovah” ( yir'ath Yehovâh ), fear absorbed in reverence. There are seven spirits, which are enumerated in order from the highest downwards; since the spirit of the fear of Jehovah is the basis of the whole (Proverbs 1:7; Job 28:28; Psalms 111:10), and the Spirit of Jehovah is the heart of all. It corresponds to the shaft of the seven-lighted candlestick, and the three pair of arms that proceeded from it. In these seven forms the Holy Spirit descended upon the second David for a permanent possession, as is affirmed in the perf. consec . ונהה (with the tone upon the ultimate, on account of the following guttural, to prevent its being pronounced unintelligibly;
(Note: This moving forward of the tone to the last syllable is also found before Ayin in Genesis 26:10, and very commonly with kūmâh , and verbs of a similar kind; also before Elohim and Jehovah, to be read Adonai , and before the half-guttural resh , Psalms 43:1; Psalms 119:154, but nowhere on any other ground than the orthophonic rather than euphonic one mentioned above; compare also וסרה in Isaiah 11:13, with וסרוּ (with ה following) in Exodus 8:7.)
nuach like καταβαίνειν καὶ μένειν , John 1:32-33). The seven torches before the throne of God (Revelation 4:5, cf., Isaiah 1:4) burn and give light in His soul. The seven spirits are His seven eyes (Revelation 5:6).
And His regal conduct is regulated by this His thoroughly spiritual nature. ”And fear of Jehovah is fragrance to Him; and He judges not according to outward sight, neither does He pass sentence according to outward hearing.” We must not render it: His smelling is the smelling of the fear of God, i.e., the penetration of it with a keen judicial insight (as Hengstenberg and Umbreit understand it); for hērı̄ach with the preposition Beth has not merely the signification to smell (as when followed by an accusative, Job 39:25), but to smell with satisfaction (like בּ ראה , to see with satisfaction), Exodus 30:38; Leviticus 26:31; Amos 5:21. The fear of God is that which He smells with satisfaction; it is rēach nı̄choach to Him. Meier's objection, that fear of God is not a thing that can be smelt, and therefore that hērı̄ach must signify to breathe, is a trivial one. Just as the outward man has five senses for the material world, the inner man has also a sensorium for the spiritual world, which discerns different things in different ways. Thus the second David scents the fear of God, and only the fear of God, as a pleasant fragrance; for the fear of God is a sacrifice of adoration continually ascending to God. His favour or displeasure does not depend upon brilliant or repulsive external qualities; He does not judge according to outward appearances, but according to the relation of the heart to His God.
This is the standard according to which He will judge when saving, and judge when punishing. “And judges the poor with righteousness, and passes sentence with equity for the humble in the land; and smites the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slays the wicked. And righteousness is the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His hips.” The main feature in Isaiah 11:4 is to be seen in the objective ideas. He will do justice to the dallim , the weak and helpless, by adopting an incorruptibly righteous course towards their oppressors, and decide with straightforwardness for the humble or meek of the land: ‛ ânâv , like ‛ ânı̄ , from ‛ ânâh , to bend, the latter denoting a person bowed down by misfortune, the former a person inwardly bowed down, i.e., from all self-conceit ( hōcı̄ach l' , as in Job 16:21). The poor and humble, or meek, are the peculiar objects of His royal care; just as it was really to them that the first beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount applied. But “the earth” and “the wicked” (the latter is not to be understood collectively, but, as in several passages in the Old Testament, viz., Psalms 68:22; Psalms 110:6; Habakkuk 3:13-14, as pointing forward prophetically to an eschatological person, in whom hostility towards Jehovah and His Anointed culminates most satanically) will experience the full force of His penal righteousness. The very word of His mouth is a rod which shatters in pieces (Psalms 2:9; Revelation 1:16); and the breath of His lips is sufficient to destroy, without standing in need of any further means (2 Thessalonians 2:8). As the girdle upon the hips ( m othnaim , lxx την̀ ὀσφύν ), and in front upon the loins ( c hălâzaim , lxx τὰς πλευράς ), fastens the clothes together, so all the qualities and active powers of His person have for their band tzedâkâh , which follows the inviolable norm of the divine will, and hâ'emūnâh , which holds immovably to the course divinely appointed, according to promise (Isaiah 25:1). Special prominence is given by the article to ' emūnâh ; He is the faithful and true witness (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14). Consequently with Him there commences a new epoch, in which the Son of David and His righteousness acquire a world-subduing force, and find their home in a humanity that has sprung, like Himself, out of deep humiliation.
The fruit of righteousness is peace, which now reigns in humanity under the rule of the Prince of Peace, and even in the animal world, with nothing whatever to disturb it. “And the wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down with the kid; and calf and lion and stalled ox together: a little boy drives them. And cow and bear go to the pasture; their young ones lie down together: and the lion eats shopped straw like the ox. And the suckling plays by the hole of the adder, and the weaned child stretches its hand to the pupil of the basilisk-viper. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the land is filled with knowledge of Jehovah, like the waters covering the sea.” The fathers, and such commentators as Luther, Calvin, and Vitringa, have taken all these figures from the animal world as symbolical. Modern rationalists, on the other hand, understand them literally, but regard the whole as a beautiful dream and wish. It is a prophecy, however, the realization of which is to be expected on this side of the boundary between time and eternity, and, as Paul has shown in Rom 8, is an integral link in the predestined course of the history of salvation (Hengstenberg, Umbreit, Hofmann, Drechsler). There now reign among irrational creatures, from the greatest to the least, - even among such as are invisible, - fierce conflicts and bloodthirstiness of the most savage kind. But when the Son of David enters upon the full possession of His royal inheritance, the peace of paradise will be renewed, and all that is true in the popular legends of the golden age be realized and confirmed. This is what the prophet depicts in such lovely colours. The wolf and lamb, those two hereditary foes, will be perfectly reconciled then. The leopard will let the teazing kid lie down beside it. The lion, between the calf and stalled ox, neither seizes upon its weaker neighbour, nor longs for the fatter one. Cow and bear graze together, whilst their young ones lie side beside in the pasture. The lion no longer thirsts for blood, but contents itself, like the ox, with chopped straw. The suckling pursues its sport ( pilpel of שׁעע , m ulcere ) by the adder's hole, and the child just weaned stretches out its hand boldly and fearlessly to me'ūrath tziph‛ōni . It is evident from Jeremiah 8:17 that tziph‛ōni is the name of a species of snake. According to Aquila and the Vulgate, it is basiliskos , serpens regulus , possibly from tzaph , to pipe or hiss (Ges., Fürst); for Isidorus, in his Origg. xii. 4, says, Sibilus idem est qui et regulus; sibilo enim occidit, antequam mordeat vel exurat . For the hapax leg . hâdâh , the meaning dirigere , tendere , is established by the Arabic; but there is all the more uncertainty about the meaning of the hap. leg . מאורה . According to the parallel חר , it seems to signify the hollow (Syr., Vulg., lxx, κοίτη ): whether from אּוּר = עוּר , from which comes מערה ; or from אור , the light-hole (like מאור , which occurs in the Mishna, Ohaloth xiii. 1) or opening where a cavern opens to the light of day. It is probable, however, that m e'ūrâh refers to something that exerts an attractive influence upon the child, either the “blending of colours” (Saad. renders tziph‛oni , errakas' , the motley snake), or better still, the “pupil of the eye” (Targum), taking the word as a feminine of m â'ōr , the light of the eye ( b. Erubin 55 b - the power of vision). The look of a snake, more especially of the basilisk (not merely the basilisk-lizard, but also the basilisk-viper), was supposed to have a paralyzing and bewitching influence; but now the snake will lose this pernicious power (Isaiah 65:25), and the basilisk become so tame and harmless, as to let children handle its sparkling eyes as if they were jewels. All this, as we should say with Luthardt and Hofmann ( Schriftbeweis , ii. 2, 567), is only colouring which the hand of the prophet employs, for the purpose of painting the peace of that glorified state which surpasses all possibility of description; and it is unquestionably necessary to take the thought of the promise in a spiritual sense, without adhering literally to the medium employed in expressing it. But, on the other hand, we must guard against treating the description itself as merely a drapery thrown around the actual object; whereas it is rather the refraction of the object in the mind of the prophet himself, and therefore a manifestation of the true nature of that which he actually saw.
But are the animals to be taken as the subject in Isaiah 11:9 also? The subject that most naturally suggests itself is undoubtedly the animals, of which a few that are alarming and destructive to men have been mentioned just before. And the fact that they really are thought of as the subject, is confirmed by Isaiah 65:25, where Isaiah 11:6-9 is repeated in a compendious form. The idea that ירעוּ requires men as the subject, is refuted by the common רעה חיּה (compare the parallel promise in Ezekiel 34:25, which rests upon Hosea 2:20). That the term yashchithu can be applied to animals, is evident from Jeremiah 2:30, and may be assumed as a matter of course. But if the animals are the subject, har kodshi (my holy mountain) is not Zion-Moriah, upon which wild beasts never made their home in historical times; but, as the generalizing col (all) clearly shows, the whole of the holy mountain-land of Israel: har kodshi has just this meaning in Isaiah 57:13 (cf., Psalms 78:54; Exodus 15:17). The fact that peace prevails in the animal world, and also peace between man and beast, is then attributed to the universal prevalence of the knowledge of God, in consequence of which that destructive hostility between the animal world and man, by which estrangement and apostasy from God were so often punished (2 Kings 17:25; Ezekiel 14:15, etc.: see also Isaiah 7:24), have entirely come to an end. The meaning of “the earth” is also determined by that of “all my holy mountain.” The land of Israel , the dominion of the Son of David in the more restricted sense, will be from this time forward the paradisaical centre, as it were, of the whole earth - a prelude of its future state of perfect and universal glorification (Isaiah 6:3, “all the earth”). It has now become full of “the knowledge of Jehovah,” i.e., of that experimental knowledge which consists in the fellowship of love ( דעה , like לדה , is a secondary form of דעת , the more common infinitive or verbal noun from ידע : Ges. §133, 1), like the waters which cover the sea, i.e., bottom of the sea (compare Habakkuk 2:14, where lâda‛ath is a virtual accusative, full of that which is to be known). “ Cover :” c issâh l' (like sâcac l' , Psalms 91:4), signifies to afford a covering to another; the Lamed is frequently introduced with a participle (in Arabic regularly) as a sign of the object (Ewald, §292, e ), and the omission of the article in the case of mecassim is a natural consequence of the inverted order of the words.
The prophet has now described, in Isaiah 11:1-5, the righteous conduct of the Son of David, and in Isaiah 11:6-9 the peace which prevails under His government, and extends even to the animal world, and which is consequent upon the living knowledge of God that has now become universal, that is to say, of the spiritual transformation of the people subject to His sway, - an allusion full of enigmas, but one which is more clearly expounded in the following verse, both in its direct contents and also in all that it presupposes. “And it will come to pass in that day: the root-sprout of Jesse, which stands as a banner of the peoples, for it will nations ask, and its place of rest is glory.” The first question which is disposed of here, has reference to the apparent restriction thus far of all the blessings of this peaceful rule to Israel and the land of Israel. This restriction, as we now learn, is not for its own sake, but is simply the means of an unlimited extension of this fulness of blessing. The proud tree of the Davidic sovereignty is hewn down, and nothing is left except the root. The new David is shoresh Yishai (the root-sprout of Jesse), and therefore in a certain sense the root itself, because the latter would long ago have perished if it had not borne within itself from the very commencement Him who was now about to issue from it. But when He who had been concealed in the root of Jesse as its sap and strength should have become the rejuvenated root of Jesse itself (cf., Revelation 22:16), He would be exalted from this lowly beginning l'nēs ‛ammin , into a banner summoning the nations to assemble, and uniting them around itself. Thus visible to all the world, He would attract the attention of the heathen to Himself, and they would turn to Him with zeal, and His m enuchâh , i.e., the place where He had settled down to live and reign (for the word in this local sense, compare Numbers 10:33 and Psalms 132:8, Psalms 132:14), would be glory, i.e., the dwelling-place and palace of a king whose light shines over all, who has all beneath His rule, and who gathers all nations around Himself. The Vulgate renders it “ et sepulcrum ejus gloriosum ” (a leading passage for encouraging pilgrimages), but the passion is here entirely swallowed up by the splendour of the figure of royalty; and menuchah is no more the place of rest in the grave than nēs is the cross, although undoubtedly the cross has become the banner in the actual fulfilment, which divides the parousia of Christ into a first and second coming.
A second question also concerns Israel. The nation out of which and for which this king will primarily arise, will before that time be scattered far away from its native land, in accordance with the revelation in Isaiah 6:1-13. How, then, will it be possible for Him to reign in the midst of it? “And it will come to pass in that day, the Lord will stretch out His hand again a second time to redeem the remnant of His people that shall be left, out of Asshur, and out of Egypt, and out of Pathros, and out of Ethiopia, and out of 'Elam, and out of Shinar, and out of Hamath, and out of the islands of the sea. And he raises a banner for the nations, and fetches home the outcasts of Israel; and the dispersed of Judah will He assemble from the four borders of the earth.” Asshur and Egypt stand here in front, and side by side, as the two great powers of the time of Isaiah (cf., Isaiah 7:18-20). As appendices to Egypt, we have (1.) Pathros , hierogl. to - rēs , and with the article petorēs , the southland, i.e., Upper Egypt, so that Mizraim in the stricter sense is Lower Egypt (see, on the other hand, Jeremiah 44:15); and (2.) Cush , the land which lies still farther south than Upper Egypt on both sides of the Arabian Gulf; and as appendices to Asshur, (1.) 'Elam , i.e., Elymais, in southern Media, to the east of the Tigris; and (2.) Shinar , the plain to the south of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris. Then follow the Syrian Hamath at the northern foot of the Lebanon; and lastly, “ the islands of the sea ,” i.e., the islands and coast-land of the Mediterranean, together with the whole of the insular continent of Europe. There was no such diaspora of Israel at the time when the prophet uttered this prediction, nor indeed even after the dissolution of the northern kingdom; so that the specification is not historical, but prophetic. The redemption which the prophet here foretells is a second, to be followed by no third; consequently the banishment out of which Israel is redeemed is the ultimate form of that which is threatened in Isaiah 6:12 (cf., Deuteronomy 30:1.). It is the second redemption, the counterpart of the Egyptian. He will then stretch out His hand again ( yōsiph , supply lishloach ); and as He once delivered Israel out of Egypt, so will He now redeem it - purchase it back ( kânâh , opp. m âcar ) out of all the countries named. The min attached to the names of the countries is to be construed with liknōth . Observe how, in the prophet's view, the conversion of the heathen becomes the means of the redemption of Israel. The course which the history of salvation has taken since the first coming of Christ, and which is will continue to take to the end, as described by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, is distinctly indicated by the prophet. At the word of Jehovah the heathen will set His people free, and even escort them (Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 62:10); and thus He will gather again ( ' âsaph , with reference to the one gathering point; kibbētz , with reference to the dispersion of those who are to be gathered together) from the utmost ends of the four quarters of the globe, “the outcasts of the kingdom of Israel, and the dispersed of the kingdom of Judah” ( nidchē Yisrâe ūnephutzōth Yehūdâh : nidchē = niddechē , with the dagesh dropped before the following guttural),
(Note: The same occurs in ויסעוּ , וישׂאוּ , ויקנאוּ , מלאוּ , שׁלחוּ , תּקחוּ . In every case the dagesh has fallen out because of the following guttural (Luzzatto, Gramm . §180).)
both men and women.
But this calls to mind the present rent in the unity of the nation; and the third question very naturally arises, whether this rent will continue. The answer to this is given in Isaiah 11:13 : “And the jealousy of Ephraim is removed, and the adversaries of Judah are cut off; Ephraim will not show jealousy towards Judah, and Judah will not oppose Ephraim.” As the suffix and genitive after tzōrēr are objective in every other instance (e.g., Amos 5:12), tzor e rē Yehudâh must mean, not those members of Judah who are hostile to Ephraim, as Ewald, Knobel, and others suppose, but those members of Ephraim who are hostile to Judah, as Umbreit and Schegg expound it. In Isaiah 11:13 the prophet has chiefly in his mind the old feeling of enmity cherished by the northern tribes, more especially those of Joseph, towards the tribe of Judah, which issued eventually in the division of the kingdom. It is only in Isaiah 11:13 that he predicts the termination of the hostility of Judah towards Ephraim. The people, when thus brought home again, would form one fraternally united nation, whilst all who broke the peace of this unity would be exposed to the immediate judgment of God ( yiccârēthu , will be cut off).
A fourth question has reference to the relation between this Israel of the future and the surrounding nations, such as the warlike Philistines, the predatory nomad tribes of the East, the unbrotherly Edomites, the boasting Moabites, and the cruel Ammonites. Will they not disturb and weaken the new Israel, as they did the old? “And they fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines seawards; unitedly they plunder the sons of the East: they seize upon Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon are subject to them.” Câthēph (shoulder) was the peculiar name of the coast-land of Philistia which sloped off towards the sea (Joshua 15:11); but here it is used with an implied allusion to this, to signify the shoulder of the Philistian nation ( b e câthēph = becĕthĕph ; for the cause see at Isaiah 5:2), upon which Israel plunges down like an eagle from the height of its mountain-land. The “object of the stretching out of their hand” is equivalent to the object of their grasp. And whenever any one of the surrounding nations mentioned should attack Israel, the whole people would make common cause, and act together. How does this warlike prospect square, however, with the previous promise of paradisaical peace, and the end of all warfare which this promise presupposes (cf., Isaiah 2:4)? This is a contradiction, the solution of which is to be found in the fact that we have only figures here, and figures drawn from the existing relations and warlike engagements of the nation, in which the prophet pictures that supremacy of the future united Israel over surrounding nations, which is to be maintained by spiritual weapons.
He dwells still longer upon the miracles in which the antitypical redemption will resemble the typical one. “And Jehovah pronounces the ban upon the sea-tongue of Egypt, and swings His hand over the Euphrates in the glow of His breath, and smites it into seven brooks, and makes it so that men go through in shoes. And there will be a road for the remnant of His people that shall be left, out of Asshur, as it was for Israel in the day of its departure out of the land of Egypt.” The two countries of the diaspora mentioned first are Asshur and Egypt. And Jehovah makes a way by His miraculous power for those who are returning out of both and across both. The sea-tongue of Egypt, which runs between Egypt and Arabia, i.e., the Red Sea ( sinus Heroopolitanus , according to another figure), He smites with the ban ( hecherim , corresponding in meaning to the pouring out of the vial of wrath in Revelation 16:12 -a stronger term than gâ‛ar , e.g., Psalms 106:9); and the consequence of this is, that it affords a dry passage to those who are coming back (though without there being any necessity to read hecherı̄b , or to follow Meier and Knobel, who combine hecherı̄m with c hârūm , Leviticus 21:18, in the precarious sense of splitting). And in order that the dividing of Jordan may have its antitype also, Jehovah swings His hand over the Euphrates, to smite, breathing upon it at the same time with burning breath, so that it is split up into seven shallow brooks, through which men can walk in sandals. בּעים stands, according to the law of sound, for בּעים ; and the ἁπ λεγ עים (with a fixed kametz ), from עום = חום , חמם , to glow, signifies a glowing heat - a meaning which is also so thoroughly supported by the two Arabic verbs med . Ye ‛lm and glm ( inf . ‛aim , gaim , internal heat, burning thirst, also violent anger), that there is no need whatever for the conjecture of Luzzatto and Gesenius, בעתסם . The early translators (e.g., lxx πνεύματι βιαίῳ , Syr. b e uchdono , with a display of might) merely give conjectural renderings of the word, which had become obsolete before their time; Saadia, however, renders it with etymological correctness suchūn , from sachana , to be hot, or set on fire. Thus, by changing the Euphrates in the (parching) heat of His breath into seven shallow wadys , Jehovah makes a free course for His people who come out of Asshur, etc. This was the idea which presented itself to the prophet in just this shape, though it by no means followed that it must necessarily embody itself in history in this particular form.