Isaiah 11: A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
The Spirit-filled king, the wolf and the lamb, and an ensign for the nations
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 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 of the fear of the LORD" (11:1–2). After the forest is felled (10:33–34), a shoot rises from the stump of David's family, named not after David but after his father Jesse: a new beginning.
"And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes… But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins" (vv. 3–5).
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them… And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp… They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (vv. 6–9).
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious" (v. 10). God will recover the remnant "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" (v. 11); "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (v. 13); "there shall be an highway for the remnant… like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt" (v. 16).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 11:1 | A shoot (choter) from Jesse's stump; a branch (netser) from his roots | Netser: later linked to "Nazarene" by some interpreters of Matthew 2:23. |
| 11:2 | The Spirit of the LORD: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the LORD | Six qualities in Hebrew; the Greek and Latin add "piety" to make seven. |
| 11:3–5 | Not judging by appearance; justice for the poor; the rod of his mouth; righteousness as a belt | The ideal Davidic judge. |
| 11:6–8 | Wolf with lamb, leopard with kid, calf and lion, a little child leads; nursing child by the cobra's hole | Peace in creation; reversal of Genesis 3:15. |
| 11:9 | No harm on my holy mountain; the earth full of the knowledge of the LORD | Repeated in 65:25 and echoed in Habakkuk 2:14. |
| 11:10 | The root of Jesse a banner to the peoples; nations will seek him; his resting place glorious | Romans 15:12 quotes the Greek form. |
| 11:11–12 | A second recovery of the dispersed from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, the islands | A wide diaspora: likely exilic or later in its present form. |
| 11:13–14 | Ephraim and Judah reconciled; victory over Philistines, Edom, Moab, Ammon | Undoing the division of 1 Kings 12. |
| 11:15–16 | The River split into streams; a highway for the remnant as at the exodus | New exodus, developed in chapters 35 and 40. |
The seven gifts of the Spirit
The Hebrew of 11:2–3 names six qualities and repeats "the fear of the LORD." The library's Greek renders the second "fear" as eusebeia ("piety"; Giguet: "de science et de piété"), and the Vulgate follows (scientiae et pietatis), producing seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. Christian theology from the patristic period onward taught "the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit" from this verse. The number seven is a feature of the Greek and Latin, not of the Hebrew.
In Isaiah's setting, the oracle promises a new Davidic ruler after the judgment ("stump") of the dynasty, marked by the Spirit and by justice. Some scholars connect it with Hezekiah's hopes; many date vv. 10–16, with their worldwide diaspora, to the exile or later. The peace of vv. 6–9 may be read literally (a transformed creation), figuratively (nations as predators and prey), or both.
The Targum reads 11:1 as "a king… from the sons of Jesse, and the messiah from his sons' sons." Qumran texts read Isaiah 11 messianically: the Pesher on Isaiah (4Q161) applies 11:1–5 to the "shoot of David" at the end of days, and other texts (4Q285) use "the branch of David." The Psalms of Solomon 17 (1st century BC) echoes 11:4 ("to destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth").
The New Testament links Jesus to Jesse's root: Romans 15:12 quotes 11:10 in its Greek form ("There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust"); Revelation 5:5 and 22:16 call Jesus "the Root of David"; 2 Thessalonians 2:8 echoes 11:4 ("with the spirit of his mouth"). Matthew 2:23's "He shall be called a Nazarene" may play on netser (11:1), though Matthew cites "the prophets" without naming a verse.
Christian art made the "Tree of Jesse" (a genealogical tree growing from the sleeping Jesse to Christ) a common medieval image. The peaceable kingdom (vv. 6–9) became a symbol in Edward Hicks's 19th-century paintings and in modern peace movements. Applying it to any modern state or political program goes beyond what the text says.
11:6 in the scroll and the Greek
The Masoretic Text lists "the calf and the young lion and the fatling (meri) together." The Great Isaiah Scroll reads yimru, "they will feed (graze)," instead of "fatling," and the library's Greek likewise has the animals "graze together" (Giguet: "brouteront ensemble"). Many scholars think the scroll and the Greek preserve the original verb, with the Masoretic noun arising from a different reading of the same letters. A small but real textual difference; the passage page shows the witnesses.
What the evidence shows
- The Greek and Latin of 11:2 add "piety," producing the seven gifts of the Spirit.Source: The site's library: Westminster Leningrad Codex, KJV, Clementine Vulgate, Giguet's French of the Greek
- The Great Isaiah Scroll reads "they will graze" (yimru) for "fatling" in 11:6, like the Greek. In the transcription; image check open.Source: 1QIsa-a and 1QIsa-b: M. Abegg's transcription, ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5 (CC BY-NC 4.0), read by the site's script; images: Israel Museum / Leon Levy Digital Library; edition: DJD XXXII (2010)
- Qumran texts (4Q161, 4Q285) read Isaiah 11 of a Davidic messiah. C check against DJD.
- Romans 15:12 quotes Isaiah 11:10 in a Greek form.
- Matthew 2:23 quotes Isaiah 11:1. Matthew names no verse; netser is one proposed source.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 11:1–5: The shoot from Jesse and the Spirit's gifts"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse… and the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him." The Hebrew names six qualities; the library's Greek and the Vulgate add "piety," giving the Christian tradition of the seven gifts of the Spirit.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- The root of Jesse and the Gentiles.
- Revelation 5:5; 22:16"The Root of David."
- The wolf and the lamb again.
- "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD."
- Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8The Branch of David.