myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

Isaiah 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. Qumran's Isaiah commentary (4Q161) applies the passage to "the shoot of David" at the end of days.

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The oracle as first spoken or written8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
  2. Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
Greek
  1. Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Isaiah
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. 8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)

    The oracle as first spoken or written

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest copies of Isaiah are the Qumran scrolls: the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a, about 125 BC, nearly complete), 1QIsa-b (1Q8) and some twenty other fragmentary manuscripts.

  2. c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)

    Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 11:1–5. Agrees with the Masoretic Text in substance; "the earth" with the article twice in v. 4 and "faithfulness" without it in v. 5.

  3. Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Et egredietur virga de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet. Et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini: spiritus sapientiæ et intellectus, spiritus consilii et fortitudinis, spiritus scientiæ et pietatis; et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini. Non secundum visionem oculorum judicabit, neque secundum auditum aurium arguet; sed judicabit in justitia pauperes, et arguet in æquitate pro mansuetis terræ; et percutiet terram virga oris sui, et spiritu labiorum suorum interficiet impium. Et erit justitia cingulum lumborum ejus, et fides cinctorium renum ejus.

    Latin numbering: Isaiah 11:1–5. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    וְיָצָ֥א חֹ֖טֶר מִגֵּ֣זַע יִשָׁ֑י וְנֵ֖צֶר מִשָּׁרָשָׁ֥יו יִפְרֶֽה׃ וְנָחָ֥ה עָלָ֖יו ר֣וּחַ יְהוָ֑ה ר֧וּחַ חָכְמָ֣ה וּבִינָ֗ה ר֤וּחַ עֵצָה֙ וּגְבוּרָ֔ה ר֥וּחַ דַּ֖עַת וְיִרְאַ֥ת יְהוָֽה׃ וַהֲרִיח֖וֹ בְּיִרְאַ֣ת יְהוָ֑ה וְלֹֽא־לְמַרְאֵ֤ה עֵינָיו֙ יִשְׁפּ֔וֹט וְלֹֽא־לְמִשְׁמַ֥ע אָזְנָ֖יו יוֹכִֽיחַ׃ וְשָׁפַ֤ט בְּצֶ֙דֶק֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְהוֹכִ֥יחַ בְּמִישׁ֖וֹר לְעַנְוֵי־אָ֑רֶץ וְהִֽכָּה־אֶ֙רֶץ֙ בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט פִּ֔יו וּבְר֥וּחַ שְׂפָתָ֖יו יָמִ֥ית רָשָֽׁע׃ וְהָ֥יָה צֶ֖דֶק אֵז֣וֹר מָתְנָ֑יו וְהָאֱמוּנָ֖ה אֵז֥וֹר חֲלָצָֽיו׃

    A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall bear fruit from his roots; and the spirit of the LORD shall rest on him

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 11:1–5.

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    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; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 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, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

  6. Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Isaiah

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Et il sortira un rejeton de la racine de Jessé, et de cette racine une fleur naîtra; Et sur lui reposera l’Esprit de Dieu, l’esprit de sagesse et d’intelligence, l’esprit de conseil et de force, l’esprit de science et de piété; L’esprit de crainte du Seigneur le remplira. Il ne jugera pas selon la gloire; il ne condamnera point selon la rumeur commune. Mais il rendra justice aux humbles, et il relèvera les humbles de la terre; il frappera la terre d’une parole de sa bouche, et d’un souffle de ses lèvres il détruira les impies. Il se ceindra les reins de justice, et il revêtira ses flancs de vérité.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 11:1–5. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only); a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Isaiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart.

What changed, and why

Classification: Greek/Latin = translation plus ("piety" for the second "fear of the LORD"); 4Q161 = reception (pesher), not a copy of Isaiah.

Netser ("branch," v. 1) has been linked to Matthew 2:23 ("He shall be called a Nazarene"); Matthew names no verse.

V. 4 ("with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked") is echoed in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 and the Psalms of Solomon 17.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Hebrew of 11:2 lists six qualities; Greek and Latin add "piety."
  • Strongly supported4Q161 reads Isaiah 11 of a Davidic messiah. C check.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Isaiah 11: A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse →"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem (stump) of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" (11:1). The spirit of the LORD will rest on him: wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the LORD (v. 2). He will judge the poor with righteousness and strike the earth with the rod of his mouth (vv. 3–5). "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid… and a little child shall lead them"; no harm on God's holy mountain, "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (vv. 6–9). The root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples (v. 10). God will gather the dispersed of Israel and Judah from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath and the islands; Ephraim and Judah will be reconciled; a highway will lead the remnant home as at the exodus (vv. 11–16).
    • Investigation: The Royal Child and Jesse's Shoot →Isaiah announces a child with throne names, a shoot from Jesse's stump filled with the Spirit, and a king who reigns in righteousness. In their setting these are oracles about the Davidic king and Judah's future; later, Jews and Christians read them as promises of the messiah. This investigation keeps apart the ancient royal conventions, Isaiah's own hopes, Jewish messianic reception and Christian christology.
    • Investigation: Jesus and Isaiah →Isaiah is quoted in the Gospels more than any other prophet. This study registers 55 uses that involve Jesus: 20 in Matthew, 14 in Mark, 12 in Luke and 9 in John. For each it records who speaks (Jesus as the Gospel reports him, the narrator, John the Baptist, a heavenly voice, Simeon, or a later scribe), the Isaiah passage and its original setting, the Gospel's Greek wording, whether the use is an explicit quotation, a quotation without formula, an allusion, a proposed allusion, or a later Christian connection, and how that Gospel uses it. Each Gospel is kept separate.