Isaiah 11:3 Kommentar

It is a very good transition in prophecy (whether it be so in rhetoric or no), and a very common one, to pass from the prediction of the temporal deliverances of the church to that of the great salvation, which in the fulness of time should be wrought out by Jesus Christ, of which the other were types and figures, to which all the prophets bore witness; and so the ancient Jews understood them. For what else was it that raised so great an expectation of the Messiah at the time he came. Upon occasion of the prophecy of the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib, here comes in a prophecy concerning Messiah the Prince. I. His rise out of the house of David (Isa 11:1). II. His qualifications for his great undertaking (Isa 11:2, Isa 11:3). III. The justice and equity of his government (Isa 11:3-5). IV. The peaceableness of his kingdom (Isa 11:6-9). V. The accession of the Gentiles to it (Isa 11:10), and with them the remnant of the Jews, that should be united with them in the Messiah's kingdom (Isa 11:11-16) and of all this God would now shortly give them a type, and some dark representation, in the excellent government of Hezekiah, the great peace which the nation should enjoy under him, after the ruin of Sennacherib's design, and the return of many of the ten tribes out of their dispersion to their brethren of the land of Judah, when they enjoyed that great tranquility.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 11 This chapter is a prophecy of the Messiah, and gives an account of his descent, as man; of his qualifications for his office, as a Judge and King; of his performance of it; of the peaceableness of his kingdom; of the spread of it among the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; and of the last and general conversion of the Jews. His original and descent from David the son of Jesse, under the titles of a rod and branch, is described as mean and obscure, expressed by stem and roots, Isa 11:1 his gifts and qualifications for his work, in general and particular, Isa 11:2 the performance of it, both with respect to good men and bad men, in the fear of the Lord, with all equity, righteousness, and readiness, Isa 11:3 the peaceableness of his kingdom is figuratively expressed, by the agreement of savage and tame creatures, the former becoming the latter, and so losing their malignant and hurtful nature, through the efficacy of the Gospel, spreading the knowledge of Christ all over the world, Isa 11:6 particularly among the Gentiles, comparable to those savage creatures, who, upon the exhibition of Christ in the Gospel; should seek to him, and find rest in him, Isa 11:10 which will be followed or accompanied with a collection of the Jews out of all lands, and the conversion of them, which will be brought about by the power and grace of God, all impediments being by him removed out of the way; the consequences of which will be, peace among themselves, and obedience among the Gentiles, Isa 11:11.

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,.... Or "cause him to smell the fear of the Lord" (w); that is, to discern in whom it was: this is one effect of the Spirit's resting upon him, and particularly as the spirit of understanding, and of the fear of the Lord, whereby he has a quick and sharp discerning of it; not merely of the grace of fear, so as to know what that is, and what the exercise of it; or so as to make it the rule of his actions, though all this is true; but so as to discern where and in whom it was, and was not; he could distinguish between him that feared God and him that feared him not; he knew Nathanael to be an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, Joh 1:47 and the Scribes and Pharisees to be hypocrites, Mat 22:18. As the Jews (x) understand this passage of the Messiah, and of his quick smell, as the word used signifies, or of his discerning of good and bad men, they make this to be a rule of judging the Messiah by; and accordingly made use of it with one that set up himself for the Messiah, and took the name of Barcochab, the son of a star, referring to Num 24:17 and tried him whether he could discern a good man from a bad man; and because he could not, they rejected him as a false Messiah, and called him Barcoziba, the son of a lie (y): compare with this Luk 7:39 where it may be seen the same notion obtained among the Jews in Christ's time: and, he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes; or according to the outward appearance, the external guise of sanctity and religion men might put on; as the Scribes and Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men, but not to Christ, who knew their hearts; they seemed to be somewhat to others, but nothing to him, because he judged not by appearances to the eyes: neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; he needed no testimony of men, for he knew what was in men; nor did he regard the words of men, the boastings of a Pharisee, any more than his outward actions; nor would he reprove or condemn, nor will he, upon a human testimony. (w) "et faciet odorari eum timorem Jehovae", Munster, Vatablus; "et odorabitur timorem Jehovae", Cocceius. (x) Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 3. & 86. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 62. 3. (y) T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 93. 2.

The Scripture says that these enumerated powers of the Spirit have come on Him, not because He stood in need of them, but because they would rest in Him, i.e., would find their accomplishment in Him, so that there would be no more prophets in your nation after the ancient custom: and this fact you plainly perceive. For after Him no prophet has arisen among you.

Moreover, the apostle Paul says, “Having the same Spirit; as it is written, ‘I believed, and therefore have I spoken’; we also believe, and therefore speak.” He is therefore one and the same Spirit who was in the prophets and apostles, except that in the former he was occasional, in the latter always. But in the former not as being always in them, in the latter as abiding always in them; and in the former distributed with reserve, in the latter entirely poured out; in the former given sparingly, in the latter liberally bestowed; not yet manifested before the Lord’s resurrection, but conferred after the resurrection. For, he said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” And, “When he, the Advocate, shall come, whom I shall send to you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father.” And, “If I do not go away, that Advocate shall not come to you; but if I go away, I will send him to you.” And, “When the Spirit of truth shall come, he will direct you into all the truth.” And because the Lord was about to depart to the heavens, he gave the Paraclete out of necessity to the disciples; so as not to leave them in any degree orphans, which was hardly desirable, and forsake them without an advocate and some kind of protector.For this is he who strengthened their hearts and minds, who marked out the Gospel sacraments, who was in them the enlightener of divine things; and they being strengthened, feared, for the sake of the Lord’s name, neither dungeons nor chains, nay, even trod under foot the very powers of the world and its tortures. For they were henceforth armed and strengthened by the same Spirit, having in themselves the gifts which this same Spirit distributes and appropriates to the church, the spouse of Christ, as her ornaments. This is he who places prophets in the church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, often discrimination of spirits, affords powers of government, suggests counsels and orders and arranges whatever other gifts there are of charismata.… This is he who, after the manner of a dove, when our Lord was baptized, came and abode upon him, dwelling in Christ full and entire, and not maimed in any measure or portion; but with his whole overflow copiously distributed and sent forth, so that from him others might receive some enjoyment of his graces: the source of the wholeness of the Holy Spirit remaining in Christ, so that from him might be drawn streams of gifts and works, while the Holy Spirit dwelt richly in Christ. For truly Isaiah, prophesying this, said, “And the Spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and piety; and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him.” This selfsame thing also he said in the person of the Lord himself, in another place. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me, he has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor.”

In Christ alone he dwells fully and entirely, not lacking in any measure or part; but in all his overflowing abundance dispensed and sent forth, so that other men might receive from Christ a first outpouring, as it were, of his graces. For the fountainhead of the entire Holy Spirit abides in Christ, that from him might be drawn streams of grace and wondrous deeds because the Holy Spirit dwells richly in Christ.

I think Isaiah loves to call the activities of the Spirit “spirits.”

Therefore, the fear of the just is the tribunal of Christ's speech and the golden foundation of full prudence. But the good image, like the likeness of truth, is the word of the saints. And see how the fear of the saints is like a golden foundation. Read Isaiah: see how much fear he has subjected, in order to make it blameless and good fear: the spirit, he says, of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of holy fear. By how much fear did he subject, so that he might have something to follow? He is informed through wisdom, instructed through understanding, guided by counsel, strengthened by virtue, governed by knowledge, adorned by piety. Take away from fear of the Lord those things, and it is an irrational and foolish fear, one of those: "Outside are battles, inside are fears," by which even Paul would have been afflicted if he did not have the Lord as his comforter.

So, then, the Holy Spirit is the river, and the abundant river, which according to the Hebrews flowed from Jesus in the lands, as we have received it prophesied by the mouth of Isaiah. This is the great river that flows always and never fails. And not only a river, but also one of copious stream and overflowing greatness, as also David said: “The stream of the river makes glad the city of God.”60For neither is that city, the heavenly Jerusalem, watered by the channel of any earthly river, but that Holy Spirit, proceeding from the fount of life, by a short draught of whom we are satiated, seems to flow more abundantly among those celestial thrones, dominions and powers, angels and archangels, rushing in the full course of the seven virtues of the Spirit. For if a river rising above its banks overflows, how much more does the Spirit, rising above every creature, when he touches the low-lying fields of our minds, as it were, make glad that heavenly nature of the creatures with the larger fertility of his sanctification. And let it not trouble you that either here it is said “rivers” or elsewhere “seven Spirits,” for by the sanctification of these seven gifts of the Spirit, as Isaiah said, is signified the fullness of all virtue; the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of God. One, then is the river, but many the channels of the gifts of the Spirit. This river, then, goes forth from the fount of life.

And as the Son is the Angel of great counsel, so, too, is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Counsel, that you may know that the Counsel of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is One. Counsel, not concerning any doubtful matters, but concerning those foreknown and determined.

(Verse 3 and following) He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears. But he will judge the poor with justice, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and kill the wicked with the breath of his lips. Righteousness will be his belt, and faithfulness the sash around his waist. These words refer to the first coming of the Savior; the Jews argue about the future at the end of the world. Moreover, they translated: He will not judge according to glory, nor argue according to speech: but he will judge with humble judgment, and argue the humble of the earth. For he shows no partiality in judgment: but he speaks to the scribes, Pharisees and rulers: Woe to you, hypocrites: And, the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to the nation producing its fruits (Matthew 23:13, and 21:43). And he does not rebuke according to words and the hearing of the ears. For when they said to Him, 'Master, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care about anyone's opinion, for You do not regard the appearance of men' (Matthew 22:16), knowing their malice, He answered, 'Why do you test me, you hypocrites?' and so on with similar things. He judged in righteousness the poor in spirit, to whom belongs the kingdom of God, and he rebuked in fairness the meek and humble of the earth, saying to the Apostles, 'Are you still foolish?' And again: Do you not yet understand or comprehend? And to Peter specifically: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Mark 8:17). Or certainly for the humble and meek he argued for others who sought to oppress them (Matthew 14:31). He also struck down all earthly works with a rod, or as the Septuagint translated, with the word of his mouth, speaking in the Gospel: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. And with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked (Mat. X, 34, and Luc. XII, 51): of whom we read in the ninth psalm: Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished: thou hast put out their name for ever and ever (Ps. IX, 6). And the Apostle Paul writes: Whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth (II Thess. II, 8; Ephes. VI). But when the wicked man is struck, the Lord is girded with justice and truth and faith. For he has made Himself to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1), who also speaks in the Gospel: I am the light, and the life, and the truth (John 8:6 and 14). And it is said in the Psalms: Truth has risen from the earth: and justice has looked down from heaven (Psalm 84:2). Therefore, the Apostle also exhorts the Ephesians: Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). But if faith is read for truth, it must be said that the belt of the Lord, with which Jeremiah was girded (Jeremiah 13), is the faith of believers.

Isaiah signifies that the Spirit was indeed one and indivisible, but his operations diverse.

Scripture testifies that “a great and strong angel exclaimed in heaven: Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seal? No one was able to open the book or to look at it, neither in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth.” John wept and lamented that none of all the rational creatures in the universe was found worthy to open the book to look at it. One of the elders consoled John as he wept and said, “Do not cry, John. Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, was victorious in opening the book and breaking its seal.” What, I ask, is this book which no one was ever able to receive from the hand of the living, except “he who walks without sin and does justice”? It is not enough that he walk without sin or that he be a lamb, but he must be a slain lamb who crowned purity with the witness of the passion of life, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God. These undoubtedly are “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.” What, therefore, is this book? It is the book of judgment, I believe. For “the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.”

About this text you should first take care to observe that Isaiah does not say that “the spirit of fear shall rest upon him” but “shall fill him.” The power of it is so abundant that if once it possesses a person in its strength, it possesses his mind to the exclusion of all else. Linked with the charity that never fails, it fills and permanently possesses the soul whom it has seized, and it cannot be lessened by the temptations of any this-worldly happiness.

As we said earlier, the seven-formed Spirit has been denoted here, as you easily infer by calculation and recognize by his activity. But we must regard this Holy Spirit as one and the same as him whose virtues are known by Isaiah’s witness to be the same seven which we have mentioned: the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of courage, of knowledge, of piety, of fear of the Lord; and he distributes these to each as he wills. It should not trouble you that everywhere Isaiah ascribes the words to the voice of the Holy Spirit, for clearly “voice” is associated with the whole Trinity. We read of the Father’s voice when he says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and again of the Son’s voice in the words “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles we read of the Holy Spirit: “Separate for me Paul and Barnabas, for the work to which I have called them.”

We read in Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord descended upon the Lord Jesus, “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety.” It is in reference to this same Spirit of the Lord who descended upon the Savior in a holy outpouring that the Son said through Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and that Matthew the Evangelist said, “Behold, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending upon him like a dove.” Luke the Evangelist, moreover, clearly teaches that the Spirit of God whom the Savior received in baptism is the Holy Spirit: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan.”

For there are seven sons born to us, when by the conception of good intent the seven virtues of the holy Spirit spring up in us. Thus the Prophet particularizes this inward offspring, when the Spirit renders the mind fruitful, in these words: "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 piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him." So when by the coming of the Holy Spirit there is engendered in each of us, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord, something like a lasting posterity is begotten in the mind, which preserves the stock of our nobility that is above unto life, for so much the longer as it allies it with the love of eternity.

The gate is ascended by seven steps, because through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit the entrance to heavenly life is opened to us. Isaiah, enumerating this sevenfold grace in our very Head, or in His body, which we are, says: "The spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon Him, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill Him." Speaking of heavenly things, he numbered these steps by descending rather than ascending, namely: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear. And since it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," it is without doubt established that one ascends from fear to wisdom, but does not return from wisdom to fear, because indeed wisdom possesses perfect charity. And it is written: "Perfect charity casts out fear." Therefore the prophet, because he was speaking from heavenly things down to the lowest, began rather from wisdom and descended to fear. But we who strive from earthly things toward heavenly things, let us enumerate those same steps by ascending, that we may be able to arrive from fear to wisdom. For in our mind the first step of ascent is the fear of the Lord; the second, piety; the third, knowledge; the fourth, fortitude; the fifth, counsel; the sixth, understanding; the seventh, wisdom. For the fear of the Lord exists in the mind. But what kind of fear is this, if piety is not with it?

For you know that in the Old Testament all action is commanded through the precepts of the Decalogue, but in the New Testament the power of that same action is given through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit as the faithful are multiplied. Announcing this, the prophet says: "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him." But he receives action in this Spirit who acknowledges the faith of the Trinity, so that he believes the Father and the Son and the same Holy Spirit to be of one power and confesses them to be of one substance. Because therefore the seven things we mentioned above were given more broadly through the New Testament, but the ten precepts through the Old, all our virtue and action can be fully comprehended through ten and seven.

The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which remain in our Lord and Redeemer forever and are distributed in his members (that is, in all the elect) according to his will.

Only of the mediator between God and humanity, the man Jesus Christ, can it be said truthfully, “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him.” Each of the saints, on the other hand, receives not the fullness of his Spirit but receives from his fullness only as the Spirit grants it, for “to one is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healing in the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of words. One and the same Spirit operates all of these gifts, dividing to each person as he wills.”

In truth, not all the saints receive the fullness of his Spirit, but they receive from his fullness, insofar as he grants it.

359. As to fullness, for he was perfect in every grace, which is noted where it says, the spirit of the fear of the Lord filled him: we saw him full of grace (John 1:14). Concerning all these things: in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead corporeally (Col 2:9). 366. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes. Here he shows his holiness as to rectitude of works, and especially in judging, because this is the work of a king. Hence he shows three things: first, his shrewdness in discerning; second, his justice in executing: but he shall judge; third, his constancy in persevering, and justice shall be (Isa 11:5). Therefore he says, as to the first, he shall not judge according to the sight of the outward eyes, nor according to the hearing of the outward ears, as if to those who say in Matthew 22:16, master, we know that you are a true speaker. Because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:25). And this cannot be explained as of a mere man, as is said in 1 Samuel 16:7: man sees those things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart. And therefore they said separately, now we know that you know all things (John 16:30). Nevertheless, others explain this in a tortured way as concerning the just kings, for they did not judge things that appear at first glance according to flatteries, but diligently sought the truth of the case.

The prophet proclaims the tenor of God's covenant with the Jews of old, Jer 11:1-5; and then reproves them for their hereditary disobedience, Jer 11:6-19. In consequence of this the Almighty is introduced, declaring he will show them no pity, Jer 11:11-13; forbidding Jeremiah to intercede, Jer 11:14; rejecting their sacrifices, Jer 11:15; and in a word, condemning this fair but unfruitful tree to the fire, Jer 11:16, Jer 11:17. In what remains of the chapter the prophet predicts evil to his neighbors of Anathoth, who had conspired against him, Jer 11:18-23. "Let us," said they, "destroy this tree, with the fruit thereof," etc., alluding to what Jeremiah had said in the sixteenth verse.

(Isa. 11:1-16) rod--When the proud "boughs" of "Lebanon" (Isa 10:33-34, the Assyrians) are lopped, and the vast "forests cut down" amidst all this rage, a seemingly humble rod shall come out of Jesse (Messiah), who shall retrieve the injuries done by the Assyrian "rod" to Israel (Isa 10:5-6, Isa 10:18-19). stem--literally, "the stump" of a tree cut close by the roots: happily expressing the depressed state of the royal house of David, owing to the hostile storm (Isa 10:18-19), when Messiah should arise from it, to raise it to more than its pristine glory. Luk 2:7 proves this (Isa 53:2; compare Job 14:7-8; see on Isa 8:6). Branch--Scion. He is nevertheless also the "root" (Isa 11:10; Rev 5:5; Rev 22:16. "Root and offspring" combines both, Zac 3:8; Zac 6:12).

make him of quick understanding--literally, "quick-scented in the fear of Jehovah"; endowed with a singular sagacity in discerning the genuine principle of religious fear of God, when it lies dormant in the yet unawakened sinner (Mat 12:20; Acts 10:1-48; Act 16:14) [HORSLEY]. But MAURER, "He shall delight in the fear of God." The Hebrew means "to delight in the odors" of anything (Exo 30:38; Amo 5:21); "smell," that is, "delight in." after . . . sight--according to mere external appearances (Joh 7:24; Joh 8:15; Jam 2:1; Sa1 16:7). Herein Messiah is represented a just Judge and Ruler (Deu 1:16-17). reprove--"decide," as the parallelism shows. after . . . ears--by mere plausible hearsays, but by the true merits of each case (Joh 6:64; Rev 2:23).

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), Exo 30:38; Lev 26:31; Amo 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.