CHAPTER XI _The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up from the_ _root of an old withered stem, which tender plant, so extremely_ _weak in its first appearance, should nevertheless become_ _fruitful and mighty_, 1-4. _Great equity of the Messiah's government_, 5. _Beautiful assembla... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:4. _WITH THE ROD OF HIS MOUTH _- "By the blast of his mouth"] For בשבט _beshebet_, by the _rod, Houbigant_ reads _beshebeth_, by the _blast_ of his mouth, from נשב _nashab, to_ _blow_. The conjecture is ingenious and probable; and seems to be confirmed by the _Septuagint_ and _Chalde... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:5. _THE GIRDLE _- "The cincture"] All the ancient Versions, except that of _Symmachus_, have two different words for _girdle_ in the two hemistichs. It is not probable that Isaiah would have repeated אזור _azer_, when a synonymous word so obvious as חגור _chagor_ occurred. The tautol... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:6. _THE WOLF ALSO SHALL, C._ - "Then shall the wolf," c.] The idea of the renewal of the golden age, as it is called, is much the same in the Oriental writers with that of the Greeks and Romans: - the wild beasts grow tame serpents and poisonous herbs become harmless all is peace and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:7. In this verse a word is omitted in the text, יחדו _yachdav, together_; which ought to be repeated in the second hemistich, being quite necessary to the sense. It is accordingly twice expressed by the _Septuagint_ and _Syriac_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:8. _THE COCKATRICE' DEN._] This is supposed, both by the _Targum_ and by _Kimchi_, to mean the pupil of this serpent's eye. "When," says _Kimchi_, "he is in the mouth of his den, in an obscure place, then his eyes _sparkle_ exceedingly: the child, seeing this, and supposing it to be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:10. _A ROOT OF JESSE, WHICH SHALL STAND C._ - "The root of Jesse, which standeth," c.] St. John hath taken this expression from Isaiah, Revelation 5:5, and Revelation 22:16, where Christ hath twice applied it to himself. Seven MSS. have עומד _omed, standing_, the present participle.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:11. _AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY_] This part of the chapter contains a prophecy which certainly remains yet to be accomplished. _THE LORD_ - "JEHOVAH"] For אדני _Adonai_, thirty-three MSS. of _Kennicott's_, and many of _De Rossi's_, and two editions, read יהוה _Yehovah_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:13. _THE ADVERSARIES OF JUDAH _- "And the enmity of Judah"] צררים _tsorerim_. Postulat pars posterior versus, ut intelligantur _inimicitiae_ Judae in Ephraimum: et potest (צררים _tsorerim_) inimicitiam notare, ut (נחומים _nichumim_) poenitentiam, Hosea 11:8.-SECKER.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 11:15. _THE LORD - SHALL SMITE IT IN THE SEVEN STREAMS_ - "Smite with a drought"] The _Chaldee_ reads החריב _hecherib_; and so perhaps the _Septuagint_, who have ερημωσει, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. _desolabit_; "shall desolate." The _Septuagint, Vulgate_, and _Cha... [ Continue Reading ]