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Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse, endued with the spirit
of the Lord, should set up a kingdom by the preaching of his word,
ver. 1 - 5.
The members of his church should live in peace and unity, ver. 6 - 9.
And be victorious over their enemies: and to him should the Gentiles
seek, ver. 10 - 16.
1: And - And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed
because of the anointing, he now explains who that anointed person was.
The stem - Or, stump: for the word signifies properly a trunk cut off
from the root. By which he clearly implies, that the Messiah should be
born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most
forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but
a stump or root under ground. Of Jesse - He doth not say of David, but
of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the
time of Christ's birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive
obscurity.
2: Wisdom - It is not needful, exactly to distinguish these two gifts;
it is sufficient that they are necessary qualifications for a governor, and
a teacher, and it is evident they signify perfect knowledge of all things
necessary for his own and peoples good, and a sound judgment, to distinguish
between things that differ. Counsel - Of prudence, to give good counsel;
and of might and courage, to execute it. Knowledge - Of the perfect
knowledge of the whole will and counsel of God, as also of all secret
things, yea of the hearts of men. Fear - A fear of reverence, a care to
please him, and lothness to offend him.
3: In the fear - He shall not judge rashly and partially, but
considerately and justly, as the fear of God obliges all judges to do.
Judge - Of persons or causes. After the sight - According to outward
appearance, as men do, because they cannot search mens hearts.
Reprove - Condemn or pass sentence against a person.
His ears - By uncertain rumours or suggestions.
4: Judge - Defend and deliver them. Reprove - Or condemn their
malicious enemies. Thy rod - With his word, which is his scepter, and
the rod of his power, (Ps 110:2), which is
sharper than a sword, (Heb 4:12), by the preaching whereof he
subdued the world to himself, and will destroy his enemies, (2Thes 2:8).
This he adds farther, to declare the nature of Christ's kingdom, that
it is not of this world.
5: The girdle - It shall adorn him, and be the glory of his
government, as a girdle was used for an ornament, (Isa 3:24), and as
an ensign of power, (Job 12:18), and it shall constantly cleave to him
in all his administrations, as a girdle cleaveth to a man's loins.
6: The wolf - The creatures shall be restored to that state of
innocency in which they were before the fall of man. Men of fierce, and
cruel dispositions, shall be so transformed by the grace of Christ, that
they shall become gentle, and tractable. A child - They will submit their
rebellious wills to the conduct of the meanest persons that speak to them
in Christ's name.
7: Feed - Together, without any danger or fear. Straw - The grass
of the earth, as they did at first, and shall not devour other living
creatures.
9: My holy mountain - In Zion, in my church. The sea - The
channel of the sea.
10: A root - A branch growing upon the root. Ensign - Shall grow up
into a great tree, shall become an eminent ensign. The people - Which
not only the Jews, but all nations, may discern, and to which they shall
resort. Rest - His resting - place, his temple or church, the place of his
presence and abode. Glorious - Shall be filled with greater glory than the
Jewish tabernacle and temple were; only this glory shall be spiritual,
consisting in the plentiful effusions of the gifts, and graces, of the
Holy Spirit.
11: The second - The first time, to which this word second
relates, seems to be the deliverance out of Babylon: and then this
second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah.
To recover - From all places far and near, into which either the ten
tribes or the two tribes were carried captives. Pathros was a
province in Egypt.
12: Nations - All nations, Jews and Gentiles.
Out - casts - That were driven out of their own land, into foreign parts.
Israel - Of the ten tribes.
13: Ephraim - Of the ten tribes, frequently called by the name of
Ephraim. Of enemies they shall be made friends. The adversaries - Not
the body of Ephraim, for they are supposed to be reconciled, and they
shall not be cut off, but live in love with Judah, as we see by the
next clause; but those few of them who continue in their enmity together
with all the rest of their adversaries.
14: Fly - It is a metaphor from birds and beasts of prey.
Spoil - They shall subdue them, which is to be understood of the
spiritual victory which the Messiah shall obtain by his apostles
and ministers over all nations.
15: Destroy - Shall not only divide it, as of old, but dry it up, that
it may be an high - way. The sea - The Red Sea, which may well be called
the Egyptian sea, both because it borders upon Egypt, and because
the Egyptians were drowned in it, which is called a tongue in the
Hebrew text, (Jos 15:2,5), as having some resemblance with a tongue:
for which reason the name of tongue hath been given by geographers
to promontories of land which shoot forth into the sea, as this sea
did shoot out of the main ocean into the land. Rivers - Nile.
Seven streams - For which it is famous in all authors.
16: As it was - As there was another high - way from Egypt. All
impediments shall be removed, and a way made for the return of God's
Israel from all parts of the world. He mentions Assyria, because
thither the ten tribes were carried, whose case seemed to be most desperate.
