What the Prophet Isaiah Tells Us about the Messiah

Isaiah, Chapter 11, verses 1 through 9 –

11:  1  A staff * will grow out from the root stock * of Jesse,* and a branch will bear fruit * from its roots.*  2  A spirit of the L-rd will rest on him:  a spirit of wisdom and understanding,* a spirit of counsel and courage,* a spirit of knowledge * and fear of the L-rd.*

3  Filled with fear of the L-rd, he will not judge by appearance or decide by rumor.*  4  He will judge the poor righteously,* and he will castigate [strongmen] fairly [for their abuse of] the lowly of the land.*  He will strike down [the wicked of a] land * with the staff of his mouth * and slay evildoers with the breath of his lips.*  5  Justice will be the girdle on his loins, and faithfulness the girdle on his waist.

6  The wolf will dwell with the lamb * and the leopard will lie down with the goat.  The calf, the beast of prey, and the fattened ox [will graze] together, and a young boy will lead them.  7  The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young will lie down together.  The lion will eat straw like the ox.

8  A baby will play at a viper's hole, and an infant will stretch his hand over an adder's den.  9  They will do no harm or damage anywhere in My holy mountain,* for the world will be filled with knowledge of the L-rd as water covers the sea bed.*

Notes:

staff - a sign of leadership and rulership.  We find Moses carrying a staff when he speaks to Pharaoh.  Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh as leaders and spokesmen for the oppressed Israelites.  Moses' staff indicated his equality with Pharaoh – one leader speaking to another.  Think in terms of diplomatic credentials.  Moses and Aaron's credentials come from on High, though.  In his stubborn arrogance, Pharaoh refused to recognize his poor credentials and his own weak position.

The prophet Isaiah speaks figuratively of the future ruler of the Jewish people, the Messiah, as a "staff" to describe his functions.  We already see these functions of rulership and leadership emerging in Genesis (49:10) where we read, "The staff [of rulership/leadership] will not depart from Judah [from his descendants] . . . ever, [never] until the Messiah comes. . . ."

Growing from this root stock and bearing fruit refers to the Messiah.  During the first kingdom period, King Hezekiah, a descendant of Jesse and King David, would have been the Messiah if the generation had been worthy.  The people of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel were not ready for G-d's full "wisdom and understanding" and were lapsing from "fear of the L-rd."

will grow out from the root stock - A knowledge of plant propagation helps us understand the uniqueness of the Messiah.

Jesse - King David's father.  David was, figuratively speaking, from Jesse's "root stock" – Jesse's son.  David's talents link back to his father Jesse, a descendant of Judah.  Judah, son of Jacob, was blessed that his descendants, members of his tribe, would develop the talents of national leadership and become specialists in national leadership.  King Messiah is a descendant of Judah, through Jesse, Jesse being a direct descendant of Judah.  Of Jesse's sons, only David excelled at national leadership.  King Messiah is a descendant of King David (through his son King Solomon).

a branch will bear fruit - King David's descendant will fulfill the legacy of David and Solomon.  Jews will be able to unite and live under the terms of G-d's Covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

from his roots - As I wrote, Jesse's roots are that he is a descendant of Judah.  King Messiah, being a descendant of Kings David and and Solomon, excludes other lines of Judah's descendants from being the Messiah.  Ancestry is not a public matter, though, so Isaiah has not yet told us how we can really recognize the Messiah.

a spirit of wisdom - flashes of potential knowledge, especially knowledge heretofore hidden in the Torah.

and understanding - A Sage of the generation who is engaged in understanding and then amplifying his wisdom in public is someone who we can recognize.  He has qualities and is of the caliber of being the Messiah, as we ourselves observe.

a spirit of counsel and courage - With courage and daring, he gives advice even when it is not explicitly requested.  Isaiah calls visibility of this counsel and courage "a spirit."  The Hebrew word for spirit, ROO akh, also means atmosphere and wind.  These are tangible, but subtle, emanations from the descendant of Jesse, David, and Solomon who is the Messiah.

a spirit of knowledge - of G-d.  This is the ultimate knowledge – "The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of all wisdoms is to know that there is one First Being (Maimonides' Code, Book of Knowledge, "Fundamental Laws of the Torah," Chapter 1, Ruling 1).  Again, an atmosphere and aura of great knowledge, greater than the knowledge of his contemporaries.

and fear of the L-rd - Obedience to His laws so that he can judge, decide, and castigate with the utmost fairness.

not by appearance or by rumor - Not based on superficial characteristics.

He will judge the poor righteously - Wealthy people will cease to have privileges which, in effect, they have bought with their wealth.

he will castigate [strongmen] fairly [for their abuse of] the lowly - If we are not careful, we could easily misread this verse.  The Hebrew expression that I've translated 'the lowly' comes with a multi-use preposition.  Sometimes this word means 'to', sometimes 'for'.  Why would King Messiah castigate 'to the lowly'?  What have they done wrong?  If the Messiah castigates 'on behalf of' ('for') the lowly, who is he castigating?

Those who abuse the lowly tend to be cowards with only a veneer of strength.  These are those who King Messiah is castigating.  Whatever little advantage these strongmen gangsters have over the 'lowly' – the weakest, the most vulnerable – they leverage into forms of extortion, fraud, and other ways of acquiring ill-gotten gain.

Why does the verse leave unsaid who the Messiah is castigating?  Possibly, if I may suggest, there is no single adequate word to represent these very different types of men.  Some of these villains have prestige in their community.  In fact, we have recently seen greedy men who enjoy widespread prominence and prestige.  Considering who their victims are, and how many removes these fraudsters and greedy men set up to insulate them from their victims, we see how cowardly they really are.  Also, they invest both their money and their prestige in promoting regulations and legislation that they can hide behind.  They show no courage in risking loss, especially the risk of litigation and, of course, imprisonment.

I've described those who have exploited the 'lowly' as strongmen, gangsters, villains, greedy, cowards, fraudsters, and miscreants.  Isaiah leaves a blank place in the verse, so to speak, for each of us to fill according to our own experiences.

This verse, of course, tells us that G-d will castigate those who deserve public shame and ire.  Perhaps, again in my opinion, it is only the wise and clever Messiah who can shine light on these men and their misdeeds.  Until the coming of the Messiah, these villains live enveloped and insulated, each according to his ability to live this way.  Only someone with the aura and charisma of knowing human nature can shine a light, a spotlight, on these miscreants and their misdeeds.  Who is this person?  The Messiah.

Keep in mind that he is the little David, son of Jesse, who confidently took on the giant Goliath.  This confidence is the root stock of the Messiah.

the lowly of the land - Literally, 'the humble of the land'.  Their greatness lies in their humility.  When the prophet Isaiah, speaking in G-d's name, refers to the lowly and the high, 'high' is a pejorative.  What have such people done to assert that they are the cream that floats to the top?  Common belief is that "G-d helps those who help themselves."  According to this belief system, the prosperous are G-d's select.

The Torah's values stand at the opposite extreme.  "G-d helps those who He wants to help."  G-d does what He wants, when He wants, and for reasons only He is privy to.  We would have to be G-d Himself to understand His ways.  Our Sages indicate that sometimes G-d gives miscreants their reward while they are alive in this world so that they have no standing to be rewarded with an afterlife.  This is only a suggestion for some cases.

Regardless, G-d is good.  When He helps those who He wants to help, it is for the greatest good as well as for the benefit of each of us in particular.

Why are humble people vulnerable.  Is this to their discredit?  I suggest that 'the lowly', the truly humble, have excellent grasps of human nature.  They know, like a chess player knows, the next moves that the strongmen will make.  The humble also know that these fraudsters, miscreants, and villains have made the rules themselves in their own favor.  The littler strongmen cultivate protection from the ones more powerful, and so on.  Humble people know that during these eras before the Messiah comes, the larger fish swallow the smaller ones.  Even larger fish swallow the swallowers.  "If there was no fear of the government, " (Chapters of the Fathers, Avot, 0:0).

He will strike down [the wicked of a] land - He will strike down [the wicked of a] land.  How?

with the staff of his mouth - without resorting to violence.  King Messiah's moral fiber, his awe and fear of G-d, are apparent in his wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.  His counsel and courage show his mastery of firm diplomatic skills.  What clout does the Messiah have?  signs of leadership and rulership

with the breath of his lips - without resorting to violence.

The wolf will dwell with the lamb - The nature of the world will not change, despite how this verse reads.  The prophet Isaiah is speaking figuratively again.

The lamb is the Jewish people, as Ezekiel relates G-d's words, "And you are My flock, the flock of My pasture" (Ezekiel 34:31).  Wolves are packs of predators.  During the eras before the Messiah comes, Jewish existence has been compared to a flock of sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.  Evil Gentiles have behaved as predators of the Jewish people – as well as being predators of their own people.  In Ezekiel, G-d is speaking about the coming of the Messiah (called "David" since the Messiah is his descendant) who will be the ideal shepherd for G-d's sheep.  And who are G-d's flock of sheep?  The Jewish people.

Isaiah is telling us that King Messiah, by castigating the "strongmen," which is to say all tyrants, they will become afraid to attack the Jewish people anymore.  They will co-exist by self-restraint because they are afraid of the Messiah.  Why should they be afraid of him?  King Messiah has no power but "the staff of his mouth" and "the breath of his lips" – "a spirit of counsel and courage" – to unmask them.

They will do no harm or damage anywhere in My holy mountain - The mountain top of which stands the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  The Temple, built on a mountain, is sometimes called Mount Moriah, sometimes Mount Zion.  It's not unusual in the Bible for one person or place to have more than one name.  A name corresponds to a quality or a function.  G-d himself has several names, each according to qualities that express themselves in His differing activities.

I don't know how or why a nearby mountaintop is now being called Mount Zion when the one mountain has two names (at least).

the world will be filled with knowledge of the L-rd as water covers the sea bed - See the last phrase of Maimonides' Code.