Isaiah 11:1

An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace

11:1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s ¹  root stock,

a bud will sprout ²  from his roots.

Isaiah 32:12

32:12 Mourn over the field, ³ 

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

Isaiah 17:6

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Isaiah 45:8

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ⁴  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ⁵  so salvation may grow, ⁶ 

and deliverance may sprout up ⁷  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ⁸ 

[11:1]  ¹ sn The text mentions David’s father Jesse, instead of the great king himself. Perhaps this is done for rhetorical reasons to suggest that a new David, not just another disappointing Davidic descendant, will arise. Other prophets call the coming ideal Davidic king “David” or picture him as the second coming of David, as it were. See Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5; and Mic 5:2 (as well as the note there).

[11:1]  ² tc The Hebrew text has יִפְרֶה (yifreh, “will bear fruit,” from פָּרָה, parah), but the ancient versions, as well as the parallelism suggest that יִפְרַח (yifrakh, “will sprout”, from פָּרַח, parakh) is the better reading here. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:276, n. 2.

[32:12]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).

[45:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ⁷ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ⁸ tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ⁹ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).