Isaiah 11:2-4

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him ¹  –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, ² 

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, ³ 

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. ⁴ 

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ⁵ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ⁶ 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ⁷ 

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁸ 

and make right decisions ⁹  for the downtrodden of the earth. ¹⁰ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ¹¹ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ¹² 

Isaiah 32:15-16

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ¹³ 

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ¹⁴ 

32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 41:38-39

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ¹⁶  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ¹⁷  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ¹⁸  as you are!

Numbers 11:16-17

The Response of God

11:16 ¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ²⁰  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ²¹  all by yourself.

Numbers 27:16-18

27:16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, ²²  appoint ²³  a man over the community, 27:17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, ²⁴  and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that ²⁵  the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

27:18 The Lord replied ²⁶  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ²⁷  and lay your hand on him; ²⁸ 

Numbers 27:1

Special Inheritance Laws

27:1 ²⁹ Then the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the families of Manasseh, ³⁰  the son Joseph came forward. Now these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Numbers 3:28

3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care ³¹  of the sanctuary.

Psalms 72:1-4

Psalm 72 ³² 

For ³³  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ³⁴ 

Grant the king’s son ³⁵  the ability to make fair decisions! ³⁶ 

72:2 Then he will judge ³⁷  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ³⁸  equitably.

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ³⁹ 

72:4 He will defend ⁴⁰  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ⁴¹  the children ⁴²  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Proverbs 20:8

20:8 A king sitting on the throne to judge ⁴³ 

separates out ⁴⁴  all evil with his eyes. ⁴⁵ 

John 3:34

3:34 For the one whom God has sent ⁴⁶  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ⁴⁷ 

John 5:30

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. ⁴⁸  Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, ⁴⁹  because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. ⁵⁰ 

John 5:1

Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

5:1 After this ⁵¹  there was a Jewish feast, ⁵²  and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ⁵³ 

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

[11:2]  ¹ sn Like David (1 Sam 16:13), this king will be energized by the Lord’s spirit.

[11:2]  ² tn Heb “a spirit of wisdom and understanding.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of wisdom he will possess. His wisdom will enable him to make just legal decisions (v. 3). A very similar phrase occurs in Eph 1:17.

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “a spirit of counsel [or “strategy”] and strength.” The construction is a hendiadys; the point is that he will have the strength/ability to execute the plans/strategies he devises. This ability will enable him to suppress oppressors and implement just policies (v. 4).

[11:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.” “Knowledge” is used here in its covenantal sense and refers to a recognition of God’s authority and a willingness to submit to it. See Jer 22:16. “Fear” here refers to a healthy respect for God’s authority which produces obedience. Taken together the two terms emphasize the single quality of loyalty to the Lord. This loyalty guarantees that he will make just legal decisions and implement just policies (vv. 4-5).

[11:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[11:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[32:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

[32:15]  ¹⁴ sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

[32:16]  ¹⁵ sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.

[41:38]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.

[41:38]  ¹⁷ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[41:39]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:16]  ¹⁹ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ²⁰ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[11:17]  ²¹ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[27:16]  ²² tn Heb “flesh”; cf. NAB, NIV “all mankind”; NCV “all people”; NLT “all living things.”

[27:16]  ²³ tn This is the same verb פָּקַד (paqad) that is used throughout the book for the aspect of “numbering” the people.

[27:17]  ²⁴ sn This is probably technical terminology for a military leader (Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:13-16; 1 Kgs 3:7; 2 Kgs 11:9). The image of a shepherd can also be military in nature (1 Kgs 22:17).

[27:17]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text has the conjunction with the negated imperfect tense, “and it will not be.” This clause should be subordinated to the preceding to form a result clause, and the imperfect then function as a final imperfect.

[27:18]  ²⁶ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ²⁷ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ²⁸ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:1]  ²⁹ sn For additional information on this section, see N. H. Snaith, “The Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 124-27; and J. Weingreen, “The Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad,” VT 16 (1966): 518-22.

[27:1]  ³⁰ tc The phrase “of the families of Manasseh” is absent from the Latin Vulgate.

[3:28]  ³¹ tn The construction here is a little different. The Hebrew text uses the participle in construct plural: שֹׁמְרֵי (shomÿrey, literally “keepers of”). The form specifies the duties of the 8,600 Kohathites. The genitive that follows this participle is the cognate מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret) that has been used before. So the expression indicates that they were responsible for the care of this part of the cult center. There is no reason to delete one of the forms (as does J. A. Paterson, Numbers, 42), for the repetition stresses the central importance of their work.

[72:1]  ³² sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ³³ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ³⁵ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[72:2]  ³⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ³⁸ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[72:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[72:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ⁴¹ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “sons.”

[20:8]  ⁴³ tn The infinitive construct is דִּין; it indicates purpose, “to judge” (so NIV, NCV) even though it does not have the preposition with it.

[20:8]  ⁴⁴ tn The second line uses the image of winnowing (cf. NIV, NRSV) to state that the king’s judgment removes evil from the realm. The verb form is מִזָרֶה (mÿzareh), the Piel participle. It has been translated “to sift; to winnow; to scatter” and “to separate” – i.e., separate out evil from the land. The text is saying that a just government roots out evil (cf. NAB “dispels all evil”), but few governments have been consistently just.

[20:8]  ⁴⁵ sn The phrase with his eyes indicates that the king will closely examine or look into all the cases that come before him.

[3:34]  ⁴⁶ tn That is, Christ.

[3:34]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “for not by measure does he give the Spirit” (an idiom). Leviticus Rabbah 15:2 states: “The Holy Spirit rested on the prophets by measure.” Jesus is contrasted to this. The Spirit rests upon him without measure.

[5:30]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “nothing from myself.”

[5:30]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “righteous,” or “proper.”

[5:30]  ⁵⁰ tn That is, “the will of the Father who sent me.”

[5:1]  ⁵¹ sn The temporal indicator After this is not specific, so it is uncertain how long after the incidents at Cana this occurred.

[5:1]  ⁵² tc The textual variants ἑορτή or ἡ ἑορτή (Jeorth or Jh Jeorth, “a feast” or “the feast”) may not appear significant at first, but to read ἑορτή with the article would almost certainly demand a reference to the Jewish Passover. The article is found in א C L Δ Ψ Ë¹ 33 892 1424 pm, but is lacking in {Ì^66,75 A B D T W^s Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1241 pm}. Overall, the shorter reading has somewhat better support. Internally, the known proclivity of scribes to make the text more explicit argues compellingly for the shorter reading. Thus, the verse refers to a feast other than the Passover. The incidental note in 5:3, that the sick were lying outside in the porticoes of the pool, makes Passover an unlikely time because it fell toward the end of winter and the weather would not have been warm. L. Morris (John [NICNT], 299, n. 6) thinks it impossible to identify the feast with certainty.

[5:1]  ⁵³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.