Messiah would meet certain qualifications (vv. 2-3a) and would rule with absolute justice (vv. 3b-5) with the result that people would live in peace (vv. 6-9)
11:1 The prophet had just described Assyria cut down like a forest of trees (10:15-19, 33-34). Likewise Israel would have only a remnant left after God finished judging her (10:20-23; cf. 6:11-13). Now he pictured a shoot sprouting from one of the stumps left after Israel's harvesting (cf. 4:2; 6:13; 53:1-2). A shoot would sprout from Jesse's family tree stump. The reference to humble Jesse rather than to glorious David stresses God's grace in providing a deliverer from a lowly family.132It also indicates that Messiah would be another David, not just a son of David, and that the house of David would lack royal dignity when Messiah came.
11:2 Clearly this shoot would be a person, and the qualities of God's Spirit would mark Him (cf. 61:1; Exod. 31:3; Judg. 14:6; 1 Sam. 10:10; 16:13; John 1:33-34; 3:34). They had not marked many of the Davidic kings thus far (cf. 2 Sam. 23:2-3), but the future ruler would enjoy divine enablement and would manifest supreme godliness. This sevenfold description presents Him as perfectly endowed by the Spirit with everything He needs to fulfill His kingly task.133An earlier Messiah passage (9:6) showed Him to be divine, but this one presents Him as dependent, "a combination that requires the Incarnation for its explanation."134
11:3 He would delight in the fear of the Lord, not just fear Him out of dread much less lack respect for Yahweh. He would make decisions on the basis of reality rather than appearances having the ability to see through issues. Such abilities demand more than a merely human ruler (cf. John 18:36-38).
11:4 Justice for the poor was hard to find in the ancient world because the poor could not afford to bribe their judges, and they possessed little political influence. But Israel's coming king would do what was right for the poor and be fair with the afflicted. His words of judgment would result in the death of the wicked rather than giving them preferential treatment for what they could do for the judge (cf. 55:10-11; Gen. 1:3; Heb. 4:12; 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 1:16; 19:15, 21). Clearly, this king will acknowledge God as His sovereign rather than people.
11:5 Righteousness and faithfulness (to God) would be His outstanding and determining characteristics. These were the marks of the Israelites' God (cf. 5:16; 65:16; Ps. 40:10; 119:75, 142; Zech. 8:8).
11:6-7 Security and safety would result from this king's rule. Whereas the conditions described may occur literally in the Millennium, Isaiah probably used them to represent those conditions figuratively. The rapacious will coexist peacefully with the defenseless. People least able to control wild things will be able to exercise effective leadership over them then.135In short, these conditions indicate a return to paradise on earth (cf. Gen. 1:28-30; Ps. 8; 1 Cor. 15:25-28; Heb. 2:5-9).136
11:8 In that day death itself will have lost its sting (cf. Hos. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55). People will have no fear of what is now fatal. The serpent will have been subdued (Gen. 3:15).
11:9 The enemies of humankind will not longer hurt or destroy people in God's holy mountain (kingdom, cf. 2:2-3) because everyone will know (relationally) the Lord (cf. Jer. 31:34).
