Isaiah 11

Many Christians and Jews say this is a prophecy about a coming messiah—a good and heroic king who will restore Israel to her glory days and make it even better. Christians have a hard time not seeing Jesus in this chapter. References to his character, his brave actions, and his influence throughout the world for these 2,000 years seem reflected in the symbols and metaphors we read. Many Jews, however, say they read this chapter literally. Some say the long-awaited Messiah, a savior-king from King David’s family, hasn’t come yet. As evidence, they site some of the prophecies not yet fulfilled: a wolf still eats a lamb (11:6). Even in human terms, the rich often feed on the poor. Yet among the followers of Jesus, the rich are taught to share with the poor. Some do. And others who know the Lord’s Prayer smell like lambchops.

“His name is Wonderful Advisor” (9:6).

Locations in this verse represent much of the Middle East around Israel. Pathros was a region in southern Egypt. Ethiopia, also called Cush, was even further south. Assyria was based in what is now northern Iraq. It’s where the northern Jewish nation was exiled to live during Isaiah’s day, in the 700s BC. Babylonians were based in what is now southern Iraq. It’s where the southern Jewish nation was exiled in 586 BC. Hamath is one of the oldest cities in Syria, home to Canaanites in Old Testament times.

Jews in the northern nation of Israel were jealous of the Temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem. They knew they were missing out on worshiping at the place their ancestor David selected in what Moses ordered as the one-and-only place to worship God. “The LORD your God will choose one worship center for the entire nation of Israel” (Deuteronomy 12:5). Jews in the northland set up what sounds like worship centers with idols (1 Kings 12:26-30).

David had subjugated the historically hostile and militant Philistines in about 1000 BC. That’s several centuries before Isaiah, who lived until about 700 BC. But Philistines were still around. They lingered another century before they were assimilated into local cultures and lost their distinctiveness.

The three nations east of the Jordan River stretch along the full boundary of the united Israel: Ammon in the north, Moab in the middle, and Edom in the south.

The Hebrew word is yam, which often means “sea,” but can also mean a river, lake, seashore. So it’s unclear if the writer was referring to the Nile River, the reed-laced lakes in Egypt’s northland, or the Red Sea’s Gulf of Suez. It’s a fair guess, though, that the writer wanted readers to remember God parting the waters for Moses and the Israelites on their rushed escape from Egyptian slavery.