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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 11

1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots.⁠ 2 The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him—a⁠ Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans,⁠ a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.⁠ 3 His smelling is in the fear of the Lord7.⁠ He will not judge by mere appearances or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. 4 He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth.⁠ He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed.⁠ 5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist, integrity will be like a belt around his hips. 6 A wolf will reside with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a young goat; an ox and a young lion will graze together, as a small child leads them along.⁠ 7 A cow and a bear will graze together, their young will lie down together. A lion, like an ox, will eat straw. 8 A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.⁠ 9 They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain. For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty, just as the waters completely cover the sea.⁠ 10 At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations.⁠ Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic. 11 At that time the Lord will again lift his hand to reclaim the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the seacoasts.⁠ 12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations; he will gather Israel’s dispersed people and assemble Judah’s scattered people from the four corners of the earth. 13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, and Judah’s hostility will be eliminated. Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim. 14 They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects. 15 The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind; he will turn it into seven dried-up streams and enable them to walk across in their sandals.⁠ 16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria for the remnant of his people,⁠ just as there was for Israel, when they went up from the land of Egypt.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 11:2 and Testament of Levi 18:9

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

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Summary

The Testament of Levi describes a leader empowered by the Spirit to give fair judgment and act in ways that please God, based on Isaiah’s description of a shoot from Jesse endowed with wisdom, counsel, and loyalty by God's Spirit.

Passages

Isaiah 11:2

Hebrew Bible
1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots. 2 The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him—a Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. 3 His smelling is in the fear of the Lord7. He will not judge by mere appearances or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. 4 He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Testament of Levi 18:9

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
8 The heavens will be opened, and from the temple of glory sanctification will come upon him, with the Father’s voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. 9 And the glory of the Most High will be proclaimed over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification will rest on him in the water. 10 For he will give the majesty of the Lord to His children in truth forever; and none will succeed him for all generations ever. 11 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will be multiplied in knowledge on the earth, and enlightened by the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood, sin will come to an end, and the lawless will cease to do evil.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Levi

References

"... The fourth text from the second temple period that alludes to Isaiah 11:2 is the “Prayer of Levi.” The Prayer of Levi is found in two places, in Aramaic in 4Q213 (= 4QTLevia) and in Greek, inserted after Testament of Levi 3:2 in manuscript Athos from the Monastery of Koutloumous. The language of Isaiah 11:2 shows up in lines 8–9 of the Greek text ... Stone and Greenfield write that the terms “are presumably derived from Isaiah 11:2.” Of note is that Levi, having undergone (cultic?) purification, asks in line 18 for the Lord to enable him to render true judgment, a central result of the Spirit coming upon the Davidic figure of Isaiah 11:1–5. Levi expresses the goal of his request for the Spirit to be the empowerment to do (“the things pleasing to you”). This language parallels Colossians 1:9–10, where the goal of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians to be “filled ... in all Spirit-given wisdom and understanding” is that they might “walk worthily of the Lord in all that pleases.” The fifth text is Testament of Levi 18:5, 7 (second century BCE). Testament of Levi 18:5 is a citation of Isaiah 11:9, and 18:7 is an allusion to Isaiah 11:2 ..."
Christopher A. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians, BibInt 96 (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 68–69.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 11:2 and Testament of Levi 18:9

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