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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 Enki and Ninhursag and Isaiah 11:6

Ancient Near East, Sumerian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 11 depicts a future peaceful world where animals no longer cause harm, drawing on older Near Eastern traditions, such as Enki and Ninhursag, where the land of Dilmun is portrayed as a paradise free from sickness, aging, and violence.

Passages

Enki and Ninhursag

Ancient Near East, Sumerian · A Paradise Myth
The place is pure. The land Dilmun is pure. The land Dilmun is clean. The land Dilmun is bright. He who had lain by himself in Dilmun— The place where Enki had lain with his wife— That place is clean, that place is bright. In Dilmun the raven utters no cries. The ittidu-bird utters not the cry of the ittidu-bird. The lion kills not. The wolf snatches not the lamb. Unknown is the kid-devouring wild dog. Unknown is the grain-devouring creature. The sick-eyed says not “I am sick-eyed.” The sick-headed says not “I am sick-headed.” Its old woman says not “I am an old woman.” Its old man says not “I am an old man.”
1900 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Enki and Ninhursag

Isaiah 11:6

Hebrew Bible
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.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

"... "Enki and Ninhursag" is one of the best preserved of the Sumerian myths uncovered to date. The story it tells is well-nigh complete and at least on the surface most of the details of its rather complicated plot are reasonably intelligible. Unfortunately, the main purpose of the myth as a whole is by no means clear and the literary and mythological implications of its numerous and varied motifs are not readily analyzable. Nevertheless, it adds much that is significant for, the Near Eastern mythological horizon, and perhaps even provides a number of interesting parallels to the motifs of the biblical paradise story as told in the second and third chapters of Genesis ... Lines 13-25 seem to fit the assumption that Dilmun is a land in which there is neither sickness nor death ..."
James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016), 37–38.

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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Enki and Ninhursag and Isaiah 11:6

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