What is the meaning ofroot of Jessein the Bible?

Yet we are not permitted, even in the Old Testament, to be in ignorance of the fact that still larger purposes of God lay in the background, and that there were still richer aspects of, still profounder depths in, the wondrous Being, who should in due time appear as the Messiah. Hence verse 10 of our chapter. As the Shoot out of Jesse He is the true King of Israel. As the Root of Jesse, He is an ensign for the rallying of the peoples, even Gentiles, and His rest shall be glory.

As the Root of Jesse He is the One from whom David originated. He is not the product, but the Producer. And this He is not by reason of His Manhood, but by reason of His Deity.

From Isaiah 11:10 is taken the fourth and final, — “There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall reign over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust.” This adds greatly to the previous quotations, for it establishes the deity of Him who was to bring the blessing. He was to be “a root” of Jesse, not simply a branch. In the Branch we easily discern the Son of David, He who came of Israel. But in the Root how different a matter. He is both indeed, but as the Root He is the Source of all, and hence His reign extends over the Gentiles, and they find shelter under His wings.

And now, without delaying to examine every mention of this most marvellous Banner, let us turn to the second chapter in which it is found (Isa. 11:10); “There shall be a root of Jesse, standing as a Banner of the peoples.” Here we see who the Banner is. The Root of Jesse and of David is our Lord Jesus Christ; He is the Banner of God; He shall drive away and destroy the enemies of God: He shall gather and bless the people of God. Through Him shall all nations be blessed.

And how can such wonderful things, not only for Israel but for all creation, be brought about? Verse 10, we think, sheds light on this, for there we discover that the Lord Jesus is predicted as the "Root of Jesse," as well as a "Shoot" out of his stem. We are reminded at once that in the last chapter of the Bible the Lord presents Himself to us as "the root and offspring of David;" an allusion doubtless to our chapter. Here "Jesse" is used we believe, to heighten the contrast, for David had become a name of great renown, whereas Jesse only reminds us of the otherwise unknown farmer from whom David sprang. From one small and unknown the great Messiah was to spring, and yet to be the Root from which Jesse sprang.

So, if as the Shoot we think of Christ in His holy Manhood, as the Root we have to think of Him in His Deity. In His Manhood He sprang out of Israel, and had special links with that people. Introduce His Godhead, and all men come at once into view. So it is, as often noticed, in the Gospel of John, where the word "world" occurs with great frequency; and so it is here for the word "people" in our version should be "peoples;" that is, the nations generally, to whom the Root will stand as an "ensign" or "banner," and to Him will the Gentiles seek: and "His rest will be glory," as the margin reads. Greed will go out and glory will come in. What a day for the earth that will be!

We see just a stock left in Isaiah 11:1—“the stock of Jesse.” Sinful Israel, that once had mighty rulers, who were great in the earth as the cedar trees, has been brought down to this. It was necessary that it should be so too, that all the pride of man might be abased, and that the SIGN might appear first in “the depth.” He is here seen “the Sprout” coming out of “the roots.” He could scarcely be called a “Branch” here, for a branch does not come up from the roots. He came up from “the depth.” He is the “Root Shoot,” in Hebrew the Nẽzer. It is from this word, not from the town of Nazareth, that He was, in the first instance, called “a Nazarene” (see Matt. 2:23). This lowly “Shoot” grows out of Jesse’s roots!

"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit." One cannot but think with others that the allusion to the stem of Jesse is significant. Elsewhere Messiah is viewed as David's son, or styled David himself. Here He is a Shoot or Rod from the stock of Jesse, and a Branch out of his roots for Israel, and the Root of Jesse for the peoples and nations. There would seem a purpose of drawing attention to the lowly condition into which the royal race should have sunk at the birth of the Christ. It was from that family, when of no account in Israel, that David was anointed for the throne. The prophet designates the rise of a greater than David, not from the glory that had been conferred on the house, but in a way readily suggestive of obscurity. From this stock, lowly of old, lowly once more, sprang the hope of Israel on Whom the Spirit rested without measure; or, as Peter preached, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. In Rev. 5 He is said to be the Root of David; in 22 his Root and Offspring.

"And the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah." Here, however, it is not in the activity of grace among the sorrows of men and the oppressions of the devil, that we see Jesus, but in view of His government. Thoroughly subject to Jehovah, He rules not according to appearance but righteously in His fear. Such is the effect of the power that rested on Him. And His delight [quick understanding or scent] will be "in the fear of Jehovah; and he will not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness will he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." The Holy Spirit portrays the Messiah's moral fitness for His earthly reign; emphatically His earthly reign, for so it evidently is throughout for every reader who is free from human tradition or prepossession. The Lord Jesus will then do what He refused to do at His first coming. He will judge in equity, and put down oppression, and cause righteousness to flourish in peace. This was in no way His work the first time; and the Christian, as the church, is called not to judge the earth or rule here below, but to suffer with Him, waiting to be glorified and to reign with Him when He returns. We walk by faith, not by sight.

David was of course a "rod" or "shoot" out of the stem of Jesse, the last and least of the eight shoots that appeared in Jesse's lifetime. He soon however, became the pre-eminent shoot of his day and generation. He is wholly eclipsed by the Shoot of whom Isaiah prophesies.

As "the seed of David according to the flesh," our Lord Jesus is "a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse." He is the supreme "Branch out of his roots," that has been fruitful to the glory of God. He is the Man of the Divine purpose, in whom the whole will of God will be accomplished. If Isaiah 11:2 to 9 be read there unfolds before our view the delightful picture of the earth as it shall be beneath His righteous yet beneficent sway in the coming millennial age.

We may remark that Isaiah 11:1, presents the Lord Jesus as a "Rod [or, Shoot — a different word from Sprout] out of the stem of Jesse," and lower down in that chapter He is "a Root of Jesse;" two expressions which remind us of, "the Root and the Offspring of David," (Rev. 22:16). "Sprout" of Jehovah is what He was essentially. "Shoot" of Jesse and David is what He became in His holy Manhood.

The Root of Jesse. Isaiah 11:1-16; Romans 15:8-12

There cannot be any doubt that the root of Jesse referred to in Isaiah 11 is none other than Jesus, the Son of David. The words of the Lord Jesus are sufficient to confirm this. “I am the root … of David” (Rev. 22:16). David calls himself the son of Jesse (2 Sam. 23:1). Amasai calls him the son of Jesse in 1 Chronicles 12:18, as does Paul in Acts 13:22. However, it is not David that is referred to in Isaiah 11, but his illustrious son, Jesus the Son of God. As David's influence after his death is our consideration, it is no surprise to find that features which were prominent in David's rule are seen in perfection, power and glory in the government of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Having thus endorsed the whole book, the Lord Jesus, using only His personal Name, presents Himself to us in a twofold way. First, as the root and the offspring of David, which gives us His title in Manhood to the kingdom and all dominance on the earth. Let Psalm 78:65-72 be read, and then 2 Samuel 23:1-5. These passages show that by a special intervention of Divine Power David was raised up to kingly estate, and how he was but an imperfect forecast of the infinitely greater One who was to spring from him after the flesh. Hence, in Isaiah 11:1, Christ is spoken of as a "rod" or "shoot" out of the stem of Jesse, and as a branch who is fruitful out of his roots. Here He is dearly presented to us as the "Offspring" of David.

But in the same chapter in Isaiah, verse 10, He is presented as "a root of Jesse" which shall be "in that day," which answers also to what we have in our chapter. He is both "shoot" and "root" in Isaiah; both "offspring" and "root" in Revelation. In the former words His Manhood is the prominent thought; in the latter words, His Deity. And then — again reverting to 2 Samuel 23 — when at last He rules over men in justice and in the fear of God, He will be "as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds." In this striking and poetic imagery is set forth the opening of earth's bright millennial day, when He comes.