The Great Poems of the Bible by James L. Kugel

Author:James L. Kugel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Press

IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS political turmoil, perhaps contemplating the very collapse of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Isaiah of Jerusalem uttered the well-known words that open the eleventh chapter of his book. What he meant by “a shoot will spring up from the tree trunk of Jesse” seems clear enough. Jesse was, after all, the father of David, founder of the Davidic dynasty that still ruled Judah in Isaiah’s time. The immediate sense of this reference is thus that the royal dynasty is to undergo some dramatic renewal: a great new king will spring from the royal stock. This was certainly good news, though it is hard to imagine that the description that follows could not have been taken as reflecting badly on the present or immediately past rulers. For if the new king was going to “judge the needy with righteousness” and not decide things on appearances or hearsay, did not this imply that such was precisely the way Judah’s kings had been deciding cases until now? But if that was the implication, well, prophets were not in the business of flattering anyone, even (indeed, especially) kings. In any event, many scholars have seen in this description of a future ideal leader the announcement of the impending ascension of the heir to the throne, presumably Ahaz’s own son, the great Hezekiah. He would be the king to inaugurate, in the midst of all Judah’s troubles, a golden age. Indeed, scholars have connected this offspring of “the tree trunk of Jesse” with another passage that appears slightly earlier in the book of Isaiah:

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