And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isaiah 11:1-16.-From the local and temporary national deliverance the prophet passes, by the law of suggestion, in an easy transition, to the end of all prophecy-the everlasting deliverance under Messiah's reign; not merely His first coming, but chiefly His second coming. The language and illustrations are still drawn from the temporary national subject with which he began, but the glories described pertain to Messiah's reign. Hezekiah cannot, as some think, be the subject, for he was already come; whereas the "stem of Jesse" was yet future ("there shall come"). Compare Micah 4:11, etc.; Isaiah 11:1-2; Jeremiah 23:5-6, "I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper," etc.; Jeremiah 33:15-16. Paul quotes this in Romans 15:12.
There shall come forth a rod - or, slender twig х choTer (H2415)]. When the proud 'boughs' of "Lebanon" (Isaiah 10:33-34, the Assyrians) are lopped, and the vast 'forests cut down' amidst all this rage, a seemingly humble rod shall come out of Jesse (Messiah), who shall retrieve the injuries done by the Assyrian "rod" to Israel (Isaiah 10:5-6; Isaiah 10:18-19).
Out of the stem of Jesse. "The stem" ( geza` (H1503)) - literally, the stump of a tree cut close by the roots: happily expressing the depressed state of the royal house of David, owing to the hostile storm (Isaiah 10:6; Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 10:24), when Messiah should arise from it, to raise it to more than its pristine glory. Luke 2:7 illustrates the depressed state of David's lineal representatives, Joseph and the Virgin Mary, when Jesus was born of them (Isaiah 53:2, "as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground;" note, Isaiah 8:6: cf. Job 14:7-8, where the Hebrew term occurs).
A Branch - a scion, a shoot (Hebrew, neetser (H5342)). He is nevertheless also the "root" (Isaiah 11:10; Revelation 5:5; Revelation 22:16). 'Root and offspring' combines both (Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12, "Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord").
Shall grow - Hebrew, shall be fruitful (yiphreh).
Out of his roots - from the stump cut down to the roots.