Глава 11

“And a rod shall come out of the root of Jesse,” that is, from David, “and a branch from his root,” that is, from his later descendants, his parents Joseph and Mary (Is. 11:1). “And the Spirit of God rested on him, - from the time of the incarnation in the womb and baptism in the Jordan, - the Spirit of wisdom” (Is. 11: 2), at which the Jews marveled, saying: “How can this book be taught without learning?” (John 7:15). “The spirit of... strength” (Is. 11:2), that is, powers and miracles. “We must not judge by the appearance of our eyes” (Is. 11:3), because He is God, and our secrets are visible to Him as obvious. “But He will judge the humble with righteousness and will convict with righteousness the humble of the earth on the great day of His coming. Will strike the earth at the end of times. He will smite... the wicked of the earth; with the decree of His mouth He will condemn them to fire” (Is. 11:4). “And the wolf and the lamb will graze together,” that is, in the Church, “and the lynx will rest with the goat,” that is, in Baptism, “and the calf and the young man and the lion will graze together,” that is, the wise, the cunning, the cruel and the simple will hear the gospel together, “and I will lead little children” (Is. 11:6). The shepherd, like a child in simplicity, will be their leader. “And the lion and the ox shall eat chaff” (Is. 11:7). Both the righteous and sinners will be fed from the one life-giving body from the altar. Everyone will neglect the military art that they had learned before, and will enclose all their knowledge within the confines of the pure Gospel. “And as a young child he will play with the basilisk and, as soon as he is weaned, he will lay... his hand... on the bed... of the asp" (Is. 11:8), that is, Satan will be trampled upon by ordinary people and will become a laughing stock for children who are just beginning to learn. “And... the whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, even as the sea was covered with abundant water” (Isaiah 11:9). Just as water covers the depths of the sea, so the entire earth will be covered by the knowledge of the True One. “And on that day there will be a root of Jesse, the tongue of Jesse raised up for a sign” (Is. 11:10). In some respects, this applies to Hezekiah, who was born of the seed of David, but in all reality this was fulfilled in our Lord, Who became a sign of freedom, hope and deliverance for all nations. “The pagans will seek him,” that is, they will rush and flow to worship Him. The word “they will seek” can also mean that the nations will ask Him what the will of God is. The following words spoken earlier can be attributed to Hezekiah: “And with the spirit of his lips he will slay the wicked” (Is. 11:4). For this was fulfilled in Hezekiah, who by the prayer of his lips slew the Assyrian army. “And he will girdle himself with righteousness about his loins,” because Hezekiah did justice and righteousness, like his father David. “And... they will not be able to destroy anyone on My holy mountain” (Is. 11:5, 9), that is, with the Jews there will be neighboring nations and estranged fellow tribesmen in peace. Also, the words “and in that day will be the root of Jesse, the tongue raised up for a sign,” can be explained as follows: “The Lord will be a sign for the nations to turn to Him. The pagans will seek him to follow His new teaching. And there will be rest for his honor” (Is. 11:10), peace for those who follow Him, because they will receive eternal life, put on the robe of glory, and will be blissful in paradise. “And... the Lord will put forth to show His hand, so that His people will be jealous for the rest of His people.” This refers either to the expulsion of the Israelites from Egypt, or to the deliverance of the cities of Judah from Sennacherib after his fall, or to the double expulsion of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon; for one part of the Jews was brought out of Babylon by Zerubbabel, and the other by the scribe Ezra: “from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from the Elamites, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea” (Is. 11:11). This is in accordance with what was said by the prophet Zechariah: “Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; I will gather you from the four winds of heaven, says the Lord” (Zechariah 2:6). “And He will raise up a sign in the tongues” in order to distract His people from idolatry and turn them to the knowledge and honor of the true God. “And he will gather the lost of Israel, and the scattered of Judah he will gather from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). This recalls the words of the Savior: “I came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). “And they will work on the backs of strangers” (Is. 11:14), that is, the neighboring nations will submit to the Israelites upon their return, when they receive their inheritance. And they will submit, because the Israelites were the reason for their return from Babylonian captivity, and others because their enemy Gog was deposed. “And the Lord will empty the sea of ​​Egypt.” The prophet speaks here either about the division of the sea, or about those five cities whose inhabitants spoke the Canaanite language, and which the Lord, together with His people, will return from captivity and join them to their host. “And he will lay his hand on the river,” that is, on the strong kingdom of Assyria and Babylon. “And he will smite the wilds for seven, as if he walked with shoes on” (Is. 11:15), that is, the decree of the king of Babylon, by which the Jews were forbidden to return to their fatherland, will become invalid; and a small number of them, gathered from everywhere, fearlessly, with their shoes on, will be able to cross the river, whereas not long before a whole people was unable to crush or even withstand the efforts of the Babylonians. 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