CLAIM: This passage in Isaiah is messianic, and it speaks of a future person who will have the Spirit of the Lord (v.2) and bring righteousness to the Earth (v.4). However, Isaiah writes, “A shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse” (Isa. 11:1), who was David’s father. Usually, the prophets spoke about the son of David, who would be the Messiah –not the son of Jesse. Why does Isaiah use Jesse, instead of David here?

RESPONSE: This may have been intentional to show the Messiah’s lowly origin. When Jesse was around, he was in an impoverished family from Bethlehem. This is where David arose. In the same way, Isaiah could be saying that the Messiah would come from similar lowly origins and rise to be someone great (Jn. 1:46).