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Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920

Chapter 59

Moreover Isaiah himself yet further says: A nd there shall come forth a rod out of the roots of¹ Jesse, and a flower from his root shall come forth. And the spirit of God shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness: the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him?² Not according to opinion shall he judge, and not according to speech shall he reprove: but he shall judge judgment for the humble, and shew mercy to³ the humble of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips ⁴ shall he slay the impious man. And he shall be girt about his loins with righteousness, and with truth encompassed about his reins. And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard⁵ with the kid, and the calf and the lion shall pasture together. And a sucking child shall put his hand on the hole of the asps, and on the lair of the offspring of the asps, and they shall not hurt him. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that riseth up to rule the Gentiles: in him shall the Gentiles hope: and his rising up⁶ shall be honour. By these words he states that He was born from her who was of the race of David and of Abraham. For Jesse was the descendant of Abraham, and the father of David; (and David’s) descendant the virgin was who conceived Christ. Now (as to) the rod: for this cause also Moses with⁷ a rod showed the mighty works to Pharaoh: and with other men also the rod is a sign of rule. And by flower he means His flesh;⁸ for from spirit it budded forth, as we have said before.

Notes

Isa. xi. 1 ff.
This passage was quoted in c. 9.
As though reading ἐλεήσει for ἐλέγξει. But in III, x. 1 we find “arguet gloriosos terrae.” The confusion between ἐλέγχειν and ἐλεεῖν is found in the text of Jude 22.
Lit. “with spirit through the lips,” as in LXX.
Omitting “shall lie down”: but this is found in V, xxxiii. 4 (lat. and arm.): so too are the other words which are wanting in what follows here.
As though reading ἀνάστασις instead of ἀνάπαυσις.
The Arm. means “with,” not “by means of.” Cf. Just. M. Dial. 86: Μωυσῆς μετὰ ῥάβδου ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ ἀπολύτρωσιν ἐπέμφθη: the Rod from Jesse’s root is there said to be Christ.
Or “body.”