Yehezkiel 19:12

19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.

The east wind ¹  dried up its fruit;

its strong branches broke off and withered –

a fire consumed them.

Yehezkiel 19:14

19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. ² 

No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’

This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”

Yehezkiel 21:10

21:10 It is sharpened for slaughter,

it is polished to flash like lightning!

“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! ³ 

Yehezkiel 21:13

21:13 “‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? ⁴  declares the sovereign Lord.’

Kejadian 49:10

49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, ⁵ 

until he comes to whom it belongs; ⁶ 

the nations will obey him. ⁷ 

Bilangan 24:7-9

24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, ⁸ 

and their descendants will be like abundant ⁹  water; ¹⁰ 

their king will be greater than Agag, ¹¹ 

and their kingdom will be exalted.

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ¹² 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, ¹³  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

Bilangan 24:17

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand. ¹⁴ 

A star ¹⁵  will march forth ¹⁶  out of Jacob,

and a scepter ¹⁷  will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls ¹⁸  of Moab,

and the heads ¹⁹  of all the sons of Sheth. ²⁰ 

Ezra 4:20

4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates ²¹  and who were the beneficiaries of ²²  tribute, custom, and toll.

Ezra 5:11

5:11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king ²³  of Israel built it and completed it.

Mazmur 2:8-9

2:8 Ask me,

and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, ²⁴ 

the ends of the earth as your personal property.

2:9 You will break them ²⁵  with an iron scepter; ²⁶ 

you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” ²⁷ 

Mazmur 80:15

80:15 the root ²⁸  your right hand planted,

the shoot you made to grow! ²⁹ 

Mazmur 80:17

80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, ³⁰ 

to the one whom you raised up for yourself! ³¹ 

Mazmur 110:2

110:2 The Lord ³²  extends ³³  your dominion ³⁴  from Zion.

Rule in the midst of your enemies!

Yesaya 11:1

An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace

11:1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s ³⁵  root stock,

a bud will sprout ³⁶  from his roots.

[19:12]  ¹ sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.

[19:14]  ² tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.

[21:10]  ³ tn Heb “Or shall we rejoice, scepter of my son, it despises every tree.” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned just before this. Alternatively, the line may be understood as “let us not rejoice, O tribe of my son; it despises every tree.” The same word in Hebrew may be either “rod,” “scepter,” or “tribe.” The word sometimes translated as “or” or taken as an interrogative particle may be a negative particle. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:672, n. 79.

[21:10]  sn The people of Judah should not place false hope in their king, symbolized by his royal scepter, for God’s judgment (symbolized by fire and then a sword) would destroy every tree (see 20:47), symbolizing the righteous and wicked (see 21:3-4).

[21:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “For testing (will come) and what if also a scepter, it despises, will not be?” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned in the previous verses. The text is very difficult and any rendering is uncertain.

[49:10]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “from his descendants,” taking the expression “from between his feet” as a euphemism referring to the genitals. In this case the phrase refers by metonymy to those who come forth from his genitals, i.e., his descendants.

[49:10]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew form שִׁילֹה (shiloh) is a major interpretive problem. There are at least four major options (with many variations and less likely alternatives): (1) Some prefer to leave the text as it is, reading “Shiloh” and understanding it as the place where the ark rested for a while in the time of the Judges. (2) By repointing the text others arrive at the translation “until the [or “his”] ruler comes,” a reference to a Davidic ruler or the Messiah. (3) Another possibility that does not require emendation of the consonantal text, but only repointing, is “until tribute is brought to him” (so NEB, JPS, NRSV), which has the advantage of providing good parallelism with the following line, “the nations will obey him.” (4) The interpretation followed in the present translation, “to whom it [belongs]” (so RSV, NIV, REB), is based on the ancient versions. Again, this would refer to the Davidic dynasty or, ultimately, to the Messiah.

[49:10]  ⁷ tn “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” JBL 80 (1961): 55-64; and E. M. Good, “The ‘Blessing’ on Judah,” JBL 82 (1963): 427-32.

[24:7]  ⁸ tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “many.”

[24:7]  ¹⁰ sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.

[24:7]  ¹¹ sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.

[24:8]  ¹² tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[24:9]  ¹³ tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.

[24:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “near.”

[24:17]  ¹⁵ sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.

[24:17]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like tread on, walk, march.”

[24:17]  ¹⁷ sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”

[24:17]  ¹⁸ tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

[24:17]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.

[24:17]  ²⁰ sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.

[4:20]  ²¹ sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.

[4:20]  ²² tn Aram “were being given to them.”

[5:11]  ²³ sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.

[2:8]  ²⁴ sn I will give you the nations. The Lord promises the Davidic king universal dominion.

[2:9]  ²⁵ tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.

[2:9]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.

[2:9]  ²⁷ sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.

[80:15]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).

[80:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.

[80:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)

[80:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.

[110:2]  ³² tn Since the Lord is mentioned in the third person (note the use of the first person in v. 1), it is likely that these are the psalmist’s words to the king, not a continuation of the oracle per se.

[110:2]  ³³ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.

[110:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.

[11:1]  ³⁵ sn The text mentions David’s father Jesse, instead of the great king himself. Perhaps this is done for rhetorical reasons to suggest that a new David, not just another disappointing Davidic descendant, will arise. Other prophets call the coming ideal Davidic king “David” or picture him as the second coming of David, as it were. See Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5; and Mic 5:2 (as well as the note there).

[11:1]  ³⁶ tc The Hebrew text has יִפְרֶה (yifreh, “will bear fruit,” from פָּרָה, parah), but the ancient versions, as well as the parallelism suggest that יִפְרַח (yifrakh, “will sprout”, from פָּרַח, parakh) is the better reading here. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:276, n. 2.