Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 11:7

And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

7. Cf. Isa 65:25. shall feed ] Better, shall graze, unless we are to supply “alike” as in Isa 65:25. Some critics prefer to read “shall associate together,” with a small alteration of the text.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And the cow and the bear shall feed – That is, together. Animals that by nature do not dwell together, where by nature the one would be the prey of the other, shall dwell together – animage of safety and peace.

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox – A representation of the change that will take place under the reign of the Messiah in the natural disposition of men, and in the aspect of society; as great as if the lion were to lose his natural appetite for blood, and to live on the usual food of the ox. This cannot be taken literally, for such an interpretation would suppose a change in the physical organization of the lion – of his appetites, his teeth, his digestive organs – a change which it would be absurd to suppose will ever exist. It would in fact make him a different being. And it is clear, therefore, that the whole passage is to be interpreted in moral sense, as denoting great and important changes in society, and in the hearts of men.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 7. In this verse a word is omitted in the text, yachdav, together; which ought to be repeated in the second hemistich, being quite necessary to the sense. It is accordingly twice expressed by the Septuagint and Syriac.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Shall feed together, as it follows, without any danger or fear.

The lion shall eat straw, the grass and fruits of the earth, as they did at first, Gen 1:29,30, and shall not devour other living creatures, as now they do.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. feednamely, “together”;taken from the second clause.

strawno longer fleshand blood.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the cow and the bear shall feed,…. That is, together, in one church state, at one table, or in one pasture, upon the wholesome food of the Gospel, the salutary doctrines of Christ; who though before of different dispositions, the one tame and gentle, useful and profitable, dispensing the milk of the divine word, and gracious experience; the other cruel and voracious, barbarous and inhuman, worrying the lambs and sheep of Christ; but now of the same nature, and having no ill will to one another, and being without fear of each other:

their young ones shall lie down together; those like the calf and the young bear, shall lie in the green pastures of Gospel ordinances, and do no injury, the latter to the former, being of one mind, and agreeing in doctrine and practice:

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; kings shall be nursing fathers to the church, and feed on the same Gospel provisions; and there shall be a great agreement between them who were before comparable to lions for their strength, power, and cruelty, and ministers of the Gospel, who are compared to oxen, for their strength and laboriousness, 1Co 9:9 “straw” here denotes true doctrine, though elsewhere false, see 1Co 3:12.

See Gill (Editor’s note) on “Isa 11:6” .

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

7. Shall feed Or, graze.

Eat straw “No hay is made in Palestine.” VAN LENNEP’S Bible Lands, p. 83. The fodder for cattle, horses, and camels in that country is straw broken and mashed at the threshing floors. This is fed in connexion with barley. (Van Lennep.) The doctrine allegorized here cannot safely be carried (as by Gill and others) beyond the general one of the greatest possible moral change wrought by Messiah’s reign.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Ver. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed. ] An allegorical description of greatest confidence and innocence, saith Junius. Bears are angry and vindictive creatures; so are the best by nature, Tit 3:3 till tamed and domesticated by God’s distinguishing grace. As for those semiperfectae vertutis homines, as an ancient calls them, temporaries and hypocrites, who do only the outward works of duty, without the inward principle, it may be said of them, as the civil law doth of those mixed beasts, elephants, camels, &c., Operam praestant, natura fera est, they do the work of tame beasts, yet have the nature of wild ones.

Their young ones shall lie down together. ] Heb., Their children, i.e., say some, a children after parents shall do thus, and their children after them from age to age; not revolting any more to barbarism.

And the lion shall eat straw. ] Not men and other sensitive creatures, as now. b This, say the Chiliasts after some Rabbis, shall be literally fulfilled in that golden age of Christ’s personal reign upon earth; a mere fancy, first vented by Papias, a man of some holiness, but ingenii pertenuis, of very little judgment, saith Eusebius.

a Arcularius.

b Conversi non vivent ex rapto: sed legitime partis reculis contenti erunt. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History l. 3. c. 39. 1:295,297.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Reciprocal: Eze 34:15 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge