Attributed commentary excerpt
Barnes' Notes on Isaiah 11:6
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
The wolf also - In this, and the following verses, the prophet describes the effect of his reign in producing peace and tranquility on the earth. The description is highly poetical, and is one that is common in ancient writings in describing a golden age. The two leading ideas are those of “peace” and “security.” The figure is taken from the condition of animals of all descriptions living in a state of harmony, where those which are by nature defenseless, and which are usually made the prey of the strong, are suffered to live in security. By nature the wolf preys upon the lamb, and the leopard upon the kid, and the adder is venomous, and the bear, and the cow, and the lion, and the ox, cannot live together. But if a state of things should arise, where all this hostility would cease; where the wild animals would lay aside their ferocity, and where the feeble and the gentle would be safe; where the adder would cease to be venomous, and where all would be so mild and harmless that a little child would be safe, and could lead even the most ferocious animals, that state would represent the reign of the Messiah. Under his dominion, such a change would be produced as that those who were by nature violent, severe, and oppressive; those whose disposition is illustrated by the ferocious and bloodthirsty propensities of the lion and the leopard, and by the poison of the adder, would be changed and subdued, and would be disposed to live in peace and harmony with others. This is the “general” idea of the passage. We are not to cut the interpretation to the quick, and to press the expressions to know what particular class of people are represented by the lion, the bear, or the adder. The “general” image that is before the prophet’s mind is that of peace and safety, “such as that would be” if a change were to be produced in wild animals, making them tame, and peaceful, and harmless. This description of a golden age is one that is common in Oriental writers, where the wild beasts are represented as growing tame; where serpents are harmless; and where all is plenty, peace, and happiness. Thus Jones, in his commentary on Asiatic poetry, quotes from an Arabic poet, “Ibn Onein,” p. 380: Justitia, a qua mansuetus fit lupus fame astrictus, Esuriens, licet hinnulum candidurn videat - ‘Justice, by which the ravening wolf, driven by hunger, becomes tame, although he sees a white kid.’ Thus, also, Ferdusi, a Persian poet: Rerum Dominus, Mahmud, rex. potens, Ad cujus aquam potum veniunt simul agnus et lupus - ‘Mahmud, mighty king, lord of events, to whose fountain the lamb and the wolf come to drink.’ Thus Virgil, Eclogue iv. 21: Ipsae lactae domum referent distenta capellae Ubera; nec magnos metuent armenta leones - Home their full udders, goats, unurged shall bear, Nor shall the herd the lordly lion fear. And immediately after: Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni Occidet - The snake, and poison’s treacherous weed shall die. Wrangham. Again, Eclogue, v. 60: Nec lupus insidias pecori, nec retia cervis Ulla dolum mediantur: amat bonus otia Daphnis. So also Horace, “Epod.” 16:53, 54: Nec yespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile, Nec intumescit alta viperis humus. See also “Claudian,” Lib. ii. v. 25ff; and Theocritus, Idyl xxiv. 84, as quoted by Gesenius and Rosenmuller. These passages are beautiful, and highly poetic; but they do not equal the beauty of the prophet. There is an exquisite sweetness in the passage of Isaiah - in the picture which he has drawn -…
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