r
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more." We note, indeed, that no reference to the Messiah or a king of the
house of David appears either in this passage or any of the prophecies of
Deutero-Isaiah. Justice and peace for all humanity are expected through
the reign of God alone. The specific Messianic character of this prophecy
took shape only in its association with the older national hope, voiced by
the prophet Isaiah.

3. The real Messianic hope involved the reestablishment of the throne of
David, and was expressed most perfectly in the words of Isaiah: "And there
shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow
forth out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall
be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his
eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the land;
and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And the
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a
little child shall lead them.... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My
holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea."(1199)

This pattern of the ideal ruler may have been modeled after some ancient
Babylonian formula for the adoration of kings, as has been asserted of
late; and the same may be true of the mystic titles given by Isaiah to the
royal heir: "Wonderful counselor, divine hero, father of spoil, prince of
peace."(1200) When the little kingdom of Judaea fell, the prospect of a
realization of the great prophetic vision seemed gone forever. Therefore
the exiles in Babylon fastened their hopes so much more firmly on the
"Shoot," particularly on Zerubabel ("the seed born in Babylon"), the
object of the fondest hopes of the later prophets.(1201) When he, too,
disappointed their expectations, probably due to Persian interference,
th