Isaiah 11 was part of the scriptures that the Angel Moroni quoted to Joseph Smith in 1823 (Joseph Smith—History 1:40). The prophecy in Isaiah 11 speaks of the royal family of David, who was a descendant of Jesse. The King James Version of the Bible uses the word “stem” in this prophecy. However, the Hebrew word Isaiah uses in his prophecy is closer in meaning to the word “stump.” For instance, another biblical translation of Isaiah 11:1 reads, “but a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse.”¹ Isaiah’s use of the word “stump” suggests that the vitality and life of the house of Jesse would in the future be gone, and the family would essentially be left as a dead stump.

Doctrine and Covenants 113:2 interprets the stump as Christ. This interpretation likely has a double meaning. The first meaning deals with the lineage of Christ. In Isaiah’s day the vitality and strength of the house of Jesse was nearly spent. But with the birth of Christ, a descendant of David and the rightful king of Israel, new life sprung out of the dead stump of Jesse’s descendants and the true mission of the house of Jesse became known. The second meaning points to the Resurrection of Christ. Jesus Christ was resurrected and overcame death. The Resurrection of the Savior enables the royal house of Jesse—and all of us—to come back from death and reproof. After we die, our mortal bodies gain new life through the vitality and miraculous Resurrection of the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

1. The Jewish Study Bible, ed. Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, 2014, 789.

Many Christians interpret the “rod” spoken of in Isaiah 11 as Jesus. This interpretation likely stems from the fact that other versions of the Bible use the words “shoot”² or “branch” in place of the word “rod” in the King James Version of the Bible, a usage that suggests new life and vitality to the royal house of Jesse. However, since Doctrine and Covenants 113:2 identifies the rod as a person who is “partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim,” the rod cannot be Christ, who was a descendant of Judah. While the rod is not explicitly identified in verses 4–6, the most likely candidate is Joseph Smith.

The “root” of Jesse is likely the same person as the “rod” mentioned in verse 3 since both are identified as “a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph” (D&C 113:6). The “root” is also identified as one “unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days” (D&C 113:6). It should be noted that a “root” in Old Testament imagery is often used to mean an offspring of someone, not an ancestor (as is common in Western culture). Neither Jesus nor Joseph Smith were ancestors of Jesse or David, but they can still be “roots” and chosen heirs of the blessings of the priesthood.³

The mission of Joseph Smith is foretold in several places in scripture (2 Nephi 3:17). Other revelations identify Joseph in Messianic imagery and speak of his right to the priesthood through the lineage of his fathers. Doctrine and Covenants 86:8–10 declares, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.” In line with this prophecy, the lineage of Joseph Smith was watched over and protected until the time of the Restoration. When Moroni quoted Isaiah 11 to Joseph Smith in 1823, he declared that the prophecy was about to be fulfilled (Joseph Smith—History 1:40).

2. The Jewish Study Bible, ed. Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, 2014, 789.

3. Stephen E. Robinson and H. Dean Garrett, A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, 2005, 4:100.

The first two verses of Isaiah 52 read, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” The Savior also quoted these verses to the Nephites during his appearance to them (3 Nephi 20:36–37).

The revelation given to Joseph Smith at the request of Elias Higbee clarifies that the redemption of Israel will come about in the latter days through the “power of priesthood” (D&C 113:8). The revelation further establishes that the captivity of Israel was not physical but spiritual. The “lost” tribes of the Israelite family are lost in the sense that they do not know their real identity and purpose. The Book of Mormon is the primary instrument designed to help the lost remnants of Israel know their true heritage. As its title page states, the record was preserved “to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever” (Book of Mormon Title Page).

Speaking of the house of Israel in this future time of Restoration, Isaiah prophesied, “Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I” (Isaiah 52:6). The “bands of her neck” (D&C 113:10) that bind Israel can only be loosed by accepting the commandments and the covenants of the Lord administered by those who hold the priesthood.