And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
All Commentaries on Isaiah 11:1 Go To Isaiah 11
Quodvultdeus
AD 450
We believe, therefore, in the immortal and invisible God, not in him whom the infidels have fashioned to be God, who is both an adulterer and a thunderer, but in the true God, Creator and Ruler of all the world.
We also hold to Jesus Christ his Son, formerly promised through the prophets, and we know that the promise has been fulfilled. Yet, because we were not present when it was fulfilled, we are also commanded to believe it. The Jews were present then, however, from whose race the Savior himself chose apostles through whom the faith has reached us. As a member of the very race in which and from which he deigned to be born, the prophet Isaiah predicted a long time ago: “Behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ ”; And elsewhere [we read]: “There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will go up from his root.” The branch signifies the Virgin Mary, and the flower of the rod represents the Son of the Virgin, the Lord Jesus Christ. Before these things took place, the Jews read about it and did not understand.… Christ was born from a virgin like a flower from a branch, without the involvement of any seed. He was born a small infant and a great king.
