The Root of Jesse

One of the most important chapters of Isaiah related to the restoration of the gospel in the latter days is Isaiah 11.  Joseph Smith recorded that when he was visited by the angel Moroni, “he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled” (JSH 1:40).  This was the only passage of Isaiah that Joseph mentioned in his account of Moroni’s teachings to him in September 1823.  When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, this included the eleventh chapter of Isaiah as what is now 2 Nephi 21.  Nephi then quoted Isaiah 11:5-9 in his prophecies of the last days in 2 Nephi 30 (see verses 11-15).  And then in the Doctrine and Covenants, the first six verses of section 113 are an interpretation of parts of Isaiah 11.  Clearly it is a passage that very important relative to the great latter-day work. 

               One of the questions that was asked in Doctrine and Covenants 113 was this: “What is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter?”  The original verse reads this way: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”  So who is this root?  The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust” (Romans 15:11-12).  That seems to be a pretty clear reference to the Savior as the root in Isaiah’s writings, for in Him they are to trust.  Other scriptures also refer to Christ as a root.  For example, in the book of Revelation we read of “the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David” who “prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”  Later in Revelation Christ Himself said, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 5:5, 22:16).  Here Christ clearly was referred to as a “root.” In the Messianic chapter of Isaiah speaking of the Savior’s sufferings, he compared Christ to a root, “He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2).  Given these other references, it seems natural that we would interpret Isaiah’s “root of Jesse” as the Savior—surely He is “an ensign of the people” to which “the Gentiles seek.”

               And yet, the interpretation given in the Doctrine and Covenants for the “root of Jesse” does not say that it is Christ.  The Lord revealed, “It is a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, 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.”  This seems to imply that the person is someone in the last days who will work to the gathering of Israel, and since the “stem of Jesse” was defined in the same section simply as Christ, this description certainly seems to be pointing to someone besides Christ.  Sidney Sperry suggested that it was Joseph Smith, writing, “He rightly holds the priesthood and its keys by lineage, and surely no one disputes the fact that the keys of the ‘gathering of my people’ were conferred on him by Moses in the Kirtland Temple.”  That is what is recorded in the 110^th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth” (v11).  The Savior also declared that to Joseph the “keys of the kingdom” were indeed given: “Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:13).  Another revelation similarly says, “Unto him have I given the keys of this kingdom and ministry” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:19).  To Joseph the Lord also said, “Lift up an ensign of peace, and make a proclamation of peace unto the ends of the earth,” and declared that the Zion he was called to establish “shall be an ensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every nation under heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:42).  Certainly the case can be made the Joseph was this “root of Jesse” called in the latter days to start the gathering of Israel. 

               So which is it?  Is the root of Jesse the Savior or is it Joseph Smith in the latter days?  Understanding the dualistic nature of Isaiah’s prophecies, I don’t think there is any problem suggesting that it is both.  The Savior certainly is the ensign to whom we seek, and the ensign that the prophet Joseph lifted up for the gathering of Israel.  What is most important is that in the last days the gathering unto the Savior is indeed happening through the work begun by the prophet Joseph Smith.