| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the discourse formula kai palin Esaias legei {καὶ πάλιν Ἠσαΐας λέγει | kaí pá-lin Ē-sa-ï-as lé-gei}, “and again Isaiah says,” which signals another scriptural citation in a sequence and frames the prophetic words as presently authoritative through the historical present legei. The quotation itself opens with the future verb estai {Ἔσται | És-tai}, fronted before its subject hē rhiza tou Iessai {ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαί | hē rhí-za tou I-es-saí}, “the root of Jesse,” creating emphasis on the coming reality of this Davidic figure. The genitive tou Iessai is a genealogical genitive, identifying the messianic origin in Jesse’s line.
A second, coordinate description follows with kai ho anistamenos arkhein ethnōn {καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν | kaí ho a-ni-stá-me-nos ár-khein eth-nōn}, literally “and the one rising to rule the nations.” The articular participle ho anistamenos functions substantivally, pointing to a specific person whose “rising” denotes public emergence and, in broader Pauline theology, resonates with resurrection imagery. The complementary infinitive arkhein governs ethnōn in the genitive, expressing the sphere of his royal authority, namely “over the nations.”
The final segment forms a resultative or descriptive clause: ep' autō ethnē elpiousin {ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν | ep' autô éth-nē el-pi-oû-sin}, “upon Him nations will hope.” The prepositional phrase ep' autō is placed before the subject ethnē and the future verb elpiousin, highlighting the person who is the object and foundation of Gentile hope. The future indicative elpiousin expresses assured expectation rather than mere possibility. In translation, the two main descriptions of the messianic figure (“the root of Jesse” and “the One rising to rule the nations”) are preserved in parallel, while the last clause is rendered with “in Him the nations will hope” / “the nations will put their hope in Him” to convey the personal, trust-laden orientation that the Greek preposition with dative implies. |