The Davidic Servant
Isaiah’s prophesied servant, the Root of Jesse, the Messenger of the Covenant who comes in the spirit of David in the last days.
“Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.”
I. Two Servants, One Title
Isaiah uses the word "servant" of more than one figure — and the prophets deliberately layer the usages. At the broadest level, Israel is the servant [Isaiah 41:8–9; 44:1–2]. At a narrower level, an individual servant is prophesied who gathers and restores Israel, whose ministry culminates in suffering and exaltation [Isaiah 42:1–7; 49:1–7; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12]. The Messiah is the supreme fulfillment of the servant texts; yet the same texts repeatedly double into a latter-day figure who comes in the spirit of David to gather Israel before Messiah’s return.
This double fulfillment is not an invention of Restoration commentators. Jeremiah names it openly:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
The Branch is Davidic. He will reign. He will execute judgment. Jeremiah 30:9 extends the same thought: "they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." Christians read these as messianic; the Restoration reads them as messianic and as a last-days servant who bears the Davidic anointing to gather before the King returns.
II. Isaiah 11 — The Rod and the Root
Isaiah 11 opens with two distinct figures from the same stock: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots" [Isaiah 11:1]. The Lord explained these titles through Joseph Smith:
“Who is the Stem of Jesse spoken of in the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th verses of the 11th chapter of Isaiah? Verily thus saith the Lord: It is Christ… What is the rod spoken of in the first verse of the 11th chapter of Isaiah, that should come of the Stem of Jesse? Behold, thus saith the Lord: It is a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power… What is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter? Behold, thus saith the Lord, 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.”
The Stem is Christ. The Rod is a servant in the hands of Christ. The Root is a descendant of Jesse and of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign to gather Israel in the last days. Two distinct latter-day servant figures are named here, standing beside the Stem who is Christ.
Do not collapse the three into one and do not identify the Rod or the Root with any living person named in public. Their identity is known to the Lord; it will be unveiled in His time [D&C 121:26–28]. The scripture names their office without naming them.
III. Isaiah 42 and 49 — The Servant Called and Hidden
Isaiah 42 opens the first Servant Song:
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles… I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.”
The Servant is "given for a covenant of the people." He is not merely a preacher of the covenant; he embodies it. Isaiah 49 then shows the Servant hidden before He is revealed:
“The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name… and said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain… and it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
The Servant labors, feels as if in vain, and is hidden in the quiver of the Lord [Isaiah 49:2] before being drawn forth at the appointed time. The pattern fits both the Messiah’s hiddenness in Nazareth and the latter-day servant’s hiddenness until the Lord reveals him.
IV. Isaiah 52:13–53:12 — Exaltation Through Suffering
The climactic Servant passage is the most-quoted Old Testament text about the Messiah — and it will have a latter-day analog for the Servant who comes in the spirit of David:
“Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.”
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief… Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows… He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
Christ fulfilled Isaiah 53 in its deepest meaning at Gethsemane and Calvary. But the prophets teach that the Servant pattern repeats — that the one who comes in the spirit of David in the last days will himself be marred, rejected, hidden, and finally vindicated as he labors to gather Israel before the King returns.
V. D&C 85 — The One Mighty and Strong
Joseph Smith’s letter to W. W. Phelps, later canonized as D&C 85, names a specific latter-day figure:
“It shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints.”
Clothed with light. Holding the scepter of power. Utterer of eternal words. Bowels a fountain of truth. Sent to set in order the house of God — the Lord’s own church, which D&C 124 declared had lost the fulness of the priesthood. This is not a general description of any faithful leader. It is a specific office for a specific man sent by the Lord. Read alongside Isaiah 11 and the Davidic texts, the One Mighty and Strong is one of the servant figures who will gather Israel before the return of the King.
Never assign the title of Rod, Root, Davidic Servant, or One Mighty and Strong to any named living person. The scriptures preserve the office; the Lord alone has the authority to reveal the person, and He will do so in His own time. The servant’s faithful posture is anonymity until the Lord lifts him up.
VI. 3 Nephi 20–21 — The Sign of the Servant
Christ Himself, speaking to the Nephites, quotes Isaiah 52 and identifies the Servant’s gathering work as the sign by which the Father’s covenant begins to be fulfilled in the last days:
“And verily, verily, I say unto you, when they shall be made known unto the Gentiles that ye may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the house of Jacob… it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel.”
“Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee…”
Christ quotes Isaiah 52 in full to the Nephites [3 Nephi 20:39–45] and then declares that when the Gentiles are given the Book of Mormon and begin to reject it, "then shall the fulness of my gospel be preached unto them" [3 Nephi 16:10–12] and the servant is raised up. The timeline is explicit: Book of Mormon comes forth, Gentiles are given space, Gentiles are tested, then the Servant is lifted up to gather Israel.
VII. Malachi 3 — The Messenger of the Covenant
Malachi 3:1 names the Servant’s office from a different angle:
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Two figures again: the messenger who prepares the way, and the Lord (the Messenger of the Covenant) who suddenly comes to His temple. The preparatory messenger is the Elias figure; the Messenger of the Covenant — often translated with the covenant office in view — gathers Israel and ushers in the King. The Servant of the Lord in the last days serves this office: covenant-bearer, gatherer, preparer.
The Servant is already foreordained and already on the earth when his time comes. The scriptures portray him as hidden, polished in the quiver, marred in visage, rejected by his own generation — and then drawn forth at the Lord’s word to gather Israel, set in order the house, and restore the fulness that was taken in 1841. Do not look for a celebrity. Look for a servant in the hands of Christ whose authority is confirmed by the Spirit, not by institutional recognition.
| Isaiah 11:1–5, 10 | The Rod and the Root out of the stem of Jesse — two distinct servant figures |
|---|---|
| D&C 113:1–6 | Joseph Smith’s interpretation — Rod and Root identified as servants in Christ’s hand |
| Isaiah 42:1–7 | First Servant Song — given for a covenant of the people, light of the Gentiles |
| Isaiah 49:1–7 | Servant hidden in the quiver, labors seemingly in vain, then drawn forth |
| Isaiah 52:13–53:12 | Exalted through suffering; marred in visage; justifies many |
| Jeremiah 23:5 | Davidic Branch raised up to reign in righteousness in the last days |
| Malachi 3:1 | Messenger who prepares the way; Messenger of the Covenant who comes |
| D&C 85:7 | One mighty and strong — sent to set in order the house of God |
| 3 Nephi 20:43–45, 21:1–11 | Christ quotes the Servant text and fixes the sign of the gathering |
| D&C 86:8–11 | The lawful heirs — the servants who labor with the Servant in the vineyard |
