O Antiphon - O Radix Jesse

O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse) is sung at Vespers today with the Hanukkah prayers and candle-lighting. Jesse was the father of King David, Jesus is a descendent of King David, and therefore of Jesse. The Prophet Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). O 'Root of Jesse originates in a passage in the biblical Book of Isaiah which describes metaphorically the ancestry of the Messiah.

"A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."– Isaiah 11:1

"On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious."- Isaiah 11:10

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Today our O Antiphon, Hanukkah and Shabbat (Sabbath), have one thing in common - GOD KEEPING HIS PROMISES! It was promised the Messiah would come through the line of King David, son of Jesse. Along with the Antiphon we look at John the Baptist birth; an angel appearing to his father, his mother a barren woman in her later years finally bearing a child. The child that would lead the people to repentance and prepare the way for the promised coming of the Messiah. Hanukkah - God keeping his promises, showing his people He had not forgotten them....Shabbat the reminder of who made those promises, that He is our Creator.