unlikely to be original here. The metaphor of a shoot sprouting from the Davidic tree/dynasty is used to refer to the Davidic king as in 23:5, and his conduct is set out in the same terms as there. Commentators are divided over whether or not vv. 15–16 are prose or poetry. The NIV and NKJV treat them as poetry in the same way as 23:5–6, but the REB and NRSV prefer prose here, and the NJPS takes both passages as prose. The difference is of little importance unless we assume that poetry is in some