2:3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
so 1 he can teach us his requirements, 2
and 3 we can follow his standards.” 4
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; 5
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. 6
2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 7
and their spears into pruning hooks. 8
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
1 tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).
2 tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.
3 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.
4 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
5 tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”
6 tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
7 sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.
8 sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.