Discovery BoxIsaiah 18:5 
Context18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears, 1
he will cut off the unproductive shoots 2 with pruning knives;
he will prune the tendrils. 3
Isaiah 2:4
Context2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 4
and their spears into pruning hooks. 5
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
1 tn Heb “and the unripe, ripening fruit is maturing.”
2 tn On the meaning of זַלְזַל (zalzal, “shoot [of the vine] without fruit buds”) see HALOT 272 s.v. *זַלְזַל.
3 tn Heb “the tendrils he will remove, he will cut off.”
4 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.
5 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.
