Discovery BoxIsaiah 2:4 
Context2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 1
and their spears into pruning hooks. 2
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
Isaiah 45:9
Context45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 3
one who is like a mere 4 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 5
“What in the world 6 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 7
Isaiah 45:14
Context45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 8 of Egypt and the revenue 9 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 10 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 11
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 12
‘Truly God is with 13 you; he has no peer; 14
there is no other God!’”
Isaiah 66:17
Context66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, 15 those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice 16 – they will all be destroyed together,” 17 says the Lord.
1 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.
2 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.
3 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
4 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
5 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
6 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
7 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
8 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
9 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
10 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
11 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
12 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
13 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
14 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
15 tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.
16 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
17 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”
