Isaiah 4:2

At that time ¹  the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; ²  the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel. ³ 

Ex 28:2; Ps 67:6; Ps 85:11,12; Isa 10:20-22; Isa 11:1; Isa 27:6; Isa 27:12,13; Isa 30:23; Isa 37:31,32; Isa 45:8; Isa 60:21; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Jer 44:14,28; Eze 7:16; Eze 17:22,23; Ho 2:22,23; Joe 2:32; Joe 3:18; Ob 1:17; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12; Zec 9:17; Mt 24:22; Lu 21:36; Joh 1:14; Ro 11:4,5; 2Co 4:6; 2Pe 1:16; Re 7:9-14

¹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

² tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).

³ tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”