Isaiah 2
The Vision Concerning Judah and Jerusalem 1–5
Judgment on Judah's Idolatry and Pride 6–9
The Terror of the Day of the Lord 10–22
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Isaiah 2
Verse 1
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw — A 'word' (dabar) that was 'saw' (chazah), perceived in vision: the message was seen as well as heard. The heading echoes 'The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz' (Isa 1:1) and again names 'Judah and Jerusalem', though the oracle that follows reaches to 'all nations' (v.2).
Verse 2
in the last days — Acharith is the end or latter part, as in Jacob's 'that which shall befall you in the last days' (Gen 49:1). Micah 4:1 repeats these words almost exactly. The New Testament says God has 'in these last days spoken unto us by his Son' (Heb 1:2). 'Flow' (nahar) pictures nations streaming like a river toward the LORD's house.
Verse 3
out of Zion shall go forth the law — 'Law' is torah, instruction, and 'teach' (yarah) comes from the same root. The nations come to be taught 'his ways'. Christ commands that repentance and remission of sins be preached 'among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem' (Luke 24:47). Micah 4:2 gives the same words with small differences ('many nations', 'the law shall go forth of Zion').
Verse 4
beat their swords into plowshares — The 'judge' (shaphat) is the LORD, who settles disputes among the nations, so they no longer need weapons. 'Plowshares' (eth) are digging blades and 'pruninghooks' are vine-knives. Micah 4:3 repeats the verse with small differences; Joel 3:10 reverses the words, 'Beat your plowshares into swords'.
Verse 5
walk in the light of the LORD — The vision of vv.2–4 turns into a summons to the 'house of Jacob' in the present. 'Walk' (yalak) is the verb of the nations' going in v.3. Later, 'the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light' (Isa 60:19), and Christ's word, 'Walk while ye have the light' (John 12:35), echoes the call.
Verse 6
soothsayers like the Philistines — Anan is to practise magic, a divining by clouds or omens. The sin is borrowing from neighbours: 'replenished from the east' and pleasing themselves 'in the children of strangers'. Ahaziah sent to enquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron, a Philistine city (2 Kin 1:2); the Law forbade such practices.
Verse 7
full of horses — The land is 'full' (male) of silver, gold, horses and chariots, with 'no end' to them. The king was forbidden to 'multiply horses' or 'greatly multiply to himself silver and gold' (Deut 17:16–17). Isaiah later condemns those who 'stay on horses, and trust in chariots' (Isa 31:1).
Verse 8
the work of their own hands — 'Idols' is elil, a worthless thing, vanity, 'good for nothing'. The verse names the folly of worshipping what 'their own fingers have made'. Ps 115:4 describes idols as 'the work of men's hands', and adds that 'they that make them are like unto them' (Ps 115:8).
Verse 10
Enter into the rock — The command to hide 'for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty' is repeated in vv.19 and 21. The scene is taken up in Revelation, where men say 'to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne' (Rev 6:16).
Verse 11
the LORD alone shall be exalted — Sagab is to be set on high, out of reach; it is the verb of the LORD alone, while the human 'lofty looks' (literally, eyes of loftiness) are 'humbled'. The verse recurs, slightly varied, at v.17 and frames the section on the 'day' of vv.12–17; Isa 5:16 says 'the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment'.
Verse 12
the day of the LORD of hosts — The 'day' falls on 'every one that is proud and lofty' and lifted up. 'Hosts' (tsaba) is the title of the LORD as commander of armies. Vv.13–16 list the high things it humbles: cedars, mountains, towers, ships. Mal 4:1 says 'all the proud… shall be stubble'.
Verse 16
the ships of Tarshish — Tarshish was reached by sea; Solomon's navy with Hiram's returned every three years 'bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes' (1 Kin 10:22). Isaiah names them beside the 'high tower' and 'fenced wall' (v.15). 'Pleasant pictures' (sekiyyah) are conspicuous, desirable objects; Num 33:52 uses 'pictures' for idolatrous figures.
Verse 18
the idols he shall utterly abolish — The verb chalaph is to pass away; with kalil, 'entirely', the idols vanish completely. The promise is taken up in Zech 13:2, 'I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered', and in Hos 14:8, 'What have I to do any more with idols?'
Verse 19
to shake terribly the earth — The verb arats is to dread or terrify, and the LORD 'ariseth' to do it. Men flee into 'holes of the rocks' and 'caves of the earth'. Christ cites the cry, 'Fall on us… Cover us' (Luke 23:30, from Hos 10:8), and Hebrews, citing Hag 2:6, speaks of such shaking: 'Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven' (Heb 12:26).
Verse 20
to the moles and to the bats — The idols, made 'each one for himself to worship', are thrown to creatures of dark holes. The Hebrew word for 'moles' is joined from two words, chapor and perah, 'burrowers'. Isa 31:7 repeats the day when 'every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold'. The bat is unclean (Lev 11:19).
Verse 22
whose breath is in his nostrils — 'Breath' is neshamah, the breath of life, which God gave and can withdraw; man is only as secure as his next breath. Compare Ps 146:3–4, 'Put not your trust in princes… His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth'. Jer 17:5 pronounces a curse on 'the man that trusteth in man'.