3. 4. And all nations shall flow unto it, And many peoples shall go and say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of To the house of the God of Jacob; And we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And he shall judge between the nations, And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, on the "at the the vision of a patriot. The translation in the text of SV, top of the mountains," is too grotesque to be probable; top or head" (SVm) is more likely, especially as later writers do actually appear to have anticipated a physical elevation of Zion, which, according to Ezek. 40: 2, for example, is a very high mountain it is to tower above the other hills. In any case, however, the real greatness of Zion in this passage is her spiritual elevation; in knowledge of the right, in appreciation of the divine will, she towers above all other nations of the world, who have to come (to stream) to her for instruction. "that 3. The nations are represented as recognizing the religious supremacy of Jerusalem: she has what they have not - a divine word, a law, that is, instruction (cf. 1: 10) in the way in which he I would have them walk. Therefore to Jerusalem they go he may teach" them through the medium of priest or prophet. 4. This verse explains the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion. They go for the arbitration of difficult cases, which they would otherwise have settled by war. The pilgrims are men familiar with the use of sword and spear; but the decision which they receive in Zion is so just and satisfactory that they destroy their weapons, for which they have now no more use. Or rather they do not destroy them, they transform them into useful implements of agriculture. Here we get a glimpse of Israel's love for the country life; in the golden age, ploughshares and pruning-hooks will have a conspicuous place. Again we see the prophet's horror of in the better world to be, the nations shall learn war no more (cf. 9:5). war 5. 6. And their spears into pruning-hooks: O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the JUDGMENT UPON THE WEALTH AND PRIDE OF JUDAH (2:6-4:6) 5. A tender appeal to Israel herself to walk in the light of the revelation with which she has been so conspicuously blessed. This remarkable passage (vss. 2-5) shows how practical, as well as idealistic, were the thinkers of Israel. It contains in germ the solution of the peace problem. War will be no more when the nations, now armed to the teeth, are willing to submit their disputes to the arbitration of Zion; in other words, when they are willing to have them decided by those principles of justice which were never more earnestly or eloquently proclaimed than by the Hebrew prophets, and which are identified with Jerusalem as with no other city in the world. The passage presupposes nations which will be reasonable enough to seek for arbitration from a court which they can trust, and content to abide by the decision when it is pronounced. 2:6-4:6. This group must be among the very earliest of all Isaiah's prophecies. Part of it falls in the brief reign of Jotham (740-736 B.C.) soon after Uzziah's death (cf. 6: 1); the brilliance, energy, and enterprise of Uzziah's highly prosperous reign are felt through the prophet's solemn warnings of doom. Part of the prophecy may come, however, from the beginning of the reign of Ahaz; 3: 12, for example, seems to be an unmistakable allusion to that irresolute king. We cannot go far wrong in assigning at least Chaps. 2 and 3 to the years 740-736 or 735 B.C. 2: 6-22. The prosperous enterprise of the reign of Uzziah has brought to Judah the luxury and the superstition of the East, and engendered in her a temper of worldliness and pride. For all Because they be filled with customs from the east, And they strike hands with the children of strangers. 7. Their land also is full of silver and gold, Neither is there any end of their treasures; these things a day of judgment is coming; and the judgment, which is described in a poem of splendid power, is colored by Isaiah's experience of the terrible earthquake which occurred in the reign of Uzziah (cf. Amos 1 : 1), and which remained a national memory for centuries (Zech. 14: 5). 6. The poem can hardly have begun with for. It has been aptly conjectured that this verse may originally have been preceded by the refrain which now appears in different forms, in vss. IO, 19, 21. "Enter the rocky caverns and hide thee in the dust, etc., for he hath forsaken his people" (3d person; so the Greek version). The first count in the indictment against Judah is her superstition. As the Hebrew word for soothsayer, very like the word for east, appears to have fallen out, we should probably read: They are full of diviners from the east, The first term is used of obtaining an oracle by drawing lots, the second is quite obscure; it may suggest divination by watching the clouds, or it may indicate the monotonous croon of the soothsayer, or the glance of the evil eye. These and other forms of superstition are severely condemned and forbidden in Deut. 18: 10 ff. Indulgence in such superstitious practices was greatly encouraged by Israel's intercourse, through trade and in other ways, with foreigners; the soothsayers are from the east, the near east (cf. Balaam), and still more the distant Babylonia, whose diviners were the recognized experts of the ancient world. For Philistine divination cf. 1 Sam. 6: 2; 2 Kings 1: 2. Uzziah's wars with the Philistines (2 Chron. 26: 6 f.) would have brought his people into special contact with them. They strike hands, etc. Any sort of contract with foreigners always involved a menace to the purer religion of Israel, and was therefore deprecated by the prophets (cf. Hos. 7:8; Num. 23:9). It has been suggested, however, with some probability, that this word has displaced an original word of somewhat similar sound, meaning" they practise sorcery." 7. Uzziah had recovered Elath, the port on the northeasterly arm of the Red Sea (2 Kings 14:22); the silver and gold are the 8. 9. IO. Their land also is full of horses, Neither is there any end of their chariots. They worship the work of their own hands, And the mean man is bowed down, and the great Therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, And hide thee in the dust, From before the terror of the LORD And from the glory of his majesty.1 1 Gr. here properly inserts, when he arises to shake the earth (cf. vss. 19, 21). result of foreign trade, the horses and chariots would be necessary in Uzziah's wars (2 Chron. 26: 6-15). All alike would beget a confidence in material resources, and divert Judah from faith in her unseen God. 8. Superstition (vs. 6), wealth (vs. 7), idolatry (vs. 8). The idolatry goes naturally with the superstition. The prophet has nothing but scorn (cf. 40: 19, 20) for worshippers who bow down before the creations of their own hands. Such hand-made gods are no gods mere nothings, as the Hebrew word suggests. The frequent repetition of the word full in vss. 6-8 is very impressive; Judah is full of practices, influences, possessions, which drive her from her God and compel him to reject her. 9. It does not seem natural to explain the being bowed down and brought low of the people being sunk in superstition. It is more probable, especially in view of vs. 10, which urges the people to hide from the awful presence of Jehovah, that the doom is here pronounced for the first time. The language, though briefer, strongly resembles vss. 11, 17, and still more 5:15; perhaps originally ran the mean man shall be bowed down," etc. last clause of the verse is probably corrupt; it is difficult to assign a really satisfactory meaning to it. The last clause of the corresponding verse, 5: 15, is more satisfactory. The 10. In view of the inevitable doom, the prophet bids the people flee from the terrible avenging Jehovah, to the caves in the limestone rocks, in which men were wont to seek safety from their enemies (1 Sam. 13:6). II. The lofty looks of men shall be brought low, 12. For there shall be a day of the LORD of hosts Upon all that is proud and haughty, 1 And upon all that is lifted up: and it shall be brought low: 13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan; 14. And upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15. And upon every lofty tower, And upon every fenced wall; 1 Gr. and high. II f. That day is the day of judgment, the great day of Jehovah, described so powerfully in the following verses. To the people, it meant the day of judgment upon Israel's enemies (cf. Amos 5: 18 ff.); to the early prophets, with their moral conception of Jehovah (cf. 1: 17), it meant the day of judgment upon Israel herself. There is no one in all the universe that is really exalted but Jehovah (6:1); all that seems or pretends to be exalted whether persons or things must therefore be thrown remorselessly down in " that day,” which is coming “upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is high and lifted up" (so Gr). The passage finely illustrates Isaiah's conception of the lonely majesty and exaltation of God. 13-16. Again (as in vss. 6-8, with their impressive repetition of full) the swing and cadence of the poem can be distinctly felt through the English translation; upon the cedars, upon the mountains, upon the towers, upon the ships, the judgment shall fall. The storm, which lays these lofty things low, begins, as in Ps. 29, in the north: it sweeps through the forests, prostrating the mightiest trees; across the cities, levelling their towers and walls; over the seas, wrecking the giant ships. These allusions have perhaps a special as well as a general point: the cedars and oaks would contribute to the luxury of the palatial homes of Judah, the towers |