2:10 The Lord shatters 1 his adversaries; 2
he thunders against them from 3 the heavens.
The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.
He will strengthen 4 his king
and exalt the power 5 of his anointed one.” 6
2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;
he will settle cases for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 7
and their spears into pruning hooks. 8
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. 9
He will not judge by mere appearances, 10
or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. 11
42:1 12 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 13 for the nations. 14
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 15
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 16 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 17
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 18
I am ready to deliver, 19
I will establish justice among the nations. 20
The coastlands 21 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 22
3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.
3:13 Rush forth with 23 the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!
Come, stomp the grapes, 24 for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow.
Indeed, their evil is great! 25
3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,
for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! 26
3:15 The sun and moon are darkened;
the stars withhold 27 their brightness.
3:16 The Lord roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem 28 his voice bellows out. 29
The heavens 30 and the earth shake.
But the Lord is a refuge for his people;
he is a stronghold for the citizens 31 of Israel.
4:3 He will arbitrate 32 between many peoples
and settle disputes between many 33 distant nations. 34
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 35
and their spears into pruning hooks. 36
Nations will not use weapons 37 against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
19:11 Then 40 I saw heaven opened and here came 41 a white horse! The 42 one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice 43 he judges and goes to war.
1 tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.
2 tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.
3 tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”
4 tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.
5 tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”
6 tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.
7 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.
8 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.
9 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.
10 tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”
11 tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”
12 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
13 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
14 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
15 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
16 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
17 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
18 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
19 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
20 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
21 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
22 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
23 tn Heb “send.”
24 tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (rÿdu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).
26 sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.
27 tn Heb “gather in.”
28 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
29 tn Heb “he sounds forth his voice.”
30 tn Or “the sky.” See the note on “sky” in 2:30.
31 tn Heb “sons.”
32 tn Or “judge.”
33 tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”
34 tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”
35 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.
36 sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (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.
37 tn Heb “take up the sword.”
38 tn Or “condemn.”
39 tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”
40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
41 tn The phrase “and here came” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
42 tn A new sentence was started in the translation at this point and καί (kai) was not translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
43 tn Or “in righteousness,” but since the context here involves the punishment of the wicked and the vindication of the saints, “justice” was preferred.