2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –
they will mock you with this lament: 1
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off 2 the property of my people.
How they remove it from me! 3
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ 4
4:3 He will arbitrate 5 between many peoples
and settle disputes between many 6 distant nations. 7
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 8
and their spears into pruning hooks. 9
Nations will not use weapons 10 against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
1 tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).
2 tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”
3 tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
4 tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).
5 tn Or “judge.”
6 tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”
7 tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”
8 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.
9 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.
10 tn Heb “take up the sword.”