Isaiah 2


Isaiah 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, Aleppo Codex, Codex Leningradensis.
Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls :
  • 1QIsaa: complete
  • 4QIsaa : extant: verses 7-10
  • 4QIsab : extant: verses 3-16
  • 4QIsaf : extant: verses 1-3
  • 4QIsal : extant: verses 1-4
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.

Old Testament references

is very similar to Isaiah 2:2-4.

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Isaiah 2 is a part of the Prophecies about Judah and Israel . : open parashah.

The mountain of the Lord's house (verses 1–4)

This part is the beginning of an oracle which comprises chapters 2-4, with the basic theme of the glorious future of Jerusalem. The oracle in these four verses bears a close similarity to but with a different conclusion.

Verse 1

This new and "somewhat unexpected" superscription, inserted here, may serve to emphasize the originality of this prophecy as Isaiah's, as the subsequent words of oracle can also be found, with minor differences, in the Book of Micah; alternatively, it may be read as a sectional heading for chapters 2-12, comparable with the introductory line in Isaiah 13:1, which refers to a new oracle.

Verse 2

Other translations refer to "the mountain of the 's temple. Richard Coggins comments that Mount Zion is "in fact not at all a spectacular mountain".

Verse 3

Many speeches and movements concerned with peace and the adaptation of military technology to peaceful uses have adopted the phrase "swords into plowshares". The verse is a reversal of, where the ploughshares and pruning hooks are to become swords and spears, as it is related to 'the need for continued conflict'.

The day of Jehovah (verses 5–22)

This section contains an oracle about "the day of Jehovah" which brings together two basic themes in the book of Isaiah: "the vanity of human self-confidence" and "the folly of worshipping false gods".

Verse 5

The first part of this verse in Hebrew: "בית יעקב לכו ונלכה" Beit Ya'akov Lekhu Venelkha is the basis of the acronym "Bilu" which became the name of a nineteenth-century movement in Israel.

Verse 6

  • "They be replenished from the east" or "They are filled with eastern ways" : This phrase is rendered in the Revised Version as "they be filled with customs from the east", which is consistent with the following words:
This verse starts the actual new section, following [|verse 5] which is only linked by the phrase 'house of Jacob'.

Verse 22

The New King James Version renders this verse:
This verse is not found in the Septuagint, and could be a later insertion in Isaiah's prophecy.

Jewish

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