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Last Modified: Thursday September 9, 2021
Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
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1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
6 You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.
7 Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
9 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled—do not forgive them.
10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty!
11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),
13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 for all the towering mountains and all the high hills,
15 for every lofty tower and every fortified wall,
16 for every trading ship and every stately vessel.
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18 and the idols will totally disappear.
19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship.
21 They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.
22 Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
This chapter is a broth of nine scripts.
The norm throughout the Book of Isaiah is that a canonical chapter contains extraneous material. In some chapters all the verses can be exported. The title given to them is "Blank."
A misleading marker on verse 5, "The Day of the Lord," was expunged from the canonical text. All other markers in the Book of Isaiah were likewise expunged. A few gave title to a revision.
Revised Chapter 2 enlists two canonical verses, imports eleven more from five chapters and carries the title, "The Mountain of The Lord."
This revision highlights the miraculous transformation of the environment on the Lord's holy mountain.
1. This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
Reason: The remainder of this chapter does not talk about Judah and once only does it mention Jerusalem (v 3). The twosome, "Judah and Jerusalem," is found on Isaiah 1:1 and the twosome, "Jerusalem and Judah," is found on Isaiah 3:1.
Destination: To be the first verse of Revised Chapter 3, "The Lord's Displeasure With Judah and Jerusalem."
4. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war anymore.
Reason: The antecedent of the pronoun, "He," is not the Lord, as one would expect, but "the word of the Lord" (v 3).
Destination: Revised Chapter 4, "The Branch of The Lord," where verse 4 concatenates with and rounds out the tally of personal qualities of the Branch of the Lord.
5. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Reason: This appeal does not continue verses 2-4 (cf. Micah 4:1-3).
Destination: To be the close of Revised Chapter 58, "Come Now, Let Us Reason Together, Says the Lord." Chapter 58 is where the Lord through Isaiah urges his devout but erring people to adopt his righteous ways. Verse 5 becomes the prophet's final plea.
6. You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.
Analysis: Isaiah son of Amoz deplores in this verse the pagan ways of his people before the Lord punishes them. The setting of verse 6 is the monarchy of Ahaz.
Destination: Revised Chapter 3, "The Lord's Displeasure With Judah and Jerusalem,"
6 You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. 3:8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
7-8. Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
Analysis: These two verses depict a foreign country ("their land") that is wealthy ("there is no end to their treasures") powerful ("there is no end to their chariots") and pagan ("their land is full of idols"). The two credible options are Assyria or Egypt.
Destination: Revised Chapter 18, "Cush,"
18:1 Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, 18:2 which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. 7 Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
9. So man will be brought low and mankind humbled—do not forgive them.
Reason: This orphaned verse forecasts the punishment of mankind by the Lord (cf. Isaiah 24:1).
Destination: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
10-19. Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty! 11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), 13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, 14 for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, 15 for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, 16 for every trading ship and every stately vessel. 17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day 18 and the idols will totally disappear. 19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth.
Reason: The clause, "the Lord alone will be exalted in that day," (verses 11, 17) is a precise definition of what the name, "Day of the Lord," signifies.
Destination: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
20. In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold which they made to worship.
Analysis: Isaiah son of Amoz often uses a slow-moving script, sometimes for emphasis and other times as a precaution to lessen the harm done to his writing by some future disordering of the verses. Verse 21 emphasizes verse 19, but the interposition of verse 20 distracts the reader and blunts the emphasis. In addition the act of throwing away household idols made of silver or gold to "the rodents and bats" (cf. Isaiah 30:20-22, 31:6-7) is more in keeping with Isaiah's epoch than with ours.
Destination: Revised Chapter 1, "The Invasion of Judah During the Reign of Ahaz."
21. They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth.
Reason: Verse 21 repeats and emphasizes verse 19.
Destination: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
22. Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
Explanation: Isaiah reproaches the leaders of his people for continually seeking the aid of the two regional superpowers, Assyria and particularly Egypt (Isaiah 20, 36:6).
Destination: Revised Chapter 19, "Egypt,"
31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. 31:3 But the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together. 22 Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
11:6-9. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
25:6-8. On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
35:1-2. The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
55:13. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.
65:25. "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
35:1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 35:2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 55:13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.
11:6 "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 11:7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 11:8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 11:9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
25:6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.
25:7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 25:8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
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