Yesaya 2:2

2:2 In the future ¹ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ² 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ³ 

All the nations will stream to it,

Yesaya 2:11-12

2:11 Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated; ⁴ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁵ 

in that day.

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ⁶ 

for ⁷  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Yesaya 2:20

2:20 At that time ⁸  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ⁹ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ¹⁰ 

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:20]  ⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ⁹ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”