Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2
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The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter.
Book	Book of Isaiah
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	5
Category	Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	23

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 a part of the Book of the Prophets.

Text

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

Micah 4:1-4 is very similar to Isaiah 2:1-4

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BC or later):

• 1QIsa^a: complete
• 4QIsa^a (4Q55): extant: verses 7-10
• 4QIsa^b (4Q56): extant: verses 3-16
• 4QIsa^f (4Q60): extant: verses 1-3
• 4QIsa^l (4Q65): extant: verses 1-4

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\mathfrak {G}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\mathfrak {G}}$^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Isaiah 2 is a part of the Prophecies about Judah and Israel (Isaiah 1-12). {P}: open parashah.

{P} 2:1-4 {P} 2:5-11 {P} 2:12-22 {P}

Verse 3

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

• Cross reference: Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 66:12

Verse 4

... they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." ~ Isaiah 2:4 KJV
Bible verse written on a wall across the street from the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Many speeches and movements concerned with peace and the adaptation of military technology to peaceful uses have adopted the phrase "swords into plowshares".

Verse 5

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

The first part of this verse in Hebrew: "בית יעקב לכו ונלכה" Beit Ya'akov Lekhu Venelkha ("House of Jacob, let us go [up]") is the basis of the acronym "Bilu" (Hebrew בילו) which became the name of a twentieth-century movement in Israel.

Verse 6

Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

• "They be replenished from the east" (King James Version) or "They are filled with eastern ways" (New King James Version): This phrase is amended in Revised Version to "they are full of diviners from the east", which is consistent with the following words:

... and of soothsayers like the Philistines.

Verse 22

Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?

The New King James Version renders this verse:

Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?

This verse is not found in the Septuagint, and could be a later insertion in Isaiah's prophecy.

See also

• Christian messianic prophecies
• Jewish messianism
• Messianic prophecies of Jesus
• Related Bible parts: Isaiah 51, Micah 2, Ephesians 2

Sources

• Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

External links

Jewish

• Isaiah 2: Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Isaiah 2 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate