Isaiah 2:2–4
All nations will go up to God's mountain, and swords will be beaten into mattocks
Study it word by word2And it will happen at the end of the days that the mountain of the house of YHWH will be established at the top of the mountains, and it will be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it,
3and many peoples will go and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of the Elohim of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For out of Zion will go forth instruction, and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.
4And he will judge between the nations and decide for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into mattocks and their spears into pruning knives; nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore.
In its context
1The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
…
5House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of YHWH.
6For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full from the east, and have soothsayers like the Philistines, and with the children of foreigners they clasp hands.
Its words in the original
- הָיָהhaya· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- אַחֲרִיתacharit· end, future
What comes after: the end, the future; also posterity.
- יָּמִיםyamim· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- נָכוֹןnachon· be firm, prepare
Be firm, be set, be ready; in the causative form, set up, establish, prepare, make ready.
- הַרhar· mountain, hill country
Mountain, hill; hill country.
- בֵּיתbet· house, household
House. Also the family that lives in it ("the house of Noah") and someone's descendants ("the house of David"); also a temple, "the house of God".
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- רֹאשׁrosh· head, chief
Head. From there the first or the chief of a group, the top of a mountain, the beginning of something, or the sum; also the branches of a river.
- נִשָּׂאnisa· lift, carry, bear
Lift up, carry, bear. "Bear sin" is to suffer its consequences; said of God, "taking away" sin is forgiving it. "Lift up the eyes" is to look.
- גְּבָעוֹתgevaot· hill
Hill.
- נָהֲרוּnaharu· beam, be radiant; flow
To be radiant: for the face to light up with joy; in other passages, to flow like a river, to stream together.
- גּוֹיִםgoyim· nation
Nation, a people with its land. In the plural, "the nations": all the peoples of the world, and especially those who are not Israel.
- הָלְכוּhalchu· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- עַמִּיםamim· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- רַבִּיםrabim· many, great
Many, much, abundant, great; also "elder" or "chief".
- אָמְרוּamru· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- לְכוּlechu· go, walk
Go, walk, depart; in the causative form, lead or bring.
- נַעֲלֶהnaale· go up, offer up
Go up, ascend, climb. It is also used for "offering" a sacrifice (making it go up), and for coming up from Egypt.
- אֱלֹהֵיelohe· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- יַעֲקֹבyaakov· Jacob
Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.
- יֹרֵyore· shoot, throw; teach
Throw, cast, shoot arrows; also set or lay. From the same root comes "teach" (point out the way).
- דְּרָכָיderachay· way
Way, road, journey. Figuratively, the way one lives or acts.
- אֹרְחֹתָיorchotay· path, way
Way, path; one's usual manner. "The way of women" is menstruation. Also a caravan.
- צִּיּוֹןtsiyon· Zion
Zion: the fortified hill of Jerusalem that David took from the Jebusites; later the name is used for all Jerusalem and for the temple mount.
- תֵּצֵאtetse· go out, bring out
Go out, come out. In the causative form, "make go out", "bring out", "lead out", "produce".
- תוֹרָהtora· instruction, law
"Torah": instruction, teaching that gives direction; hence "law". Later it is the name of the five books of Moses. This translation uses "instruction", and "law" when the body of laws is meant.
- דְבַרdevar· word, matter, thing
Word; what is said. Also "matter" or "thing": what is spoken about, an affair, an event.
- ירוּשָׁלִָםyrushalaim· Jerusalem
Jerusalem: a city in the hill country that later became David's capital and the place of the temple.
- שָׁפַטshafat· judge
Judge: decide who is in the right and do him justice; also punish. Also rule, govern.
- הוֹכִיחַhochiach· reprove, decide
Decide who is right; reprove, correct, rebuke; also argue a case. In the passive, be shown to be in the right.
- כִתְּתוּchittu· crush, beat
Crush, beat to pieces; also shatter.
- חַרְבוֹתָcharvota· sword
Sword; also any tool with an edge, like a knife or a chisel.
- אִתִּיםitim· mattock
Mattock, hoe or other digging tool; elsewhere "plowshare" (Isaiah 2:4).
- חֲנִיתוֹתֵיchanitote· spear
A spear: a long weapon with a point, for striking at close range or for throwing.
- מַזְמֵרוֹתmazmerot· pruning knife
A pruning knife, used to cut vines.
- יִלְמְדוּyilmdu· teach, learn
Teach; in another form of the verb, learn.
- מִלְחָמָהmilchama· war, battle
War, battle.