Go to Related Reading
About this book

Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 2

1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. 2 In future days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure as the most important of mountains and will be the most prominent of hills.⁠ All the nations will stream to it;⁠ 3 many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards.”⁠ For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord’s message will issue from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.⁠ 5 O descendants of Jacob, come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light. 6 Indeed, O Lord, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. Plenty of foreigners are around. 7 Their land is full of gold and silver; there is no end to their wealth. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.⁠ 8 Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned.⁠ 9 Men bow down to them in homage, they lie flat on the ground in worship. Don’t spare them! 10 Go up into the rocky cliffs, hide in the ground. Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, from his royal splendor! 11 Proud men will be brought low, arrogant men will be humiliated; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12 Indeed, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has planned a day of judgment for all the high and mighty for all who are proud—they will be humiliated; 13 for all the cedars of Lebanon that are so high and mighty, for all the oaks of Bashan,⁠ 14 for all the tall mountains, for all the high hills, 15 for every high tower, for every fortified wall, 16 for all the large ships, for all the impressive ships. 17 Proud men will be humiliated, arrogant men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated. 19 They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into holes in the ground trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth. 20 At that time men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, into the caves where rodents and bats live, 21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth. 22 Stop trusting in human beings, whose life’s breath is in their nostrils. For why should they be given special consideration?

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 2:2 and Jeremiah 51:44

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Isaiah and Jeremiah describe the nations meeting at a divine location, but in unique ways. Isaiah describes a future when people will go to Zion to learn the Torah, and Jeremiah similarly describes nations no longer going to Babylon’s god.

Passages

Isaiah 2:2

Hebrew Bible
1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. 2 In future days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure as the most important of mountains and will be the most prominent of hills. All the nations will stream to it; 3 many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards.” For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord’s message will issue from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Jeremiah 51:44

Hebrew Bible
42 The sea has swept over Babylon. She has been covered by a multitude of its waves. 43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more; no one even passes through them. 44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come streaming to him any longer. Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall. 45 “Get out of Babylon, my people! Flee to save your lives from the fierce anger of the Lord! 46 Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land. For a report will come in one year. Another report will follow it in the next. There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jeremiah

References

"... Benjamin Sommer cites Isaiah 51:3–6 as a successor text that draws on Isaiah 2:2–4. Two other texts could qualify as successor texts echoing the Isaiah vocabulary. The vision of nations coming toward Israel in centripetal fashion is featured in Third Isaiah. “Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:3). They will come, not for instruction (Isaiah 2:3) but to bring wealth to Jerusalem. Jeremiah 51:44 depicts a similar image of nations streaming (nahar) though to a different deity. In an announcement against Babylon, the deity Bel is in focus. “I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him disgorge what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer stream (nhr) to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.” ..."
Elmer A. Martens, “Impulses to Mission in Isaiah: An Intertextual Exploration,” BBR 17.2 (2007): 215–239.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Isaiah 2:2 and Jeremiah 51:44

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library