| Barnes' Notes on the Bible And he shall judge - Or he shall exercise the office of a judge, or umpire. This "literally" refers to the God of Jacob Isaiah 2:3, though it is clear that the meaning is, that he will do it by the Messiah, or under his reign. One office of a judge is to decide controversies; to put an end to litigations, and thus to promote peace. The connection shows that this is the meaning here. Nations that are contending shall be brought to peace by the influence of the reign of the Messiah, and shall beat their swords into plowshares. In other words, the influence of the reign of the Messiah shall put a period to wars, and reduce contending nations to peace. And shall rebuke - Shall "reprove" them for their contentions and strifes. Lowth: 'Shall work conviction in many peoples.' Noyes: 'He shall be a judge of the nations, And an umpire of many kingdoms.' He shall show them the evil of war; and by reproving them for those wicked passions which cause wars, shall promote universal peace. This the gospel everywhere does; and the tendency of it, if obeyed, would be to produce universal peace. In accordance with predictions like these, the Messiah is called the Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6; and it is said that of his peace there shall be no end; Isaiah 9:7. And they shall beat ... - They shall change the arts of war to those of peace; or they shall abandon the pursuits of war for the mild and useful arts of husbandry; compare Psalm 46:9; Hosea 2:20. A similar prophecy is found in Zechariah 9:10. The following extracts may serve to illustrate this passage: 'The Syrian plow, which was probably used in all the regions around, is a very simple frame, and commonly so light, that a man of moderate strength might carry it in one hand. Volney states that in Syria it is often nothing else than the branch of a tree, cut below a bifurcation, and used without wheels. The plowshare is a piece of iron, broad but not large, which tips the end of the shaft. So much does it resemble the short sword used by the ancient warriors, that it may, with very little trouble, be converted into that deadly weapon; and when the work of destruction is over, reduced again to its former shape, and applied to the purposes of agriculture.' Their spears - Spears were much used in war. They were made of wood, with a sharpened piece of iron or other metal attached to the end. The pruning-hook, made for cutting the limbs of vines or trees, is, in like manner, a long piece of wood with a crooked knife attached to it. Hence, it was easy to convert the one into the other. Pruning-hooks - Hooks or long knives for trimming vines. The word here, however, means anything employed in "reaping or mowing," a sickle, or a scythe, or any instrument to "cut with," as well as a pruning-hook. These figures, as images of peace, are often used by the prophets. Micah M1 Corinthians 4:4 has added to this description of peace in Isaiah, the following: But they shall sit Every man under his vine, And under his fig-tree; And none shall make them afraid: For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. continued...
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleNeither shall they learn war any more - If wars are necessary, how deep must that fall be that renders them so! But what a reproach to humanity is the trade of war! Men are regularly instructed in it, as in any of the necessary arts. "How to dislodge most souls from their frail shrines By bomb, sword, ball, and bayonet, is the art Which some call great and glorious!" And is this a necessary part of a finished education in civilized society? O Earth! Earth! Earth!
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd he shall judge among the nations,.... Or, "it shall judge"; either the mountain of the Lord's house, as Abarbinel thinks, that is, the church; for in the spiritual reign of Christ, in the latter day, the judgment shall be given to the saints of the most High, and they shall possess the kingdom; the power of civil government will be in their hands, and they shall judge the world; for kings will then be nursing fathers to them, and queens nursing mothers. Or the law and word of the Lord, the Gospel, which judges men now, and declares who are condemned, and who are not; and will judge them at the last day: or, "he shall judge", that is, the Messiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; he shall be King over all the earth; the kingdoms of this world will become his, and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the end of the earth: and shall rebuke many people; either the church shall rebuke by her ministers, whose work it is to reprove and rebuke for and to convince of both immorality and error; or, the word preached by them, which is the means of the conviction and conversion of sinners; or, Christ by his Spirit, whose office it is to reprove and convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is a prophecy of numerous conversions among the Gentiles, in the latter day: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: instruments of war shall be no more used, but shall be turned into instruments of husbandry, much more advantageous and useful to mankind. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. This clearly proves that this prophecy belongs to future times; for this has never yet had its accomplishment in any sense; not in a literal sense; for though there was an universal peace all the world over, at the birth of Christ, in the times of Augustus Caesar, yet there afterwards were, as our Lord foretold there would be, wars, and rumours of wars, and nation should rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and so it has been, more or less, ever since; nor in a spiritual sense, for though Christ has made peace by the blood of his cross, and came and preached it by his ministers, and wherever the Gospel of peace takes place, it makes men of peaceable dispositions, and reconciles them, as to God and Christ, and the way of salvation by him, so to one another; and it is peace saints are called to, and, when grace is in exercise, it rules in their hearts; and yet there have been sad contentions and quarrels among the people of God, and which yet still continue; but in the latter day glory, or spiritual reign of Christ, this prophecy will be fulfilled in every sense; for after the hour of temptation is over, that shall try all the earth, after the slaying of the witnesses and their rising, after the battle at Armageddon, when the beast and false prophet will be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, there will be no more wars in the world, nor any persecution of the saints; and then will the peaceable kingdom of Christ appear, and all his subjects, and the members of his church, will live in the utmost unity and harmony together; they shall no more envy and vex one another; and of this peace there will be no end, Psalm 72:7 these words are applied to the times of the Messiah, both by ancient (q) and modern (r) Jews. (q) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 63. 1.((r) R. Nachman. Disputat. cum fratre Paulo, p. 41. R. Isaac. Chizzuk Emuna, par. 1. cap. 1. p. 43, 44. Kimchi in Isaiah 65.19.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament"And He will judge between the nations, and deliver justice to many peoples; and they forge their swords into coulters, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation lifts not up the sword against nation, neither do they exercise themselves in war any more." Since the nations betake themselves in this manner as pupils to the God of revelation and the word of His revelation, He becomes the supreme judge and umpire among them. If any dispute arise, it is no longer settled by the compulsory force of war, but by the word of God, to which all bow with willing submission. With such power as this in the peace-sustaining word of God (Zechariah 9:10), there is no more need for weapons of iron: they are turned into the instruments of peaceful employment, into ittim (probably a synonym for ethim in 1 Samuel 13:21), plough-knives or coulters, which cut the furrows for the ploughshare to turn up and mazmeroth, bills or pruning-hooks, with which vines are pruned to increase their fruit-bearing power. There is also no more need for military practice, for there is no use in exercising one's self in what cannot be applied. It is useless, and men dislike it. There is peace, not an armed peace, but a full, true, God-given and blessed peace. What even a Kant regarded as possible is now realized, and that not by the so-called Christian powers, but by the power of God, who favours the object for which an Elihu Burritt enthusiastically longs, rather than the politics of the Christian powers. It is in war that the power of the beast culminates in the history of the world. This beast will then be destroyed. The true humanity which sin has choked up will gain the mastery, and the world's history will keep Sabbath. And may we not indulge the hope, on the ground of such prophetic words as these, that the history of the world will not terminate without having kept a Sabbath? Shall we correct Isaiah, according to Quenstedt, lest we should become chiliasts? "The humanitarian ideas of Christendom," says a thoughtful Jewish scholar, "have their roots in the Pentateuch, and more especially in Deuteronomy. But in the prophets, particularly in Isaiah, they reach a height which will probably not be attained and fully realized by the modern world for centuries to come." Yet they will be realized. What the prophetic words appropriated by Isaiah here affirm, is a moral postulate, the goal of sacred history, the predicted counsel of God.
Geneva Study BibleAnd {g} he shall judge among the nations, and shall {h} rebuke many people: and they shall {i} beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn {k} war any more. (g) The Lord, who is Christ, will have all power given to him. (h) That they may acknowledge their sins, and turn to him. (i) He shows the fruit of the peace which the gospel should bring, that is, that men should do good to one another, while before they were enemies. (k) He speaks not against the use of weapons and lawful war, but shows how the hearts of the godly will be affected one toward another, which peace and love begin and grow in this life, but will be perfected when we are joined with our head Jesus Christ.
Wesley's Notes 2:4 He - Christ shall set up his authority among all nations, not only giving laws to them, but doing what no other can do, convincing their consciences, changing their hearts, and ordering their lives. Rebuke - By his word and Spirit, convincing the world of sin; and by his judgments upon his implacable enemies, which obstruct the propagation of the gospel.
King James Translators' Notespruninghooks: or, scythes
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary4. judge-as a sovereign umpire, settling all controversies (compare Isa 11:4). Lowth translates "work," "conviction." plowshares-in the East resembling a short sword (Isa 9:6, 7; Zec 9:10).
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary2:1-9 The calling of the Gentiles, the spread of the gospel, and that far more extensive preaching of it yet to come, are foretold. Let Christians strengthen one another, and support one another. It is God who teaches his people, by his word and Spirit. Christ promotes peace, as well as holiness. If all men were real Christians, there could be no war; but nothing answering to these expressions has yet taken place on the earth. Whatever others do, let us walk in the light of this peace. Let us remember that when true religion flourishes, men delight in going up to the house of the Lord, and in urging others to accompany them. Those are in danger who please themselves with strangers to God; for we soon learn to follow the ways of persons whose company we keep. It is not having silver and gold, horses and chariots, that displeases God, but depending upon them, as if we could not be safe, and easy, and happy without them, and could not but be so with them. Sin is a disgrace to the poorest and the lowest. And though lands called Christian are not full of idols, in the literal sense, are they not full of idolized riches? and are not men so busy about their gains and indulgences, that the Lord, his truths, and precepts, are forgotten or despised?
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible CommentaryChapter 2 With this chapter begins a new sermon, which is continued in the two following chapters. The subject of this discourse is Judah and Jerusalem (v. 1). In this chapter the prophet speaks, I. Of the glory of the Christians, Jerusalem, the gospel-church in the latter days, in the accession of many to it (v. 2, 3), and the great peace it should introduce into the world (v. 4), whence he infers the duty of the house of Jacob (v. 5). II. Of the shame of the Jews, Jerusalem, as it then was, and as it would be after its rejection of the gospel and being rejected of God. 1. Their sin was their shame (v. 6-9). 2. God by his judgments would humble them and put them to shame (v. 10-17). 3. They should themselves be ashamed of their confidence in their idols and in an arm of flesh (v. 18-22). And now which of these Jerusalems will we be the inhabitants of-that which is full of the knowledge of God, which will be our everlasting honour, or that which is full of horses and chariots, and silver and gold, and such idols, which will in the end be our shame? Verses 1-5 The particular title of this sermon (v. 1) is the same with the general title of the book (ch. 1:1), only that what is there called the vision is here called the word which Isaiah saw (or the matter, or thing, which he saw), the truth of which he had as full an assurance of in his own mind as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. Or this word was brought to him in a vision; something he saw when he received this message from God. John turned to see the voice that spoke with him. Rev. 1:12. This sermon begins with the prophecy relating to the last days, the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom should be set up in the world, at the latter end of the Mosaic economy. In the last days of the earthly Jerusalem, just before the destruction of it, this heavenly Jerusalem should be erected, Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26. Note, Gospel times are the last days. For 1. They were long in coming, were a great while waited for by the Old-Testament saints, and came at last. 2. We are not to look for any dispensation of divine grace but what we have in the gospel, Gal. 1:8, 9. 3. We are to look for the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of time, as the Old-Testament saints did for his first coming; this is the last time, 1 Jn. 2:18. Now the prophet here foretels, I. The setting up of the Christian church, and the planting of the Christian religion, in the world. Christianity shall then be the mountain of the Lord's house; where that is professed God will grant his presence, receive his people's homage, and grant instruction and blessing, as he did of old in the temple of Mount Zion. The gospel church, incorporated by Christ's charter, shall then be the rendezvous of all the spiritual seed of Abraham. Now it is here promised, I. That Christianity shall be openly preached and professed; it shall be prepared (so the margin reads it) in the top of the mountains, in the view and hearing of all. Hence Christ's disciples are compared to a city on a hill, which cannot be hid, Mt. 5:14. They had many eyes upon them. Christ himself spoke openly to the world, Jn. 18:20. What the apostles did was not done in a corner, Acts 26:26. It was the lighting of a beacon, the setting up of a standard. Its being every where spoken against supposes that it was every where spoken of. 2. That is shall be firmly fixed and rooted; it shall be established on the top of the everlasting mountains, built upon a rock, so that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, unless they could pluck up mountains by the roots. He that dwells safely is said to dwell on high, ch. 33:16. The Lord has founded the gospel Zion. 3. That it shall not only overcome all opposition, but overtop all competition; it shall be exalted above the hills. This wisdom of God in a mystery shall outshine all the wisdom of this world, all its philosophy and all its politics. The spiritual worship which it shall introduce shall put down the idolatries of the heathen; and all other institutions in religion shall appear mean and despicable in comparison with this. See Ps. 68:16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desires to dwell in. II. The bringing of the Gentiles into it. 1. The nations shall be admitted into it, even the uncircumcised, who were forbidden to come into the courts of the temple at Jerusalem. The partition wall, which kept them out, kept them off, shall be taken down. 2. All nations shall flow into it; having liberty of access, they shall improve their liberty, and multitudes shall embrace the Christian faith. They shall flow into it, as streams of water, which denotes the abundance of converts that the gospel should make and their speed and cheerfulness in coming into the church. They shall not be forced into it, but shall naturally flow into it. Thy people shall be willing, all volunteers, Ps. 110:3. To Christ shall the gathering of the people be, Gen. 49:10. See ch. 60:4, 5. III. The mutual assistance and encouragement which this confluence of converts shall give to one another. Their pious affections and resolutions shall be so intermixed that they shall come in in one full stream. As, when the Jews from all parts of the country went up thrice a year to worship at Jerusalem, they called on their friends in the road and excited them to go along with them, so shall many of the Gentiles court their relations, friends, and neighbours, to join with them in embracing the Christian religion (v. 3): "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; though it be uphill and against the heart, yet it is the mountain of the Lord, who will assist the assent of our souls towards him." Note, Those that are entering into covenant and communion with God themselves should bring as many as they can along with them; it becomes Christians to provoke one another to good works, and to further the communion of saints by inviting one another into it: not, "Do you go up to the mountain of the Lord, and pray for us, and we will stay at home;" nor, "We will go, and do you do as you will;" but, "Come, and let us go, let us go in concert, that we may strengthen one another's hands and support one another's reputation:" not, "We will consider of it, and advise about it, and go hereafter;" but, Come, and let us go forthwith. See Ps. 122:1. Many shall say this. Those that have had it said to them shall say it to others. The gospel church is here called, not only the mountain of the Lord, but the house of the God of Jacob; for in it God's covenant with Jacob and his praying seed is kept up and has its accomplishment; for to us now, as unto them, he never said, Seek you me in vain, ch. 45:19. Now see here, 1. What they promise themselves in going up to the mountain of the Lord; There he will teach us of his ways. Note, God's ways are to be learned in his church, in communion with his people, and in the use of instituted ordinances-the ways of duty which he requires us to walk in, the ways of grace in which he walks towards us. It is God that teaches his people, by his word and Spirit. It is worth while to take pains to go up to his holy mountain to be taught his ways, and those who are willing to take that pains shall never find it labour in vain. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. 2. What they promise for themselves and one another: "If he will teach us his ways, we will walk in his paths; is he will let us know our duty, we will by his grace make conscience of doing it." Those who attend God's word with this humble resolution shall not be sent away without their lesson. IV. The means by which this shall be brought about: Out of Zion shall go forth the law, the New-Testament law, the law of Christ, as of old the law of Moses from Mount Sinai, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The gospel is a law, a law of faith; it is the word of the Lord; it went forth from Zion, where the temple was built, and from Jerusalem. Christ himself began in Galilee, Mt. 4:23; Lu. 23:5. But, when he commissioned his apostles to preach the gospel to all nations, he appointed them to begin in Jerusalem, Lu. 24:47. See Rom. 15:19. Though most of them had their homes in Galilee, yet they must stay at Jerusalem, there to receive the promise of the Spirit, Acts 1:4. And in the temple on Mount Zion they preached the gospel, Acts 5:20. This honour was allowed to Jerusalem, even after Christ was crucified there, for the sake of what it had been. And it was by this gospel, which took rise from Jerusalem, that the gospel church was established on the top of the mountains. This was the rod of divine strength, that was sent forth out of Zion, Ps. 110:2. V. The erecting of the kingdom of the Redeemer in the world: He shall judge among the nations. He whose word goes forth out of Zion shall by that word not only subdue souls to himself, but rule in them, v. 4. He shall, in wisdom and justice, order and overrule the affairs of the world for the good of his church, and rebuke and restrain those that oppose his interest. By his Spirit working on men's consciences he shall judge, and rebuke shall try men and check them; his kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. VI. The great peace which should be the effect of the success of the gospel in the world (v. 4): They shall beat their swords into ploughshares; their instruments of war shall be converted into implements of husbandry; as, on the contrary, when war is proclaimed, ploughshares are beaten into swords, Joel 3:10. Nations shall then not lift up sword against nation, as they now do, neither shall they learn war any more, for they shall have no more occasion for it. This does not make all war absolutely unlawful among Christians, nor is it a prophecy that in the days of the Messiah there shall be no wars. The Jews urge this against the Christians as an argument that Jesus is not the Messiah, because this promise is not fulfilled. But, 1. It was in part fulfilled in the peaceableness of the time in which Christ was born, when wars had in a great measure ceased, witness the taxing, Lu. 2:1. 2. The design and tendency of the gospel are to make peace and to slay all enmities. It has in it the most powerful obligations and inducements to peace; so that one might reasonably have expected it should have this effect, and it would have had it if it had not been for those lusts of men from which come wars and fightings. 3. Jew and Gentiles were reconciled and brought together by the gospel, and there were no more such wars between them as there had been; for they became one sheepfold under one shepherd. See Eph. 2:15. 4. The gospel of Christ, as far as it prevails, disposes men to be peaceable, softens men's spirits, and sweetens them; and the love of Christ, shed abroad in the heart, constrains men to love one another. 5. The primitive Christians were famous for brotherly love; their very adversaries took notice of it. 6. We have reason to hope that this promise shall yet have a more full accomplishment in the latter times of the Christian church, when the Spirit shall be poured out more plentifully from on high. Then there shall be on earth peace. Who shall live when God doeth this? But do it he will in due time, for he is not a man that he should lie. Lastly, Here is a practical inference drawn from all this (v. 5): O house of Jacob! come you, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. By the house of Jacob is meant either, 1. Israel according to the flesh. Let them be provoked by this to a holy emulation, Rom. 11:14. "Seeing the Gentiles are thus ready and resolved for God, thus forward to go up to the house of the Lord, let us stir up ourselves to go too. Let is never be said that the sinners of the Gentiles were better friends to the holy mountain than the house of Jacob." Thus the zeal of some should provoke many. Or, 2. Spiritual Israel, all that are brought to the God of Jacob. Shall there be such great knowledge in gospel times (v. 3) and such grat peace (v. 4), and shall we share in these privileges? Come then, and let us live accordingly. What ever others do, come, O come! let us walk in the light of the Lord. (1.) Let us walk circumspectly in the light of this knowledge. Will God teach us his ways? Will he show us his glory in the face of Christ? Let us then walk as children of the light and of the day, Eph. 5:8; 1 Th. 5:8; Rom. 13:12 (2.) Let us walk comfortably in the light of this peace. Shall there be no more war? Let us then go on our way rejoicing, and let this joy terminate in God, and be our strength, Neh. 8:10. Thus shall we walk in the beams of the Sun of righteousness. |
