Yesaya 2:4

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ² 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Yesaya 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ³  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ⁴  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ⁵  will not disappear. ⁶ 

[2:4]  ¹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ² sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[51:6]  ³ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”