Yesaya 11:6-9

11:6 A wolf will reside ¹  with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together, ² 

as a small child leads them along.

11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,

their young will lie down together. ³ 

A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

11:8 A baby ⁴  will play

over the hole of a snake; ⁵ 

over the nest ⁶  of a serpent

an infant ⁷  will put his hand. ⁸ 

11:9 They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain. ⁹ 

For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,

just as the waters completely cover the sea. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ¹¹ 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ¹² 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ¹³ 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ¹⁴  says the Lord.

Imamat 26:6

26:6 I will grant peace in the land so that ¹⁵  you will lie down to sleep without anyone terrifying you. ¹⁶  I will remove harmful animals ¹⁷  from the land, and no sword of war ¹⁸  will pass through your land.

Yehezkiel 34:25

34:25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely ¹⁹  in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods. ²⁰ 

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ²¹  I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,

the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will abolish ²²  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ²³  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ²⁴ 

Wahyu 20:1-3

The Thousand Year Reign

20:1 Then ²⁵  I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding ²⁶  in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 20:2 He ²⁷  seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years. 20:3 The angel ²⁸  then ²⁹  threw him into the abyss and locked ³⁰  and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

[11:6]  ¹ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

[11:6]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.

[11:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “one sucking,” i.e., still being nursed by his mother.

[11:8]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “cobra” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “asp.”

[11:8]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text has the otherwise unattested מְאוּרַת (mÿ’urat, “place of light”), i.e., opening of a hole. Some prefer to emend to מְעָרַת (mÿ’arat, “cave, den”).

[11:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “one who is weaned” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[11:8]  ⁸ sn The transformation of the animal kingdom depicted here typifies what will occur in human society under the just rule of the ideal king (see vv. 3-5). The categories “predator-prey” (i.e., oppressor-oppressed) will no longer exist.

[11:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” In the most basic sense the Lord’s “holy mountain” is the mountain from which he rules over his kingdom (see Ezek 28:14, 16). More specifically it probably refers to Mount Zion/Jerusalem or to the entire land of Israel (see Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; Isa 56:7; 57:13; Ezek 20:40; Ob 16; Zeph 3:11). If the Lord’s universal kingdom is in view in this context (see the note on “earth” at v. 4), then the phrase would probably be metonymic here, standing for God’s worldwide dominion (see the next line).

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The translation assumes that a universal kingdom is depicted here, but אֶרֶץ (’erets) could be translated “land” (see the note at v. 4). “Knowledge of the Lord” refers here to a recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty which results in a willingness to submit to his authority. See the note at v. 2.

[65:25]  ¹¹ sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ¹² sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ¹³ sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)

[65:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.

[65:25]  sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.

[26:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[26:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and there will be no one who terrifies.” The words “to sleep” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[26:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “harmful animal,” singular, but taken here as a collective plural (so almost all English versions).

[26:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.

[34:25]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “live securely” occurs in Ezek 28:26; 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26 as an expression of freedom from fear. It is a promised blessing resulting from obedience (see Lev 26:5-6).

[34:25]  ²⁰ sn The woods were typically considered to be places of danger (Ps 104:20-21; Jer 5:6).

[2:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:18]  ²² tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

[2:18]  ²³ tn Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (vÿqeshet vÿkherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so CEV). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).

[2:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and I will cause them to lie down in safety.” The causative nuance (“will make them”) is retained in several English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[20:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:1]  ²⁶ tn The word “holding” is implied. The two clauses “having the key of the abyss” and “a huge chain in his hand” can be construed in two ways: (1) both are controlled by the participle ἔχοντα (econta) and both are modified by the phrase “in his hand” – “having in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.” (2) The participle ἔχοντα refers only to the key, and the phrase “in his hand” refers only to the chain – “having the key of the abyss and holding a huge chain in his hand.” Because of the stylistic tendency in Rev to use the verb ἔχω (ecw) to mean “hold (something)” and the phrase “in his hand” forming a “bracket” along with the verb ἔχω around both the phrases in question, the first option is preferred.

[20:2]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:3]  ³⁰ tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.