translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ISA

label: NET study note

text: 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.


text: 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.


text: Judah’s royal bureaucracy had accumulated great wealth and military might, in violation of Deut 17:16-17 .


text: The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.


text: The high mountains and hills symbolize the apparent security of proud men, as do the high tower and fortified wall of v. 15 .


text: The precise point of vv. 20-21 is not entirely clear. Are they taking the idols into their hiding places with them, because they are so attached to their man-made images? Or are they discarding the idols along the way as they retreat into the darkest places they can find? In either case it is obvious that the gods are incapable of helping them.