Verse 4
4. He shall judge That is, He from whom “the law” of the third verse goes forth.
Among Rather, between.
The nations God, by his law, instructs his own people; by his providences, the Gentiles. He impresses and informs the conscience, and inclines the masses of humanity to peace. They shall follow the peaceful pursuits of agriculture rather than war.
Swords into ploughshares In the East, the latter resemble the short sword, and not much smithery is required for the transformation.
Pruninghooks The “pruninghook” is like a sickle. The metallic part of the spear needs only to be a little flattened, and bent into a sickle form, and sharpened. The imagery, here, is of calm rural life, belonging to a perfectly wholesome civilization.
Learn war any more The allusion is quite plain. Uzziah’s reign, in which this was written, was marked by the invention of new weapons of war. 2 Chronicles 26:14-15. The prophet sees all this cease in the glorious Messianic times, when the Holy Spirit shall with effect rebuke, and lovingly reprove, Jews and Gentiles, and cause their tendencies to join and flow together toward mutual peace and general salvation.
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