Isaiah 2 · a question people ask
Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-3 say almost the same thing. How are they alike, and where do they differ?
The two passages share many words. Isaiah has, "It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains" (Isaiah 2:2), and Micah, "But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains" (Micah 4:1). Isaiah has, "and all nations shall flow to it" (Isaiah 2:2), and Micah, "and peoples will stream to it" (Micah 4:1). Then Isaiah, "Many peoples shall go" (Isaiah 2:3), and Micah, "Many nations will go" (Micah 4:2). Both have, in the WEB's words, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares" (Isaiah 2:4) and "They will beat their swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:3). Some differences are only in the English: in Hebrew house and temple are one word, beit; raised (Isaiah 2:2) and exalted (Micah 4:1) are one verb, nasa; and flow and stream are one verb. Others are in the Hebrew too: where Isaiah has "will decide concerning many peoples" (Isaiah 2:4), Micah has "will decide concerning strong nations afar off" (Micah 4:3). And Micah goes on, "But every man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree" (Micah 4:4), where Isaiah goes on, "House of Jacob, come, and let’s walk in the light of the LORD" (Isaiah 2:5). Neither book names the other, and neither says it took these words from anyone. The Bible doesn't say which came first, so these notes don't either. They read each passage from its own verses and leave the two side by side.