Here the prophet addresses the people and speaks on behalf of Yahweh. He uses figurative language that has a deeper meaning. As with a parable, translators should preserve the imagery and leave the interpretation to their readers.

It shall come to pass is a literal rendering of a Hebrew verb form that serves as an introductory marker. There is no need to translate it since it is essentially redundant. Some say “It will happen” (New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible [Traduction œcuménique de la Bible]).

In the latter days: This phrase occurs only here in Isaiah, though its general meaning is similar to an expression such as “in that day,” which is used in verses 11, 17, and 20. It does not refer to the end of the world or to a special time immediately before the end of the world. It simply means “one day,” “some day,” “in the future” (so Contemporary English Version). Days refers to time rather than a specific period of 24 hours. This time reference is deliberately vague and general. Many versions have “In days to come” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible). New International Version is close to Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering with “In the last days” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible).

That the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established: The focus in verses 2-3 is on the mountain, that is, Mount Zion; on this mountain stands Yahweh’s house, the Temple. Good News Translation, New International Version, and Contemporary English Version give a translation that includes the word “Temple.” Good News Translation makes it explicit that the mountain of the house of the LORD means “the mountain where the Temple stands.” In some languages the house of the LORD refers specifically to a Christian church building. In such cases a new expression may be used for “Temple,” such as “House of God,” “House of worship,” or even “House of sacrifice.” Established means to be set on a firm foundation for stability and permanence. In languages that do not have the passive voice, shall be established may be rendered “will stand with a firm foundation/footing.” Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Shall stand firm.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version simply say “will be,” but this loses the idea of firmness. Revised English Bible is a little better with “will be set.”

As the highest of the mountains is literally “at the head of the mountains.” Here the focus is on importance, not height. This phrase is a figure of speech, emphasizing the future importance of Mount Zion. Lying behind the figure is the ancient notion of a mountain placed at the center of the world, serving as a point of contact between heaven and earth. From it divine truth would flow to the world. Isaiah has taken this general idea and applied it to an Israelite setting. Although Mount Zion is not a very high mountain and is not even the highest point in Israel, translators should choose a word that indicates a mountain, even a high one, rather than a word for a (small) hill. In many Old Testament passages (for example, verse 3), there is the expression “going up” to the Temple of the LORD, where the idea of climbing a mere hill may not be appropriate. Translations should try to reflect the figurative meaning of the phrase. A possible rendering may follow Revised English Bible “over all other mountains.”

And shall be raised above the hills is parallel to the previous line. Mount Zion will be elevated above the surrounding hills. Clearly this is another figure of speech in which the focus is on importance or significance, not height. However, translators should not make this deeper meaning explicit. Hills are lower than mountains, so if Mount Zion is higher than all mountains, it is higher than all hills also. But “mountain” and “hill” form a common pair in Hebrew poetry, and in every instance “mountain” is the first word and “hill” the second one. In languages where the opposite order “hill … mountain” is more natural, the order of the Hebrew may be reversed; for example, Bible en français courant (1997) renders lines 2-4 of this verse as “where the mountain of the temple will stand above the hills, higher than the other mountains.” While most languages have vocabulary for mountains and hills, there are many languages where no such vocabulary exists because of local geographical factors. A general expression for “high places” may be used (not to be confused with the “high places” for pagan worship, as in 1 Kgs 15.14), even if the parallelism may not be possible then. In such cases translators may consider reducing the third and fourth lines to one line.

And all the nations shall flow to it: This line is parallel to the first line of verse 3. Here Isaiah uses the figure of a river flowing to describe the nations coming to Zion. Good News Translation tries to retain the figure with an English equivalent, using the verb “stream” (also New International Version, New American Bible, Revised English Bible). Translators should avoid adding a word like “river” or “water” to clarify the comparison, except maybe in a simile; for example, “all nations will come/flow to it like a stream.” If the figure of nations flowing toward Zion is problematic, translators may use the Septuagint as a model, and simply say “and all the nations will come to it.” The Hebrew preposition rendered to may indicate the end point of the march (to it) or the direction the nations will take (Revised English Bible “toward it”). For this line New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “And all the nations shall gaze on it with joy.” This is because the Hebrew verb translated flow also means “to shine” or “to be radiant,” which New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh takes as a metaphor meaning “to look with joy.” But this is too speculative and should not be followed. In addition, the parallel verb in the following line does not support this interpretation.

The Hebrew word rendered nations is a term usually reserved for non-Israelite communities (see the comments on 1.4, where it has a different meaning). In this context nations refers to all people, including the Israelites. Isaiah sees all of them making their way toward Zion. If the receptor language does not have a word for nations, all the nations may be rendered “people from all countries,” which is parallel to “many peoples” in the next line (see the comments on Isa 2.3).

This line and the following one present some of the minor differences with Micah 4.1-3. In these two lines Micah reverses the order of the Hebrew words for “nations” and “peoples” and does not include the word “all” in the first line.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• In the future, the mountain of Yahweh’s Temple
will be set above the mountains
and elevated above the hills;
then all nations will stream toward it.

• In time to come the mountain where Yahweh’s Temple is
will be established over the other mountains
and set up [high] above the hills;
every nation will stream [or, come] to it.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .