2:17 The haughtiness of men shall be abased, and man's pride brought low; Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
The virtual repetition of verse 11 reiterates that it is principally people and the things in which they take pride that Jehovah lays low; while, on the other hand, he says, "My anger is not upon those who take pride in me" (Isaiah 13:3). A reversal of parts of verses 11 and 17 shows that these and many concepts Isaiah presents in parallel are synonymous and interchangeable. Consistent with Isaiah's pattern of humiliation before exaltation and exaltation before humiliation, moreover, even the righteous are first humbled before being exalted, whereas the wicked who exalt themselves are humbled in the end.
2:18 He will utterly supplant the false gods.
The "false gods" ('elilim) people worship aren't just their wealth and the works of their hands as listed in verses 7-8. They include also man and his institutions as listed in verses 13-16. Isaiah makes a connection between pride and false gods (vv 17-18) to show that people have become their own gods. Instead of acknowledging their Creator as the source of their prosperity, they assume it is their own doing. By supplanting the false gods, Jehovah cuts through the spiritual blindness his people's idolatry has caused and reinstates a standard of values based on eternal realities-on things as they really are.
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