Introduction
Lo Yisa Goy (לֹא יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל גּוֹי חֶרֶב — "Nation shall not lift sword against nation") is a traditional Jewish song taken directly from one of the most famous verses in the Hebrew Bible: Isaiah 2:4. It is the biblical vision of universal peace, and its words are so powerful that a portion of the verse is literally carved in stone on the wall of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
The song is sung at Jewish peace gatherings, in synagogues, at summer camps, and at moments of reflection. It is one of the most linguistically rich short texts in the Hebrew language — every word is significant, every verb form tells a grammatical story. For Hebrew learners, this song is a gateway to reading and understanding prophetic biblical Hebrew.
What Is the Song About?
The song captures the prophet Isaiah's vision of the end of war. Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem in the 8th century BCE, during a period of Assyrian military expansion that threatened the entire region. Against this backdrop, his vision of universal disarmament — nations turning swords into plowshares, learning war no more — was radical and profoundly hopeful.
The verse used in the song represents the culmination of Isaiah's vision: not merely a ceasefire, but a transformation so complete that nations learn war no more (lo yilm'du od milchamah). The Hebrew is unambiguous — it speaks of a future in which the very knowledge and practice of warfare is forgotten. The song is sung as a hymn of hope, most powerfully at times when that hope feels most needed.
Full Lyrics
לֹא יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל גּוֹי חֶרֶב
Lo yissa goy el goy cherev
Nation shall not lift sword against nation
וְלֹא יִלְמְדוּ עוֹד מִלְחָמָה
Ve-lo yilm'du od milchamah
Neither shall they learn war anymore
Vocabulary
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא | lo | Adverb | No, not (negation) |
| יִשָּׂא | yissa | Verb — future 3ms | Shall lift, shall carry (root: נ-ש-א) |
| גּוֹי | goy | Noun (masc.) | Nation, people (plural: גּוֹיִם, goyim) |
| אֶל | el | Preposition | To, toward, against |
| חֶרֶב | cherev | Noun (fem.) | Sword |
| וְלֹא | ve-lo | Conjunction + adverb | And not, neither |
| יִלְמְדוּ | yilm'du | Verb — future 3mp | They shall learn (root: ל-מ-ד) |
| עוֹד | od | Adverb | Still, anymore, again |
| מִלְחָמָה | milchamah | Noun (fem.) | War, battle (root: ל-ח-מ) |
Phrase by Phrase
לֹא יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל גּוֹי חֶרֶב
lo yissa goy el goy cherev
"Nation shall not lift sword against nation"
לֹא (lo, not) — the standard Hebrew negation particle. In future-tense constructions, lo + imperfect verb creates a prohibition or prophecy. יִשָּׂא (yissa) is the Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular of the root נ-ש-א (to lift, to carry, to bear). The initial nun (נ) drops in the imperfect, which is why it looks like יִשָּׂא rather than יִנְשָׂא — a common assimilation pattern. גּוֹי (goy, nation) appears twice, creating a mirror structure: nation against nation. The word is used in the Bible for all peoples — goyim simply means "nations." חֶרֶב (cherev, sword) is the standard biblical Hebrew word for sword and one of the most frequently mentioned weapons in the Bible.
וְלֹא יִלְמְדוּ עוֹד מִלְחָמָה
ve-lo yilm'du od milchamah
"Neither shall they learn war anymore"
יִלְמְדוּ (yilm'du) is the Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural of ל-מ-ד (to learn, to study). This root is one of the most important in Hebrew: it gives us lomed (לוֹמֵד, one who learns), limud (לִמּוּד, learning/study), talmud (תַּלְמוּד, teaching — the central rabbinic text), and talmid (תַּלְמִיד, student). עוֹד (od, still/anymore) — a crucial small word in Hebrew that appears in many songs: od lo avdah tikvateinu (our hope is not yet lost — Ha-Tikva), od yavo shalom aleinu (peace will yet come upon us). מִלְחָמָה (milchamah, war) comes from the root ל-ח-מ (to fight, also to eat/consume). The same root gives lechem (לֶחֶם, bread) — ancient Hebrew saw fighting and consuming as sharing the same energetic root.
The Sword-to-Plowshare Vision — Context
Isaiah 2:4 is the second half of a larger verse. The full verse reads:
Ve-shafat bein ha-goyim ve-hochiach le-amim rabim, ve-kittetu charvotam le-ittim ve-chanitoteihem le-mazmerot — lo yissa goy el goy cherev, ve-lo yilm'du od milchamah.
"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks — nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
The phrase "beat their swords into plowshares" — וְכִתְּתוּ חַרְבוֹתָם לְאִתִּים — is so iconic that a United Nations sculpture (a gift from the Soviet Union in 1959) depicts a man doing exactly this. A replica of this verse is also inscribed on the UN's Isaiah Wall in New York, across the street from the main UN building.
Key Roots from This Song
- נ-ש-א — to lift, carry. Related: nasa (he lifted), nesi (נְשִׂיא, prince/president, "one who is raised up"), massa (מַשָּׂא, burden, load).
- ל-מ-ד — to learn, teach. Related: limud (study), talmid (student), talmud, melameid (מְלַמֵּד, teacher).
- ל-ח-מ — to fight; also to eat. Related: milchamah (war), lechem (bread), nilcham (נִלְחָם, he fought).