Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 2:12

"For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low;" — Isaiah 2:12 (ASV)

The day of the Lord of hosts shall be ... —Literally, the Lord of hosts has a day ... As generally in the prophets, any time of special judgment or special mercy is like “a day of Jehovah.” Man feels himself in the presence of a higher power, working in this way or that for righteousness. The phrase had been especially prominent in the mouth of Isaiah’s forerunner, Amos (Amos 8:9–13, 9:11).

Upon everyone who is proud and lofty ...—The emphatic iteration of “lifted up” is noticeable, indicating that the prophet sees in that self-assertion the root-evil of his time, that which was most destructive of the fear of the Lord, and most surely brought down judgment on the offender. So the devout historian of Greece understands the teaching of the history he recounts. He saw the loftiest trees most exposed to the lightning-flash, the loftiest monarch most liable to the working of the Divine Nemesis (Herod., vii. 10).