An Oracle Concerning Damascus
Isa 17:1 A prophecy against Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
Isa 17:2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.
Isa 17:3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the LORD Almighty.
Isa 17:4 “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.
Isa 17:5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms— as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
Isa 17:6 Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
Isa 17:7 In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 17:8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.
Isa 17:9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.
Isa 17:10 You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,
Isa 17:11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.
Isa 17:12 Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters!
Isa 17:13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.
Isa 17:14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.
1 Syria and Israel are threatened. 6 A remnant shall forsake idolatry. 9 The rest shall be plagued for their impiety. 12 The woe of Israel’s enemies.
An Oracle Concerning Damascus
Isa 17:1 A prophecy against Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
Verses 1–11 constitute a message against Damascus and Israel. It will be recalled that in the days of Ahaz, Syria was united with Israel in an alliance against Judah, and that Isaiah had foretold the defeat of both Syria and Israel (ch. 7:1–16). The present prophecy deals with more extensive judgments.
From being a city. A severe blow was to fall upon Damascus; it would no longer be numbered among the great cities of the world. For a time the city seems to have lain in ruins, but was eventually rebuilt, for a century later Jeremiah delivered further messages against it (Jer. 49:23–27).
Isa 17:2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.
The cities of Aroer. No district by this name is known in Syria, although there was such a city in Israelite territory, east of the Jordan (Num. 32:34; Deut. 2:36; 3:12; Joshua 13:25; 2 Sam. 24:5).
Probably to avoid this seeming difficulty, or perhaps following another Hebrew text, the LXX reads, “Her cities will be forsaken forever.” The cities within the territory designated would be so destroyed that flocks would henceforth graze in the confines of what once had been flourishing cities.
Isa 17:3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the LORD Almighty.
From Ephraim. Ephraim (the northern kingdom, Israel) is still linked with Syria in the mind of the prophet. As the two nations had been united in a common attack upon Judah (2 Kings 16:5; Isa. 7:1, 2), so they were to suffer from a common judgment decreed by the Lord (see on Isa. 7:4, 7, 16).
The glory of Israel was soon to pass away. Thus it would also be with the remnant of Syria.
Isa 17:4 “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.
Jacob. Here evidently meaning Ephraim, the northern kingdom. The ten tribes would suffer extinction. This message must, therefore, have been delivered prior to 723/722 b.c., when the northern kingdom came to its end.
Isa 17:5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms— as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
The figure now changes to that of a harvester reaping “corn” (grain; see on Lev. 2:14) in the field. Similarly, the cities of Israel would be cut down by the cruel Assyrian invader.
The valley of Rephaim. This was the stony but fertile “valley of the giants” south of Jerusalem, in the direction of Bethlehem (see on Joshua 15:8).
Isa 17:6 Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
Here reference is to the gleaning of an olive tree, as the remainder of the verse makes plain. The idea is once more of a remnant that will escape the general destruction, this time in Israel. Even though judgment would come and the nation as a whole would suffer a devastating blow, a few of the people would escape, like the olives in the topmost branch of a tree after the branches have been violently shaken.
This concept of a remnant remaining appears again and again throughout the book of Isaiah, as in chs. 10:20–22; 11:11, 16; 37:4, 32. The “remnant” is always the group that survives a time of divine retribution upon Judah for its transgressions. Presumably, the remnant has learned obedience and can be counted on to remain true to God.
Isa 17:7 In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
The judgment would not be in vain, for it would cause the earnest and sincere to lift up their eyes to God. The outstanding message to the people in Isaiah’s day was, “Behold your God!” (ch. 40:9). It might take bitter disappointment and disaster to turn the eyes of men away from the things of earth, but the Lord’s judgments would finally cause them to look away from their idols to their Creator.
Isa 17:8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.
The heathen looked for help to the gods that they themselves had made; the Hebrews found their help in the God who was their Maker.
Isa 17:10 You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,
The rock. God is the true defence of His people (Ps. 28:1; 31:2; 62:2; 71:3; 89:26; 95:1). Having forsaken the Lord, the people would vainly seek protection by means of idolatrous rites.
Pleasant plants. These were plants such as wheat, barley, or various kinds of vegetables or flowers, planted in baskets and pots and caused to germinate rapidly. They were regarded as symbolizing the magic power of the gods of fertility. Powerful though these nature deities were considered to be, they actually possessed no strength, and could do nothing for their worshipers.
Strange slips. Literally, “shoots,” or “twigs,” of “strange [gods],” or “illicit [gods]” (see Ps. 44:20; 81:9), perhaps budding shoots used in a way similar to the “pleasant plants.”
Isa 17:11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.
From these rapidly growing plants there could be no extensive harvest. As the plants sprang forth rapidly, they would as rapidly wither away. The thought seems to be that the people, having forsaken God, their real strength, would seek in vain for strength from their fertility gods. These deities would leave them with nought but a harvest of grief and disappointment in the day of danger and defeat.
Isa 17:12 Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters!
The power against whom this woe is pronounced is not designated by name. However, it was some enemy of God’s people that was to come against them like the waters of a mighty flood, threatening to overwhelm them completely. Such a prophecy had been given concerning Assyria (ch. 8:7, 8), and this empire may be the power referred to here.
Isa 17:13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.
Although the Assyrian armies under Sennacherib threatened to completely inundate Judah, the Lord intervened (see ch. 37:36). Instead of overwhelming Israel, the enemy would himself be overwhelmed.
The chaff of the mountains. The symbols used here aptly express the utter weakness and insignificance of the Assyrian armies before the power of God. One moment they were sweeping onward like the rushing waters of a mighty sea, threatening to overwhelm the land of Judah; the next, they would be like chaff driven before the wind.
Isa 17:14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.
The night that for Zion began with darkness and trouble ended with victory and rejoicing (see ch. 37:22–36).
According to Sennacherib’s records he had taken away a heavy spoil from Judah on the occasion of his first invasion.