Isaiah 17
17
The Lord Will Judge Damascus
1 Here is a message about Damascus:
“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,
it is a heap of ruins!
2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned.#tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (’azuvot ’arayha ’adey ’ad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace.#tn Heb “and they lie down and there is no one scaring [them].”
3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom.#tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
4 “At that time#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished,#tn Heb “will be tiny.”
and he will become skin and bones.#tn Heb “and the fatness of his flesh will be made lean.”
5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,
and his hand gleans the ear of grain.
It will be like one gathering the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 There will be some left behind,
like when an olive tree is beaten –
two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says the Lord God of Israel.
7 At that time#tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB, NIV); KJV “At that day.” men will trust in their creator;#tn Heb “man will gaze toward his maker.”
they will depend on#tn Heb “his eyes will look toward.” the Holy One of Israel.#sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
8 They will no longer trust in#tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.” the altars their hands made,
or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.#tn Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”
9 At that time#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). their fortified cities will be
like the abandoned summits of the Amorites,#tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “like the abandonment of the wooded height and the top one.” The following relative clause appears to allude back to the Israelite conquest of the land, so it seems preferable to emend הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (hakhoresh vÿha’amir, “the wooded height and the top one”) to חֹרֵשֵׁי הָאֱמֹרִי (khoreshe ha’emori, “[like the abandonment] of the wooded heights of the Amorites”).
which they abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10 For you ignore#tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). the God who rescues you;
you pay no attention to your strong protector.#tn Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”
So this is what happens:
You cultivate beautiful plants
and plant exotic vines.#tn Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.
11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow;#tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tÿsagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (saga’/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear#tc The Hebrew text has, “a heap of harvest.” However, better sense is achieved if נֵד (ned, “heap”) is emended to a verb. Options include נַד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד [nadad, “flee, depart”]), נָדַד (Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד), נֹדֵד (noded, Qal active participle from נָדַד), and נָד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular, or participle masculine singular, from נוּד [nud, “wander, flutter”]). See BDB 626 s.v. נוּד and HALOT 672 s.v. I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.” in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead,#tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves.#tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead,#tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.#tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves,#tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
when he shouts at#tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53. them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles#tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.” before a strong gale.
14 In the evening there is sudden terror;#tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”
by morning they vanish.#tn Heb “before morning he is not.”
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us!#tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”
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Isaiah 17: NET
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1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC
Isaiah 17
17
A Message about Damascus and Israel
1This message came to me concerning Damascus:
“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear!
It will become a heap of ruins.
2The towns of Aroer will be deserted.
Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed,
with no one to chase them away.
3The fortified towns of Israel#17:3a Hebrew of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel. will also be destroyed,
and the royal power of Damascus will end.
All that remains of Syria#17:3b Hebrew Aram.
will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,”
declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
4“In that day Israel’s#17:4 Hebrew Jacob’s. See note on 14:1. glory will grow dim;
its robust body will waste away.
5The whole land will look like a grainfield
after the harvesters have gathered the grain.
It will be desolate,
like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest.
6Only a few of its people will be left,
like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest.
Only two or three remain in the highest branches,
four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7Then at last the people will look to their Creator
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8They will no longer look to their idols for help
or worship what their own hands have made.
They will never again bow down to their Asherah poles
or worship at the pagan shrines they have built.
9Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest,
like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned#17:9 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads like places of the wood and the highest bough.
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
It will be utterly desolate.
10Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you.
You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
and import the most expensive seedlings.
11They may sprout on the day you set them out;
yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them,
but you will never pick any grapes from them.
Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.
12Listen! The armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces
as they rush forward like thundering waves.
13But though they thunder like breakers on a beach,
God will silence them, and they will run away.
They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind,
like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.
14In the evening Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of those who plunder us,
a fitting end for those who destroy us.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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