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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Isaiah 17
17
1 #
Jer 49.23-27; Amos 1.3-5; Zech 9.1. An oracle concerning Damascus.
Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city,
and will become a heap of ruins.
2Her cities will be deserted for ever;#17.2 Cn Compare Gk: Heb the cities of Aroer are deserted
they will be for flocks,
which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Syria will be
like the glory of the children of Israel,
says the Lord of hosts.
4And in that day
the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
5And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain
and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6Gleanings will be left in it,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
on the branches of a fruit tree,
says the Lord God of Israel.
7In that day men will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel; 8they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.
9In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites,#17.9 Cn Compare Gk: Heb the wood and the highest bough which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.
10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
and set out slips of an alien god,
11though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,
and make them blossom in the morning that you sow;
yet the harvest will flee away
in a day of grief and incurable pain.
12Ah, the thunder of many peoples,
they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations,
they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
and whirling dust before the storm.
14At evening time, behold, terror!
Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who despoil us,
and the lot of those who plunder us.
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