Isaiah 17
17
Damascus
1Oracle on Damascus:#Damascus: capital of Aram or Syria, conquered by Tiglath-pileser III at the end of the Syro-Ephraimite War in 732 B.C.
See, Damascus shall cease to be a city
and become a pile of ruins;#2 Kgs 16:9; Jer 49:23; Am 1:3; Zec 9:1.
2Her cities shall be forever abandoned,
for flocks to lie in undisturbed.
3The fortress shall vanish from Ephraim#Ephraim: Israel, leagued with Aram against Judah in the Syro-Ephraimite War. Assyria ravaged and captured most of Israelite territory in 734–733 B.C. Like the glory of the Israelites: the remnant of Aram will be no more impressive than the pitiful remnant of the Northern Kingdom.
and dominion from Damascus;
The remnant of Aram shall become like the glory
of the Israelites—
oracle of the Lord of hosts.
4On that day
The glory of Jacob shall fade,
and his full body shall grow thin.#Is 10:16.
5Like the reaper’s mere armful of stalks,
when he gathers the standing grain;
Or as when one gleans the ears
in the Valley of Rephaim.#Valley of Rephaim: a fertile plain just to the southwest of Jerusalem (cf. Jos 15:8; 2 Sm 5:18). Since it was near a large population center, the fields there would be thoroughly gleaned by the poor after the harvest, leaving very few ears of grain.
6#Olives not easily picked by hand were knocked from the tree by means of a long stick; cf. 24:13. Only gleanings shall be left in it,
as when an olive tree has been beaten—
Two or three olives at the very top,
four or five on its most fruitful branches—
oracle of the Lord, the God of Israel.#Is 24:13.
7On that day people shall turn to their maker,
their eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.#Is 5:12.
8They shall not turn to the altars, the work of their hands,
nor shall they look to what their fingers have made:
the asherahs#Asherahs: see note on Ex 34:13. Incense stands: small altars on which incense was burned; cf. Is 27:9; Lv 26:30. or the incense stands.
9On that day his strong cities shall be
like those abandoned by the Hivites and Amorites
When faced with the Israelites;
and there shall be desolation.#Is 27:10.
10Truly, you have forgotten the God who saves you,
the Rock, your refuge, you have not remembered.#Ps 106:13, 21; Jer 2:32; Hos 8:14.
Therefore, though you plant plants for the Pleasant One,#The Pleasant One: an epithet for a foreign god of fertility, probably Adonis, in whose honor saplings were planted.
and set out cuttings for a foreign one,#Is 1:29–31.
11Though you make them grow the day you plant them
and make them blossom the morning you set them out,
The harvest shall disappear on a day of sickness
and incurable pain.
12Ah! the roaring of many peoples—#Many peoples: the hordes that accompanied the invading Assyrians, whom God repels just as he vanquished the primeval waters of chaos; see notes on Jb 3:8; 7:12; Ps 89:11.
a roar like the roar of the seas!
The thundering of nations—
thunder like the thundering of mighty waters!#Ps 46:3–7; 93:3–4.
13#The passage seems to evoke the motif of invincibility, part of the early Zion tradition that Jerusalem could not be conquered because God protected it (Ps 48:1–8). But God shall rebuke them,
and they shall flee far away,
Driven like chaff on the mountains before a wind,
like tumbleweed before a storm.#Ps 76:7; 83:14.
14At evening, there is terror,
but before morning, they are gone!
Such is the portion of those who despoil us,
the lot of those who plunder us.#Is 29:8.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
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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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America