3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.
For before the lad knoweth to cry, My father! and, My mother! the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
For before the child knoweth to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land whose two kings thou fearest shall be forsaken.
for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken, so as to be no [more a] people;
And a tumult shall arise among thy peoples, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces with the children.
And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. Whence is the transgression of Jacob? is it not [from] Samaria? And whence are the high places of Judah? are they not [from] Jerusalem? Therefore will I make Samaria as a heap of the field, as plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will lay bare the foundations thereof. And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her harlot-gifts shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I make a desolation; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered [them], and to a harlot's hire shall they return. For this will I lament, and I will howl; I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. For her wounds are incurable; for it is come even unto Judah, it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
Therefore shall they now go captive, with the first that go captive, and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away. The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; and I will deliver up the city with all that is therein. And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. And a man's uncle, and he that should burn him, shall take him up to bring out the bones from the house, and shall say unto him that is in the inner parts of the house, Is there yet [any] with thee? and he shall say, None. And he will say, Silence! for we may not make mention of Jehovah's name. For behold, Jehovah commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves; and I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.
Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great uproar in the midst thereof, and the oppressions that are within her: and they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and plunder in their palaces. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary! -- even round about the land! And he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be pillaged. Thus saith Jehovah: Like as the shepherd rescueth out of the jaw of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and upon the damask of a bed. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father will go in unto the [same] maid, to profane my holy name. And they lay [themselves] down by every altar upon clothes taken in pledge, and they drink [in] the house of their God the wine of the condemned. But I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was as the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; but I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, a wind of Jehovah [that] cometh up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
And I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard I will lurk for them by the way; I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her [whelps], and will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness: the beast of the field shall tear them.
And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried it captive to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
Ephraim is smitten: their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they should bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved [fruit] of their womb. My God hath rejected them, because they hearkened not unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sore, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb; but he was unable to heal you, nor hath he removed your sore. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without statue, and without ephod and teraphim.
And Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jizreel; for yet a little, and I will visit the blood of Jizreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious adornment, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail [and] a destroying tempest; as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with might. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet; and the fading flower of his glorious adornment which is on the head of the fat valley shall be like an early fig before the summer: as soon as he that seeth it perceiveth it, scarcely is it in his hand, he swalloweth it down.
And now Jehovah speaketh saying, Within three years, as the years of a hired servant, and the glory of Moab shall be brought to nothing, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be small, few, of no account.
Is not Calno as Karkemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 17
Commentary on Isaiah 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
Isa 17:1-11. Prophecy Concerning Damascus and Its Ally Samaria, that is, Syria and Israel, which had leagued together (seventh and eighth chapters).
Already, Tiglath-pileser had carried away the people of Damascus to Kir, in the fourth year of Ahaz (2Ki 16:9); but now in Hezekiah's reign a further overthrow is foretold (Jer 49:23; Zec 9:1). Also, Shalmaneser carried away Israel from Samaria to Assyria (2Ki 17:6; 18:10, 11) in the sixth year of Hezekiah of Judah (the ninth year of Hoshea of Israel). This prophecy was, doubtless, given previously in the first years of Hezekiah when the foreign nations came into nearer collision with Judah, owing to the threatening aspect of Assyria.
1. Damascus—put before Israel (Ephraim, Isa 17:3), which is chiefly referred to in what follows, because it was the prevailing power in the league; with it Ephraim either stood or fell (Isa 7:1-25).
2. cities of Aroer—that is, the cities round Aroer, and under its jurisdiction [Gesenius]. So "cities with their villages" (Jos 15:44); "Heshbon and all her cities" (Jos 13:17). Aroer was near Rabbahammon, at the river of Gad, an arm of the Jabbok (2Sa 24:5), founded by the Gadites (Nu 32:34).
for flocks—(Isa 5:17).
3. fortress … cease—The strongholds shall be pulled down (Samaria especially: Ho 10:14; Mic 1:6; Hab 1:10).
remnant of Syria—all that was left after the overthrow by Tiglath-pileser (2Ki 16:9).
as the glory of … Israel—They shall meet with the same fate as Israel, their ally.
4. glory of Jacob—the kingdom of Ephraim and all that they rely on (Ho 12:2; Mic 1:5).
fatness … lean—(See on Isa 10:16).
5. harvestman, &c.—The inhabitants and wealth of Israel shall be swept away, and but few left behind just as the husbandman gathers the corn and the fruit, and leaves only a few gleaning ears and grapes (2Ki 18:9-11).
with his arm—He collects the standing grain with one arm, so that he can cut it with the sickle in the other hand.
Rephaim—a fertile plain at the southwest of Jerusalem toward Beth-lehem and the country of the Philistines (2Sa 5:18-22).
6. in it—that is, in the land of Israel.
two or three … in the top—A few poor inhabitants shall be left in Israel, like the two or three olive berries left on the topmost boughs, which it is not worth while taking the trouble to try to reach.
7. look to his Maker—instead of trusting in their fortresses—(Isa 17:3; Mic 7:7).
8. groves—A symbolical tree is often found in Assyrian inscriptions, representing the hosts of heaven ("Saba"), answering to Ashteroth or Astarte, the queen of heaven, as Baal or Bel is the king. Hence the expression, "image of the grove," is explained (2Ki 21:7).
images—literally, "images to the sun," that is, to Baal, who answers to the sun, as Astarte to the hosts of heaven (2Ki 23:5; Job 31:26).
9. forsaken bough—rather "the leavings of woods," what the axeman leaves when he cuts down the grove (compare Isa 17:6).
which they left because of—rather, "which (the enemies) shall leave for the children of Israel"; literally, "shall leave (in departing) from before the face of the children of Israel" [Maurer]. But a few cities out of many shall be left to Israel, by the purpose of God, executed by the Assyrian.
10. forgotten … God of … salvation … rock—(De 32:15, 18).
plants—rather, "nursery grounds," "pleasure-grounds" [Maurer].
set in—rather, "set them," the pleasure-grounds.
strange slips—cuttings of plants from far, and therefore valuable.
11. In the day … thy plant—rather, "In the day of thy planting" [Horsley].
shalt … make … grow—Maurer translates, "Thou didst fence it," namely, the pleasure-ground. The parallel clause, "Make … flourish," favors English Version. As soon as thou plantest, it grows.
in the morning—that is, immediately after; so in Ps 90:14, the Hebrew, "in the morning," is translated "early."
but … shall be a heap—rather, "but (promising as was the prospect) the harvest is gone" [Horsley].
in … day of grief—rather, "in the day of (expected) possession" [Maurer]. "In the day of inundation" [Horsley].
of desperate sorrow—rather, "And the sorrow shall be desperate or irremediable." In English Version "heap" and "sorrow" may be taken together by hendiadys. "The heap of the harvest shall be desperate sorrow" [Rosenmuller].
Isa 17:12-18:7. Sudden Destruction of a Great Army in Judea (namely that of the Assyrian Sennacherib), AND Announcement of the Event to the Ethiopian Ambassadors.
The connection of this fragment with what precedes is: notwithstanding the calamities coming on Israel, the people of God shall not be utterly destroyed (Isa 6:12, 13); the Assyrian spoilers shall perish (Isa 17:13, 14).
12. Woe … multitude—rather, "Ho (Hark)! a noise of," &c. The prophet in vision perceives the vast and mixed Assyrian hosts (Hebrew, "many peoples," see on Isa 5:26): on the hills of Judah (so "mountains," Isa 17:13): but at the "rebuke" of God, they shall "flee as chaff."
to the rushing … that make—rather, "the roaring … roareth" (compare Isa 8:7; Jer 6:23).
13. shall … shall—rather, "God rebuketh (Ps 9:5) them, and they flee—are chased"; the event is set before the eyes as actually present, not future.
chaff of … mountains—Threshing floors in the East are in the open air on elevated places, so as to catch the wind which separates the chaff from the wheat (Ps 88:13; Ho 13:3).
rolling thing—anything that rolls: stubble.
14. eventide … before morning—fulfilled to the letter in the destruction "before morning" of the vast host that "at eveningtide" was such a terror ("trouble") to Judah; on the phrase see Ps 90:6; 30:5.
he is not—namely, the enemy.
us—the Jews. A general declaration of the doom that awaits the foes of God's people (Isa 54:17).