Isaiah 17:4

4 It shall happen in that day, that the glory of Ya`akov shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

Isaiah 17:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 17:4

And in that day it shall come to pass
It being much about the same time that both kingdoms were destroyed by the Assyrians: [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin;
the same with Ephraim and Israel, the ten tribes, whose glory lay in the superior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vast numbers that should be carried captive: and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean:
like a man in a consumption, that is become a mere skeleton, and reduced to skin and bones: the meaning is, that all their wealth and riches should be taken away; so the Targum,

``and the riches of his glory shall be carried away.''

Isaiah 17:4 In-Context

2 The cities of `Aro`er are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 The fortress shall cease from Efrayim, and the kingdom from Dammesek, and the remnant of Aram; they shall be as the glory of the children of Yisra'el, says the LORD of Hosts.

4 It shall happen in that day, that the glory of Ya`akov shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the standing grain, and his arm reaps the ears; yes, it shall be as when one gleans ears in the valley of Refa'im.

6 Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el.