Isaiah 17:4-11

Judgment against Israel

4 On that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and his healthy body^[a] will become emaciated.

5 It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain- his arm harvesting the heads of grain- and as if one had gleaned heads of grain in the valley of Rephaim.

6 Only gleanings will be left in Israel, as if an olive tree had been beaten- two or three berries at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They will not look to the altars they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they made with their fingers.

9 On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned woods and mountaintops^[b] that were abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.

10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength; therefore you will plant beautiful plants and set out cuttings from exotic vines.

11 On the day that you plant, you will help them to grow, and in the morning you will help your seed to sprout, [but] the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Isaiah 17:4-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 17

This chapter contains a prophecy of the ruin of Syria and Israel, the ten tribes; who were in alliance; and also of the overthrow of the Assyrian army, that should come against Judah. The destruction of Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, and of other cities, is threatened, Isa 17:1,2 yea, of the whole kingdom of Syria, together with Ephraim or the ten tribes, and Samaria the head of them, Isa 17:3 whose destruction is expressed by various similes, as by thinness and leanness, and by the reaping and gathering of corn, Isa 17:4,5 and yet a remnant should be preserved, compared to gleaning gapes, and a few berries on an olive tree, who should look to the Lord, and not to idols, Isa 17:6-8 and the reason of the desolation of their cities, and of their fields and vineyards, was their forgetfulness of the Lord, Isa 17:9-11 and the chapter is closed with a prophecy of the defeat of the Assyrian army, who are compared for their multitude and noise to the seas, and to mighty waters, and the noise and rushing of them, Isa 17:12 and yet should be, at the rebuke of God, as chaff, or any small light thing, before a blustering wind, Isa 17:13 and who, in the evening, would be a trouble to the Jews, and be dead before morning; which was to be the portion of the spoilers and plunderers of the Lord's people, Isa 17:14.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit and the fat of his flesh
• [b]. LXX reads like the Amorites and the Hivites; some Hb mss read like the Horesh and the Amir