Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 17

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 17 Israel scattered because she forgot God―Yet the nations that spoil her shall be destroyed.
1 THE ^aburden of ^bDamascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress also shall cease from ^aEphraim^a, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.	3^a The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim Syrian and the Kingdom of Israel/Ephraim were confederates or allies and as such Syria was Ephraim's northern protection against any enemies. When Damascus failed the Assyrians would continue on into Israel and take the nation and tribes of Israel captive and scatter them throughout the nations of the world. The fortress which Damascus is being referred to here is that protective 'fortress' against the northern Assyrians. It does not reference anything further such as Ephraim being removed from his inheritant right as the firstborn of Israel and those blessings of the covenant which did remain with and belong to Ephraim though some would teach it otherwise.
4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 ¶ Yet ^agleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his ^aMaker, and his eyes shall have ^brespect to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the ^agroves, or the images.
9 ¶ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. 10 Because ^athou hast ^bforgotten the God of thy ^csalvation, and hast not been mindful of the ^drock of thy strength, therefore ^eshalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 ¶ Woe to ^athe multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a ^arolling thing before the whirlwind. 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that ^aspoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.