Verse 1

Isaiah 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 (2 Kings 16:9); but now in Hezekiah‘s reign a further overthrow is foretold (Jeremiah 49:23; Zechariah 9:1). Also, Shalmaneser carried away Israel from Samaria to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:10, 2 Kings 18:11) 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.

Damascus — put before Israel (Ephraim, Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 7:1-25).

Verse 2

cities of Aroer — that is, the cities round Aroer, and under its jurisdiction [Gesenius]. So “cities with their villages” (Joshua 15:44); “Heshbon and all her cities” (Joshua 13:17). Aroer was near Rabbahammon, at the river of Gad, an arm of the Jabbok (2 Samuel 24:5), founded by the Gadites (Numbers 32:34).

for flocks — (Isaiah 5:17).

Verse 3

cease — The strongholds shall be pulled down (Samaria especially: Hosea 10:14; Micah 1:6; Habakkuk 1:10).

remnant of Syria — all that was left after the overthrow by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 16:9).

as the glory of  …  Israel — They shall meet with the same fate as Israel, their ally.

Verse 4

glory of Jacob — the kingdom of Ephraim and all that they rely on (Hosea 12:2; Micah 1:5).

fatness  …  lean — (See on Isaiah 10:16).

Verse 5

harvestman, etc. — 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 (2 Kings 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 (2 Samuel 5:18-22).

Verse 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.

Verse 7

look to his Maker — instead of trusting in their fortresses - (Isaiah 17:3; Micah 7:7).

Verse 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 (2 Kings 21:7).

images — literally, “images to the sun,” that is, to Baal, who answers to the sun, as Astarte to the hosts of heaven (2 Kings 23:5; Job 31:26).

Verse 9

forsaken bough — rather “the leavings of woods,” what the axeman leaves when he cuts down the grove (compare Isaiah 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.

Verse 10

God of  …  salvation  …  rock — (Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18).

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.

Verse 11

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 Psalm 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].

Verse 12

Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 6:12, Isaiah 6:13); the Assyrian spoilers shall perish (Isaiah 17:13, Isaiah 17:14).

Woe  …  multitude — rather, “Hosea (Hark)! a noise of,” etc. The prophet in vision perceives the vast and mixed Assyrian hosts (Hebrew, “many peoples,” see on Isaiah 5:26): on the hills of Judah (so “mountains,” Isaiah 17:13): but at the “rebuke” of God, they shall “flee as chaff.”

to the rushing  …  that make — rather, “the roaring  …  roareth” (compare Isaiah 8:7; Jeremiah 6:23).

Verse 13

shall — rather, “God rebuketh (Psalm 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 (Psalm 88:13; Hosea 13:3).

rolling thing — anything that rolls: stubble.

Verse 14

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 Psalm 90:6; Psalm 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 (Isaiah 54:17).