Verses 1-14
CHAPTER 17
The Burden of Damascus and Judgment upon Ephraim
1. Damascus to be a ruinous heap (Isaiah 17:1-3) 2. Judgment upon Ephraim (Isaiah 17:4-11) 3. Woe to the enemies of Israel (Isaiah 17:12-14) Damascus was the ancient city of Syria, mentioned for the first time in Genesis 15:1-21. Syria and Ephraim had made common cause against the house of David. Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, executed the judgment upon Damascus and made of it a ruinous heap. But the judgment is also future. And the enemies of Israel, which trouble His people, will be troubled “in that day.” It is a solemn word with which this chapter closes, “This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.”