Chapter Seventeen

1–3. The dire fate of Damascus. 4–6. And of the Israelite kingdom. 7–11. The cause of the fall of the Israelite kingdom. 12–14. Vengeance upon those who desolated the Israelite land.

Isa 17:1-6. The prophet predicts the fall of the kingdoms hostile to Judah, Syria and Israel, which concluded an alliance with each other.

Isaiah 17:1. A prophecy concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. When was this prophecy uttered? Since it speaks of the impending crushing of Damascus’ power, and this event occurred under the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser in 732 BC, when an Assyrian governor was placed over Damascus instead of a king, the prophecy must have been uttered before this year and even before 735 BC, before the invasion of allied forces into Judah, because this invasion is not mentioned with a single word here. Word – see Isa 13:1.

Isaiah 15:2. “Damascus” – see Is.15:2. Under Damascus it is most likely to understand all of Syria, of which Damascus was the capital city. One can judge the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy from one of the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser, which reads: “I caused countless [Syrians] to be beheaded; the palace of Adad, the father of Rezin, which stood on inaccessible mountains, I besieged and took; eight thousand inhabitants with their possessions, Mitiniti of Askaspa... I carried away into captivity; 500 (18 – according to Smith’s reading) cities from the districts of the Damascus region I made like a heap of rubble.” (Cf. 2 Sam 16). However, after this destruction Damascus was soon rebuilt again, as is evident from the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It remains even to this day one of the flourishing cities of the East. Isaiah 17:2. The cities of Aroer will be forsaken – they will remain for flocks, which will rest there, and there will be none to frighten them. “The cities of Aroer,” that is, the cities of eastern Palestine, where there were two Aroers – one to the east of Rabbah of Ammon (Josh 13:25), another on the Arnon (Josh 12:2); the first belonged to the tribe of Gad, the second to the tribe of Reuben. Probably the prophet mentions these cities from all the cities of the Transjordan region as examples and because of the similarity of their name (Aroer) to a Hebrew word denoting the concept of a city (ar). From Damascus a cloud of God’s wrath goes, consequently, through Gilead to the south, over the possessions of the Israelite kingdom and then crosses to the western side of the Jordan, into the very center of the Israelite kingdom. The prophecy that Gilead would be emptied came true. At the present time that region lies in desolation; only here and there do wild predatory Arab tribes dwell there (Archpriest Elensky. Biblical Geography, vol. I, p. 86).

Isaiah 17:3. Ephraim’s stronghold will cease, and the kingdom of Damascus and the rest of Syria; they will have the same fate as the glory of the sons of Israel, says the Lord of hosts. “Ephraim’s stronghold,” that is, the support for the kingdom of Ephraim or Israel, which long served as Damascus – the kingdom of Damascus, that is, Damascus will cease to be the capital of an independent state – Syria will find itself under the power of the Assyrians. “And the rest of Syria,” that is, what remains still in Syria (after the Assyrian invasion) will have the same fate as the Israelite kingdom or the sons of Israel, who were taken into captivity in Assyria (2 Sam 17:6).

Isaiah 17:4. And it will come to pass in that day: the glory of Jacob will be diminished, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean. “The glory of Jacob will be diminished.” Here is meant the same Israelite kingdom of which we spoke in verse 3. “The fatness of his flesh.” These words point to the power and extent of the Israelite kingdom in comparison with the Judean kingdom. The populous and mighty tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, around which the rest of the Israelite tribes were grouped like one family, looked upon the tribe of Judah with a certain contempt, or perhaps with distrust. The exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Palestine were accomplished under the leadership of the Josephites... Joshua, Jeroboam – in a word, all outstanding men up to and including Samuel came from this tribe... After Solomon’s death the Judean kings fell in some way into vassalage to the Israelite kings; at least they were compelled by force to enter into an alliance with them, subjecting them to the northern rulers... The house of Joseph stood spiritually above the tribe of Judah, – as we add, and in relation to natural resources (H. S. Chamberlain. Jews, Their Origin and the Causes of Their Influence in Europe. St. Petersburg, 1906, pp. 164–166).

Isaiah 17:5. It will be like when the reaper gathers the grain, when his arm reaps the heads of grain, and when he gathers the heads of grain in the valley of Rephaim. Isaiah 17:6. And there will remain in him, as when an olive tree is beaten, two or three berries on the topmost bough, or four or five on the fruitful branches, says the Lord, the God of Israel. “The reaper” was to, according to the law of Moses (Lev 19:9), not reap all the grain completely, but leave some grain in the field, which could later be gathered by the poor. “The valley of Rephaim” was located to the southwest of Jerusalem (Josh 15:7) and was very fertile. As for the Rephaim, after whom this valley is named, they are most likely to be understood as the ancient inhabitants of Palestine – the Amorites, since both Hebrew names – Amorite and Rephaim – denote people of tall stature. Isa 17:7-11. The cause of the destruction of the Israelite kingdom was, on the one hand, the forgetfulness of the true God and, on the other, the inclination to idolatry. After admonition received from the hand of God, Israel will again turn to the true God.

Isaiah 17:7. In that day a man will turn his gaze to his Creator, and his eyes will be fixed upon the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 17:8. And he will not look at the altars, at the work of his hands, and will not regard what his fingers have made, the images of Asherah and Baal. Judges 3:7. “Images of Asherah” – in Hebrew haascherim. It is most likely to understand here specially carved wooden columns – symbols of the goddess of the moon and fertility, Asherah, or in Chaldean, Ishtar (see Commentary on the Book of Judges 3:7 – vol. 2, and on 1 Sam 14:15 – ibid.). 1 Samuel 16:32. “Images of Baal” – in Hebrew hachamanim, that is, pillars erected in honor of the god of the sun (chamah), Baal (see Commentary, vol. 2, to 1 Kings 16:32). Isaiah 17:9. In that day his fortified cities will be like ruins left in forests and on mountain tops, abandoned before the sons of Israel, – and it will be desolate. “Ruins in forests.” Modern critics consider the translation of the LXX more natural for this passage and translate the words of the second half of the verse thus: “like ruins left from the cities of the Hivites and Amorites.”

Isaiah 17:10. Because you have forgotten God your Savior, and have not remembered the rock of your refuge; therefore you have planted pleasant gardens and have set out cuttings of a foreign vine. “Pleasant gardens.” Many of the modern critics (Duhm, Marti, Condamin, and others) believe that here the reference is to gardens in honor of Adonis, the beloved of Venus; torn apart by a boar and again revived in the month of June. This month was called the month of Adonis by the Greeks. Greek women in special gardens dedicated to Adonis commemorated his revival, sacrificing their innocence, after they had first celebrated with sorrow the day of his death. The very word naamanim – “pleasant” reminds one of the Greek name of the flower dedicated to Adonis, ανεμωνη (in Arabic the red anemone is called Adonis’ wound). It is most likely that the Hebrews borrowed the cult of Adonis from the Syrians (2 Sam 16:10-13), who themselves learned of it in Phoenicia. Many interpreters identify Adonis with Tammuz, mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 8:14). “Cuttings of a foreign vine” – an allusion to Israel’s attraction to foreign cults (cf. Jer 2:21).

Isaiah 17:11. On the day you plant them you try to get them to grow, and on the morning you set out your seed you get it to blossom; but in the day of harvest it will be a heap of grief instead of a harvest. “You try to get them to grow” – from the Hebrew, “you hedge them in.” The prophet wants to say that Israel carefully maintained pagan cults and idolatry in itself, like grain sown in the earth, and on the very next morning for Israel it gave shoots and flowers! But Israel received no benefit from this: on the day of harvest (the fruits) Israel will find in its field only great sorrow! Isa 17:12-14. The prophet already hears the noise produced by armies coming from Assyria against the Israelite land, and at the same time reassures the subjects of the Judean king by pointing out that the Lord will destroy these armies when they seek to attack Jerusalem.

Isaiah 17:12. Woe! The roar of many peoples! They roar like the roaring of the sea. The tumult of nations! They tumble like the tumbling of mighty waters. “The roar of peoples.” The Assyrian armies consisted of warriors belonging to various nations conquered by Assyria. “Like... they tumble” – a comparison reminiscent of the description of the invasion of the Assyrian king into Palestine in chapter 8 (verse 7 and following).

Isaiah 17:13. The nations roar like the roaring of mighty waters; but He rebuked them and they fled far away, and were driven like chaff on the mountains by the wind and like dust before a whirlwind. “But He.” God stops these armies, rushing forward like mighty waters, by a single threatening gesture of His hand. “Like chaff,” that is, like fine dust, swept up on mountain roads by the strong wind always blowing in the mountains.

Isaiah 17:14. In the evening – behold, terror! And before morning – it is no more. Such is the fate of those who plunder us, the lot of those who despoil us. “In the evening.” The Jews were terribly frightened by the invasion of the Assyrians, who appeared under the walls of Jerusalem; but in the night 180 thousand of the Assyrian army were destroyed by the Angel of the Lord (2 Sam 19:35). The authenticity of this prophecy about Damascus and Israel is ordinarily not disputed by critics. Only verses 12–14, the same critics consider it better to refer to the prophecy of chapter 18. – According to the strophes, the prophecy in Condamin is divided thus: First strophe – verses 1–3 – (2, 2) Second strophe – verses 4–6 – (2, 2) Third strophe – verses 7–8 – (1, 1) Fourth strophe – verses 9–10a – (3) Fifth strophe – verses 10b–11 – (3)