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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17: the burden of Damascus and the thinning of Jacob

General context

The burden of Damascus announces that Damascus is taken away from being a city and becomes a ruinous heap, and the cities of Aroer are left to flocks that lie down unafraid. The fortress ceases from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria is likened to the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day the glory of Jacob is made thin and his flesh lean, like a harvestman reaping ears in the valley of Rephaim, yet gleanings are left, two or three berries at the top of an olive tree and four or five on the outer branches. In that day a man looks to his Maker and the Holy One of Israel rather than to the altars, groves and images his hands made. His strong cities become like a forsaken bough left because of the children of Israel. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation and the rock of thy strength, the one addressed plants pleasant plants and strange slips that flourish by morning, but the harvest is a heap in a day of grief. A woe follows on the multitude of many people who roar like the seas and rush like mighty waters; God rebukes them and they flee, chased like chaff before wind and a rolling thing before the whirlwind. At evening there is trouble and before morning he is gone: this is the portion of those who spoil and rob us.

Cited passages: Isaiah 17:1, Isaiah 17:2, Isaiah 17:3, Isaiah 17:4, Isaiah 17:5, Isaiah 17:6, Isaiah 17:7, Isaiah 17:8, Isaiah 17:9, Isaiah 17:10, Isaiah 17:11, Isaiah 17:12, Isaiah 17:13, Isaiah 17:14

Isaiah 17 (KJV)

1The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, 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.

4And 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.

5And 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.

6Yet gleaning 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.

7At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

9In 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.

10Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

11In 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.

12Woe to the 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!

13The 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 rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

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Historical context

The heading names Damascus, but the oracle pairs Damascus with Ephraim in its third verse and then speaks of the glory of Jacob, so Syria and the northern kingdom are judged together, matching the alliance of Rezin and the son of Remaliah in chapters seven and eight. No king, year or attacker is named, and Aroer and the valley of Rephaim are given without location. Two speech markers occur, saith the Lord of hosts closing the verse on the remnant of Syria and saith the Lord God of Israel closing the verse on Jacob's gleanings. The thou of verses ten and eleven, accused of forgetting the God of thy salvation, is not named; the surrounding verses concern Jacob, but the text does not state whether Damascus or Israel is addressed there. The strong cities left because of the children of Israel is likewise stated without saying whose cities. The closing woe is against an unnamed multitude of many people and nations, and the final us, them that spoil us, is the first time the speaker includes himself with the victims in this chapter. The gleaning image uses counted berries, two or three and four or five, as the measure of what remains.

Cited passages: Isaiah 17:1, Isaiah 17:3, Isaiah 17:4, Isaiah 7:5, Isaiah 17:6, Isaiah 17:10, Isaiah 17:9, Isaiah 17:12, Isaiah 17:14

Literary context

The chapter runs from a city to a field to the sea. Damascus falls in one line, and the rest of the oracle is agricultural: a reaper's arm, gleaned olives, a forsaken bough, pleasant plants that sprout overnight and a harvest that is only a heap. Fullness turning thin is the governing motion, the fatness of his flesh made lean, set against the counted handful of berries that remain, so judgment and remnant are held in one tree. Three clauses, in that day, at that day, in that day, divide the middle, first thinning, then a man turning from his own handiwork to his Maker, then desolate cities, and the turning verse lists what he will not look to, altars, groves, images, in the negative form used for idols in chapter two. The final woe changes scale: the sound of nations is the sound of seas, but they blow away as chaff, and the timing is compressed to a single night, trouble at eveningtide, gone before the morning. The last verse ends on a possessive plural, spoil us, rob us, which draws the reader into the threatened people. The next chapter opens with a woe to a distant land, so the sea image continues into ambassadors sent by sea.

Cited passages: Isaiah 17:1, Isaiah 17:5, Isaiah 17:11, Isaiah 17:4, Isaiah 17:6, Isaiah 17:7, Isaiah 17:8, Isaiah 2:8, Isaiah 17:12, Isaiah 17:13, Isaiah 17:14, Isaiah 18:2

Key moments

  1. Damascus a ruinous heap (Isaiah 17:1). The burden declares Damascus is no longer a city.
  2. Ephraim and Damascus together (Isaiah 17:3). The fortress ceases from Ephraim and the kingdom from Damascus.
  3. Jacob made thin (Isaiah 17:4). The glory of Jacob wastes like flesh growing lean.
  4. Two or three berries (Isaiah 17:6). Gleanings remain like the last olives on a shaken tree.
  5. Looking to his Maker (Isaiah 17:7). In that day a man turns from his own altars to the Holy One of Israel.
  6. Harvest a heap of grief (Isaiah 17:11). Plants that flourish by morning yield sorrow at harvest.
  7. Nations like chaff (Isaiah 17:13). God rebukes the roaring nations and they flee before the wind.

For reflection

The oracle counts what is left after judgment as two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough. What does it mean that the remnant is measured in something so small and so hard to reach?

People in this chapter

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