Isaiahchapter 17

1 This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.

3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

4 “In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,

5 as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.

9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.

10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—

11 though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

12 Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.

13 The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

14 In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.

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Chapter summary

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Damascus is taken away from being a city and becomes a ruinous heap, but this burden binds Syria and northern Israel together: the fortress ceases from Ephraim as the kingdom ceases from Damascus, and the glory of Jacob is made thin. Harvest images carry the judgment: a reaper in the valley of Rephaim, an olive tree shaken until only two or three berries remain in the top boughs. In that day men look to their Maker, the Holy One of Israel, and away from altars, Asherim, and sun-images their own fingers made, for Israel has forgotten the God of its salvation and planted pleasant plants whose harvest flees in the day of grief. The chapter closes with roaring nations rushing like mighty waters, rebuked and chased like chaff: terror at eventide, gone before morning.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–6 Damascus a Ruinous Heap, with Gleanings Left
B. 7–11 In That Day a Man Shall Look to His Maker
C. 12–14 The Roar of Many Peoples Rebuked at Eventide

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Deuteronomy 322 verses
- Deuteronomy 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Deuteronomy 32:18You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- Read Deuteronomy 32 →
Isaiah 242 verses
- Isaiah 24:13So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
- Isaiah 24:16From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.
- Read Isaiah 24 →
Isaiah 272 verses
- Isaiah 27:9Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
- Isaiah 27:10For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- Read Isaiah 27 →
Amos 11 verse
- Amos 1:3This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- Read Amos 1 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Zechariah 91 verse
- Zechariah 9:1This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD—
- Read Zechariah 9 →
Isaiah 251 verse
- Isaiah 25:2Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Read Isaiah 25 →
Ezekiel 251 verse
- Ezekiel 25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- Read Ezekiel 25 →
Deuteronomy 21 verse
- Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
- Read Deuteronomy 2 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.