Isaiah 17:11
in Isaiah 17though 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to blossom; but the harvest fleeth away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
KJV
In 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.
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This verse in Isaiah 17
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 11.) In the day of your planting, the vineyard shall flourish, and in the morning your seed shall blossom. The harvest shall be taken away on the day of inheritance, and you shall grieve deeply. These will be the fruits of your labors: your vine Sorec shall degenerate into wild grapes, and your seed shall bring forth hope in the bud; but when maturity comes, it shall be harvested by another. And then you shall grieve deeply, when what you hoped for and almost touched is lost.
This site's exposition
you have forgotten the God
on Isaiah 17:10-11
The charge is named, "you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge," and the judgment follows. What sprouts overnight vanishes "on the day of disease and incurable pain," the fast growth and fast collapse bound in one image.
This site's exposition
though on the day you plant you make them grow
On that morning means at once, sprouting the day it is planted, and the King James renders the same Hebrew early in Psalm 90:14. Barnes stresses the care poured into the plant and the seed. The harvest of those foreign vines of verse 10 still vanishes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11.) Therefore, you will plant a faithful plantation and sow a foreign seed. On the day of your planting, your grapevine will be in bloom, and in the morning your seed will sprout; the harvest has been taken away on the day of inheritance, and there will be great sorrow. LXX: Therefore, you will plant an unfaithful plantation and unfaithful seed, and on the day you plant, you will wander. But if you sow in the morning, it will bloom for the harvest on the day of inheritance, when a father gives inheritance to his sons. For that reason, because we have interpreted it according to Aquila and Symmachus and the LXX, on the day of inheritance, which in Hebrew is called Biom Nehela (), it can be read in Hebrew, on a very bad day. And for that reason, because it has been interpreted by Aquila and Theodotion, and the man will grieve: we learned from the Hebrews, for the man who is called Enos in their language, we have interpreted as Anus (), that is, heavily: concerning the ambiguity of this word, if there is time in this life, we will discuss it more fully in Jeremiah, where according to the LXX it says: And there is a man, and who will know him? Therefore I say what I proposed: Because you have forgotten, O land of Judah, your Savior God, and the one who always provided strength for you, you have not remembered; therefore you will indeed plant a faithful plantation, as the interpretations of Aquila and Theodotion say, beautiful; or as Symmachus says, good, preaching one God: but you will sow a foreign seed, not receiving the Father, because you do not receive the Son. For whoever believes in the Father, also believes in the Son. And because you have sown the seed of blasphemy against Jesus in the synagogues of Satan, therefore you shall not gather grapes, but wild grapes. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to the ruin of the fruit: in the day of your planting, that is, when you ought to have taken up the fruit from your planting, and this as to the vineyards; as to the fields, in the morning your seed shall flourish, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In the day shall thou make thy plant to grow,....
Observe here, (1.) The sin that had provoked God to bring so great a destruction upon that pleasant land. It was for the iniquity of those that dwelt therein.
In the midst of judgment mercy is remembered to Israel, and a gracious promise made that a remnant should be preserved from the calamities and should get good by them,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
As soon as thou plantest, it grows. in the morning--that is, immediately after; so in Ps 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].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In the day ... - Thou shalt cultivate it assiduously and constantly. Thou shalt be at special pains that it may be watered and pruned, in order that it may produce abundantly. And in the morning - With early care and attention - denoting the pains that would be bestowed on the young plant.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
because I planted you Because, when I planted you in the beginning, I planted a pleasant planting, twelve sons of Jacob, and when your saplings raised branches, they gave forth improper seed, like strange branches which are not of the species of the vine but resemble the vine.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Woe to a multitude of many peoples This is a principle followed throughout all generations; the scourge by which Israel is punished, shall eventually suffer. Therefore, the prophets who prophesy Israel’s retribution through the nations, juxtapose after it the retribution of the nation by which Israel was punished.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּי֤וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| נִטְעֵךְ֙ | nitekh | planting your | H5194 → | 4 times |
| תְּשַׂגְשֵׂ֔גִי | tesagsegi | you cause to grow | H7735 → | |
| וּבַבֹּ֖קֶר | uvaboker | and in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| זַרְעֵ֣ךְ | zarekh | seed your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| תַּפְרִ֑יחִי | tafrichi | you cause to sprout | H6524 → | 36 times |
| נֵ֥ד | ned | a heap | H5067 → | |
| קָצִ֛יר | katzir | a harvest | H7105 → | 54 times |
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | in a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| נַחֲלָ֖ה | nachalah | [being] sick | H2470 → | 76 times |
| וּכְאֵ֥ב | ukheev | and pain | H3511 → | |
| אָנֽוּשׁ׃ ס | ʾanush | incurable | H605 → |
בְּי֤וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
נִטְעֵךְ֙planting your
nitekhH5194 →4 times
תְּשַׂגְשֵׂ֔גִיyou cause to grow
tesagsegiH7735 →
וּבַבֹּ֖קֶרand in the morning
uvabokerH1242 →214 times
זַרְעֵ֣ךְseed your
zarekhH2233 →229 times
תַּפְרִ֑יחִיyou cause to sprout
tafrichiH6524 →36 times
נֵ֥דa heap
nedH5067 →
קָצִ֛ירa harvest
katzirH7105 →54 times
בְּי֥וֹםin a day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
נַחֲלָ֖ה[being] sick
nachalahH2470 →76 times
וּכְאֵ֥בand pain
ukheevH3511 →
אָנֽוּשׁ׃ סincurable
ʾanushH605 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hosea 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:8
He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 4:8
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath…
- Proverbs 22:8
Through
Job 4:8As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:7–8
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Hosea 8:7
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- 2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Hosea 10:12–13
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Galatians 6:7–8
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.