Chapter 17

1 Syria and Israel are threatened. 6 A remnant shall forsake idolatry. 9 The rest shall be plagued for their impiety. 12 The woe of Israel’s enemies.

1. The burden of Damascus. See on ch. 13:1. Verses 1–11 constitute a message against Damascus and Israel. It will be recalled that in the days of Ahaz, Syria was united with Israel in an alliance against Judah, and that Isaiah had foretold the defeat of both Syria and Israel (ch. 7:1–16). The present prophecy deals with more extensive judgments.

From being a city. A severe blow was to fall upon Damascus; it would no longer be numbered among the great cities of the world. For a time the city seems to have lain in ruins, but was eventually rebuilt, for a century later Jeremiah delivered further messages against it (Jer. 49:23–27).

2. The cities of Aroer. No district by this name is known in Syria, although there was such a city in Israelite territory, east of the Jordan (Num. 32:34; Deut. 2:36; 3:12; Joshua 13:25; 2 Sam. 24:5). Probably to avoid this seeming difficulty, or perhaps following another Hebrew text, the LXX reads, “Her cities will be forsaken forever.” The cities within the territory designated would be so completely destroyed that flocks would henceforth graze in the confines of what once had been flourishing cities.

3. From Ephraim. Ephraim (the northern kingdom, Israel) is still linked with Syria in the mind of the prophet. As the two nations had been united in a common attack upon Judah (2 Kings 16:5; Isa. 7:1, 2), so they were to suffer from a common judgment decreed by the Lord (see on Isa. 7:4, 7, 16).

The glory. The glory of Israel was an ephemeral thing, soon to pass away. Thus it would also be with the remnant of Syria.

4. Jacob. Here evidently meaning Ephraim, the northern kingdom. The ten tribes would suffer extinction. This message must, therefore, have been delivered prior to 723/722 b.c., when the northern kingdom came to its end (see Vol. II, pp. 85, 160).

5. The harvestman. The figure now changes to that of a harvester reaping “corn” (grain; see on Lev. 2:14) in the field. Similarly, the cities of Israel would be cut down by the cruel Assyrian invader.

The valley of Rephaim. This was the stony but fertile “valley of the giants” south of Jerusalem, in the direction of Bethlehem (see on Joshua 15:8).

6. Gleaning grapes. Heb. Фoleloth, the “gleaning,” either of grapes or of olives, but not of grain. Here reference is to the gleaning of an olive tree, as the remainder of the verse makes plain. The idea is once more of a remnant that will escape the general destruction, this time in Israel. Even though judgment would come and the nation as a whole would suffer a devastating blow, a few of the people would escape, like the olives in the topmost branch of a tree after the branches have been violently shaken. This concept of a remnant remaining appears again and again throughout the book of Isaiah, as in chs. 10:20–22; 11:11, 16; 37:4, 32. The “remnant” is always the group that survives a time of divine retribution upon Judah for its transgressions. Presumably, the remnant has learned obedience and can be counted on to remain true to God.

7. Look to his Maker. The judgment would not be in vain, for it would cause the earnest and sincere to lift up their eyes to God. The outstanding message to the people in Isaiah’s day was, “Behold your God!” (ch. 40:9). It might take bitter disappointment and disaster to turn the eyes of men away from the things of earth, but the Lord’s judgments would finally cause them to look away from their idols to their Creator.

8. His fingers have made. That is, the idols (see Deut. 4:28; Isa. 2:8; 31:7; 37:19; Hosea 14:3; Micah 5:13). The heathen looked for help to the gods that they themselves had made; the Hebrews found their help in the God who was their Maker.

10. The rock. God is the true defense of His people (Ps. 28:1; 31:2; 62:2; 71:3; 89:26; 95:1). Having forsaken the Lord, the people would vainly seek protection by means of idolatrous rites.

Pleasant plants. These were plants such as wheat, barley, or various kinds of vegetables or flowers, planted in baskets and pots and caused to germinate rapidly. They were regarded as symbolizing the magic power of the gods of fertility. Powerful though these nature deities were considered to be, they actually possessed no strength, and could do nothing for their worshipers.

Strange slips. Literally, “shoots,” or “twigs,” of “strange [gods],” or “illicit [gods]” (see Ps. 44:20; 81:9), perhaps budding shoots used in a way similar to the “pleasant plants.”

11. The harvest. From these rapidly growing plants there could be no extensive harvest. As the plants sprang forth rapidly, they would as rapidly wither away. The thought seems to be that the people, having forsaken God, their real strength, would seek in vain for strength from their fertility gods. These deities would leave them with nought but a harvest of grief and disappointment in the day of danger and defeat.

12. Many people. The power against whom this woe is pronounced is not designated by name. However, it was some enemy of God’s people that was to come against them like the waters of a mighty flood, threatening to overwhelm them completely. Such a prophecy had been given concerning Assyria (ch. 8:7, 8), and this empire may be the power referred to here.

13. God shall rebuke them. Although the Assyrian armies under Sennacherib threatened to completely inundate Judah, the Lord intervened (see ch. 37:36). Instead of overwhelming Israel, the enemy would himself be overwhelmed.

The chaff of the mountains. The symbols used here aptly express the utter weakness and insignificance of the Assyrian armies before the power of God. One moment they were sweeping onward like the rushing waters of a mighty sea, threatening to overwhelm the land of Judah; the next, they would be like chaff or thistledown driven before the wind.

A rolling thing. Literally, “wheel,” but here supposed to refer to the wheel-shaped dried calyx of the thistle Gundelia tournefortii.

14. Before the morning. The night that for Zion began with darkness and trouble ended with victory and rejoicing (see ch. 37:22–36).

That spoil us. According to Sennacherib’s records he had taken away a heavy spoil from Judah on the occasion of his first invasion (see Vol. II, p. 64).

Ellen G. White comments

7, 8     PK 320