Isaiah 17
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 735 BC – 701 BC · Divided kingdom · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
14 verses · 359 words · ~2 min read · ~2 min listen
The Burden against Damascus
1This is the burden against Damascus:
“Behold, Damascus is no longer a city;
it has become a heap of ruins.
2The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
they will be left to the flocks,
which will lie down with no one to fear.
3The 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,
5as the reaper gathers the standing grain
and harvests the ears with his arm,
as one gleans heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6Yet 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.
7In that day men will look to their Maker
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8They 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.
9In that day their strong cities
will be like forsaken thickets and summits,
abandoned to the Israelites
and to utter desolation.
10For 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—
11though 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.
12Alas, the tumult of many peoples;
they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations;
they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
13The 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.
14In 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.
Footnotes (1)
- a v3 Or The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, that is, from the northern kingdom of Israel
Study notes on this chapter · 1
Prophecy & fulfillmentWidely held reading
Damascus, a heap of ruins
Isaiah says Damascus will cease to be a city and become a heap of ruins, and Ephraim (the northern kingdom) will lose its fortresses. Assyria under Tiglath-pileser III took Damascus in 732 BC and killed its king Rezin, and Samaria fell in 722/721 BC. Damascus was rebuilt soon afterward and is still inhabited, so the language of permanent ruin is read in different ways.
When: Isaiah, c. 735–732 BC; Damascus taken 732 BC.
Where the New Testament applies it2 Kings 16:7–9
Ways people read this (3)
- Fulfilled in 732 BC when Damascus was destroyed and lost its independence.
- Some think the full ruin is yet to come.
- The language is hyperbolic, stressing the end of Damascus as a capital kingdom.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.