Isaiah 17

own country; and pass over the sea, i. e. the river of Jazer, (a stream of the river Arnon, which is the border of Moab, Numb. xxi. 13.) and made them wander through the wilderness of Moab; concerning which, see Deut. ii. 8. This.sense of the verse agrees best with Jer. xlviii.32. a place which alludes to this, and borrows some expressions from it. At the latter end of the verse, instead of her branches are stretched out, the margin reads, her branches areplucked up, which is a better translation. In this chapter to the twelfth verse, the prophet renews his threatenings against Syria and Israel, whose destruction ■ t he had foretold in the seventh and eighth chapters. The three last verses are a distinct prophecy, which seems to relate to the formidable invasion of the Assyrians upon Judea; and their sudden overthrow. Vcr.l. JLJAMASCUS is taken away from being a city.’] See notes on vii. 16. viii. 4. This city was rebuilt afterward, and prophesied against by Jeremiah, xlix. 23. and Zechariah, ix.l.

Isaiah 17:2

TJie cities of Aroer are forsaken.* Grotius supposes this Aroer to have been a tract, of ground in Syria, not that Aroer mentioned Deut. ii. 26. which was in the confines of Moab and Ammon, and part of the possession of the Reubenites and Gadites. Others suppose this very country to have been taken away from those tribes by the Syrians, and annexed to their own dominions. Tliey shall be for flocks to lie down in, and none shall make them afraid.] Where they may lie securely, and nobody disturb them. It is a proverbial expression for utter destruction to say, That grass grows where such a town stood. (See note on vii. 25.)..

Isaiah 17:3

The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the Icingdom from Damascus. As the two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were confederates against Judah, so they were threatened with one common destruction. (See vii. 1. 16. viii. 4.) Of the use of the word Ephraim, see note on vii. 2.. Tliey shall be as the glory of the children of Israel.] Who were in a declining condition for several years before. (See 2 Kings xv. 29.)

Isaiah 17:4

The glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. Jacob is the same with Israel in the foregoing verse, and both denote the ten tribes, as ix, 8. God’s judgments are sometimes expressed by leanness, because, like* a consumption, they waste the strength. (See x.16. xxiv. 16. Psal. cvi. 16.).

Isaiah 17:5

And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears, with his arm. The word harvest is sometimes metaphorically used to signify an entire destruction, because the harvest makes a clear riddance, and leaves the fields empty and bare. (See Jer.li.33. Hos. vi. 11.) In the valley of Rephaim.] The same words are translated the valley of giants, Josh. xv. 8. xviii. 6. It was a fruitful valley that lay near Jerusalem……,

Isaiah 17:6

Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive-tree, &c. The former verse was an illustration of Israel’s destruction from the ridding of fields in the corn-harvest: in this the metaphor is taken from the vintage, and the gathering in of the summer-fruits, and implies that the desolation shall not be so entire but that a few should be left, like the gleanings of a vine or an olive-tree after the main crop is gathered. (Compare xxiv. 13.) Accordingly we find that some of the ancient inhabitants of the ten tribes were left after Shalmaneser’s captivity, (see 2 Chron. xxx. 10, 11.) and even after the second captivity of that people in the time of Esar-haddon. (See 2 Chron. xxxv. 18.)

Isaiah 17:7

In that day shall a man look to his Maker, &c. God’s judgments upon the kingdom of Israel shall have that effect, as to turn many of those that remain from their idolatrous worship to serve the true God* (See 2 Chron. xxx. 11. 18.)

Isaiah 17:8

Neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images. The groves being here called the work of men’s hands, the word seems to be taken for an idol placed in a grove, as it is used 2 Kings xxi. 7. compared with xxiii. 6. The images here mentioned arc translated sun-images in the margin, and arc supposed.to be such as were erected in honour of the sun.(SeeEzck. vi. 4. 2 Chron. x^xiv.4.) Vcr.9. In that day shall his strong citiesbeas a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch.] The cities belonging

Isaiah 17:9

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah.~. Or, With weeping I will bewail Jazer [and] the vine iSfSibmah. I will bewail Jazer, that is, those v that are carried away to Jazer, or forced to fly thither.

Isaiah 17:10

And gladness shall be taken away out of the plentiful field, &c.J See note on ix. 3.

Isaiah 17:11

WJierefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab.) See note on xv. 5..

Isaiah 17:12

And it sltall come to pass, that when it is seen that Moab is weary of the high place, that he shall come to his sancttiary to pray, &c. We read Numb, xxiii. 13. 27. that Balak king of Moab went from one place to another to offer sacrifice with Balaam, thinking his devotions might be more prevalent at one place than another. The same thing is spoken of here, that when the Moabites find their prayers upon the high places ineffectual, (see xv. 2.) they will then try what success they may have when offered in the sanctuary or temple of their god Chemosh, who was the tutelar idol of their nation. The word sanctuary is applied to idolatrous temples, Amos vii. 9.13.

Isaiah 17:13

This is the word the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. Or rather, A good while ago, for so the Hebrew meaz signifies. (See note on xliv. 8.) This judgment, saith the prophet, was denounced against Moab in former times, particularly by Araos, (ii. 1, &c.) and is now confirmed by this vision, and the particular time specified when it should be accomplished in the next verse.

Isaiah 17:14

Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned. Within that certain and determinate time precisely fixed; see the like expression xxi. 16. and the note upon that place: and compare Job vii. 1. Some servants were bond-slaves during their lives; but hired servants were discharged precisely at the time agreed between them and their master, and they were usually hired for three years. (Sec Deut. xv. 18.) CHAP. XYU.