Chapter 17
17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones.
17:2 The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid.
17:3 And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: says the Lord of hosts.
17:4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean.
17:5 And it shall be as when one gathers in the harvest that which remains, and his arm shall pick out the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeks ears in the vale of Raphaim.
17:6 And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, says the Lord the God of Israel.
17:7 In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.
17:8 And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made; and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples.
17:9 In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs, and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and you shall be desolate.
17:10 Because you have forgotten God your savior, and have not remembered your strong helper: therefore shall you plant unfaithful plants, and shall sow strange seed.
17:11 In the day of your planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning your seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve you much.
17:12 Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters.
17:13 Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing. But he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest.
17:14 In the time of the evening, behold there shall be a whirling: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us.
460 . The burden of Damascus . Here he begins to threaten against those who prepared an occasion of sin for the people of God when, through trust in their help, they cared not to trust in God. And this is divided into two parts:
in the first, he threatens against the Syrians, who brought help to the people of the ten tribes;
in the second, against the Egyptians, who did so to the two tribes: woe to the land (ch. 18).
The first of these is divided into three:
in the first, he threatens the destruction of the Syrians who promise help;
in the second, the destruction of the ten tribes who trust in that promised help: and it shall come to pass in that day (Isa 17:4);
in the third, the destruction of the Assyrians who destroy both of them: woe to the multitude (Isa 17:12).
461 . Concerning the first, he does two things:
in the first, he threatens destruction;
in the second, he describes the effect of the destruction: and aid shall cease (Isa 17:3).
He threatens destruction, first, as to the royal city: Damascus shall cease to be a city , from the pillaging of its people; and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones , from the destruction of its walls: Zion shall be as a field (Mic 3:12).
Second, as to the neighboring region: of Aroer , that is, of that region of Syria, in which there are many cities; or Aroer , which is Hebrew for “tamarisk,” as if to say: as places where tamarisks abound are barren and abandoned to pasturage for sheep, so will the cities of Syria be; there shall be none to make them afraid , for, because of their solitude, there will not even be thieves there; or because they will not be useful for other fruit, as flocks are frightened by vineyards and farmland, below: nettles shall grow up in its houses (Isa 34:13).
462 . And aid shall cease . Here the effect of the destruction is set out,
and first, the effect on the ten tribes: from Ephraim ;
second, the effect as to the royal city: and the kingdom from Damascus shall cease, and it will no longer be the head of the kingdom;
third, as to the entire region: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel , ironically: that is, they will be ignominious like the children of Israel, above: the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall (Isa 31:3).
463 . And it shall come to pass in that day . Here he threatens the destruction of the ten tribes, who trust in the help of the Syrians,
and first, as to the oppression of their people;
second, as to the destruction of their cities: in that day his strong cities (Isa 17:9);
third, as to the barrenness of their fields: therefore shall you plant (Isa 17:10).
Concerning the first, he does two things:
first, he threatens punishment;
second, he shows the fruit of the punishment: in that day man shall bow down (Isa 17:7).
He threatens punishment on their people
first, against their vainglory: the glory of Jacob shall be made thin , that is, it will be brought to little, and reduced as if to nothing, when that which they gloried in is destroyed.
Second, against the opulence of their riches: and the fatness of his flesh , that is, the riches with which they delicately nourished their flesh, above: the sovereign Lord shall send, shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled (Isa 10:16, 33).
Third, against the abundance of the people, he threatens scarcity of people, which he describes under a threefold metaphor, as the blessing of Jacob consisted in the abundance of three things: abundance of corn and wine and oil (Gen 27:28).
464 . As to the first, he sets out scarcity of ears of corn after the harvest, which are gathered by the harvester himself, and thus, the scarcity of the remnant of the ten tribes, shall be as when someone gathers in the harvest that which remains from the first reaping, and , from those gathered, his arm shall pick out the ears of corn , that is, collect them. And this one who gathers was Ezechias, who called together the remnant of the ten tribes, as is written in 2 Chronicles 30. Or also those which are gathered by someone poor, like it says in Ruth 2:3: I will go into the field to glean the ears of corn ; and as to this, he says: it shall be as he that seeks ears in the vale of Raphaim , a certain valley which is very fertile.
465 . Against abundance of wine, he sets out scarcity of grapes after the grape harvest: and the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes : woe is me, for I am become as one that gleans in autumn the grapes of the vintage (Mic 7:1). Against abundance of oil, he sets out scarcity of olives after the shaking of the olive . The olive, as Papias says, is the fruit of the olive tree; but here, according to the explanation of the Gloss, it seems to be used to mean the tree itself on whose top remains a small amount of fruit which the harvesters are not able to reach; concerning this scarcity, see Deuteronomy 28:62: you shall remain few in number .
466 . Note on the words, and the fatness of his flesh (Isa 17:4), that riches are called fatness,
first, because of their barrenness: the deceitfulness of riches chokes up the word, and he becomes fruitless (Matt 13:22);
second, because of their inconstancy: charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches (1 Tim 6:17);
third, because of their uselessness: behold this was the iniquity of Sodom (Ezek 16:49); riches kept to the hurt of the owner (Eccl 5:12).
467 . In that day . Here he sets out the fruit of the punishment: man , any who fled from the ten tribes to Ezechias, shall bow down himself to his Maker , giving the due service of worship; his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel , expecting some help; temples (delubra) , temples in which there were fonts, as though for washing, below: in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver (Isa 31:7).
468 . In that day . Here he threatens the desolation of their cities,
and first, he threatens the desolation itself: as the ploughs . This touches on what is found in Joshua 6 and 7, how the Amorrhites fled at the coming of the sons of Israel, leaving behind everything in the fields, above: your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire (Isa 1:7).
Second, the reason for the desolation is set out: and you shall be desolate because you have forgotten God your savior : you have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord that created you (Deut 32:18).
469 . Therefore shall you plant . Here he threatens barrenness of fruit, and concerning this, he does three things.
First, he shows the useless labor of cultivation, as to their vineyards: unfaithful plants , for they will not return fruit according to your labor, or faithful , ironically, as if to say: because of the evil which you have done, will your plants be faithful? As to their fields: strange seed , which another will gather, above: ten jugera of vineyard shall yield one little measure (Isa 5:10).
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 , that is, it will be beautiful at first, that you may mourn more, or because it will flower before the proper season and be useless: the inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end shall be without a blessing (Prov 20:21). The harvest is taken away , by enemies, in the day of inheritance , when it ought to be put away in the barn, like the fruit of their inheritance: they have sown wheat, and reaped thorns (Jer 12:13).
Third, he threatens sorrow for the loss: it shall grieve you , who sowed; or you shall grieve .
470 . Woe to the multitude . Here he threatens the destruction of the Assyrians, and concerning this he sets out three things.
And first, he describes the multitude of the army as to the noise of their marching, woe to the multitude of people , coming with Sennacherib; as to the tumult of their speaking, the tumult , which is confused speech, especially of a multitude. As to the shout of their fighting, nations shall make a noise , in battle, above: behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many (Isa 8:7); their voice shall roar like the sea (Jer 6:23); many waters, many peoples (Rev 17).
471 . Second, he threatens destruction.
Concerning which he first sets out the destruction itself: but he shall rebuke him , killing his army by an angel, and he shall flee far off , to his own land with only a few men, as it says above (Isa 10:18); you have rebuked the Gentiles (Ps 9:6[5]).
Second, a similitude is set out corresponding to the condition of the destruction, for he was proud: he shall be carried away as the dust : like the dust (Ps 1:4), which is driven before the wind ; and corresponding to the time: as a whirlwind before a tempest , for by night his army was slain, which he calls a tempest, whose precursor is a whirling of dust by winds, which are the cause of rain: in the night an angel came, and slew the army of the Assyrians (2 Kgs 19:35).
Third, the completion of the destruction is set out: and he shall not be , for he himself was killed: you are brought to nothing (Ezek 28:19).
Fourth, the reason for the destruction is set out: this is the portion of them that have wasted us , our possessions, and the lot of them that spoiled , our moveable goods: fire and brimstone, and storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup (Ps 10:7[11:6]).
472 . Note on the words, his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel (Isa 17:7), that our eyes ought to be inclined to the Lord,
first, through the adherence of faith, below: your eyes shall see your teacher (Isa 30:20);
second, because of the expectation of hope: the eyes of all hope in you, O Lord (Ps 144[145]:15);
third, because of the contemplation of love: from thence she contemplates the prey, and her eyes behold afar off (Job 39:29);
fourth, because of the enjoyment of glory: blessed are your eyes (Matt 13:16).
473 . Note on the words, unfaithful plants (Isa 17:10), that these are
first, the avaricious: he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them (Eccl 5:9);
second, the lustful: what fruit had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? (Rom 6:21);
third, the proud: what has pride profited us? (Wis 5:8).