A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH CHAPTER 17

1. ISAIAH 17 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Prophecy Against Damascus
17 A prophecy against Damascus:
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.
1.BARNES, “The burden of Damascus - The oracle indicating calamity or destruction to
Damascus (see the note at Isa_13:1). “Damascus is taken away.” That is, it shall be destroyed. It
was represented to the prophet in vision as destroyed (see the note at Isa_1:1).
And it shall be a ruinous heap - See Isa_35:2. This took place under the kings of Assyria,
and particularly under Tiglath-pileser. This was in the fourth year of Ahaz 2Ki_16:9.
2. CLARKE, “The burden of Damascus - Which is, according to the common version,
The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It has already been observed by the learned prelate that the
prophecy, as it relates to Damascus, was executed in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, probably
about the third year. If we credit Midrash, the Damascenes were the most extensive and flagrant
of all idolaters. “There were in Damascus three hundred and sixty-five streets, in each of these
was an idol, and each idol had his peculiar day of worship; so that the whole were worshipped in
the course of the year.” This, or any thing like this, was a sufficient reason for this city’s
destruction.
A ruinous heap - For ‫מעי‬ mei, “a ruinous heap,” the Septuagint reads ‫לעי‬ lei, “for a ruin,”
the Vulgate ‫כעי‬ kei, “as a ruin.” I follow the former.
3. GILL, “The burden of Damascus,.... A heavy and grievous prophecy, concerning the
destruction of it; the Arabic version is,
"the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Damascus;''
and the Targum is,

2. "the burden of the cup of cursing to give Damascus to drink.''
Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city; a kingdom, as the Targum; it was the
head of one, but now its walls were demolished, its houses pulled down, and its inhabitants
carried captive; this was done by Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, 2Ki_16:9 it had been a very
ancient city, see Gen_15:2 and the head of the kingdom of Syria, Isa_7:8, and though it
underwent this calamity, it was rebuilt again, and was a city of great fame, when destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, Jer_49:24 after which it was raised up again, and was in being in the apostle's
time, and still is, Act_9:22, 2Co_11:32.
and it shall be a ruinous heap; or a heap of stones, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it. A
"behold" is prefixed to the whole, as being very wonderful and remarkable, unthought of, and
unexpected.
4. HENRY, “We have here the burden of Damascus; the Chaldee paraphrase reads it, The
burden of the cup of the curse to drink to Damascus in; and, the ten tribes being in alliance,
they must expect to pledge Damascus in this cup of trembling that is to go round. 1. Damascus
itself, the head city of Syria, must be destroyed; the houses, it is likely, will be burnt, as least the
walls, and gates, and fortifications demolished, and the inhabitants carried away captive, so that
for the present it is taken away from being a city, and is reduced not only to a village, but to a
ruinous heap, Isa_17:1. Such desolating work as this does sin make with cities.
5. JAMISON, “Isa_17:1-11. Prophecy concerning Damascus and its ally Samaria, that is,
Syria and Israel, which had leagued together (seventh and eighth chapters).
Already, Tiglath-pileser had carried away the people of Damascus to Kir, in the fourth year of
Ahaz (2Ki_16:9); but now in Hezekiah’s reign a further overthrow is foretold (Jer_49:23;
Zec_9:1). Also, Shalmaneser carried away Israel from Samaria to Assyria (2Ki_17:6; 2Ki_18:10,
2Ki_18:11) in the sixth year of Hezekiah of Judah (the ninth year of Hoshea of Israel). This
prophecy was, doubtless, given previously in the first years of Hezekiah when the foreign
nations came into nearer collision with Judah, owing to the threatening aspect of Assyria.
Damascus — put before Israel (Ephraim, Isa_17:3), which is chiefly referred to in what
follows, because it was the prevailing power in the league; with it Ephraim either stood or fell
(Isa_7:1-25).
6. K&D, “The first turn: “Behold, Damascus must (be taken) away out of the number of the
cities, and will be a heap of fallen ruins. The cities of Aroer are forsaken, they are given up to
flocks, they lie there without any one scaring them away. And the fortress of Ephraim is
abolished, and the kingdom of Damascus; and it happens to those that are left of Aram as to
the glory of the sons of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.” “Behold,” etc.: hinneh followed by a
participle indicates here, as it does everywhere else, something very near at hand. Damascus is
removed ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ ֵ‫מ‬ (= ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ ‫יוֹת‬ ְ‫ה‬ ִ‫,מ‬ cf., 1Ki_15:13), i.e., out of the sphere of existence as a city. It becomes
‫י‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫,מ‬ a heap of ruins. The word is used intentionally instead of ‫י‬ ִ‫,ע‬ to sound as much as possible
like ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ ֵ‫:מ‬ a mutilated city, so to speak. It is just the same with Israel, which has made itself an
appendage of Damascus. The “cities of Aroer” (gen. appos. Ges. §114, 3) represent the land to
the east of the Jordan: there the judgment upon Israel (executed by Tiglath-pileser) first began.

3. There were two Aroers: an old Amoritish city allotted to the tribe of Reuben, viz., “Aroer on the
Arnon” (Deu_2:36; Deu_3:12, etc.); and an old Ammonitish one, allotted to the tribe of Gad,
viz., “Aroer before Rabbah” (Rabbath, Ammon, Jos_13:25). The ruins of the former are Arair,
on the lofty northern bank of the Mugib; but the situation of the latter has not yet been
determined with certainty (see Comm. on Jos_13:25). The “cities of Aroer” are these two Aroers,
and the rest of the cities similar to it on the east of the Jordan; just as “the Orions” in Isa_13:10
are Orion and other similar stars. We meet here again with a significant play upon the sound in
the expression ‛are ‛Aro‛er (cities of Aroer): the name of Aroer was ominous, and what its name
indicated would happen to the cities in its circuit. ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ְ‫ר‬ ִ‫ע‬ means “to lay bare,” to pull down
(Jer_51:58); and ‫ר‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,ע‬ ‫רי‬ִ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ַ‫ע‬ signifies a stark-naked condition, a state of desolation and solitude.
After Isa_17:1 has threatened Damascus in particular, and Isa_17:2 has done the same to Israel,
Isa_17:3 comprehends them both. Ephraim loses the fortified cities which once served it as
defences, and Damascus loses its rank as a kingdom. Those that are left of Aram, who do not fall
in the war, become like the proud citizens of the kingdom of Israel, i.e., they are carried away
into captivity. All this was fulfilled under Tiglath-pileser. The accentuation connects ‫ם‬ ָ‫ר‬ፍ ‫ר‬ፎ ְ‫שׁ‬ (the
remnant of Aram) with the first half of the verse; but the meaning remains the same, as the
subject to ‫יוּ‬ ְ‫ה‬ִ‫י‬ is in any case the Aramaeans.
7. BI, “The oracle concerning Damascus and Israel
The curse pronounced upon it [Damascene-Syria] falls also upon the kingdom of Israel, because
it has allied itself with the heathen Damascus against their brethren in the south and the Davidic
kingdom.
From the reign of Hezekiah we are here carried back to the reign of Ahaz, and indeed back far
beyond the death year of Ahaz (Isa_14:28) to the boundary line of the reigns of Jotham and
Ahaz, soon after the conclusion of the league which aimed at Judah’s destruction, by which
revenge was taken for the similar league of Asa with Benhadad against Israel (1Ki_15:9). When
Isaiah incorporated this oracle in his collection, its threats against the kingdoms of Damascus
and Israel had long been fulfilled. Assyria had punished both of them, and Assyria had also been
punished, as the fourth strophe (verses 12-14) of the oracle sets forth. The oracle, therefore,
stands here on account of its universal contents, which are instructive for all time. (F. Delitzsch.)
The fall of Damascus
When cities do not pray they go down. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The loss of faculty as a judgment
It is possible for a man to moralise about the fate of a city, and forget that the principle of the
text is aimed at all life. Life poorly handled means loss of life; faculty fallen into desuetude
means faculty fallen into death. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The cities of Aroer

4. The cities of Aroer represent the land to the east of the Jordan, in which the judgment on Israel,
executed by Tiglath-Pileser, began. There were, in fact, two Aroers; an old Amorite Aroer, which
fell to the tribe of Reuben, situated on the Amon (Deu_2:36; Deu_3:12, and elsewhere); and an
old Ammonite Aroer, which fell to the tribe of Gad—Aroer before Rabba (Rabbath Ammon,
Jos_13:25). The site of the ruins of the former is Arair, on the high northern bank of the Mugib;
the situation of the latter has not yet been ascertained with certainty. The “cities of Aroer” are
these two Aroers along with the cities on the east of Jordan like them, just as the “Orions” in
Isa_13:10, are Orion and stars like it. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
8. PULPIT, “THE BURDEN OF DAMASCUS. The eye of the prophet travels northwards from Moab,
and, passing over Ammon as an enemy of small account, rests once more upon Damascus, already
threatened in Isa_7:1-9, and probably already partially punished. Damascus is seen once more in alliance
with Ephraim (Isa_7:3), and the two are joined with a new power, Aroer (Isa_7:2), which possesses
several "cities." Woe is denounced on all the three powers: desolation on Damascus and Aroer; on
Damascus and Ephraim, the complete loss of the last shadow of independence. The Assyrian inscriptions
point out, as the probable date of the prophecy, the commencement of Sargun's reign—about B.C. 722 or
721.
Isa_17:1
Damascus is taken away from being a city. According to Vitringa, Damascus has been destroyed oftener
than any other town; but it has a wonderful power of rising again from its ashes. Probably a destruction by
Sargon is here intended.
9. PULPIT, “The mission of Syria. Discernment of this mission, so far as it bears upon Israel, and
carries religious lessons for all the generations, depends on our understanding the history of the times.
Two nations, distant from each other, contended for the country which lay between them. Egypt and
Assyria both wanted to be universal world-powers. Had the kingdom of David been kept together, it might
have effectively resisted both; but when separated under Jeroboam, and encouraged to cherish rival
interests, the southern portion naturally inclined to ally with Egypt, and the northern as naturally allied with
Syria to resist the encroachments of Assyria. To the view of a prophet of the southern kingdom, Syria was
the ringleader of a confederacy against Judah, and so against Jehovah and the Jehovah-worship. And to
such a Jehovah-prophet, Syria was the agent in tempting the northern kingdom of Israel to forsake even
its show of allegiance to Jehovah, and throw in its interest altogether with idolatrous nations. That is the
point on which we now dwell. God carries on his work of grace by means of temptations as well as by
means of trials; our testings of faith, virtue, and obedience are just as truly within the overrulings of God
as are our afflictions and our cares. This is taught us in the prologue to the Book of Job, where Satan, the

5. tempter, is represented as appearing among the "sons of God," and receiving Divine commissions. Syria
may stand for the associations and circumstances which tested the allegiance of Israel to Jehovah; and
so for the relationships and conditions of our life, which bring out and prove what really is in our hearts
towards the God of our fathers. It is true that God tempts no man in the sense of maliciously enticing him
to do evil. It is also true that God tempts every man in the sense of placing him in circumstances under
which, while he may fail and fall, he may be confirmed and established in goodness. This view is strikingly
supported by a passage in Deu_13:2, Deu_13:3. The prophet who uses his gift to persuade men to
forsake the Lord God is to be rejected, for by such a prophet "the Lord your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." All such tempters, whether
they be individuals, classes, or nations, come at last under Divine judgments, as Syria did. Syria tempted
Israel-
I. BY THE ATTRACTIONS OF ITS WEALTH. Damascus was one of the wealthiest of ancient cities, and
situated so as to be an important center of trade. The attraction it proved to Israel may be illustrated by its
influence on the luxurious and aesthetical king, Ahaz. Associations of wealthy companions are often
serious enticements to youths. The entree of wealthy society makes many a family live beyond its means.
The swiftly growing wealth of some business men excites others to grasp at wealth by questionable
means.
II. BY THE ATTRACTIONS OF ITS IDOLATRY. Wealth enabled the expressions and forms of Syrian
idolatry to take refined and artistic shapes. These tended to hide the abominations which attend on all
idolatrous systems. So, it may be shown in relation to modern times, infidelity offers itself in the garb of
advanced knowledge, and immorality appears in the guise of exciting pleasure. Syrian idolatry would
have presented but feeble temptation if it had looked as repulsive as it really was. And still we are so
often "drawn away and enticed," because Satan can appear to us as an angel of light. Illustrate by the
well-known picture "The Pursuit of Pleasure." If Pleasure were not such a lovely siren form, surely the
foolish host would not thus vainly pursue her. The practical skill of life is shown in the detection of what a
thing is, no matter in what form it may appear.
III. BY THE ATTRACTIONS OF ITS ALLIANCE. Which seemed to offer security for Israel from the foe
which was becoming so dangerously strong. But it was soon proved that Syria was unable to protect
itself. Its position exposed it. Its wealth attracted the invader. It was but an arm of flesh, and was
powerless when the evil day came. It took Israel away from allegiance to Jehovah and trust in him, and
brought on that kingdom, the curse of him who trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. As a general
application, observe that untried character and untested piety are of little worth. No man can hope to
receive the crown of life, save as he is tempted, tried, and proved. That crown belongs only to those who
"stand in the evil day."—R.T.

6. 10. CALVIN, “1.The burden of Damascus. Here he prophesies against the kingdom of Syria, and
mentions the chief city in which the seat of the kingdom lay. It was proper that this calamity, like others
which came before it, should be described, that the righteous might confidently believe that God would
one day assist them, and would not always permit them to be oppressed by the wicked without end. The
king of Syria had formed an alliance with Israel against Judah, as we saw formerly in the seventh chapter;
and as the Jews were not able to contend with him, and were deprived of other aids, they might also
entertain doubts about God’ assistance, as if he had utterly abandoned them. To free them, therefore,
from these doubts, he threatens the destruction of that kingdom, from which they would readily conclude
that God fought in defense of his people.
It is uncertain at what time Isaiah uttered this prophecy, for, as I have already remarked, he does not
follow the order of time in threatening against each nation the punishment which it deserved. But, as far
as I am able to conjecture, he foretold those events at the time when those two kings, that is, the kings of
Israel and Syria, invaded Judea, and entered into a league to destroy it and the whole Church, (Isa_7:1;)
for, by joining together the Israelites and the Syrians, he summons them to a mutual judgment, in order to
show that the only advantage which they had derived from the wicked and disgraceful conspiracy was, to
be involved in the same destruction. In this manner Isaiah intended to comfort godly persons who were of
the tribe of Judah; for he has his eye chiefly on them, that they may not be discouraged, and not on the
Syrians, or even the Israelites, whose destruction he foretells.
Behold, Damascus is taken away. The demonstrative particle, Behold, seals the certainty of the
prophecy. When he expressly mentions Damascus, it does not follow from this that the other parts of the
kingdom are exempted, but it was customary with the prophets to take a part for the whole, so as to
include under the destruction of the metropolis the fate of the whole nation; for what must ordinary towns
expect when the citadel of the kingdom has been stormed? Yet there is another reason why the Prophets
pronounce heavier threatenings on the chief and royal cities, and especially direct their discourse against
them. It is, because a polluted flood of crimes overflows from them into the whole country.
2
The cities of Aroer will be deserted

7. and left to flocks, which will lie down,
with no one to make them afraid.
1.BARNES, “The cities of Aroer - By “Aroer” here seems to be meant a tract or region of
country pertaining to Damascus, in which were situated several cities. Grotius supposes that it
was a tract of country in Syria which is called by Ptolemy “Aueira” - Αᆕειρα Aueira. Vitringa
supposes that one part of Damascus is meant by this, as Damascus was divided by the river in
the same manner that Babylon was. There were several cities of the name of “Aroer.” One was on
the river Arnon in the land of Moab Deu_2:36; Deu_3:12; Jos_12:3. Burckhardt found this city
under the name of Aroer. There was another city of this name further north, over against
Rabbath-Ammon Jos_13:25. There was a third city of this name in the tribe of Judah
1Sa_30:28. Of the city of Araayr which Burckhardt visited, nothing is now remarkable but its
entire desolation. Gesenius supposes (“Commentary in loc.”) that the phrase ‘the cities of Aroer’
means the cities round about Aroer, and that were connected with it, similar to the phrase
‘daughters of a city.’ This city he supposes was near the river Arnon, within the limits of Moab,
and that the prediction here was fufilled by Tiglath-pileser, when he carried away the
inhabitants of Galilee, Gilead, and other places mentioned in 2Ki_15:29. There can be no doubt
that it was under the jurisdiction of Damascus.
Are forsaken - Are desolate, and the inhabitants have fled.
They shall be for flocks ... - (See the note at Isa_5:17.)
2. CLARKE, “The cities of Aroer are forsaken “The cities are deserted for ever” -
What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus? and if there be another Aroer on the
northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much
more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of Aroer, if Aroer itself is a city, makes no good sense.
The Septuagint, for ‫ערער‬ aroer, read ‫עדי‬‫עד‬ adey ad, εις τον αιωνα, for ever, or for a long duration.
The Chaldee takes the word for a verb from ‫ערה‬ arah, translating it ‫חרבו‬ cherebu, devastabuntur,
“they shall be wasted.” The Syriac read ‫עדועיר‬ adoeir. So that the reading is very doubtful. I
follow the Septuagint as making the plainest sense.
3. GILL, “The cities of Aroer are forsaken,.... The inhabitants of them being slain, or
carried captive, or obliged to flee. Aroer was a city by the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab
and Ammon, Deu_2:36, Deu_3:12, it was originally in the hands of the Amorites, and
sometimes in the hands of the Moabites and Ammonites: it was given by Moses to the
Reubenites and, Gadites, from whom it was taken by the Syrians, and in whose possession it
seems to have been at this time; see 2Ki_10:33 though Jarchi thinks it was now in the hands of
Pekah king of Israel, and said to be forsaken, because the Reubenites and Gadites were now
carried captive. Jerom (m) says it was seen in his time, upon the top of the mountain. Here it
seems to designs a country of this name, in which were many cities. Grotius thinks it was a tract

8. of land in Syria, the same with the Aveira of Ptolemy (n). Vitringa is of opinion that Damascus
itself is meant, which was a double city, like that divided by the river Chrysorrhoas, as this was
by Arnon.
They shall be for flocks which shall lie down; instead of houses, there should be
sheepcotes and shepherds' tents, and instead of men, sheep; and where streets were, grass
would grow, and flocks feed and lie down; which is expressive of the utter desolation of these
cities, or this tract of ground:
and none shall make them afraid; the flocks of sheep, timorous creatures, easily
frightened; but so great should be the depopulation now, there would be no man upon the spot,
or any pass by, to give them any disturbance.
4. HENRY, “The country towns are abandoned by their inhabitants, frightened or forced away
by the invaders: The cities of Aroer (a province of Syria so called) are forsaken (Isa_17:2); the
conquered dare not dwell in them, and the conquerors have no occasion for them, nor did they
seize them for want, but wantonness; so that the places which should be for men to live in are
for flocks to lie down in, which they may do, and none will disturb nor dislodge them. Stately
houses are converted into sheep-cotes. It is strange that great conquerors should pride
themselves in being common enemies to mankind. But, how unrighteous soever they are, God is
righteous in causing those cities to spue out their inhabitants, who by their wickedness had
made themselves vile; it is better that flocks should lie down there than that they should harbour
such as are in open rebellion against God and virtue. 5. JAMISON, “
6. PULPIT, “The cities of Aroer are forsaken. That the Aroer of this passage cannot be either that on
the Arnon, or that facing Rabbath-Ammon (Jos_13:25), has long been perceived and recognized. It is
evidently a city of the same name lying much further towards the north. Arid it is a city of far greater
importance, having "cities" dependent on it. Now, Sargon's annals tell us of a "Gal'gar," a name well
expressing the Hebrew òøòø , which was united in a league with Damascus, Samaria, Arpad, and
Simyra, in the second year of Sargon, and was the scene of a great battle and a great destruction.
Sargon besieged it, took it, and reduced it to ashes ('Records of the Past,' l. s.c.). There is every reason
to recognize the "Aroer" of this verse in the "Gargar" of Sargon's inscriptions. They shall be for
flocks (comp. Isa_5:17; Isa_7:25). It marked the very extreme of desolation, that cattle should be
pastured on the sites of cities. None shall make them afraid; i.e. "there shall be no inhabitants to make
any objection."
7.CALVIN, “2.The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It is not probable that Aroer here denotes the city which
is mentioned elsewhere, (Num_32:34;) but it is rather the name of a country. He draws the picture of a
country which has been ruined; for he shews that those places in which cities had been built will be

9. devoted to pasture, and that no habitation will be left there but huts and shepherds’ tents; for if any
inhabitants remained, the shepherds would drive their flocks to some other place.
3
The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory of the Israelites,”
declares the LORD Almighty.
1.BARNES, “The fortress - The strong place of defense; the fortified place.
Shall cease - Shall come to an end; shall cease to be, for so the word ‫שׁבת‬ shabath is often
used, Gen_8:22; Isa_24:8; Lam_5:15.
From Ephraim - The name given to the kingdom of Israel, or to the ten tribes, because
Ephraim was the largest of the ten, and was a leading tribe in their councils (see the note at
Isa_7:2). Ephraim, or the kingdom of Samaria, is mentioned here in connection with Damascus
or Syria, because they were confederated together, and would be involved in the same
overthrow.
And the remnant of Syria - That which is left of the kingdom of Syria after the capital
Damascus shall be destroyed.
They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel - That is, as the defenses, or the
strongly fortified towns and fastnesses of the kingdom of Israel shall pass away or be destroyed,
so shall it be with the kingdom of Damascus. As they are allied with each other, they shall fare
alike. The Chaldee reads this, ‘And the dominion shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom
from Damascus.’
2. CLARKE, “The remnant of Syria “The pride of Syria” - For ‫שאר‬ shear, “remnant,”
Houbigant reads ‫שאת‬ seeth, “pride,” answering, as the sentence seems evidently to require, to
‫כבוד‬ cabod, “the glory of Israel.” The conjecture is so very probable that I venture to follow it.
As the glory - ‫בכבוד‬ bichbod, “In the glory,” is the reading of eight MSS., and ten editions.
3. GILL, “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,.... The ten tribes, now in
confederacy with the Syrians, whose metropolis or fortress was Samaria, which seems to be

10. intended here; and should be destroyed, at least taken out of the hands of the Israelites, and
they be carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, 2Ki_17:6 and this may be understood,
not of that particular city and fortress only, but of all their strongholds, the singular being, put
for the plural. The Targum is, "the government shall cease from Ephraim"; they shall have no
more a king over them, nor have they to this day:
and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; Damascus was the head
city of Syria, where the kings of Syria had their palace; but now that and the rest of Syria should
no more be a kingdom of itself, but should be subject unto others, as it has been ever since:
they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts; that is, the
Syrians, who were in alliance with Israel, should share the same fate; should be carried captive
as they were; should have their metropolis and other cities, and their whole kingdom, taken
from them, and be stripped of their grandeur and wealth, and have no more glory than they had;
which was none at all; or at least very small, as the next verse shows Isa_17:4.
4. HENRY, “The strongholds of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, will be brought to ruin:
The fortress shall cease from Ephraim (Isa_17:3), that in Samaria, and all the rest. They had
joined with Syria in invading Judah very unnaturally; and now those that had been partakers in
sin should be made partakers in ruin, and justly. When the fortress shall cease from Ephraim,
by which Israel will be weakened, the kingdom will cease from Damascus, by which Syria will be
ruined. The Syrians were the ring-leaders in that confederacy against Judah, and therefore they
are punished first and sorest; and, because they boasted of their alliance with Israel, now that
Israel is weakened they are upbraided with those boasts: “The remnant of Syria shall be as the
glory of the children of Israel; those few that remain of the Syrians shall be in as mean and
despicable a condition as the children of Israel are, and the glory of Israel shall be no relief or
reputation to them.” Sinful confederacies will be no strength, no stay, to the confederates, when
God's judgments come upon them. See here what the glory of Jacob is when God contends with
him, and what little reason Syria will have to be proud of resembling the glory of Jacob.
5. JAMISON, “fortress ... cease — The strongholds shall be pulled down (Samaria
especially: Hos_10:14; Mic_1:6; Hab_1:10).
remnant of Syria — all that was left after the overthrow by Tiglath-pileser (2Ki_16:9).
as the glory of ... Israel — They shall meet with the same fate as Israel, their ally.
6. PULPIT, “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim. Sargon did not destroy Samaria on the
occasion of his first capture. But he says that he "reduced it to a heap of ruins" on the occasion of its
second capture ('Records of the Past,' l.s.c.). And the kingdom from Damascus. We do not hear of any King

11. of Damascus after Rezin, who was slain by Tiglath-Pileser about B.C. 732. Damascus, however,
reasserted her independence in B.C. 721, and probably set up a king at the same time. In B.C. 720 she
was reduced and destroyed. Nothing more is heard of her until B.C. 694—the eleventh year of
Sennacherib—when her "governor" is Assyrian Eponym, and she must therefore have been absorbed
into the Assyrian empire. The remnant of Syria. This phrase shows that the great blow which struck down
Syria—Tiglath-Pileser's capture of Damascus and slaughter of Rezin—was a thing of the past. Syria was
already but "a remnant." Now she was to cease to exist altogether.They shall be as the glory of the children
of Israel. Ironical. The irony is made apparent by the next verse.
7.CALVIN, “3.The fortress shall cease. (4) He points out the reason why the Lord determines to cut off
the kingdom of Syria. Amos (Amo_1:3) enumerates additional reasons, but the most important was that
which the Prophet mentions, namely, that they had drawn the kingdom of Israel to their side for the
purpose of making war against the Jews. The Israelites were undoubtedly allured, by the blandishments
of the Syrians, to form an alliance with them against their brethren. It was a pretext exceedingly fitted to
impose upon them, that the Syrians would aid them against all their enemies; and hence also the
Israelites placed confidence in the forces and power of the Syrians to such an extent, that they reckoned
themselves able to oppose any adversary. All Israel is here, as in many other passages, denoted by the
name Ephraim, which was the chief tribe of that people. Now, “ assistance and kingdom” are said to “”
from any place, when its strength is broken and its rank is thrown down.
And the remnant of Syria. That is, both of these nations, the Syrians and the Israelites, shall be brought to
nothing; and, for the purpose of giving additional weight to the prophecy, he states that it is God who
declares it; for he immediately adds these words, saith Jehovah of hosts Now, when the Lord punished so
severely those two kingdoms, he unquestionably promoted in this way the benefit of his Church,
delivering it by the destruction of its enemies. And, indeed, in destroying both nations, he employed as his
agents the Assyrians, to whom even the Jews had applied; and although in this respect they had
heinously sinned, yet their offense did not hinder the Lord from promoting the benefit of his Church, or
from delivering it by bringing its enemies into conflict with each other. Hence we perceive how great is the
care which God exercises over us, since he does not spare even the greatest kingdoms in order to
preserve us. We ought also to observe, that though all the wicked enter into a league, and join hands to
destroy us, yet the Lord will easily rescue us from their jaws. Besides, we ought to remark that it is
advantageous to us to be deprived of earthly aids, on which it is in vain for us to rely in opposition to God;
for when we are blinded by our prosperity, we flatter ourselves, and cannot hear the voice of God. It
therefore becomes necessary to remove these obstructions, that we may perceive our helplessness, as
was the case with the Israelites, who were bereft of their aid after Syria had been destroyed.

12. (4) “Le secours venant d’ cessara;” — “ assistance coming from Ephraim shall cease.”
FT262 “Sera diminué;” — “ be made thin.” — Eng. Ver.
FT263 “‘ the leaving of the ploughed field, or on the topmost bough.’ I adopt with pleasure the
interpretation of this disputed passage proposed in the excellent Lexicon of Parkhurst, v. ‫חרש‬ as being
most natural, and in strict conformity with the Jewish law, Lev_19:9; Deu_24:19; which commanded ‘
leaving of the ploughman, and of the branches of the vine and olive,’ to be given up to the use of the poor
in harvest. Avarice would be apt to make these leavings very scanty.” — Bishop Stock.
FT264 Whom they left. — Eng. Ver.
FT265 Woe to the multitude. — Eng. Ver.
FT266 “Mais il me semble plustost qu’ se prend ici pour Helas.” — “ I rather think that here it stands
for Alas!”
FT267 “Toutes les fois donc que nous voyous les merchans avoir la bride sur le col pour nous ruiner.” “
then we see the wicked have the bridle on their neck to ruin us.”
FT268 “ like the gossamer before the whirlwind.” — Lowth. “ like thistle-down before the storm.” — Stock.
4
“In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste away.
1.BARNES, “The glory of Jacob - “Jacob” is used here to denote the kingdom of Israel, or
Samaria. The word ‘glory’ here denotes dignity, power; that on which they relied, and of which
they boasted.
Shall be made thin - Shall be diminished, as a body wastes away by disease, and becomes
feeble. The prophet sets forth the calamities of Ephraim by two figures; the first is that of a

13. “body” that becomes emaciated by sickness, the other that of the harvest when all the fruits are
gathered except a few in the upper branches Isa_17:5-6.
And the fatness his flesh shall wax lean - He shall become feeble, as a man does by
wasting sickness. Chaldee, ‘The riches of his glory shall be removed.’
2. CLARKE, “In that day - That is, says Kimchi, the time when the ten tribes of Israel,
which were the glory of Jacob, should be carried into captivity.
3. GILL, “And in that day it shall come to pass,.... It being much about the same time that
both kingdoms were destroyed by the Assyrians:
that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin; the same with Ephraim and Israel, the ten
tribes, whose glory lay in the superior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their
cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vast numbers that should
be carried captive:
and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean: like a man in a consumption, that is become a
mere skeleton, and reduced to skin and bones: the meaning is, that all their wealth and riches
should be taken away; so the Targum,
"and the riches of his glory shall be carried away.''
4. HENRY, “It is wasted like a man in a consumption, Isa_17:4. The glory of Jacob was their
numbers, that they were as the sand of the sea for multitude; but this glory shall be made thin,
when many are cut off, and few left. Then the fatness of their flesh, which was their pride and
security, shall was lean, and the body of the people shall become a perfect skeleton, nothing but
skin and bones. Israel died of a lingering disease; the kingdom of the ten tribes wasted
gradually; God was to them as a moth, Hos_5:12. Such is all the glory of this world: it soon
withers, and is made thin; but thee is a far more exceeding and external weight of glory designed
for the spiritual seed of Jacob, which is not subject to any such decay - fatness of God's house,
which will not wax lean
5. JAMISON, “glory of Jacob — the kingdom of Ephraim and all that they rely on
(Hos_12:2; Mic_1:5).
fatness ... lean — (See on Isa_10:16).
6. K&D, “Second turn: “And it comes to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob wastes away,
and the fat of his flesh grows thin. And it will be as when a reaper grasps the stalks of wheat,
and his arm mows off the ears; and it will be as with one who gathers together ears in the
valley of Rephaim. Yet a gleaning remains from it, as at the olive-beating: two, three berries

14. high up at the top; four, five in its, the fruit tree's, branches, saith Jehovah the God of Israel. At
that day will man look up to his Creator, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. And
he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers have made he will not
regard, neither the Astartes nor the sun-gods.” This second turn does not speak of Damascus,
but simply of Israel, and in fact of all Israel, the range of vision widening out from Israel in the
more restricted sense, so as to embrace the whole. It will all disappear, with the exception of a
small remnant; but the latter will return. Thus “a remnant will return,” the law of Israel's
history, which is here shown first of all in its threatening aspect, and then in its more promising
one. The reputation and prosperity to which the two kingdoms were raised by Jeroboam II and
Uzziah would pass away. Israel was ripe for judgment, like a field of corn for the harvest; and it
would be as when a reaper grasps the stalks that have shot up, and cuts off the ears. ‫יר‬ ִ‫צ‬ ָ‫ק‬ is not
used elliptically for ‫יר‬ ִ‫צ‬ ָ‫ק‬ ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ (Gesenius), nor is it a definition of time (Luzzatto), nor an
accusative of the object (Knobel), but a noun formed like ִ‫ב‬ָ‫נ‬‫יא‬ , ‫יל‬ ִ‫ל‬ ָ‫,פ‬ ‫יץ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫,פ‬ and used in the sense of
reaper (kotzer in other cases).
(Note: Instead of katzar (to cut off, or shorten), they now say karatz in the whole of the land
to the east of the Jordan, which gives the idea of sawing off - a much more suitable one
where the Syrian sickle is used.)
The figure suggested here is more fully expanded in John 4 and Rev 14. Hardly a single one will
escape the judgment: just as in the broad plain of Rephaim, which slopes off to the south-west of
Jerusalem as far as Bethlehem, where it is covered with rich fields of wheat, the collectors of ears
leave only one or two ears lying scattered here and there.
Nevertheless a gleaning of Israel (“in it,” viz., in Jacob, Isa_17:4; Isa_10:22) will be left, just as
when the branches of the olive tree, which have been already cleared with the hand, are still
further shaken with a stick, there still remain a few olives upon the highest branch (two, three;
cf., 2Ki_9:32), or concealed under the foliage of the branches. “Its, the fruit tree's, branches:”
this is an elegant expression, as, for example, in Pro_14:13; the carrying over of the ‫ה‬ to the
second word is very natural in both passages (see Ges. §121, b). This small remnant will turn
with stedfast gaze to the living God, as is becoming in man as such (ha'adam), and not regard the
idols as worthy of any look at all, at least of any reverential look. As hammanim are here images
of the sun-god ‫חמן‬ ‫,בעל‬ which is well known from the Phoenician monuments,
(Note: See Levy, Phönizisches Wörterbuch (1864), p. 19; and Otto Strauss on Nahum, p.
xxii. ss.)
'asherim (for which we find, though more rarely, 'asheroth) apparently signifies images of the
moon-goddess. And the combination of “Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven” in 2Ki_23:4,
as well as the surname “queen of heaven” in Jer_7:18; Jer_44:18-19, appears to require this
(Knobel). But the latest researches have proved that 'Asherah is rather the Semitic Aphrodite,
and therefore the planet Venus, which was called the “little luck” (es-sa‛d el-as'gar)
(Note: See Krehl, Religion der vorislamischen Araber (1863), p. 11.)
by the Arabs, in distinction from Musteri (Jupiter),
(Note: This was the tutelar deity of Damascus; see Comm. on Job, Appendix.)
or “the great luck.” And with this the name 'Asherah the “lucky” (i.e., the source of luck or
prosperity) and the similar surname given to the Assyrian Istar agree;

15. (Note: “Ishtar,” says Rawlinson in his Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern
World, - a work which challenges criticism through its dazzling results - ”Ishtar is the
goddess who rejoices mankind, and her most common epithet is Amra, 'the fortunate' or 'the
happy.' But otherwise her epithets are vague and general, insomuch that she is often scarcely
distinguishable from Beltis (the wife of Bel-Nimrod).” Vid., vol. i. p. 175 (1862).)
for 'Asherah is the very same goddess as 'Ashtoreth, whose name is thoroughly Arian, and
apparently signifies the star (Ved. stir = star; Zend. stare; Neo-Pers. sitare, used chiefly for the
morning star), although Rawlinson (without being able to suggest any more acceptable
interpretation) speaks of this view as “not worthy of much attention.”
(Note: The planet Venus, according to a Midrash relating to Gen_6:1-2, is 'Istehar
transferred to the sky; and this is the same as Zuhare (see Geiger, Was hat Muhammed, etc.
1833, pp. 107-109).)
Thus Asherim is used to signify the bosquets (shrubberies) or trees dedicated to the Semitic
Aphrodite (Deu_16:21; compare the verbs used to signify their removal, ‫,גדע‬ ‫,כרת‬ ‫;)נתשׁ‬ but here it
probably refers to her statues or images
(Note: The plural Ashtaroth, Hathors, which occurs upon Assyrian and Egyptian
monuments, has a different meaning.)
(2Ki_21:7; compare the miphletzeth in 1Ki_15:13, which is used to denote an obscene exhibition).
For these images of the sun-god and of the goddess of the morning star, the remnant of Israel,
that has been purified by the smelting furnace of judgment, has no longer any eye. Its looks are
exclusively directed to the one true God of man. The promise, which here begins to dawn at the
close of the second turn, is hidden again in the third, though only to break forth again in the
fourth with double or triple intensity.
7. PULPIT,
“A DENUNCIATION OF WOE ON ISRAEL, COMBINED WITH THE PROMISE OF A REMNANT. Israel,
having united herself with Syria to resist the Assyrians, will incur a similar fate. Her glory will decay, her
population dwindle and almost disappear. Still there will be a few left, who, under the circumstances, will
turn to God (Isa_17:7). But it will be too late for anything like a national recovery; the laud will remain "a
desolation" on account of the past sins of its inhabitants (Isa_17:9-11).
Isa_17:4
The glory of Jacob shall be made thin. There is reason to believe that the deportation of the Israelites was
gradual. Sargon, on taking Samaria for the first time, in B.C. 722, carried off no more than 27, 290 of the
inhabitants. Over the remainder he appointed governors, and required them to pay the same taxation as
before. About B.C. 715 he placed a number of Arabs in Samaria, probably deporting natives to make

16. room for them. The continuant of a remnant of Israelites in the land down to B.C. 625 is indicated
by 2Ch_34:9. The fatness of his flesh shall wax lean (comp. Isa_10:16). Depopulation is primarily
intended; but there is, perhaps, also a more general reference to depression, wasting, and misery.
8. CALVIN, “4.The glory of Jacob shall be diminished. (5) Although he had undertaken to speak of
Syria and Damascus, he takes occasion to join Israel with the Syrians, because they were bound by a
mutual league, and were united in the same cause. The Syrians, indeed, whom Isaiah chiefly addresses,
were like a torch to inflame the Israelites, as we have already said. But the Israelites themselves were
equally in fault, and therefore they were justly drawn, by what might be called a mutual bond, to endure
the same punishment.
It is not easy to say whether under the name Jacob he speaks of the whole elect people, so as to include
also the tribe of Judah. But it is probable that he refers only to the ten tribes, who laid claim to the name
of the nation, and that it is in mockery that he describes them as glorious, because, being puffed up with
their power and multitude and allies, they despised the Jews their brethren.
And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. When he next threatens them with leanness, his object is to
reprove their indolence, as the Prophets frequently reprove them for their fatness (Jer_5:28.) On account
of their prosperity and of the fertility of the country, they became proud, as horses that are fat and
excessively pampered grow restive. Hence also they are elsewhere called “ cows” (Amo_4:1). But
however fierce and stubborn they might be, God threatens that he will take away their fatness with which
they were puffed up.
5
It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.

17. 1.BARNES, “And it shall be ... - This is the other figure by which the prophet sets forth the
calamities that were coming upon Ephraim - an image designed to denote the fact that the
inhabitants and wealth of the land would be collected and removed, as the farmer gathers his
harvest, and leaves only that which is inaccessible in the upper boughs of the tree, or the
gleanings in the field.
As when the harvest-man gathereth the corn - The wheat, the barley, etc.; for so the
word “corn” - now applied by us almost exclusively to maizes means in the Scriptures. The sense
in this passage is plain. As the farmer cuts down and collects his grain and removes it from the
harvest field, so the enemies of Ephraim would come and remove the people and their wealth to
a distant land. This received a complete fulfillment when the ten tribes were removed by the
Assyrians to a distant land. This was done by Tiglath-pileser 2Ki_15:29, and by Shalmaneser
2Ki_17:6.
And reapeth the ears with his arm - As he collects the standing grain with one arm so
that he can cut it with the sickle in the other hand. The word rendered ‘reapeth’ (‫קצר‬ qatsar)
means here “to collect together” as a reaper does the standing grain in his arm. The word
rendered ‘ears’ (‫שׁבלים‬ shı balı ym) means here rather the spires or stalks of standing grain.
In the valley of Rephaim - The valley of Rephaim is mentioned in 2Sa_5:18, 2Sa_5:22;
2Sa_23:13; 1Ch_11:15; 1Ch_14:9. The name means ‘the Giants;’ but why it was given to it is now
unknown. In passing from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, it lies on the left, and descends gradually to
the southwest, until it contracts in that direction into a deeper and narrower valley, called wady
el-Werd, which unites further on with wady Ahmed, and finds its way to the Mediterranean. The
plain extends nearly to Jerusalem, and is terminated by a slight rocky ridge forming the brow of
the valley of Hinnom (see Josephus, “Ant.” vii. 4. 1; viii. 12. 4; also Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,”
vol. i. pp. 323, 324). It seem to have been distinguished for its fertility, and is used here to
denote a fertile region in general.
2. CLARKE, “As when the harvestman gathereth “As when one gathereth” - That
is, the king of Assyria shall sweep away the whole body of the people, as the reaper strippeth off
the whole crop of corn; and the remnant shall be no more in proportion than the scattered ears
left to the gleaner. The valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem was celebrated for its plentiful harvest;
it is here used poetically for any fruitful country. One MS., and one ancient edition, has ‫באסף‬
beesoph, “In gathering,” instead of ‫כאסף‬ keesoph, “AS the gathering.”
3. GILL, “And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,.... The
"standing" corn, as in the Hebrew text: "and reapeth the ears with his arm"; or "his arm reaps
the ears" (o); that is, with one hand he gathers the standing corn into his fist, and then reaps it
with his other arm; and just so it should be with the people of Israel: they were like a field of
standing corn, for number, beauty, and glory; the Assyrian was like a harvestman, who laid hold
upon them, and cut them down, as thick and as numerous as they were, just as a harvestman
cuts down the corn, and with as much ease and quick dispatch; they being no more able to stand
before him than a field of corn before the reaper! this was done both by Tilgathpilneser,
2Ki_15:29 and by Shalmaneser, 2Ki_17:6 kings of Assyria:

18. and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim; the Targum renders
it,
"the valley of giants.''
and so it is translated, Jos_15:8 mention is made of it in 2Sa_5:18 it was a valley not far from
Jerusalem, as Josephus (p) says; who also calls it the valley of the giants: it is thought to have
been a very fruitful place, where the ears of corn were very large and heavy, and so great care
was taken in gathering and gleaning that none be lost: wherefore, as the former simile signifies
the carrying off the people of Israel in great numbers by the above kings, this may signify, as
some have thought, either the picking up of those that fled without, or the gleaning of them in
after times by Esarhaddon, Ezr_4:2.
4. HENRY, “. It is all gathered and carried away by the Assyrian army, as the corn is carried
out of the field by the husbandmen, Isa_17:5. The corn is the glory of the fields (Psa_65:13); but,
when it is reaped and gone, where is the glory? The people had by their sins made themselves
ripe for ruin, and their glory was as quickly, as easily, as justly, and as irresistibly, cut down and
taken away, as the corn is out of the field by the husbandman. God's judgments are compared to
the thrusting in of the sickle when the harvest is ripe, Rev_14:15. And the victorious army, like
the careful husbandmen in the valley of Rephaim, where the corn was extraordinary, would not,
if they could help it, leave an ear behind, would lose nothing that they could lay their hands on.
5. JAMISON, “harvestman, etc. — The inhabitants and wealth of Israel shall be swept
away, and but few left behind just as the husbandman gathers the corn and the fruit, and leaves
only a few gleaning ears and grapes (2Ki_18:9-11).
with his arm — He collects the standing grain with one arm, so that he can cut it with the
sickle in the other hand.
Rephaim — a fertile plain at the southwest of Jerusalem toward Beth-lehem and the country
of the Philistines (2Sa_5:18-22).
6. PULPIT, “As when the harvestman gathereth the corn. Death is the "harvestman" here, and gathers
the Israelites by shocks, or sheaves, into his garner. A great depopulation appears in 2Ki_17:25, where
we learn that lions so multiplied in the land as to become a terror to the few inhabitants. Reapeth the
ears. Mr. Cheyne well remarks that the "ears" only were reaped, the stalk being cut close under the ear.
This was the practice also in Egypt. In the valley of Rephaim. The valley of Rephaim was the scene of
David's double victory over the Philistines, related in 2Sa_5:17-25. It is disputed whether it lay north or
south of Jerusalem; but the connection with Bethlehem (2Sa_23:13-17) and with the cave of Adullam
seem decisive in favor of a southern position. A "valley," however ('emek), suitable for the cultivation of
corn, in this direction, has yet to be discovered.

19. 7.CALVIN, “5.And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn. He shews by a comparison
how great will be the desolation. “ the reapers,” he says, “ the corn in armfuls, so this multitude, though
large and extended, will be mowed down by the enemies.” Now that he may not leave a remainder, he
adds that at the conclusion of the harvest the ears will be gleaned, as if he had said, that when the
multitude shall have been destroyed and the country laid bare like a field which has been reaped, even
the shaken and scattered ears will not be left. Besides, he employs the metaphor of a harvest because
the people, trusting to their great number, dreaded nothing; but as the reapers are not terrified by the
large quantity of the corn, so he declares that their vast number will not prevent God from utterly
destroying them. This may also refer to the Assyrians, but the meaning will be the same, for they were
God’ servants in executing this vengeance.
We need not spend much time in explaining the word gather, for it means nothing else than that the
slaughter will resemble a harvest, the conclusion of which has been followed by the gleaning of the ears.
When the ten tribes had been carried away, the Assyrians, having learned that they were meditating a
revolution, destroyed them also (2Kg_17:4). He especially mentions the valley of Rephaim, because its
fertility was well known to the Israelites.
6
Yet some gleanings will remain,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
1.BARNES, “Yet gleaning-grapes ... - They shall not all be removed, or destroyed. A “few”
shall be left, as a man who is gathering grapes or olives will leave a few that are inaccessible on
the topmost boughs, or the furthest branches. Those would be usually the poorest, and so it may
be implied that those left in Israel would be among the poorer inhabitants of the land.
Two or three - A very few - such as would be left in gathering grapes, or in endeavoring to
shake olives from a tree.
Four or five - A very few that would remain on the furthest branches, and that could not be
shaken off or reached.

20. 2. PULPIT, “Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it; rather, yet gleanings shall be left in it. There is no
mention of grapes, and it is clear that the "gleaning" intended is that of an olive-ground. As the shaking
of an olive tree; rather, as at the beating of an olive tree. The olive crop was obtained, not by shaking,
but by beating the trees (Deu_24:20). The owner was forbidden to "go over the boughs again," in order
that a portion of the crop might be left for the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless to glean. In the top
of the uppermost bough. Where the sticks of the beaters had not reached. Four or five in the outmost
fruitful branches; rather, four or fire apiece on its fruitful branches, This is the average that would be left,
after beating, on a good-sized branch.
3. GILL, “Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it,.... In Ephraim or Jacob; that is, in the ten
tribes, a few of them should escape, a remnant should be saved; comparable, for the smallness of
their number, to grapes that are gleaned after the vintage is got in: though Kimchi interprets it
of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were but few, in comparison of the ten tribes, who were
many; and Jarchi explains it of Hezekiah and his company, in the midst of Jerusalem, who were
but few; and observes, that some of their Rabbins understood it of the few men that were left of
the multitude of Sennacherib's army, when it was destroyed; but the first sense is best: and the
same thing is signified by another simile,
as the shaking of an olive tree; with the hand, when the fruit is ripe; or, "as the striking" (q)
of it with a staff; to beat off the berries, when there are left
two or three berries at the top of the uppermost bough: the word "amir" is only used
here, and in Isa_17:9 and signifies, as Kimchi says, the upper bough or branch; and so Aben
Ezra interprets it, the highest part of the olive; and observes, that it so signifies in the language
of Kedar, or the Arabic language; in which it is used for a king, a prince, an emperor, one that
has the command and government of others (r); and hence the word "amiral" or "admiral"
comes: now two or three olive berries, being in the uppermost bough, are left, because they
cannot be reached by the hand of the gatherer, nor by the staff of the striker. Kimchi applies this
to Jerusalem, which was the highest part of the land of Israel; and what was in it the hand of the
king of Assyria could not reach:
four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof; which escape the gatherer, shaker,
or striker, for the same reason. These similes are very aptly made use of, since the people of
Israel are frequently compared to grapes, and vines, and olives, Isa_5:1, Jer_11:16,
saith the Lord God of Israel; this is added to confirm what is said, and to express the
certainty of it; and shows that the Israelites are meant, to whom the Lord was a covenant God.
The Targum applies the metaphors thus,
"so shall the righteous be left alone in the world among the kingdoms, saith the Lord God of
Israel.''
(q) ‫כנקף‬‫וית‬ "ut strictura oleae", Cocceius. (r) "imperator; princeps, dux qui allis quomodo
cumque praest imperatque", Golius, col. 158. Castel. col. 150. though the verb in the Hebrew

21. language is used in the sense of elevation or lifting up, and seems to be derived from hence. So
Schindler, col. 96. ‫אמיר‬ "ramus, summitas rami----inde verbum", ‫האמיר‬ "eminere aut prominere
fecit, rami aut frondis instar exaltavit, extulit, evexit", Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Psal. xciv. 4.
4. HENRY, “Mercy is here reserved, in a parenthesis, in the midst of judgment, for a remnant
that should escape the common ruin of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Though the Assyrians took
all the care they could that none should slip out of their net, yet the meek of the earth were
hidden in the day of the Lord's anger, and had their lives given them for a prey and made
comfortable to them by their retirement to the land of Judah, where they had the liberty of God's
courts. 1. They shall be but a small remnant, a very few, who shall be marked for preservation
(Isa_17:6): Gleaning grapes shall be left in it. The body of the people were carried into captivity,
but here and there one was left behind, perhaps one of two in a bed when the other was taken,
Luk_17:34. The most desolating judgments in this world are short of the last judgment, which
shall be universal and which none shall escape. In times of the greatest calamity some are kept
safe, as in times of the greatest degeneracy some are kept pure. But the fewness of those that
escape supposes the captivity of the far greatest part; those that are left are but like the poor
remains of an olive tree when it has been carefully shaken by the owner; if there be two or three
berries in the top of the uppermost bough (out of the reach of those that shook it), that is all.
Such is the remnant according to the election of grace, very few in comparison with the
multitudes that walk on in the broad way.
5. JAMISON, “in it — that is, in the land of Israel.
two or three ... in the top — A few poor inhabitants shall be left in Israel, like the two or
three olive berries left on the topmost boughs, which it is not worth while taking the trouble to
try to reach.
6. BI, “Autumn: the diminutions of life
The prophet is here predicting a season of national calamity.
He represents the condition of the people under the figure of an autumnal scene. Armed hosts
from the north have invaded the country like a sharp wind. The substance of its inhabitants has
been carried away before their rapacity, “as when the harvest man gathereth the corn, and
reapeth the ears with his arm.” With this difference, however, that it has been destroyed by the
violence of strangers, instead of being garnered for the use of those who had tilled the soil; and
the sickle is the sword. The population is thinned, like the trees in the waning part of the year.
Only that the wrath of man, unlike the severity of nature, has no benevolent purpose in it. The
comforts and blessings of life are shaken down as faded leaves. Only it is without any sign from
experience, that they shall be replaced by a new spring. A desolated prospect rises before his
sight. “Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough; four or five in the outmost
fruitful branches thereof.” The Word of the Lord was a “burden” in those days, and he felt its
weight upon his own heart as he held it over the heads of his people. He comforted himself at
least with the thought that the visitation itself, if not his warning, would bring them to a more
faithful mind (Isa_17:7-8). There lies in the text, apart from its historical reference, this general
truth,—that circumstances of decline and destitution are suited to wean the heart from its
vanities. In the day of adversity men “consider.” And when time and fortune have made the
enjoyments of the world fewer, and thrown a longer shadow and a paler tint upon those that
remain, the soul naturally remembers its truer and more enduring portions.

22. 1. With some the change relates to their worldly goods and the general prosperity of their
affairs.
2. A second class of diminutions concerns the bodily ease and health.
3. The third instance of diminutions to which our attention is called, is found in the
encroachments of age.
4. One more instance of destitution is when companions and friends drop off like the foliage
of summer, and we are more and more frequently bereft. (N. L.Frothingham.)
7. PULPIT, “The Lord's remnant.
Figuratively here is called to mind the fact that God's dealings are never wholly destructive; they never
utterly desolate; there is always a mitigation, always a spared remnant. The figure used, of the few olive
berries left for the gleaner, is a very striking one, if the customs of the olive-growing countries is
understood. In Thomson's 'Land and the Book' there is a full description. "Early in autumn the berries
begin to drop off of themselves, or are shaken off by the wind. They are allowed to remain under the trees
for some time, guarded by the watchman of the town's very familiar Bible character. Presently public
proclamations are made that the owners may gather the fruit. And in November comes the general and
final summons. No olives are now safe unless the owner looks after
8. CALVIN, “6.Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it. This metaphor has a different meaning from the
former; for as if the name of the nation were to be entirely blotted out, he had expressly foretold that
nothing would be left after the slaughter. He now adds a consolation, and thus abates the severity of the
destruction; for he declares that, although the enemies had resolved to consume and destroy everything,
still some remnant would be left. In like manner the gleaning of grapes is never made so completely as
not to allow some grapes or even clusters to remain, which were concealed under the leaves, and the
olive tree is never so thoroughly shaken as not to leave at least some olives on the tops of the trees.
Consequently, to whatever extent the enemies may rage, and even the vengeance of God may be
kindled, still he foretells that the Judge, notwithstanding his severity, will reserve for himself a small
number, and will not allow the attacks of enemies to fall upon his own elect.
Hence it follows, that amidst the heaviest vengeance there will still be room for mercy. The present
discourse relates to the posterity of Abraham; and though they had revolted from God so as to deserve to
be cast off, yet the goodness of God rose above their wickedness. They had indeed rendered themselves
unworthy of such goodness, but the covenant of God must remain firm and impregnable, and a proof of
that firmness must be given by him in some remnant, though the nation entirely set it aside as far as lay in
their power. This ought to be carefully observed, so that when we perceive no traces of the Church, and

23. when the godly appear to be destroyed, still we may not think that the Church has perished; for the
promise of the Lord stands, that it will continue for ever (Gen_17:7). Some remnant, therefore, will always
remain, though frequently it is not visible to our eyes.
7
In that day people will look to their Maker
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
1.BARNES, “At that day shall a man look to his Maker - Instead of confiding in their
strongly fortified places and armies, they shall look for aid and protection to the God that made
them, and who alone can help them. National afflictions and judgments often have the effect to
turn the eyes of even a wicked and rebellious people to God. They feel their danger; they are
convinced of their guilt; they see that no one but God can protect them; and for a time they are
willing, even by humiliation and fasting, to seek the divine protection.
His eyes shall have respect ... - He shall look up to, or regard.
The Holy One of Israel - The God of Israel; the true God. As the Syrians were allied with
the kingdom of Samaria or Ephraim, they were, of course, acquainted with the true God, and in
some sense acknowledged him. In these times of impending calamity, they would be led to seek
him, and implore his aid and protection. There is no reason to believe, however, that they would
turn permanently to him, or become his true worshippers.
2. PULPIT, “At that day shall a man look to his Maker. We have evidence of this revulsion of feeling on
the part of Israel in the statement of Chronicles that, in the reign of Josiah, offerings of money were made
for the temple service by men of "Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel," which the
Levites collected and brought to Jerusalem (2Ch_34:9).
3. GILL, “At that day shall a man look to his Maker,.... The one only living and true God,
who has made him, and not he himself, nor any other creature; that is, such as are left, as before
described, the remnant, according to the election of grace; these shall look to God for help and
assistance, for supply, support, and protection; and to Christ particularly, who is the Maker of
all things, without whom was not any thing made that is made, for all spiritual blessings; for
righteousness and strength, for peace and pardon, for food, and all comfortable supplies of
grace, for life and salvation; who is set up to be looked unto for these things; to whom men are
directed and encouraged to look for them, both by himself, and by his ministers, and to whom

24. saints in all ages have looked and have not been disappointed; and to this sense the following
words incline:
and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel; who in this prophecy is said to
be the Redeemer, Isa_43:14 he is the Holy One that sprung from literal Israel; and is the
sanctifier of mystical Israel; to which agrees the Targum,
"and his eyes shall hope for the Word of the Holy One of Israel:''
the Word by whom all things were made in the beginning, and who was made flesh and dwelt
among men.
4. HENRY, “They shall be a sanctified remnant, Isa_17:7, Isa_17:8. These few that are
preserved are such as, in the prospect of the judgment approaching, had repented of their sins
and reformed their lives, and therefore were snatched thus as brands out of the burning, or such
as having escaped, and becoming refugees in strange countries, were awakened, partly by a
sense of the distinguishing mercy of their deliverance, and partly by the distresses they were still
in, to return to God. (1.) They shall look up to their Creator, shall enquire, Where is God my
Maker, who giveth songs in the night, in such a night of affliction as this? Job_35:10,
Job_35:11. They shall acknowledge his hand in all the events concerning them, merciful and
afflictive, and shall submit to his hand. They shall give him the glory due to his name, and be
suitably affected with his providences. They shall expect relief and succour from him and
depend upon him to help them. Their eyes shall have respect to him, as the eyes of a servant to
the hand of his master, Psa_123:2. Observe, It is our duty at all times to have respect to God, to
have our eyes ever towards him, both as our Maker (the author of our being and the God of
nature) and as the Holy One of Israel, a God in covenant with us and the God of grace;
particularly, when we are in affliction, our eyes must be towards the Lord, to pluck our feet out
of the net (Psa_25:15); to bring us to this is the design of his providence as he is our Maker and
the work of his grace as he is the Holy One of Israel. (2.) They shall look off from their idols, the
creatures of their own fancy, shall no longer worship them, and seek to them, and expect relief
from them. For God will be alone regarded, or he does not look upon himself as at all regarded.
He that looks to his Maker must not look to the altars, the work of his hands, but disown them
and cast them off, must not retain the least respect for that which his fingers have made, but
break it to pieces, though it be his own workmanship - the groves and the images; the word
signifies images made in honour of the sun and by which he was worshipped, the most ancient
and most plausible idolatry, Deu_4:19; Job_31:26. We have reason to account those happy
afflictions which part between us and our sins, and by sensible convictions of the vanity of the
world, that great idol, cool our affections to it and lower our expectations from it.
5. JAMISON, “look to his Maker — instead of trusting in their fortresses - (Isa_17:3;
Mic_7:7).
6. BI, “Sanctified affliction

25. We are led to consider the designs of God in the afflictions of His people.
I. TO RECALL THEIR WANDERING HEARTS TO HIMSELF. “A man will look to his Maker—
1. With a suppliant eye, to find in Him sources of consolation and a rock of defence such as
the world cannot furnish (Psa_123:1-2; Jh 2:1).
2. With a penitent eye (Luk_22:62; Zec_12:10).
3. With a confiding and believing eye (chap. 8:17).
4. With a rejoicing eye (Rom_5:11; Hab_3:18).
II. TO RAISE THEIR ESTIMATE OF THE HOLINESS OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND
THE RECTITUDE OF THE DIVINE DISPENSATIONS. “Shall have respect unto the Holy One of
Israel.”
III. TO SEPARATE THEM FROM ALL SINFUL AND IDOLATROUS DEPENDENCES. “He
shall not look,” etc.
IV. TO ENDEAR THE MERCY THAT MINGLES WITH THE TRIALS. This appears—
1. In the moderate degree in which God’s people are corrected, compared with the final and
exterminating judgments which fall upon the wicked. Damascus was to be utterly destroyed
(Isa_17:1), but a remnant was to be left to Israel (Isa_17:5). God’s people always see that He
has afflicted them less than they deserve (Lam_3:22).
2. In the alleviations of their trials.
3. In the triumphant issue of the whole. (S. Thodey.)
7.CALVIN, “7.At that day shall a man look to his Maker. He now shews the fruit of this chastisement,
and this is the second consolation with which the godly ought to fortify themselves amidst their afflictions.
Although they perceive nothing but the wrath of God, yet they ought to reflect that the Lord, who never
forgets himself, will continually preserve his Church, and not only so, but that the chastisements will be
advantageous to them. After having spoken, therefore, about the continual existence of the Church, he
next adds, that men will look to God This is the most desirable of all, for when men betake themselves to
God, the world, which was formerly disordered, is restored to its proper order; but when we have been
estranged from him, no one repents of his own accord, and therefore there is no other way in which we
can be brought back than to be driven by the scourge of chastisements. We are thus reminded that we
ought not to be so impatient in enduring chastisements, which cure us of the fearfully dangerous disease
of apostasy.
To look to God means nothing else than that, when we have turned away, we return to a state of favor
with him, betake ourselves and are converted to him. For how comes it that men abandon themselves to

26. every kind of wickedness but because they forget God? Where the knowledge of God exists, there
reverence dwells; where forgetfulness of God is found, there contempt of him also prevails. Yet this
relates properly to faith, as if he had said, “ chastisements so severe shall have tamed the Israelites, they
will then perceive that there is no help for them but in God.” For this reason he immediately adds the
expression, To his Maker. It was indeed a proof of abominable indolence that they did not rely on God
alone, who had bestowed on them so many precious gifts. The Prophet therefore says, that when they
had been subdued by distresses and afflictions, they would afterwards return to a sound mind, so as to
begin to hope in him who had bound them to himself by so many acts of kindness. And indeed he calls
God their Maker, not as having created the whole human race, but in the same sense in which he
likewise calls him The Holy One of Israel. Although therefore all men were created after the image of
God, (Gen_1:27), yet Israel was peculiarly his workmanship, because he was his heritage, and his holy
and chosen people (Exo_19:6). This repetition, in accordance with the ordinary custom of the Hebrew
language, is employed to denote the same thing. He therefore calls God Holy, not only as viewed in
himself, but from the effect produced, because he has sanctified or separated to himself the children of
Abraham. Hence it follows, that the creation which he speaks of must be understood to relate to spiritual
reformation, in reference to which he is especially called the Maker of Israel (Isa_45:11; Hos_8:14).
8
They will not look to the altars,
the work of their hands,
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a]
and the incense altars their fingers have made.
1.BARNES, “And he shall not look to the altars - That is, the altars of the gods which
the Syrians worshipped, and the altars of the false gods which had been erected in the land of
Israel or Samaria by its wicked kings, and particularly by Ahaz. Ahaz fancied an altar which he
saw at Damascus when on a visit to Tiglath-pileser, and ordered Urijah the priest to construct
one like it in Samaria, on which he subsequently offered sacrifice 2Ki_16:10-13. It is well known,
also, that the kings of Israel and Judah often reared altars to false gods in the high places and
the groves of the land (see 2Ki_21:3-5). The Ephraimites were particularly guilty in this respect
Hos_8:11 : ‘Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.’
Which his fingers have made - Perhaps indicating that the idols which they worshipped
had been constructed with special art and skill (see Isa_2:8).

27. Either the groves - The altars of idols were usually erected in groves, and idols were
worshipped there before temples were raised (see Exo_34:13; Deu_7:5; Deu_12:3; Jdg_3:7;
1Ki_14:23; 1Ki_18:19; 2Ch_33:3; compare the notes at Isa_1:29).
Or the images - Margin, ‘Sun images’ (‫חמנים‬ chamanı ym). This word is used to denote idols
in general in Lev_26:30; 2Ch_24:4. But it is supposed to denote properly images erected to the
sun, and to be derived from ‫חמה‬ chamah, “the sun.” Thus the word is used in Job_30:28;
Isa_24:23; Isa_30:26; Son_6:10. The word, according to Gesenius, is of Persian origin
(Commentary in loc.) The sun was undoubtedly worshipped by the ancient idolaters, and altars
or images would be erected to it (see the notes at Job_31:26).
2. CLARKE, “The altars, the work of his hands “The altars dedicated to the work
of his hands” - The construction of the words, and the meaning of the sentence, in this place
are not obvious; all the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. The word
‫מעשה‬ maaseh, “the work,” stands in regimine with ‫מזבחות‬ mizbechoth, “altars,” not in opposition
to it; it means the, altars of the work of their hand; that is of the idols, which are the work of
their hands. Thus Kimchi has explained it, and Le Clerc has followed him.
3. GILL, “And he shall not took to the altars, the work of his hands,.... That is, to altars
erected to the worship of idols, which are both the works of men's hands, so as to serve at them,
and sacrifice upon them. Kimchi observes, that the latter clause is not to be understood as
belonging to the former, but as distinct from it, and signifies idols which men have made;
otherwise all altars, even the altars of God, were the works of men, which yet it was right to look
unto, and offer sacrifice upon; but idol altars, and idols themselves, are here meant: and a good
man will not look unto his good works as altars to atone for sin; he knows that nothing that a
creature can do can expiate sin; that his best works are such as are due to God, and therefore can
never atone for past crimes; that Jesus Christ is only the altar, sacrifice, and priest, to whom he
looks for, and from whom he receives the atonement:
neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the
images; both might be said to be made by the fingers of men, the former being planted, and,
the latter carved and fashioned by them; whether by groves are meant clusters of trees, where
idols and altars were placed, or medals struck with such a representation on them, and also
whatever images are here designed: the word signifies sun images, images made to represent the
sun, or for the honour and worship of it. Aben Ezra says they were images made according to the
likeness of chariots for the sun. The Targum renders it "temples", such as were dedicated to the
sun; though some understand by it sunny places, where their idols were set and sunburnt, as
distinct from shady groves. Good men will not took to their own works, what their fingers have
wrought, as groves to shelter them from divine wrath and vengeance, or as idols to bow down to,
trust in, and depend upon for salvation; but reject them, and look to Christ only.
4. PULPIT, “And he shall not look to the altars. The altars at Dan and Bethel (1Ki_12:28-33) may be
intended, or the Israelites may have had other idolatrous altars besides these (2Ki_17:11; Hos_8:11).

28. Josiah, about B.C. 631, broke down altars throughout all the land of Israel, in the cities of Manasseh and
Ephraim and Simeon (?), even unto Naphtali (2Ch_34:5-7). Apparently he had the consent of the
inhabitants to this demolition. Either the groves, or the images, Asherah, the word here and elsewhere
commonly translated "grove" in the Authorized Version, is now generally admitted to have designated an
artificial construction of wood or metal, which was used in the idolatrous worship of the Phoenicians and
the Israelites, probably as the emblem of some deity. The Assyrian "sacred tree" was most likely an
emblem of the same kind, and may give an idea of the sort of object worshipped under the name of
Asherah. The Israelites, in the time of their prosperity, had set up "groves" of this character "on every high
hill, and under every green tree" (2Ki_17:10). Many of them were still standing when Josiah made his
iconoclastic raid into the Israelite country (2Ch_34:5-7), and were broken down by him at the same time
as the altars. The "images" of this place are the same as those coupled with the Israelite "groves"
in 2Ch_34:7, namely "sun-images," emblems of Baal, probably pillars or conical stones, such as are
known to have held a place in the religious worship of Phoenicia.
5. JAMISON, “groves — A symbolical tree is often found in Assyrian inscriptions,
representing the hosts of heaven (“Saba”), answering to Ashteroth or Astarte, the queen of
heaven, as Baal or Bel is the king. Hence the expression, “image of the grove,” is explained
(2Ki_21:7).
images — literally, “images to the sun,” that is, to Baal, who answers to the sun, as Astarte to
the hosts of heaven (2Ki_23:5; Job_31:26).
6. PULPIT, “The prophet on heathen worship.
Having described in brief the true religion as a "looking up to God" as Maker and Redeemer of Israel, the
prophet with equal expressiveness characterizes the heathen worship around.
I. IT IS REVERENCE FOR THE OBJECT OF HUMAN ART. Contemptuous is the reference to "the work
of his hands," and "that which his fingers have made"—altars and images. When the spiritual nerve of
religion is weakened, the affections fix upon the symbols, forms, and accessories of religion. The soul that
has lost its God must have some visible substitute, as a pet, a plaything, an idol. When the meaning of
sacrifice is deeply realized and felt, any bare table will suffice for altar. But as the idea and feeling
become extinct, all the more will men seek to supply the void by some beauty in the object. The shrine
becomes more splendid as devotion becomes more cold. Perhaps the prophet is thinking of the case of
King Ahaz. He went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, and there saw an altar' which so
pleased him, that he sent the pattern of it to Urijah the priest, who built one to correspond. And this was a

29. king who "sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree"
(2Ki_16:1-20.). And Manasseh, rejecting the good example of Hezekiah his father, set up altars to Baal,
and made a grove, and plunged deeply into all manner of superstition (2Ki_21:1-26.). The Prophet Hosea
pointedly speaks of the tendency in the people generally: "Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin,
altars shall be unto him to sin" (Hos_8:2). The connection of this with luxury is pointed out by our prophet
in Isa_2:7, Isa_2:8. But what strikes him especially with astonishment is the addiction to "art for art's
sake." This has been a cant and, to some extent, a creed in our time. When carried out, it must mean the
valuation of human genius and talent regardlessly of the subjects on which, and the ends for which, it is
employed. No matter how seusualizing or otherwise debasing to feeling the painter's or the sculptor's
theme, the cleverness with which he treats form and color, light and shade, is only worth attending to.
These doctrines may be carried into the church, which may become a place for mere imaginative and
sensuous enjoyment; and people may find they cannot "look up to God" in a building whose lines are
incorrectly drawn, or where the latest fashion of ecclesiastical foppery is not kept up. By-and-by it will be
discovered that the house of God has been turned into a theatre, containing, it is true, an altar, but, like
the altar in the great theatre at Athens, serving for little more than a station of performers. Spiritual
worship is extinct with us if we cannot lift up eye, and heart, and hand, and voice to the Eternal with equal
joy, if need demand, in the barn as in the cathedral. But how wide-reaching the principle of idolatry! The
delight in genius, the admiration for it, may enter into religious feeling as one of its richest elements; it
may, on the other hand, be separated from religious feeling altogether, and be the principle of an idolatry.
II. IT IS IMPURE AND CRUEL. There is an allusion to the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, and what we
know of these deities indicates beings conceived by those worshippers as dark, wrathful, malignant, and
lustful. Baal, often named in the plural Baalim, is closely related to, if not identical with, Moloch
(see Jer_7:31;Jer_19:5; Jer_32:35), whose terrible wrath was supposed to be manifested in the torrid
heat of summer, and who exacted human sacrifices. In great dangers kings sacrificed to this Bel-Moloch
their only sons (2Ki_3:27); and this is sternly denounced in Le Isa_20:3. It would seem that Israelites in
their declension confounded the nature of this heathen god with that of Jehovah (Jdg_11:34; Num_25:4).
Read the eloquent protest of Mic_6:7, and see how clearly in that animated passage the contrast is made
between the merciful and holy religion of Jehovah and the cursed ritual of Baal or of Moloch. "To do justly,
to love mercy, to walk humbly with God,"—these are the requirements of true religion. By the side of Baal
was Ashtoreth in Canaan (Jdg_10:6) and in Syria. The Greeks called her Astarte. At Babylon she was
known as Mylitta or Beltis, consort of Bel; and Herodotus describes the darkly superstitious and impure
character of her worship, which involved the profanation of women. The religion of Israel knows no
goddess; the people itself, when true to their faith, felt themselves to be as a people, the bride of
Jehovah, and unfaithfulness to him is a crime analogous to unfaithfulness to the nuptial tie. "Israel my
people, I their God," is the symbolic word of the covenant between spirit and Spirit, which religion ever is,

30. in its truth and purity. There are lessons for us in all this. There are ever tendencies at work to degrade
and defile the holy ideas of our religion. Sometimes it is wealth, sometimes it is ignorance, sometimes
greed and other passions. Men would subdue the spirit of Christianity to their own liking, and bow down, if
not to the work of their fingers, to the impure idols of an unchastened fancy. The preacher, the true
prophet, must, on the other hand, be ever upholding the purity of doctrine, and exhibit those grand
requirements to which the conscience must, however reluctantly, respond. And he must lay it to heart that
the purer religion can never be the most fashionable. If the people turn aside to groves and altars more
suited to their taste, at least let him make it his one concern to "save himself and them that hear him."—J.
7.CALVIN, “8.And he shall not look to the altars. This contrast shews more clearly that
the looking which he spoke of in the former verse relates strictly to hope and confidence, for he says that
every kind of sinful confidence will vanish away when men have learned to hope in God; and indeed in no
other manner can any one obtain clear views of God than by driving far from him all superstitions. We are
thus taught that obstacles of this kind ought to be removed if we wish to approach to God. It is vain to
think of making a union between God and idols, as the Papists do, and as the Jews formerly did; for that
vice is not peculiar to our age, but has prevailed in all ages. Every obstruction ought therefore to be
removed, that we may look to God with such earnestness as to have just and clear views of him, and to
put our trust in him.
The work of his hands. It is for the purpose of exciting abhorrence that he calls the false gods the work of
their hands, that the Israelites, being ashamed of their folly, may shake off and drive away from them
such a disgraceful reproach. On this vice, however, he dwells the more largely, because they were more
chargeable with it than with any other, and because none can be more abominable in the sight of God.
There were innumerable superstitions among them, and in places without number they had set up both
idols and altars, so that Isaiah had good reason for reproving and expostulating with them at great length
on account of these crimes.
It might be objected that the altar at Jerusalem was also built by men, and therefore they ought to forsake
it in order to approach to God. (Exo_27:1). I reply, that altar was widely different from others, for although
it consisted of stone and mortar, silver and gold, and was made like others by the agency of men, yet we
ought not to look at the materials or the workmanship, but at God himself who was the maker, for by his
command it was built. We ought therefore to consider the essential form, so to speak, which it received
from the word of God; other matters ought not to be taken into view, since God alone is the architect.
(Exo_20:24;Deu_27:5). Other altars, though they bore some resemblance to it, should be abhorred,
because they had not the authority of the word. Such is the estimate which we ought to form of every kind

31. of false worship, whatever appearance of sanctity it may assume; for God cannot approve of anything
that is not supported by his word.
9
In that day their strong cities, which they left because
of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to
thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.
1.BARNES, “His strong cities - The cities of the united kingdoms of Damascus and
Samaria.
Be as a forsaken bough - There has been much difficulty in the interpretation of this
passage. Lowth says, ‘No one has ever been able to make any tolerable sense of these words;’ and
proposes himself the translation,
In that day shall his strongly fenced cities become
Like the desertion of the Hivites and the Amorites;
Following in this the translation of the Septuagint, but doing violence to the Hebrew text.
Rosenmuller translates it, ‘As the remnant of a grove when the thicket is cut down, and when
few trees are left.’ The word rendered ‘bough’ (‫חרשׁ‬ choresh) means, properly, a thicket, or thick
foliage, a wood that is entangled or intricate 1Sa_23:15-16, 1Sa_23:18; 2Ch_27:4; and probably
this is the idea here. The phrase may be rendered, ‘as the leavings or residue of a grove, copse, or
entangled wood;’ and the idea is, that as a “few” trees might be left when the axeman cuts down
the grove, so a few inferior and smaller towns should be left in the desolation that would come
upon Damascus.
And an uppermost branch - Isa_17:6. As a few berries are left in the topmost branch of
the olive, or the vine, so shall I a few cities or people be left in the general desolation.
Which they left - Which “are” left, or which the invaders would leave.
Because of the children of Israel - literally, ‘from the face,’ that is, before the children of
Israel. Lowth supposes that it refers to the Amorites, who left their land before the Israelites, or
gave up their land for them. Vitringa renders it, ‘On account of the children of Israel;’ and
supposes that it means that a few cities were spared by the purpose of God in the invasion by
Tiglath-pileser, to be a residence of the Israelites that should remain; or that, for some reason
which is not known, the Assyrians chose to spare a few towns, and not wholly to destroy the
country. The “general” idea is plain, that a few towns would be left, and that it would be “before”
the children of Israel, or in their presence, or in order that they might continue to dwell in them.
Jerome interprets the whole as referring to the time when the land of Judea was forsaken on the
invasion of the Romans.
And there shall be desolation - The land shall be desolated, except the few cities and
towns that shall be left, like the gleaning of the olive tree.

32. 2. CLARKE, “As a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch “the Hivites and
the Amorites” - ‫החרש‬‫והאמיר‬ hachoresh vehaamir. No one has ever yet been able to make any
tolerable sense of these words. The translation of the Septuagint has happily preserved what
seems to be the true reading of the text, as it stood in the copies of their time; though the words
are now transposed, either in the text or in their Version; οᅷ Αµαρምαιοι και οᅷ Ευαιοι, “the
Amorites and the Hivites.” It is remarkable that many commentators, who never thought of
admitting the reading of the Septuagint, understand the passage as referring to that very event
which their Version expresses; so that it is plain that nothing can be more suitable to the
context. “My father,” says Bishop Lowth, “saw the necessity of admitting this variation at a time
when it was not usual to make so free with the Hebrew text.” Mr. Parkhurst is not satisfied with
the prelate’s adoption of the reading of the Septuagint, “the Hivites and the Amorites.” He
thinks the difficult words should be thus rendered; he takes the whole verse: “And his fortified
cities shall be like the leaving, or what is left ‫כעזובת‬ caazubath, of or in a ploughed field, ‫החרש‬
hachoresh, or on a branch which they leave coram, before, the children of Israel.” Which he
considers a plain reference to the Mosaic laws relative to the not gleaning of their ploughed
fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, but leaving ‫עזב‬ ozeb, somewhat of the fruits, for the poor of the
land; Lev_9:9, Lev_9:10; Deu_24:19-21, in the Hebrew. I fear that the text is taken by storm on
both interpretations. One MS. has ‫כל‬‫ערי‬ col arey, “all the cities;” and instead of ‫החלש‬ hachalash,
“of the branch,” six MSS. have ‫החדש‬ hachodesh, “of the month.” But this is probably a mistake.
3. GILL, “In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an
uppermost branch,.... Meaning the strong cities of Ephraim or Jacob, the ten tribes, which
should be forsaken of their inhabitants; having fled from before the enemy, or being slain or
carried captive; like a bough of a tree, that is forsaken stripped of its leaves, and an uppermost
branch of a tree that is dead and dry, and has nothing on it:
which they left; or "as they left", or "were left":
because of the children of Israel; "from the face of" them; or for fear of them; that is, the
same cities which the Canaanites left; and as they left them, or were left by them, for fear of the
Israelites; the same, and in the same manner, shall they be left by the Israelites, for fear of the
Assyrians; and so the Septuagint version reads the words,
"in that day thy cities shall be forsaken, in like manner as the Amorites and Hivites left them,
from the face of the children of Israel;''
and this sense is given by Aben Ezra and Kimchi: though some interpret it of some places being
spared and left for the remnant to dwell in; but what follows in this verse, and in the next
Isa_17:10, shows the contrary sense:
and there shall be desolation; over all those cities, and in all the land; though Aben Ezra
particularly applies it to Samaria, the royal city. Jerom interprets the whole of the cities of Judea

33. being forsaken of their inhabitants, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, and made the land
desolate; which calamity came upon them, for their neglect and forgetfulness of Jesus the
Saviour.
4. HENRY, “Here the prophet returns to foretel the woeful desolations that should be made in
the land of Israel by the army of the Assyrians. 1. That the cities should be deserted. Even the
strong cities, which should have protected the country, shall not be able to protect themselves:
They shall be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch of an old tree, which has gone to
decay, is forsaken of its leaves, and appears on the top of the tree, bare, and dry, and dead; so
shall their strong cities look when the inhabitants have deserted them and the victorious army of
the enemy pillaged and defaced them, Isa_17:9. They shall be as the cities (so it may be
supplied) which the Canaanites left, the old inhabitants of the land, because of the children of
Israel, when God brought them in with a high hand, to take possession of that good land, cities
which they built not. As the Canaanites then fled before Israel, so Israel should now flee before
the Assyrians. And herein the word of God was fulfilled, that, if they committed the same
abominations, the land should spue them out, as it spued out the nations that were before them
(Lev_18:28), and that as, while they had God on their side, one of them chased a thousand, so,
when they had made him their enemy, a thousand of them should flee at the rebuke of one; so
that in the cities should be desolation, according to the threatenings in the law, Lev_26:31;
Deu_28:51.
5. JAMISON, “forsaken bough — rather “the leavings of woods,” what the axeman leaves
when he cuts down the grove (compare Isa_17:6).
which they left because of — rather, “which (the enemies) shall leave for the children of
Israel”; literally, “shall leave (in departing) from before the face of the children of Israel”
[Maurer]. But a few cities out of many shall be left to Israel, by the purpose of God, executed by
the Assyrian.
6. K&D, “Third turn: “In that day will his fortified cities be like the ruins of the forest and of
the mountain top, which they cleared before the sons of Israel: and there arises a waste place.
For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not thought of the Rock of thy
stronghold, therefore thou plantedst charming plantations, and didst set them with strange
vines. In the day that thou plantedst, thou didst make a fence; and with the morning dawn
thou madest thy sowing to blossom: a harvest heap in the day of deep wounds and deadly
sorrow of heart.” The statement in Isa_17:3, “The fortress of Ephraim is abolished,” is repeated
in Isa_17:9 in a more descriptive manner. The fate of the strongly fortified cities of Ephraim
would be the same as that of the old Canaanitish castles, which were still to be discerned in their
antiquated remains, either in the depths of forests or high up on the mountains. The word ‛azuba
h, which the early translators quite misunderstood, signifies, both here and in Isa_6:12, desolate