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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:6

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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:7

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,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:8

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 2 Kings 16:10-13. It is well known, also, that the kings of Israel and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:9

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 becomeLike the desertion of the Hivites and the Amorites;Following in this the translation of the Septuagint, but doing violence to the Hebrew text. Rosenmuller... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:10

Because thou ... - Because the kingdom of Israel or Samaria had done it.The God of thy salvation - The God in whom alone was salvation; or who alone could protect thee (compare Micah 7:7; Hosea 2:15).The rock of thy strength - God. A rock of strength is a strongly fortified place; or a rock which an enemy could not successfully assail. High rocks were selected as a place of refuge from an invading foe (see the notes at Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:21). In allusion to this, God is often called “a... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:11

In the day ... - Thou shalt cultivate it assiduously and constantly. Thou shalt be at special pains that it may be watered and pruned, in order that it may produce abundantly.And in the morning - With early care and attention - denoting the pains that would be bestowed on the young plant.The harvest shall be a heap - The margin reads this, ‘the harvest shall be removed in the day of inheritance, rendering it as if the word נד nêd usually meaning a heap, were derived from נוד nûd, to shake,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:12

Wo to the multitude ... - The word ‘woe’ (הוי hôy) may be either an interjection simply directing the attention to them, or it may be a word indicating approaching calamity and judgment (see the note at Isaiah 5:6). Gesenius supposes that it is rather the language of compassion, on account of the evil which they threatened to bring upon the people of God, like 1 Kings 13:30, ‘Ah! wo, my brother!’The multitude of many people - Or, the tumult of many nations - a description of the noise... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:13

God shall rebuke them - The word ‘God’ is not here in the original, but is evidently to be supplied. The word ‘rebuke’ means that he would disarrange their plans, prevent their success, and defeat their purposes. It shows the great power of God, that he can thus by a “rebuke” - a word - arrest mighty nations, and discomfit thom when they are tumultuously hastening onward in the confidence of victory. This discomfiture refers, doubtless, to the overthrow of Sennacherib and his army by the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 17:14

At evening-tide trouble - In the time of evening - that is, in the night.Before the morning he is not - That is, he is destroyed. This is strikingly descriptive of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib on that fatal night when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men (see the note at Isaiah 37:36).This is the portion of them that spoil us - Of those who would plunder us. This is a “general” declaration in regard to the enemies of the Jewish people. This is the lot, the end, the destiny of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 17

A.M. 3263. B.C. 741. Damascus, Samaria, Israel, and their cities, to be ruined by the Assyrians, Isaiah 17:1-5 . A remnant shall consider and repent, Isaiah 17:6-8 . The rest plagued for their impiety, Isaiah 17:9-11 . The wo of Israel’s enemies, Isaiah 17:12-14 . read more

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