Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 17:2
Isaiah 17:2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken “What has Aroer,” says Bishop Lowth, “on the river Arnon, (see Deuteronomy 2:36,) to do with Damascus?” He therefore follows the LXX., (who, he supposes, for ערער , Aroer, read עדי עד , εις τον αιωνα ,) and renders the clause, The cities are deserted for ever. Grotius, however, thinks the present reading of the Hebrew text is right, and that this Aroer was a tract of ground in Syria, (a valley, say some, which lay between the mountains of... read more
Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 17:1
Isaiah 17:1. The burden of Damascus Both of that city and kingdom. But though “this prophecy, by its title, should relate only to Damascus, is full of much concerns, and more largely treats of, the kingdom of Samaria and the Israelites, confederated with Damascus and the Syrians against the kingdom of Judah.” It is the fourth discourse of the second book of Isaiah’s prophecies, and “was delivered probably soon after the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chapters, in the beginning of the... read more