Isaiah 17:2 - Exposition

The cities of Aroer are forsaken . That the Aroer of this passage cannot be either that on the Arnon, or that facing Rabbath-Ammon ( Joshua 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 ערער , 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. Isaiah 5:17 ; Isaiah 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."