Isaiah
Chapter 17
Oracle Against Damascus
An oracle concerning Damascus: “Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.
Her towns will be abandoned and left as pasture for flocks; there they will lie down afraid of no one. Damascus will no longer be a kingdom,
so Ephraim will be left undefended. From now on, the remnant of Aram will have no more power than the children of Israel.” This is the Lord Sabaoth speaking.
On that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his flesh will waste away.
It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and lops off the stalks, or as when they gather the gleanings in the Valley of Rephaim.
Yet some gleanings remain, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three olives are left on the topmost bough, four or five on the fruitful branches, says the Lord, the God of Israel.
The End of Idolatry
On that day people will look to their Creator, their eyes turned to the Holy One of Israel.
They will no longer look to the altars, the work of their hand, the sacred pole, or the incense stand their fingers have made.
The Gardens of Adonis
On that day, your cities will resemble the cities of the Hivites and the Amorites, which they abandoned to the Israelites. All will be deserted.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, you have failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. You may plant the finest plants, you may plant out imported shoots,
you may make them grow on the day you plant them, you may make them blossom on the day you sow, yet they dwindle, and the harvest is gone: then you may cry!
The Upsurge of People
Oh, the rage of many people— they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the thunder of many nations— they thunder like the thundering of mighty waves!
But God rebukes them, and they flee far away, swept away like chaff on the hills before the wind, whirled away like eddying dust before the thunderstorm.
At eventide, they sow terror; before morning, they are no more. Such is the portion of our despoilers, such is the lot of our plunderers.
Commentaries
Oracle Against Damascus – The End of Idolatry.
The mention of Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel, is due to the alliance these two kingdoms made to attack Judah (7:1-8:4, also Jr 49:23-27; Am 1:3-5; Zec 9:1). Damascus was conquered by the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser in 732 B.C., and Samaria suffered the same fate in 722 B.C. at the hands of Sargon. Isaiah compares the consequences of the disaster to the end of the harvest in the fertile valley of Rephaim, south of Jerusalem; the few ears of corn left in the field were for the poor (Dt 24:19-20), meaning that after the disaster, few would survive.
Gardens of Adonis.
Evocation of a pagan cult dedicated to Adonis-Tammuz, god of vegetation (cf. Ezk 8:14ff). “That day” refers to the desolation of the destroyed cities. Idolatry and corruption of worship are connected to the collapse of agriculture and ongoing mourning.
The Upsurge of People.
These verses appear to describe the threat of Jerusalem’s destruction at the hands of Sennacherib in 701 B.C., which ultimately did not happen (see 29:5-7; 37:6).