Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 17:4
And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
4. in that day ] simultaneously with the judgment on Syria. the glory of Jacob ] i.e. his might, his population, his prosperity, &c. (cf. Isa 17:3).
made thin ] better, enfeebled. fatness lean ] cf. ch. Isa 10:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 6. The fate of Ephraim, in three figures: wasting disease; the reaping of corn; the gathering of olives.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall be made thin; or, shall be emptied, as this word is rendered, Isa 19:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. glory of Jacobthe kingdomof Ephraim and all that they rely on (Hos 12:2;Mic 1:5).
fatness . . . lean(Seeon Isa 10:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 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. is not used elliptically for (Gesenius), nor is it a definition of time (Luzzatto), nor an accusative of the object (Knobel), but a noun formed like , , , 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 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 , which is well known from the Phoenician monuments,
(Note: See Levy, Phnizisches Wrterbuch (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 – sad 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;
(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, , , ); 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 m iphletzeth 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.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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 “fat 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) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) The glory of Jacob shall be made thin.The word is the same as that rendered impoverished in Jdg. 6:8. Jacob stands as commonly in the prophets, like Israel, for the northern kingdom, and the words point, therefore, to the downfall, or, adopting the prophets figurative language, the emaciation, of that kingdom.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. The glory of Jacob That of the ten tribes, to which the prophet now turns. This is humbled indeed, when the Assyrian power shall carry away its men in crowds.
Shall wax lean Poor, attenuated, sick Israel! The Chaldee has it: “The riches of Israel shall be removed.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Future That Israel Can Look Forward To ( Isa 17:4-11 ).
Israel’s future is bleak, but it will make them set their eyes on their Maker, the Holy One of Israel.
Analysis of Isa 17:4-12.
a And it will come about in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will wax lean, and it will be as when the harvester gathers the standing corn, and his arms reap the ears. Yes, it will be as when one gleans ears, in the valley of Rephaim (Isa 17:4-5).
b “Yet there will be left there in gleanings, as the beating of an olive tree, two or three berries at the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree,” Says Yahweh, the God of Israel (Isa 17:6).
c In that day will a man look to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect to the Holy One of Israel (Isa 17:7).
d And he will not look to the altars, to the work of his hands, nor will he have respect to what his fingers have made, either the Asherim or the sun-images (Isa 17:8).
d In that day will his strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel, and it will be a desolation (Isa 17:9).
c For you have forgotten the God of your deliverance, and have not been mindful of the rock of your strength (‘your strong rock’) (Isa 17:10).
b Therefore you plant ‘desirable’ plants (or ‘plants of the desirable one’), and set it with strange (‘foreign’) slips (Isa 17:11 a).
a In the day of your planting you hedge it in, and in the morning you make your seed to blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and desperate sorrow (Isa 17:11 b).
In ‘a’ the future is bleak for Israel, and its harvests will be thin, and in the parallel whatever their efforts they will not enjoy the benefit of their harvests. In ‘b’ even the gleaning will be sparse, and in the parallel it is because they plant foreign plants linked with idolatry. In ‘c’ this will turn their eyes on their Maker, on the Holy One of Israel, and in the parallel this will be necessary because they have forgotten the God of their deliverance, and have not had in mind the Rock of their strength. In ‘d’ they will cease to trifle with the gods who have failed them, for in the parallel their strong cities will be like ancient ruins.
Isa 17:4-5
‘And it will come about in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin,
And the fatness of his flesh will wax lean,
And it will be as when the harvester gathers the standing corn,
And his arms reap the ears.
Yes, it will be as when one gleans ears,
In the valley of Rephaim.’
If their glory being like that of Israel had raised hopes in Syria, they are now dashed, for here we have confirmation of the reducing of ‘Jacob’s’ glory, the glory of the children of Israel. In the day when God acts it will be made sparse, and much of Israel’s wealth and fruitfulness will disappear. In the same way as the flesh disappears from a very sick man as he lies there in his illness, so will they be lean.
The second picture is of shortage so that the harvester ensures by use of his arms that he drops very little, while the gleaners can thus gather almost nothing. The valley of Rephaim was probably infamous for its poor harvests. It was a place favoured by the Philistine armies when they attacked Israel, possibly suggesting its comparative bareness. And such sparse gleanings from a sparse harvest are a picture of what ‘Jacob’ (Israel) will have to survive on.
Isa 17:6
‘And there will be left there in gleanings,
As the beating of an olive tree,
Two or three berries at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree,
Says Yahweh, the God of Israel.’
When the olive tree is beaten with sticks to bring down its berries there are always a few that are resistant. In this case what will be left will be only two or three at the top, four or five in the outmost branches. Those are the gleanings (what is left for the poor after harvesting). And that scarcity of gleanings is a picture of Israel’s desperate straits. The gleanings will be almost non-existent because of the poverty of the harvest.
Isa 17:7-8
‘In that day will a man look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
And he will not look to the altars,
To the work of his hands,
Nor will he have respect to what his fingers have made,
Either the Asherim or the sun-images.’
But suddenly, out of the blue, good comes out of bad. This is typical of Isaiah (compare Isa 10:20-22). He now describes the holy stock (Isa 6:13). The result of this chastening will be that some, the remnant, will look to their Maker, and will give due regard to the Holy One of Israel, for there will be nowhere else to look. Their eyes will be turned and fixed on Him, and they will look to Him constantly in their daily lives and have due regard to His covenant. For their idols will have failed them and they will turn to God from idols and serve the living and true God, and wait for the promised Immanuel. They will turn away from hand-made altars, and man-fashioned idols, whether Asherim (wooden poles or images representing the goddess of the fertility cult) or sun-images. Thus it is clear that the worship of the sun-images and of the Asherah-images was at this time predominant in Israel.
Note the stark contrast between God the Maker (compare Isa 44:2; Isa 51:13; Isa 54:5) and man His creation on the one hand (man will look to his Maker), with man the maker, and the gods of his creation on the other (he will not look to his own handywork or to what his fingers have made). They should note that there is only one God Who is never fashioned and shaped by man, the One Who Himself created all things and can never be represented by an acceptable image. He is thus saying, do not look to the altars and their gods but look at them and see what they really are, the works of men’s hands, merely a part of creation and the product of men’s minds and fingers.
Isa 17:9
‘In that day will his strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel, and it will be a desolation.’
But while some will be pleasing to God the righteousness of the righteous will not deliver the majority in the day when God acts. Their strong, fortified cities will be deserted. They will become like the well known ruins of ancient Canaanite cities in the forest, or on mountain tops, where no one went any longer, cities that had been deserted because of the arrival of the children of Israel in the power of Yahweh. What had been done by His power when they were faithful to the covenant, would be done to them now that they had broken the covenant and lost His power. They were now as sinful as the Canaanites had been for they had copied their ways. Thus the whole land would be a desolation.
Isa 17:10-11
‘For you have forgotten the God of your deliverance,
And have not been mindful of the rock of your strength (‘your strong rock’).
Therefore you plant ‘desirable’ plants (or ‘plants of the desirable one’),
And set it with strange (‘foreign’) slips.
In the day of your planting you hedge it in,
And in the morning you make your seed to blossom,
But the harvest flees away in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.’
This is in parallel with Isa 17:7. All this will happen to them because they had forgotten God the deliverer. The contrast is between the God of Deliverance (Who is also God their Maker), even the Strong Rock, Who had destroyed those Canaanite cities through His once faithful people, and their present feeble attempts, the product of turning to the ways of the Canaanites, to affect nature by force-growing plants dedicated to a ‘desirable’ god, (a beautiful image), and slips from foreign plants which had similar religious significance, and putting them in pots or baskets and making them grow unnaturally quickly so as to stimulate nature, all feeble attempts to stimulate life. They would discover that it would be useless. They would die just as quickly as they grew (compare Mat 13:5-6). Thus when the day of grief and desperate sorrow comes the harvest from their efforts will be unable to help them. It flees away in helplessness and embarrassment.
The slips from foreign plants were also a hint of what they were seeking to do in seeking help and alliances from foreign nations. Those too would flee away in the day of trouble.
So the charge is that they have forgotten God their Maker, and they have forgotten the Delivering God Who had delivered them from Egypt, and from many foes since; the Delivering God Who had delivered up the cities of the Canaanites to them; the God Who is a strength-giving Rock; the God Who has proved Himself by His actions, and they have turned to nature gods who have no power, who cannot deliver or protect them, who failed the Canaanites, and who cannot strengthen in the hour of need.
But as a result of all that will befall them those who are left will turn and look to Him. The emphasis on their looking to God as their Maker and the Holy One of Israel may suggest the thought that they are having to go right back to basics. They turn to Him as the One Who had made them, and as the One Who had specially favoured Israel by His own choice. They have lost their right to Him as the Deliverer.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 17:4-6. And in that day, &c. The Ephraimites and Syrians, guilty of the same fault, were to suffer the same punishment; wherefore, in the former period, wherein the prophet foretold the fate of Damascus, he at the same time mentioned that of the Ephraimites. But here, in describing their punishment more particularly, he proceeds in such a manner, that his prophesy approaches nearly to history. He shews, very clearly, that the judgment which God would inflict upon the Ephraimites should be twofold. In the former, wherein their distress from Tiglath-pileser is described, he shews that God would throw in some alleviation, Isa 17:4-8 in the other, that God would consummate his judgment against the impenitent, and would bring upon the land of the Ephraimites entire desolation, Isa 17:9-11 which is the calamity brought upon them by Salmanezer. The prophet explains the judgment upon Ephraim by two similes, and both elegant; the first taken from a beautiful body, reduced by a consumption; the meaning whereof is, that their state should be deprived not only of its chief citizens, but of all its power, wealth, and honour: whatever it formerly possessed, which gave excellence and beauty, should entirely waste away and be consumed. See chap. Isa 10:16. ‘The second simile is taken from the autumnal gathering-in of fruits, or from that fertile harvest, whether of corn, wine, or oil, which used to be gathered in the valley of Rephaim. Whereas the reapers leave a few ears of corn, or the gatherers of the grapes and olives a few of the worst bunches of the grapes and of the worst berries of the olives; so from the Assyrian harvest in Ephraim, a few men and those of the least consequence, should be left as a remnant in the land. Bishop Lowth renders the 6th, verse. A gleaning shall be left in it, as in the shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the uppermost bough, &c. See Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16 concerning the valley of Rephaim, or the giants.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
) Ephraim (and Damascus) small and again great
Isa 17:4-8
4And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall 2be made thin,
And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5And it shall be 3as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,
And reapeth the ears with his arm;
And it shall be 4as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
65Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five 6in the outmost fruitful branches thereof,
Saith the Lord God of Israel.
7At that day shall 7a man look to his Maker,
And his eyes shall 8have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
8And he shall not 9look to the altars, the work of his hands,
Neither shall 10respect that which his fingers have made,
Either the 11groves or the 12images.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 17:4. again only Isa 10:16. Niph. emaciari only here; comp. Isa 10:18.
Isa 17:5. Isa 37:27. and it goes, comp. Isa 13:14. is difficult. The connection leads us first to expect the meaning reaper, and many take it so, letting be said metonymically for or (Gesen.). Others take in apposition with , or = harvest time (when the harvest time takes away the stalks. Ewald). may also be treated as accusative of time: As one gathers stalks of grain in the harvest. All of these explanations have a certain harshness. Against Delitzsch, who makes = it may be objected: why does Isaiah use this very common word in a sense that it never has elsewhere, and for which sense there offered another word ( Psa 29:7; Amo 9:13; Jer 9:21, and often) equally current? The same may be objected also to Gesenius and Ewald. To take as apposition is harsh for the reason that then one of the two words would be superfluous. I therefore prefer to take as accusative of time, and to regard the word as a substantive treated adverbially like other marks of time (, , , etc., comp. Ewald, 204 b).Then the suffix of relates to the notion of reaper ideally present in .
Ver 6. again only Isa 14:13. is. . only here and Isa 17:9. branch. again only Isa 27:10. The suffix in relates to ; is in apposition with the suffix (in ramis ejus fecundae) with the signification of an adversative clause.
Isa 17:8. The (only in Jdg 3:7; 2Ch 19:3; 2Ch 33:3) are in any case the images or symbols of Astarte, of the female principle, which had the form of , pillars set upright (from rectum, erectum esse, according to Movers; perhaps, according to a statement of Herodotus II. 106, were visible).
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Like one ties two threads into one knot, so the Prophet, Isa 17:3, has entwined in one another the of destiny of Damascus and Ephraim. It is true that in what follows there is nothing more said of Syria. But when it was said, Isa 17:3, that the remnant of Syria shall be like the glory of Jacob, and if now, Isa 17:4-8, the course of development of the glory of Jacob is portrayed as a prospective sinking to a minimum and then again as a mounting up to the most glorious nearness to God, is not the same course of life by implication prophesied of Syria? Therefore, Ephraim shall be reduced to almost nothing. The Prophet declares this in a threefold image. First he compares the destruction of Israel to the growing leanness of a fat man (Isa 17:4), second to the grain harvest, where the reaper with full arm, cuts and gathers the ears (Isa 17:5); third to the olive harvest where the fruits are beaten off the trees. But with this third figure he lets appear already in perspective a better time. The Prophet only indirectly intimates that the tree will be robbed of the chief part of its fruits. He lays the chief stress here on the gleaning: there remain hanging in the top and on the boughs some scattered fruit, that shall be beaten off by subsequent effort (Isa 17:6). Thus a remnant is left to Israel, and this remnant shall be converted: Shear-Jashub (Isa 10:20 sqq.). Notice with what art this address also is arranged. There is a crescendo and decrescendo of shadow, which gradually merges into light. In the first figure (Isa 17:4) the shadow still appears faint; in the second (Isa 17:5) it reaches its full extent; in the third (Isa 17:6) it yields unnoticed to the light. This light the Prophet depicts here in the first place from its subjective side, as a turning of the heart to God (Isa 17:7) and a turning away from idols (Isa 17:8). The objective salvation first appears in the fourth turn of his discourse (Isa 17:12-14).
2. And in that dayGod of Israel.
Isa 17:4-6. In that day Isa 17:4, here refers to the time of judgment announced in Isa 17:2-3. The glory of Jacob, also refers back to Isa 17:3, where the same expression is employed with only the difference of Israel for Jacob, which seems to have a rhetorical reason (comp. Isa 9:7). Moreover the Prophet speaks here of Israel-Ephraim in a sense that declares what it has in common with Judah. For the grand outlines of that picture of the future that Isaiah draws here, comprehend equally the history of Judah and Ephraim. Moreover it must not be supposed that Isaiah has in mind only the political ruin that ensued, say after the shining reign of Jeroboam II. This growing lean embraces the entire time in which the Ten Tribes exist as a remnant. It therefore lasts still at the present time.
The second figure describes the same matter only in greater extent. It is presented in a measure as having three degrees. First, is called to mind how the reaper gathers the standing grain stalks; second, how then the other arm cuts off the ears; third, how the ears are gathered, and that in the valley of Rephaim, the fruitful plain that extends in a south-west direction from Jerusalem. Such a rich harvest shall the enemies hold in Ephraim; so thoroughly, therefore, shall Ephraim be emptied out, plundered. The gathering of ears mentioned in the second half of Isa 17:5, may mean the gathering proper for binding into sheaves (Gen 37:7); but it could mean, too, the gleaning of the ears left lying, as by the poor (Rth 2:2 sqq.). The former better suits the context, in as much as the latter notion appears in the following verse. In Isa 17:5 the whole work of the enemies is described, and that in two stages, that are indicated by the and it shall be prefixed, just as the battle and the booty form the two sharply distinguished occupations of the warrior,The valley of Rephaim is mentioned in the Old Testament, Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16; 2Sa 15:18; 2Sa 15:22; 2Sa 23:13. Most persons conclude from our present passage that it was fruitful. Only Ewald [and Aben Ezra, J. A. A.], finds in the passage the notion of a dry valley, as he also takes in the sense of gleaning. At present, indeed, the valley is desert (comp. Knobel in loc.). Further statements see in Arnolds article Thler in Palstina, Herz. R. Encycl. xv. p. 614. [Robinson speaks of it en passant, as the cultivated valley or plain of Rephaim (Palestine I. 323). J. A. A.].But (Isa 17:6) there is left on him, i.e., on Jacob (we would say of him, comp. Isa 10:22) a gleaning secundum percussionem or ad similitudinem percussionis oleae, that is two or three berries in the highest top. Four or five are beaten off with a stick from the branches, because they had not been brought down by the shaking. In the boughs, of course, more remain hanging, because they have greater extent than the tree-top. That is, it is declared, that although the tree is fruitful, yet only a few berries hang on it. Spite of its fruitfulness, it is now so empty that only a little is left for the gleaner. Thus, too, Israel, though now richly blessed, will be reduced to a minimum.
3. At that daythe images.
Isa 17:7-8). The little gleaning is the small remnant of Israel that plays so great a part in the divine economy of salvation, Isa 6:13; Isa 10:21; Rom 9:27; Rom 11:4 sq. In that day, i.e., when Israel shall be reduced to the small remnant, will the man look (Isa 22:4; Isa 31:1) to his Maker, the Holy One of Israel (comp. on Isa 1:4), but he will cast not one more look of fear and trust toward the idols. At last he sees that they are only the work of his own, of human hands (Isa 44:9 sqq.). the man, is never anywhere else specially used of Israel. The general expression is doubtless chosen because the Prophet declares what concerns not Israel alone, but essentially all mankind, and what especially is applicable to Syria, too, which all along is conceived of as united with Israel.
Two idols are mentioned by name, as those that were particularly worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites: and . (Isa 27:9). [groves and images Eng. Bib. Tr.].Regarding the latter it has been ascertained, that thereby are meant the images of Baal-Hamon, Son 8:11, the Sun-god, the superior male god of the Phnicians. The word, beside the present text, and Isa 27:9, occurs Lev 26:30; Eze 6:4; Eze 6:6; 2Ch 14:4; 2Ch 34:4; 2Ch 34:7. See further under Text. and Gram.It is only doubtful whether signifies only the Astarte pillars, or the goddess herself, and the groves consecrated to her (Deu 16:21, comp. Gesenius, Thes. pag. 162 with Otto Strauss, Nahumi de Nin. vat. Prolegg. pag. 24). Moreover it is undecided whether Astarte ( kindred to , , star) signifies only the moon, or Vinus, the star of good fortune, or the entire heaven of night as distinguished from the domain of Baal, the heaven of day (comp. P. Cassel on Jdg 2:13; Moon and stars, the luminaries of the heavens by night, are mingled in Astaroth; they are the sum total of the entire host of heaven.)
Footnotes:
[2]be reduced.
[3]as one in harvest gathereth corn, and his arm reapeth the ears.
[4]as one gleaning ears.
[5]And gleanings shall, etc.
[6]in its, the fruit trees boughs.
[7]the man turn.
[8]look to.
[9]turn to.
[10]look to what his.
[11]Ashtaroth.
[12]Or, sun images.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
There was a time, even in the days of Solomon, when the nation of Israel was great and flourishing; but now, how is the fine gold become dim! Reader, look at this scripture in a spiritual sense, and observe how the glory is departed! But blessed be God, there is yet a remnant according to the election of grace; Rom 11:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
Ver. 4. The glory of Jacob shall be made thin. ] Their multitudes wherein they gloried shall be greatly impaired.
And the fatness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 17:4-11
4Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
5It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the valley of Rephaim.
6Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
7In that day man will have regard for his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,
Even the Asherim and incense stands.
9In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And the land will be a desolation.
10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine slips of a strange god.
11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will be a heap
In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.
Isa 17:4 in that day It is uncertain how the text which follows should be divided into poetic strophes. This phrase could denote the start of a new strophe (cf. Isa 17:4, Isa 17:7, Isa 17:9, Isa 17:11). It is difficult to know the difference between poetry and elevated prose (note paragraph divisions and poetic lines of different translations at the beginning of the chapter). See Special Topic: That Day .
NASBfade
NKJVwane
NRSVbrought low
TEVcome to an end
NJBdiminish
This VERB (BDB 195, KB 223, Niphal IMPERFECT) originally referred to low hanging fruit or limbs, but the Niphal stem denoted that which was brought low or laid low (cf. Jdg 6:6). The Qal stem is used in Isa 19:6; Isa 38:14.
This is the first of several negative statements describing Israel.
1. glory. . .will fade, Isa 17:4
2. fatness of his flesh will become lean, Isa 17:4
3. Israel will be cut down, Isa 17:5
4. only a few olives left at the very top, Isa 17:6
Isa 17:5 the valley of Rephaim This refers to a fertile valley southwest of Jerusalem which is mentioned several times in the OT (cf. 2Sa 5:18; 2Sa 5:22; 2Sa 23:13; 1Ch 11:15; 1Ch 14:9; and here). It must have served as the origin of Isaiah’s imagery of expected fruitfulness thwarted (cf. Isa 17:4). Why he used a site in Judah, not Israel, is uncertain. See Special Topic: Terms Used for Tall/Powerful Warriors or People Groups (Giants) .
Isa 17:6 The initial harvest of olive trees was by shaking or striking the tree (cf. Isa 24:13; Deu 24:20). There were always a few olives left that would not fall. These were usually left for the poor (i.e., gleaners). Isaiah uses them as a symbol for a remnant of survivors.
Two or three. . .Four or five This is an example of Hebrew idiom for an indefinite amount.
Isa 17:7-8 These verses form a contrast. Isa 17:7 denotes repentance, Isa 17:8 what they turn from (i.e., idolatry). The question is to whom are these two verses directed.
1. Israel
2. Israel and Syria
3. Israel, Syria, and Assyria
4. all ANE cultures (i.e., men, ).
Is this meant to be parallel to Isaiah 7, 9, , 11? Also notice the promised victory of God’s people in Isa 17:12-14 (esp. 14d)!
Isa 17:7 The parallelism of the verse links Maker (i.e., the Creator of heaven and earth or the creator of Israel, cf. Isa 51:13) with the Holy One of Israel (a title used almost exclusively by Isaiah). This is an allusion to monotheism!
Isa 17:8 Instead of God being the maker they have made their own gods (i.e., Ba’als and Asherim, line 3; Isa 2:8; Isa 2:20; Isa 30:22; Isa 31:7).
SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
incense stands The term (BDB 329 calls it a sun-pillar, but KB 329 calls it a transportable incense-altar) is always used in a negative sense in the context of idol worship (cf. Lev 26:30; 2Ch 14:5; 2Ch 34:4; 2Ch 34:7; Isa 17:8; Isa 27:9; Eze 6:4; Eze 6:6).
Isa 17:9 This seems to begin a new thought unit. It describes the coming judgment in hyperbolic agricultural metaphors (MT)
1. like the forsaken places of the forest
2. like branches which they abandoned
3. the land will be a desolation
This verse is translated very differently by the Septuagint and its translation is followed by JB, NRSV, and REB (and the JPSOA seems to acknowledge its validity in its footnote). The phrase denotes (1) a rapid exodus where useless things are abandoned or (2) people groups conquered by the Israelites in the Conquest (i.e., the Amorites and Hivites).
Isa 17:10 This verse is uniquely addressed to Israel and the reason for their judgment by their covenant Deity.
1. forgotten the God of your salvation (i.e., Psa 78:11; Psa 78:42)
2. not remembered the rock of your refuge (i.e., Psa 18:1-3; Psa 78:35)
3. planted delightful plants in honor of a strange god (cf. Isa 1:29-30; Isa 65:3; Isa 66:17, i.e., sacred gardens or trees. It may refer to Adonis/Tammuz, a vegetation god to whom flowers were planted early in the spring, cf. AB, vol. 6, p. 318)
the God of your salvation This is a recurrent description of Israel’s God (cf. Isa 12:2; Isa 17:10; Isa 33:2; Isa 45:17; Isa. 61:16; Isa 62:10; Psa 65:5; Psa 68:19; Psa 85:4). Salvation denotes deliverance from any force or pressure that denies or cancels YHWH’s covenant desire for His people. Only Israel’s sin can thwart His desires for them and yet, He remains the God of your salvation (cf. Mic 7:7; Hab 3:13; Hab 3:18).
Isa 17:11 This refers to the sacred gardens #3 in Isa 17:10 above.
1. they plant it carefully
2. they fence it
3. they fertilize it
It will grow and reproduce amazingly fast, but will result in
1. harvest a heap
2. sickliness
3. incurable pain (cf. Job 34:6; Jer 15:18; Jer 17:9; Jer 30:12; Jer 30:15; Mic 1:9)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
be = become.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the glory: Isa 9:8, Isa 9:21, Isa 10:4
the fatness: Isa 10:16, Isa 24:13, Isa 24:16, Deu 32:15-27, Eze 34:20, Zep 2:11, *marg.
Reciprocal: Isa 16:14 – the glory Isa 17:9 – General Isa 21:17 – the mighty Jer 13:25 – thy lot Eze 14:22 – therein Amo 6:13 – Have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of {f} Jacob shall be diminished, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.
(f) Meaning, of the ten tribes who boasted themselves of their nobility, prosperity, strength and multitude.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Isaiah revealed the reason for this defeat. In the day of God’s judgment (cf. Isa 17:7; Isa 17:9), Jacob’s prosperity would become lean, as when one grows old and loses his former strength, because of her unbelief: her lack of trust in God. She would experience a thorough reaping of her population, as reapers harvested abundant grain crops in the productive valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem. Yet a remnant would survive, like the few olives or fruits left after a harvest for gleaners to collect. This is what Yahweh, the God who had pledged Himself to Israel, declared.
"Judah need not fear her neighbors; it is God with whom she should come to terms." [Note: Oswalt, p. 351.]