the Second Week after Easter
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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
Isaiah 17:2
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Concordances:
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- CondensedContextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Aroer: Numbers 32:34, Deuteronomy 2:36, Deuteronomy 3:12, Joshua 13:16, Jeremiah 48:19
they shall: Isaiah 5:17, Isaiah 7:23-25, Ezekiel 25:5, Zephaniah 2:6
none: Jeremiah 7:33
Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 24:5 - Aroer 1 Chronicles 5:8 - Aroer Isaiah 7:21 - a man Isaiah 7:25 - but it Isaiah 27:10 - there shall the Zephaniah 3:13 - and
Cross-References
"Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land-from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates-
"As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
And to you and your descendants I will give the land of your sojourn-all the land of Canaan-as an eternal possession; and I will be their God."
You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?"
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!"
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The cities of Aroer are forsaken,.... The inhabitants of them being slain, or carried captive, or obliged to flee. Aroer was a city by the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab and Ammon, Deuteronomy 2:36 Deuteronomy 3:12, it was originally in the hands of the Amorites, and sometimes in the hands of the Moabites and Ammonites: it was given by Moses to the Reubenites and, Gadites, from whom it was taken by the Syrians, and in whose possession it seems to have been at this time; see 2 Kings 10:33 though Jarchi thinks it was now in the hands of Pekah king of Israel, and said to be forsaken, because the Reubenites and Gadites were now carried captive. Jerom m says it was seen in his time, upon the top of the mountain. Here it seems to designs a country of this name, in which were many cities. Grotius thinks it was a tract of land in Syria, the same with the Aveira of Ptolemy n. Vitringa is of opinion that Damascus itself is meant, which was a double city, like that divided by the river Chrysorrhoas, as this was by Arnon.
They shall be for flocks which shall lie down; instead of houses, there should be sheepcotes and shepherds' tents, and instead of men, sheep; and where streets were, grass would grow, and flocks feed and lie down; which is expressive of the utter desolation of these cities, or this tract of ground:
and none shall make [them] afraid; the flocks of sheep, timorous creatures, easily frightened; but so great should be the depopulation now, there would be no man upon the spot, or any pass by, to give them any disturbance.
m De locis. Heb. fol. 87. 1. n Geograph. l. 5. c. 15.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The cities of Aroer - By “Aroer” here seems to be meant a tract or region of country pertaining to Damascus, in which were situated several cities. Grotius supposes that it was a tract of country in Syria which is called by Ptolemy “Aueira” - Αὔειρα Aueira. Vitringa supposes that one part of Damascus is meant by this, as Damascus was divided by the river in the same manner that Babylon was. There were several cities of the name of “Aroer.” One was on the river Arnon in the land of Moab Deuteronomy 2:36; Deuteronomy 3:12; Joshua 12:3. Burckhardt found this city under the name of Aroer. There was another city of this name further north, over against Rabbath-Ammon Joshua 13:25. There was a third city of this name in the tribe of Judah 1 Samuel 30:28. Of the city of Araayr which Burckhardt visited, nothing is now remarkable but its entire desolation. Gesenius supposes (“Commentary in loc.”) that the phrase ‘the cities of Aroer’ means the cities round about Aroer, and that were connected with it, similar to the phrase ‘daughters of a city.’ This city he supposes was near the river Arnon, within the limits of Moab, and that the prediction here was fufilled by Tiglath-pileser, when he carried away the inhabitants of Galilee, Gilead, and other places mentioned in 2 Kings 15:29. There can be no doubt that it was under the jurisdiction of Damascus.
Are forsaken - Are desolate, and the inhabitants have fled.
They shall be for flocks ... - (See the note at Isaiah 5:17.)
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 17:2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken - "The cities are deserted for ever"] What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus? and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of Aroer, if Aroer itself is a city, makes no good sense. The Septuagint, for ערער aroer, read עדי עד adey ad, εις τον αιωνα, for ever, or for a long duration. The Chaldee takes the word for a verb from ערה arah, translating it חרבו cherebu, devastabuntur, "they shall be wasted." The Syriac read עדועיר adoeir. So that the reading is very doubtful. I follow the Septuagint as making the plainest sense.
