Isaiah 17:3

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹This is an oracle concerning Damascus: "Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins. ²The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear. ³The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites," declares the LORD of Hosts.⁴"In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away, ⁵as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

fortress: Isaiah 7:8, Isaiah 7:16, Isaiah 8:4, Isaiah 10:9, 2 Kings 16:9, 2 Kings 17:6, Hosea 1:4, Hosea 1:6, Hosea 3:4, Hosea 5:13, Hosea 5:14, Hosea 8:8, Hosea 9:16, Hosea 9:17, Hosea 10:14, Hosea 13:7, Hosea 13:8, Hosea 13:15, Hosea 13:16, Amos 2:6-9, Amos 3:9-15, Amos 5:25-27, Amos 6:7-11, Amos 8:14, Amos 9:1-10, Micah 1:4-9

they shall: Isaiah 16:14, Isaiah 28:1-4, Hosea 9:11

Reciprocal: Isaiah 27:7 - he smitten Amos 6:13 - Have

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
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?"

Genesis 17:18
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!"

Genesis 17:23
Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money-every male among the members of Abraham's household-and he circumcised them that very day, just as God had told him.

Genesis 17:24
So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

Exodus 3:6
Then He said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Numbers 14:5
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the entire assembled congregation of Israel.

Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You vent Your wrath on the whole congregation?"

Numbers 16:45
"Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant." And they fell facedown.

Joshua 5:14
"Neither," He replied. "I have now come as commander of the LORD's army." Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, "What does my Lord have to say to His servant?"

Judges 13:20
When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,.... The ten tribes, now in confederacy with the Syrians, whose metropolis or fortress was Samaria, which seems to be intended here; and should be destroyed, at least taken out of the hands of the Israelites, and they be carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6 and this may be understood, not of that particular city and fortress only, but of all their strongholds, the singular being, put for the plural. The Targum is, "the government shall cease from Ephraim"; they shall have no more a king over them, nor have they to this day:

and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; Damascus was the head city of Syria, where the kings of Syria had their palace; but now that and the rest of Syria should no more be a kingdom of itself, but should be subject unto others, as it has been ever since:

they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts; that is, the Syrians, who were in alliance with Israel, should share the same fate; should be carried captive as they were; should have their metropolis and other cities, and their whole kingdom, taken from them, and be stripped of their grandeur and wealth, and have no more glory than they had; which was none at all; or at least very small, as the next verse shows Isaiah 17:4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The fortress - The strong place of defense; the fortified place.

Shall cease - Shall come to an end; shall cease to be, for so the word שׁבת shâbath is often used, Genesis 8:22; Isaiah 24:8; Lamentations 5:15.

From Ephraim - The name given to the kingdom of Israel, or to the ten tribes, because Ephraim was the largest of the ten, and was a leading tribe in their councils (see the note at Isaiah 7:2). Ephraim, or the kingdom of Samaria, is mentioned here in connection with Damascus or Syria, because they were confederated together, and would be involved in the same overthrow.

And the remnant of Syria - That which is left of the kingdom of Syria after the capital Damascus shall be destroyed.

They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel - That is, as the defenses, or the strongly fortified towns and fastnesses of the kingdom of Israel shall pass away or be destroyed, so shall it be with the kingdom of Damascus. As they are allied with each other, they shall fare alike. The Chaldee reads this, ‘And the dominion shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus.’

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 17:3. The remnant of Syria - "The pride of Syria."] For שאר shear, "remnant," Houbigant reads שאת seeth, "pride," answering, as the sentence seems evidently to require, to כבוד cabod, "the glory of Israel." The conjecture is so very probable that I venture to follow it.

As the glory — בכבוד bichbod, "IN the glory," is the reading of eight MSS., and ten editions.