Isaiah 17:6

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁶Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten-two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches," declares the LORD, the God of Israel.⁷In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. ⁸They will not look to the altars they have made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 10:22, Isaiah 24:13, Deuteronomy 4:27, Judges 8:2, 1 Kings 19:18, Ezekiel 36:8-15, Ezekiel 37:19-25, Ezekiel 39:29, Obadiah 1:5, Micah 7:1, Romans 9:27, Romans 11:4-6, Romans 11:26

Reciprocal: Leviticus 19:10 - glean Job 24:24 - cut off Jeremiah 3:14 - one of a city Jeremiah 49:9 - grapegatherers

Cross-References

Genesis 17:4
"As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

Genesis 17:6
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

Genesis 17:16
And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her."

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 17:20
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 35:11
And God told him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation-even a company of nations-shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.

Ezra 4:20
And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it,.... In Ephraim or Jacob; that is, in the ten tribes, a few of them should escape, a remnant should be saved; comparable, for the smallness of their number, to grapes that are gleaned after the vintage is got in: though Kimchi interprets it of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were but few, in comparison of the ten tribes, who were many; and Jarchi explains it of Hezekiah and his company, in the midst of Jerusalem, who were but few; and observes, that some of their Rabbins understood it of the few men that were left of the multitude of Sennacherib's army, when it was destroyed; but the first sense is best: and the same thing is signified by another simile,

as the shaking of an olive tree; with the hand, when the fruit is ripe; or, "as the striking" q of it with a staff; to beat off the berries, when there are left

two [or] three berries at the top of the uppermost bough: the word "amir" is only used here, and in Isaiah 17:9 and signifies, as Kimchi says, the upper bough or branch; and so Aben Ezra interprets it, the highest part of the olive; and observes, that it so signifies in the language of Kedar, or the Arabic language; in which it is used for a king, a prince, an emperor, one that has the command and government of others r; and hence the word "amiral" or "admiral" comes: now two or three olive berries, being in the uppermost bough, are left, because they cannot be reached by the hand of the gatherer, nor by the staff of the striker. Kimchi applies this to Jerusalem, which was the highest part of the land of Israel; and what was in it the hand of the king of Assyria could not reach:

four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof; which escape the gatherer, shaker, or striker, for the same reason. These similes are very aptly made use of, since the people of Israel are frequently compared to grapes, and vines, and olives, Isaiah 5:1

Jeremiah 11:16:

saith the Lord God of Israel; this is added to confirm what is said, and to express the certainty of it; and shows that the Israelites are meant, to whom the Lord was a covenant God. The Targum applies the metaphors thus,

"so shall the righteous be left alone in the world among the kingdoms, saith the Lord God of Israel.''

q כנקף וית "ut strictura oleae", Cocceius. r "imperator; princeps, dux qui allis quomodo cumque praest imperatque", Golius, col. 158. Castel. col. 150. though the verb in the Hebrew language is used in the sense of elevation or lifting up, and seems to be derived from hence. So Schindler, col. 96. אמיר "ramus, summitas rami----inde verbum", האמיר "eminere aut prominere fecit, rami aut frondis instar exaltavit, extulit, evexit", Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Psal. xciv. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yet gleaning-grapes ... - They shall not all be removed, or destroyed. A “few” shall be left, as a man who is gathering grapes or olives will leave a few that are inaccessible on the topmost boughs, or the furthest branches. Those would be usually the poorest, and so it may be implied that those left in Israel would be among the poorer inhabitants of the land.

Two or three - A very few - such as would be left in gathering grapes, or in endeavoring to shake olives from a tree.

Four or five - A very few that would remain on the furthest branches, and that could not be shaken off or reached.