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A Message about Damascus and Israel

17 This message came to me concerning Damascus:

“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear!
    It will become a heap of ruins.
The towns of Aroer will be deserted.
    Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed,
    with no one to chase them away.
The fortified towns of Israel[a] will also be destroyed,
    and the royal power of Damascus will end.
All that remains of Syria[b]
    will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,”
    declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:3a Hebrew of Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 17:3b Hebrew Aram.

The Lord Will Judge Damascus

17 This is an oracle[a] about Damascus:
“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,
it is a heap of ruins!
The cities of Aroer are abandoned.[b]
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace.[c]
Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom.[d]
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:1 tn See note at Isa 13:1.
  2. Isaiah 17:2 tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (ʿazuvot ʿarayha ʿade ʿad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.
  3. Isaiah 17:2 tn Heb “and they lie down, and there is no one scaring [them].”
  4. Isaiah 17:3 tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”