Isaiah 17:13

The Assyrians shall perish at the rebuke of jehovah. The first clause of the verse is almost identical with the last words of Isaiah 17:12, and is wanting in the Peshito and a few Hebr. MSS. It may have arisen through dittography, although some think the repetition is rhetorically effective, contrasting the long-drawn-out terror of the invasion with the sharp and sudden visitation described in what follows.

butGod shall rebuke them Better: but he (Jehovah) rebuketh it (the tumult of nations). The following verbs should also be rendered as presents and in the singular number: it fleeth … is chased. The "rebuke" of Jehovah is His voice of thunder (Psalms 104:7).

chaff of the mountains Threshing-floors were chosen by preference on elevated situations, free to the wind, which carried away the stubble without any artificial winnowing process.

a rolling thing R.V. the whirling dust, as in Psalms 83:13. The translation "stubble," however, is supported by the analogy of Aramaic and Arabic words.

For the figure, comp. ch. Isaiah 29:5; Psalms 1:4; Psalms 35:5, &c.