Isaiah 17 - Introduction

Isaiah 17:1-11. The approaching overthrow of Damascus and North Israel

This oracle, the Isaianic authorship of which is beyond question, should be read afterch. Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4 and beforech. 7. It deals mainly with the fate of the Northern Kingdom; but the combination of Syria and Ephraim in one prophecy shews that the league between these two nations had already been formed. With a serenity of faith which is more akin to the contemptuous attitude of ch. Isaiah 7:4 than to the impassioned utterances of Isaiah 9:8 ff., the prophet discloses the inevitable issues of an alliance based on practical rejection of Jehovah and the adoption of foreign idolatries (Isaiah 17:10 f.). The date is certainly prior to the Assyrian conquest of Damascus (c. 732), and since there is no mention of the outbreak of hostilities against Judah, we may fix it in the early days of the coalition (c. 735).

The passage divides itself into four sections:

2 Samuel 17:1; 2 Samuel 17:1. An announcement of the impending ruin of the kingdom of Damascus, Israel's bulwark against the Assyrians.

ii. Isa 17:4-6. A figurative description of the fate of Ephraim: his strength shall be consumed until only an insignificant remnant is left.

iii. Isa 17:7-8. The effect of this display of the Divine power on men's religious attitude.

iv. Isaiah 17:9. A renewed description of the judgment, which is shewn to be the fruit of Israel's apostasy and devotion to heathen cults.