Judgment on Damascus and Northern Israel
Isaiah 17:1-14
Isa.17.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- משא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דמשק: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הנה: PART
- דמשק: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מוסר: NOUN,m,sg,const
- מעיר: PREP
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- מעי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- מפלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 1:3-5 (thematic): Direct oracle against Damascus announcing divine judgment and exile—parallels Isaiah's proclamation that Damascus will cease to be a city and become a ruin.
- Jeremiah 49:23-27 (verbal): A prophetic pronouncement on Damascus describing its overthrow and humiliation; language and motifs of devastation closely echo Isaiah's announcement of the city's destruction.
- Zechariah 9:1-8 (allusion): Contains a burden concerning Hadrach and Damascus and predicts calamity for the city and its environs, reflecting the same theme of Damascus' downfall.
- 2 Kings 16:9 (structural): Historical report that the king of Assyria captured Damascus and carried away its people—provides historical background for prophetic sayings about Damascus' loss of city-status.
Alternative generated candidates
- An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus is removed from being a city; it will become a ruinous heap.
- An oracle concerning Damascus. Look—Damascus is taken away; it will cease to be a city and become a ruin.
Isa.17.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עזבות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ערי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- ערער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לעדרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תהיינה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
- ורבצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- מחריד: VERB,piel,ptc,0,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 13:21-22 (verbal): Describes ruined cities inhabited by wild creatures and desolate dwellings—similar imagery of former settlements becoming the haunt of animals once people are gone.
- Isaiah 34:13-15 (thematic): Portrays devastated cities overgrown with thorns and occupied by wild beasts and nocturnal creatures, echoing the motif of urban desolation and animal habitation.
- Jeremiah 9:11 (thematic): God declares he will make Jerusalem and the cities of Judah desolate and a haunt for jackals/creatures—paralleling the prophecy that towns will be left empty and given over to animals.
- Jeremiah 51:37 (thematic): Proclaims Babylon will become heaps and a dwelling for wild animals, ‘without an inhabitant,’ closely reflecting the idea that cities will be abandoned so flocks and beasts may lie down unafraid.
Alternative generated candidates
- Abandoned—cities shall be pastures for flocks; they shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
- The fortified cities will be abandoned and become pasture for flocks; they will lie down, and none will frighten them.
Isa.17.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ונשבת: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- מבצר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מאפרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וממלכה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מדמשק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושאר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ארם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ככבוד: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 7:8 (verbal): Same prophetic milieu and wording linking Ephraim (the northern kingdom) and Damascus (Aram); Isaiah earlier predicts Ephraim will be broken and names Damascus as head of Aram, a close verbal/thematic parallel.
- Amos 1:3-5 (verbal): Amos pronounces judgment on Damascus—'I will break the bar of Damascus'—echoing the theme of Damascus's downfall found in Isa. 17:3.
- Jeremiah 49:23-27 (thematic): A later prophecy announcing the capture and humiliation of Damascus; parallels Isaiah's forecast of the end of Damascus's kingdom and loss of power.
- 2 Kings 16:5-9 (structural): Historical account of the Syro‑Ephraimite threat (Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Israel) against Judah provides the historical background for Isaiah's oracles about the downfall of Damascus and Ephraim.
Alternative generated candidates
- A stronghold will be taken from Ephraim and the rule from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts.
- The fortress will be removed from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the people of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts.
Isa.17.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ידל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כבוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ומשמן: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בשרו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ירזה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 3:16-4:1 (structural): Both passages announce an imminent day of the LORD when the honor and adornment of Zion/Jacob are taken away—Isaiah 17:4 speaks of Jacob’s glory being diminished, and 3:16–4:1 describes removal of finery and loss of status as judgment.
- Isaiah 24:4-7 (thematic): Isaiah 24 depicts wide desolation in which the earth and its produce languish and joy and prosperity fail—thematising the wasting of what represents a people’s ‘fatness’ or prosperity, parallel to Jacob’s wasting in 17:4.
- Micah 1:6-7 (thematic): Micah pronounces destruction on Samaria and Zion—making cities a heap and stripping foundations—echoing the theme of national decline and the loss of former glory expressed in Isaiah 17:4.
- Amos 6:1-7 (thematic): Amos condemns the complacent wealthy in Zion whose prosperity and pride will be overturned; the reversal of affluence and ease parallels the imagery of Jacob’s diminished glory and wasting ‘fatness’ in 17:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day the glory of Jacob will grow thin and the fatness of his body will waste away.
- On that day the glory of Jacob will dwindle, and the fatness of his flesh will grow lean.
Isa.17.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- כאסף: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קציר: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- קמה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- וזרעו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+prsuf:3,m,sg
- שבלים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יקצור: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- כמלקט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שבלים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- בעמק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רפאים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Ruth 2:2,15–16 (thematic): Narrative image of gleaning after the harvest—Ruth gathers leftover grain in the fields, echoing Isaiah's picture of gleaning and scanty harvest remnants.
- Leviticus 19:9–10 (thematic): Legal instruction to leave the edges of the harvest for the poor and sojourner; connects to the motif of leftover ears/gleanings in Isaiah's harvest metaphor.
- Deuteronomy 24:19–22 (thematic): Command to leave sheaves and forgotten produce for the needy and stranger—parallels the social and agricultural practice behind Isaiah's gleaning imagery.
- Joel 3:13 (thematic): Prophetic harvest imagery used for divine judgment—like Isaiah's harvest/gleaning motif, Joel casts judgment in terms of reaping and gleaning.
Alternative generated candidates
- It shall be like the gleaning of a harvest: as when the standing grain is gathered, so he who reaps will glean—like the gleaner in the valley of Rephaim.
- It will be like the harvest—he rises and reaps, his hands gather the grain; like one who gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
Isa.17.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ונשאר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- עוללת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כנקף: PREP+NOUN,m,sg
- זית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שלשה: NUM,m
- גרגרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בראש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- אמיר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ארבעה: NUM,card,m,sg
- חמשה: NUM,m,pl
- בסעפיה: PREP+NOUN+PRON,3,f,sg
- פריה: NOUN,m,sg+PRON,3,f,sg
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 24:20 (verbal): Specifies leaving what remains after beating the olive tree for the poor (alien, orphan, widow). Direct legal/background parallel to the image of leftover olives/berries in Isa 17:6.
- Judges 9:8-9 (thematic): Jotham's parable personifies the olive tree and emphasizes its fruit/oil; shares the olive-tree/fruit imagery used in Isa 17:6 to communicate worth and remnant.
- Jeremiah 11:16 (thematic): God calls Israel a 'green olive tree'—the olive as national symbol. Isaiah 17:6 uses the olive/fruit image similarly to portray what remains of a people after judgment.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): The Song of the Vineyard uses vineyard/fruit imagery to portray expectation and judgment. Isa 17:6 parallels this prophetic motif of disappointed yield and remnant fruit.
Alternative generated candidates
- There shall be left on it only a few berries—like the shaking of an olive: two or three at the top of the uppermost bough, four or five on the fruitful branches, declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
- And a few berries will remain on it—two or three at the top of the highest bough, four or five on its fruitful branches—declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
Isa.17.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ישעה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- עשהו: VERB,qal,ptc,ms,sg+3,m,sg
- ועיניו: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- קדוש: ADJ,m,sg
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תראינה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 45:22 (verbal): Both verses use the language of 'looking' to God as the proper response — Isaiah 45:22 urges, 'Look unto me, and be ye saved,' echoing Isa. 17:7's turn of the eyes to the Maker/Holy One for help.
- Zechariah 12:10 (allusion): Zechariah predicts a future day when people 'look on me whom they have pierced' and mourn; thematically similar to Isa. 17:7's future turning of eyes to the Holy One in a decisive day of recognition/repentance.
- Isaiah 51:1 (thematic): Isaiah 51:1 calls the people to 'look to the rock from which you were hewn,' a call to remember and turn toward their origin/their God — closely paralleling the motif of turning one's eyes to the Maker in Isa. 17:7.
- Jeremiah 17:7 (thematic): Jeremiah declares the blessing of trusting in the LORD ('Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD'), echoing Isa. 17:7's emphasis on reliance and looking to the Lord (the Holy One of Israel) as the proper hope in the day described.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day man will lean on his Maker; his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
- On that day a man will look to his Maker; his eyes will turn to the Holy One of Israel.
Isa.17.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ולא: CONJ
- ישעה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- המזבחות: NOUN,m,pl,def
- מעשה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs,suff:3,m,sg
- ואשר: CONJ+PRON,rel
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אצבעתיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- יראה: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- והאשרים: NOUN,f,pl,def
- והחמנים: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 44:9-20 (verbal): A close Isaiah parallel that ridicules idols as the work of human hands/fingers; depicts the maker shaping, burning, and worshiping his own craft—echoes the language and polemic against altars and Asherim.
- Psalm 115:4-8 (verbal): Explicit language: 'Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands' and 'those who make them are like them'—direct verbal and thematic echo of rejecting man-made altars and images.
- Jeremiah 10:3-5 (verbal): Describes cutting, shaping, and adorning wooden idols and concludes that makers are like their creations—parallels the denunciation of trusting altars and objects 'of his hands'.
- Habakkuk 2:18-20 (thematic): Condemns the value and makers of idols ('What profit is an idol... who has fashioned it?') and contrasts silence before the LORD with the futility of man-made altars—thematic counterpart to Isaiah's reproach.
- Deuteronomy 4:28 (thematic): Warns Israel that they will serve 'wood and stone, which neither see nor hear,' anticipating the fate described in Isaiah 17:8 of looking to/manufacturing impotent altars and idols.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; to what his fingers made he will not pay heed—the Asherim and the incense altars.
- He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, nor to what his fingers have made—the Asherim and the incense altars.
Isa.17.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- יהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ערי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- מעזו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF:3,m,sg
- כעזובת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- החרש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והאמיר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עזבו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מפני: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- שממה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 13:20-22 (thematic): Speaks of cities laid waste and uninhabited—wild animals dwelling there and comparison to Sodom/Gomorrah—closely parallels Isaiah 17:9’s picture of fortified cities abandoned and desolate.
- Deuteronomy 29:23 (verbal): Uses the formula of land and cities becoming a desolation like Sodom and Gomorrah; similar legal/prophetic language about abandonment and ruin.
- Ezekiel 26:20-21 (thematic): Prophecy of a great city (Tyre) left desolate and forsaken after judgment; parallels the motif of strongholds and cities being abandoned in Isaiah 17:9.
- Zephaniah 2:13-15 (thematic): Pronounces the humiliation and desolation of a fortified city (Nineveh), including loss of fame and habitation—echoes Isaiah 17:9’s theme of emptied strongholds.
- Isaiah 14:23 (structural): Declares that a city will be made a possession of jackals/bitterns and swept away—a recurrent Isaiah motif of cities becoming desolate that frames Isaiah 17:9’s judgment imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day his strong cities will become like a deserted sheepfold, like a fold left behind because of the sons of Israel; they will lie desolate.
- On that day the fortified cities will be like a forsaken stronghold, the fort left abandoned because of the sons of Israel; it shall be a desolation.
Isa.17.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- שכחת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישעך: NOUN,f,sg,pr-2ms
- וצור: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מעזך: NOUN,m,sg,pr-2ms
- לא: PART_NEG
- זכרת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- כן: ADV
- תטעי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- נטעי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נעמנים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- וזמרת: NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
- זר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- תזרענו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:15 (verbal): Uses language of abandoning/forgetting God and ‘the Rock’ of salvation — closely parallels Isaiah’s charge that they have forgotten the God of their salvation and the Rock of their strength.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (structural): ‘Song of the Vineyard’—God as planter who expects fruit but receives failure; vineyard/vine imagery and indictment of Israel’s misplaced ways echo Isaiah 17:10’s critique of planting pleasant/foreign vines instead of trusting God.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (thematic): God speaks of having planted Israel as a choice vine and the nation’s degeneration into a wild/foreign vine—parallels the motif of planting vines and Israel’s unfaithfulness in Isaiah 17:10.
- Psalm 80:8–9 (allusion): Describes God transplanting and planting Israel like a vine; this contrast highlights Isaiah 17:10’s reproach that people have forgotten the true planter (God) and are engaged in sowing their own ‘pleasant’ or foreign vines.
Alternative generated candidates
- For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore you planted pleasant plants and set out foreign vines.
- For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore you have planted pleasant plants and set out foreign seedlings.
Isa.17.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- נטעך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- תשגשגי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- ובבקר: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- זרעך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- תפריחי: VERB,hiph,impf,2,f,sg
- נד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קציר: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- ביום: PREP
- נחלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכאב: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אנוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 27:6 (thematic): Both passages use agricultural imagery (taking root, blossoming, bearing fruit) to describe restoration and fruitful prosperity for Israel.
- Hosea 14:6-7 (Hebrew 14:5-6) (verbal): Like Isaiah 17:11, Hosea speaks of spreading branches, budding and flourishing, and abundant yield—shared vocabulary and imagery of growth and fruitfulness.
- Joel 2:23-24 (thematic): Joel promises rains and an overflowing harvest; both texts celebrate agricultural blessing and a plentiful harvest as signs of divine favor.
- Deuteronomy 28:11-12 (thematic): Deuteronomy's blessing for obedience includes abundance of grain and provision—parallel theme of fruitful sowing and plentiful harvest as covenantal blessing.
- Isaiah 26:17-18 (thematic): Isaiah elsewhere uses the image of painful travail to depict national suffering and birthlike deliverance; the phrase 'great pain' in 17:11 resonates with this labour-pain motif.
Alternative generated candidates
- On the day you plant you make it flourish; at morning your seed sprouts—yet harvest will be a heap on the day of calamity and of human distress.
- On the day you plant, you prosper; in the morning your seed sprouts—yet at harvest it is the day of pain, the labor of human grief.
Isa.17.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הוי: INTJ
- המון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- עמים: NOUN,pl,m,abs
- רבים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- כהמות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יהמיון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושאון: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כשאון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כבירים: PREP+ADJ,m,pl,abs
- ישאון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 93:3-4 (verbal): Speaks of floods lifting up their voice and roaring—uses the same image of tumultuous, roaring waters to describe overwhelming force or noise.
- Isaiah 8:7-8 (thematic): Within Isaiah the advance of an invading army is likened to many waters or a flood—same metaphor of nations rushing like mighty waters.
- Isaiah 57:20 (thematic): Describes the wicked as a troubled sea that cannot rest—uses sea imagery to depict tumult and instability, parallel to nations roaring like the sea.
- Revelation 17:15 (allusion): Identifies the 'waters' as peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues—an NT recasting of the biblical motif of nations likened to rushing waters.
Alternative generated candidates
- Woe to the roar of many peoples, which roar like the roaring of the sea! The tumult of nations—like the tumult of mighty waters they roar.
- Woe to the multitude of peoples, a tumultuous throng—like the roaring of the sea! The clamor of nations is like the loud waves of mighty waters.
Isa.17.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לאמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כשאון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רבים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- ישאון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- וגער: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ונס: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ממרחק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ורדף: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,ms
- כמץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- לפני: PREP
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכגלגל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לפני: PREP
- סופה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 29:3-9 (verbal): The LORD’s voice is compared to many waters and powerful storm imagery—paralleling nations ‘roaring like many waters’ and the divine response to that tumult.
- Nahum 1:3-4 (thematic): God rebukes the sea and the mountains quake before him; similar themes of divine rebuke and enemies scattered like things before the wind.
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): The wicked are described as ‘chaff that the wind drives away,’ echoing the simile of enemies driven like chaff before the wind in Isa 17:13.
- Habakkuk 3:8-11 (thematic): A theophany where God’s rebuke affects rivers and mountains and causes flight—uses the same motif of divine control over waters and mountains in judgment.
- Psalm 18:7-16 (2 Samuel 22:8-16) (structural): A theophanic scene of earthquake, storm, and divine intervention that brings terror and flight—structurally parallels Isaiah’s depiction of nations terrified and pursued by God’s power.
Alternative generated candidates
- They roar like many waters, but he will rebuke them; they shall flee far away—driven like chaff on the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
- Nations roar like many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far; they will be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Isa.17.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לעת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ערב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והנה: ADV
- בלהה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בטרם: PREP
- בקר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איננו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl,neg
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- חלק: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- שוסינו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss,1,pl
- וגורל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לבזזינו: PREP+VERB,piel,inf,obj,1,pl
Parallels
- Obadiah 1:5 (verbal): Both texts condemn those who plunder/rob and use nighttime imagery of thieves—‘robbers by night’—to describe sudden loss and spoil.
- Job 27:20 (verbal): Imagery of sudden nocturnal terror and being swept away in the night parallels ‘in the evening—behold terror; before morning—there is none.’
- Isaiah 13:9-11 (thematic): Proclamation of sudden, total divine judgment on a nation—day of the LORD bringing swift devastation—parallels the swift, complete removal of the plunderers’ portion.
- Nahum 1:8-9 (structural): Depicts God’s making a complete end of an enemy so that it rises no more—mirrors Isaiah’s theme of abrupt, decisive destruction of those who attack Israel.
- Psalm 37:20 (thematic): Describes the sudden perishing and vanishing of the wicked like smoke—echoes the motif that enemies will disappear quickly, leaving no portion for plunderers.
Alternative generated candidates
- At evening—behold terror!—before morning they are no more. Such is the portion of those who plunder us, the lot of those who despoil us.
- At evening—behold terror! Before morning—there is none; this is the portion of those who plunder us, the lot of those who loot us.
The oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city and will become a ruinous heap.
The cities of Aroer will be forsaken; they will be pastures for flocks, they will lie down and there will be none to make them afraid.
The fortress will be seized from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts.
In that day the splendour of Jacob will languish, and the fat of his flesh will grow thin.
It will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain and his arm harvesting the ears; like one who gleans ears in the Valley of Rephaim.
Only a few gleanings will remain, as when one shakes an olive—two or three berries on the top of the highest bough, four or five on its branches— declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
In that day man will look to his Maker; his eyes will gaze toward the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars—the work of his hands; what his fingers have made he will not regard, neither the Asherah-poles nor the incense altars.
In that day the fortress cities will be like the abandoned folds of the wilderness, like watchtowers left deserted because of the sons of Israel; they will become a desolation.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have not remembered the Rock of your strength; therefore you have planted pleasant plants and set out foreign slips.
On the day you plant, your planting will prosper; in the morning your seed will sprout—but at the time of harvest there will be panic and human anguish.
Woe to the tumult of many peoples, which roar like the roaring of the sea; the uproar of nations is like the noise of mighty waters!
The nations roar like many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away; they will be driven like chaff from the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before a whirlwind.
In the evening—behold terror!—before the morning he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, the lot of those who loot us.