Глава 17

“The word is to Damascus. Behold, Damascus will be overwhelmed by hail" (Is. 17:1). The royal city of Damascus will cease to be the capital of the kingdom of Syria, because the Syrians wanted to take away the dignity of the royal city in Judea from Jerusalem, and helped the kingdom of Samaria. “The cities of Aroer a will be abandoned” (Is. 17:2), famous for the number of their inhabitants and the enormity of their buildings. “And therefore there will be no kingdoms in Damascus” (Is. 17:3). It will be destroyed by Feglath-pileser. “And in that day there will be a darkening of the glory of Jacob, - that is, the king of Samaria and the Samaritans, who hoped in Damascus, - and his fat flesh will be shaken” (Is. 17:4). With these words, the prophet points to the pride of the Samaritans, and predicts that their pride will cease with the humiliation of Damascus. By the words “fat flesh” he means that which formerly constituted the glory of Samaria, now will waver. “And it will be as if someone gathers a harvest, one ear at a time.” After the reapers have reaped and bound the harvest into sheaves, there remain some ears of corn that did not fall into their hands, but there are very few of them. So, there will be few remaining Israelites, but the king of Assyria will find them too. “Like someone who gathers grains after the harvest in the wilds of Raphaim (Rephaim)” (Is. 17:5), that is, in a fat and fruitful country. And such gathering of the remaining ears of grain will be more painful for the Israelites than the previous harvest. “And it will remain in Israel - which was not achieved during the destruction of Damascus - on that day man will trust in the Creator and, - that is, the Israelites, admonished by punishment, will already trust in God - and will not trust in the churches, in the high places and in the idols set up in Bethel and Dan" (Is. 17: 6-8). “In that day its strong cities will be like the reservoir of Horesh Amir” (Is. 17:9). The Hebrew original says: “like the remaining branches and twigs that the children of Israel once spared.” By this the prophet foreshadows the captivity of the Israelites, which was fulfilled under Tiglath-pileser, who took the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh into captivity. “For this reason, plant a beautiful garden” (Is. 17:10), that is, the righteous, taken and taken captive during the war, will sow the word of truth among the nations to which they will be resettled. “In the same day, if you plant... it will flourish” (Is. 17:11). These plants, transplanted into the rough soil of the pagans, will soon bear fruit there. “And in the morning you will bring forth your seed,” that is, the nations, having seen the deliverance of the Israelites, will accept with faith the truth proclaimed to them. “Like gleaning grapes in a short day,” that is, your captivity, O Israel, will be as short-lived as the labor of those who pick grapes, which is short-lived and soon ends. “And like a human illness,” a mild illness that, although it causes suffering, is quickly cured. “This is the plunder before the morning,” that is, the Jews will suffer plunder from the Assyrians until God sends deliverance to the house of “King Hezekiah.” Or the prophet puts forward the cause here instead of the effect and calls the very grief of the Jews as robbery due to the disasters that they have already endured, and which Rabshakeh was still preparing for them. This sorrow will end before the dawn of day, because the Angel will destroy the Assyrian army at night. That is why the prophet says: “This is the portion of those who took us captive, and the lot of those who inherited us” (Is. 17:14). You might be interested in: