John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 17:2

"The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid." — Isaiah 17:2 (ASV)

The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It is not probable that Aroer here denotes the city which is mentioned elsewhere (Numbers 32:34; Deuteronomy 2:36, 3:12, 4:48), but it is rather the name of a country. He draws the picture of a country which has been ruined; for he shows that those places in which cities had been built will be devoted to pasture, and that no habitation will be left there but huts and shepherds’ tents; for if any inhabitants remained, the shepherds would drive their flocks to some other place.