Thomas Aquinas Commentary Isaiah 17:1-14

"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing grain, and his arm reapeth the ears; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel. In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images. In that day shall their strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it shall be a desolation. For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with strange slips. In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to blossom; but the harvest fleeth away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. Ah, the uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. At eventide, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us." — Isaiah 17:1-14 (ASV)

1. The burden of Damascus. Here he begins to threaten those who created an occasion of sin for the people of God, because by trusting in their help, they failed to trust in God. This is divided into two parts:

   • First, he threatens the Syrians, who brought help to the people of the ten tribes.

   • Second, he threatens the Egyptians, who did the same for the two tribes: woe to the land (Isaiah 18).

   The first of these is divided into three parts:

   • First, he threatens the destruction of the Syrians who promise help.

   • Second, he threatens the destruction of the ten tribes who trust in that promised help: and it shall come to pass in that day (Isaiah 17:4).

   • Third, he threatens the destruction of the Assyrians who destroy both of them: woe to the multitude (Isaiah 17:12).

2. Regarding the first point, he does two things:

   • First, he threatens destruction.

   • Second, he describes the effect of the destruction: and aid shall cease (Isaiah 17:3).

   He threatens destruction, first, concerning the royal city: Damascus shall cease to be a city, from the plundering of its people, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones, from the destruction of its walls. As it is written, Zion shall be as a field (Micah 3:12).

   Second, concerning the neighboring region: of Aroer. This refers to that region of Syria where there are many cities. Alternatively, Aroer is Hebrew for “tamarisk,” as if to say that just as places where tamarisks abound are barren and left for sheep to graze, so will the cities of Syria be. There shall be none to make them afraid, for because of their solitude, there will not even be thieves there. Or, it means they will not be useful for other produce, just as flocks are frightened away from vineyards and farmland. As it says below, nettles shall grow up in its houses (Isaiah 34:13).

3. And aid shall cease. Here the effect of the destruction is laid out:

   1. The effect on the ten tribes: from Ephraim.

   2. The effect on the royal city: and the kingdom from Damascus will cease, and it will no longer be the head of the kingdom.

   3. The effect on the entire region: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel. This is said ironically, meaning they will be disgraced like the children of Israel. As it says above, the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall (Isaiah 31:3).

4. And it shall come to pass in that day. Here he threatens the destruction of the ten tribes, who trust in the help of the Syrians.

   • First, concerning the oppression of their people.

   • Second, concerning the destruction of their cities: in that day his strong cities (Isaiah 17:9).

   • Third, concerning the barrenness of their fields: therefore shall you plant (Isaiah 17:10).

   Concerning the first point, he does two things:

   • First, he threatens punishment.

   • Second, he shows the fruit of the punishment: in that day man shall bow down (Isaiah 17:7).

   He threatens punishment on their people:

   • First, against their vainglory: the glory of Jacob shall be made thin. That is, it will be diminished and reduced as if to nothing when that in which they gloried is destroyed.

   • Second, against the opulence of their riches: and the fatness of his flesh. This refers to the riches with which they delicately nourished their flesh. As it says above, the sovereign Lord shall send, shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled (Isaiah 10:16, 33).

   • Third, against the abundance of the people, he threatens a scarcity of people. He describes this using a threefold metaphor, as the blessing of Jacob consisted in the abundance of three things: abundance of corn and wine and oilVg. omits “and oil.” (Genesis 27:28).

5. Regarding the first, he describes a scarcity of ears of grain after the harvest, which are gathered by the harvester himself. Thus, the scarcity of the remnant of the ten tribes shall be as when someone gathers in the harvest that which remains from the first reaping, and from what is gathered, his arm shall pick out the ears of corn—that is, collect them. This one who gathers was Hezekiah, who called together the remnant of the ten tribes, as is written in 2 Chronicles 30. It could also refer to what is gathered by someone poor, as it says in Ruth 2:3: I will go into the field to glean the ears of corn. In this regard, he says, it shall be as he that seeks ears in the vale of Raphaim, which was a very fertile valley.

6. Against an abundance of wine, he describes a scarcity of grapes after the harvest: and the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes. Compare this to Micah 7:1: woe is me, for I am become as one that gleans in autumn the grapes of the vintage. Against an abundance of oil, he describes a scarcity of olives after the shaking of the olive. The olive,Olea. as Papias says, is the fruit of the olive tree,Olivarum. but here, according to the explanation of the Gloss, it seems to mean the tree itself. On its top remains a small amount of fruit that the harvesters are not able to reach. Concerning this scarcity, see Deuteronomy 28:62: you shall remain few in number.

7. Note on the words, and the fatness of his flesh (Isaiah 17:4), that riches are called "fatness" for several reasons:

   1. Because of their barrenness: the deceitfulness of riches chokes up the word, and he becomes fruitless (Matthew 13:22).

   2. Because of their inconstancy: charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches (1 Timothy 6:17).

   3. Because of their uselessness: behold this was the iniquity of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49); riches kept to the hurt of the owner (Ecclesiastes 5:12).

8. In that day. Here he lays out the fruit of the punishment. Man—that is, anyone who fled from the ten tribes to Hezekiah—shall bow down himself to his Maker, giving the proper service of worship. His eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, expecting help. He will also reject his temples (delubra)—temples that had fonts, as if for washing. As it says below, in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver (Isaiah 31:7).

9. In that day. Here he threatens the desolation of their cities.

   • First, he threatens the desolation itself: as the ploughs. This alludes to what is found in Joshua 6 and 7, how the Amorites fled at the coming of the sons of Israel, leaving behind everything in the fields. As it says above, your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire (Isaiah 1:7).

   • Second, the reason for the desolation is given: and you shall be desolate because you have forgotten God your savior. As it is written, you have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord that created you (Deuteronomy 32:18).

10. Therefore shall you plant. Here he threatens a barrenness of fruit, and regarding this, he does three things.

    1. He shows the useless labor of cultivation. Concerning their vineyards, he speaks of unfaithful plants, for they will not return fruit according to your labor. Or, he says faithful ironically, as if to ask: because of the evil you have done, will your plants be faithful? Concerning their fields, he speaks of a strange seed, which another will gather. As it says above, ten jugera of vineyard shall yield one little measure (Isaiah 5:10).

    2. He speaks of the ruin of the fruit. In the day of your planting refers to when you should have gathered the fruit from your planting—this concerns the vineyards. As for the fields, in the morning your seed shall flourish means it will be beautiful at first, so that you may mourn all the more, or because it will flower before the proper season and be useless. As it is written, the inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end shall be without a blessing (Proverbs 20:21). The harvest is taken away by enemies in the day of inheritance, when it ought to be stored in the barn as the fruit of their inheritance. As Jeremiah says, they have sown wheat, and reaped thorns (Jeremiah 12:13).

    3. He threatens sorrow for the loss: it shall grieve you,Dolebit. meaning the one who sowed; or you shall grieve.Dolebis tu.

11. Woe to the multitude. Here he threatens the destruction of the Assyrians, and regarding this he lays out three things.

    First, he describes the multitude of the army. Concerning the noise of their marching: woe to the multitude of people, coming with Sennacherib. Concerning the tumult of their speaking: the tumult, which is confused speech, especially of a crowd. Concerning the shout of their fighting: nations shall make a noise in battle. As it says above, behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many (Isaiah 8:7). See also Jeremiah 6:23, their voice shall roar like the sea, and Revelation 17:15, where many waters mean many peoples.

12. Second, he threatens destruction.

    1. First, he describes the destruction itself: but he shall rebuke him, killing his army by an angel, and he shall flee far off, to his own land with only a few men, as it says above (Isaiah 10:18). As the Psalm says, you have rebuked the Gentiles (Psalms 9:5).

    2. Second, a similitude is given that corresponds to the nature of the destruction. Because he was proud, he shall be carried away as the dust, which is driven before the wind, as in Psalm 1:4: like the dust. The timing is also described: as a whirlwind before a tempest. For his army was slain by night, which is called a tempest, and the precursor to a tempest is a whirling of dust by winds, which cause rain. As it is written, in the night an angel came, and slew the army of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:35).

    3. Third, the completion of the destruction is described: and he shall not be, for he himself was killed. As it says, you are brought to nothing (Ezekiel 28:19).

    4. Fourth, the reason for the destruction is given: this is the portion of them that have wasted us—that is, our possessions—and the lot of them that spoiled our moveable goods. As the Psalm says, fire and brimstone, and storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup (Psalms 11:6).

13. Note on the words, his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 17:7), that our eyes ought to be inclined to the Lord in several ways:

    1. Through the adherence of faith, as it says below: your eyes shall see your teacher (Isaiah 30:20).

    2. Through the expectation of hope: the eyes of all hope in you, O Lord (Psalms 145:15).

    3. Through the contemplation of love: from thence she contemplatesContemplabitur. DR: “looketh for.” the prey, and her eyes behold afar off (Job 39:29).

    4. Through the enjoyment of glory: blessed are your eyes (Matthew 13:16).

14. Note on the words, unfaithful plants (Isaiah 17:10), that these are:

    1. The avaricious: he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

    2. The lustful: what fruit had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? (Romans 6:21).

    3. The proud: what has pride profited us? .