The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
Parallel Translations
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The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
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The fortress also 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 the LORD of hosts.
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The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Isaiah 17:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 7:16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
- Isaiah 8:4 For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
- Hosea 9:11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
- Isaiah 7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people.
- Micah 1:4-9 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place. “All this is for the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations. All her idols will be beaten to pieces, and all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and all her images I will destroy; for of the hire of a prostitute has she gathered them, and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.” For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls. For her wounds are incurable; for it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 16:9 The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Isaiah 10:9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?”
- Isaiah 16:14 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
- Isaiah 17:4 “It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
- Isaiah 28:1-4 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the earth with his hand. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under foot. The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
- Hosea 1:4 Yahweh said to him, “Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
- Hosea 1:6 She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.
- Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.
- Hosea 5:13-14 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound. For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
- Hosea 8:8 Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.
- Hosea 9:16-17 Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.” My God will cast them away, because they didn’t listen to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.
- Hosea 10:14 Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
- Hosea 13:7-8 Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path. I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.
- Amos 2:6-9 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name; and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
- Amos 3:9-15 Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.” “Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.” Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.” Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.” “Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies. “For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 5:25-27 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.
- Amos 6:7-11 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end. “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it. It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention Yahweh’s name.’ “For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.
- Amos 8:14–9:10 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives;’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives;’ they will fall, and never rise up again.” I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name. Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?” says Yahweh. “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh. “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
- Hosea 13:15-16 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure. Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The ten tribes gloried in their multitude and alliance…
The ten tribes gloried in their multitude and alliance with other nations: therefore he saith that they shall be brought down, and the Syrians also.
It seemeth that the Prophet would comfort the Church in declaring the destruction of these two kings of Syria and Israel, when as they had conspired the overthrow of Judah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 17:3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,…
Isa 17:3 The fortress also 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 the LORD of hosts.
Ver. 3. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim.] Heb., Shall sabbatise, or rest. Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had joined with Syria in a confederacy against Judah; they justly therefore partake with them in their punishment.
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Shall be as the glory of the children of Israel.] Poor glory now; but so their low condition is called ironically and by way of contempt, saith Oecolamp.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The fortress; either Samaria, their chief fortress; or all…
The fortress; either Samaria, their chief fortress; or all their fortress or strong holds, the singular number being put for the plural; or all their strength and glory, which answers to the kingdom in the next clause.
And the remnant of Syria; or, and from (which particle is easily understood from the former clause) the remnant of Syria. So the sense is, The remainders of Damascus and Syria shall be a headless body, a people without a king.
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They shall be as the glory; an ironical speech, implying their contemptible condition; for their glory is supposed to be departed from them, by what he had already said of them. The sense is, Syria shall have as much glory as Israel, i.e. neither of them shall have any at all.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,.... The ten…
The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,.... The ten tribes, now in confederacy with the Syrians, whose metropolis or fortress was Samaria, which seems to be intended here; and should be destroyed, at least taken out of the hands of the Israelites, and they be carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, Kg2 17:6 and this may be understood, not of that particular city and fortress only, but of all their strongholds, the singular being, put for the plural. The Targum is, "the government shall cease from Ephraim"; they shall have no more a king over them, nor have they to this day:
and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; Damascus was the head city of Syria, where the kings of Syria had their palace; but now that and the rest of Syria should no more be a kingdom of itself, but should be subject unto others, as it has been ever since:
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they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts; that is, the Syrians, who were in alliance with Israel, should share the same fate; should be carried captive as they were; should have their metropolis and other cities, and their whole kingdom, taken from them, and be stripped of their grandeur and wealth, and have no more glory than they had; which was none at all; or at least very small, as the next verse shows Isa 17:4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The fortress - All their fortresses; the singular number…
The fortress - All their fortresses; the singular number being put for the plural. Remnant - The remainders of Damascus and Syria shall be an headless body, a people without a king. Of Israel - Syria shall have as much glory as Israel; that is, neither of them shall have any at all.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. The remnant of Syria - "The pride…
Verse 3. The remnant of Syria - "The pride of Syria."] For שאר shear, "remnant," Houbigant reads שאת seeth, "pride," answering, as the sentence seems evidently to require, to כבוד cabod, "the glory of Israel." The conjecture is so very probable that I venture to follow it.
As the glory] בכבוד bichbod, "IN the glory," is the reading of eight MSS., and ten editions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 17:3-6. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim…
Isa 17:3-6. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim — The meaning may be, that Damascus being destroyed, that fortress or protection, in which the Ephraimites had placed their confidence, should be taken; or, that at what time Damascus should be overthrown, and deprived of all government and power, the Ephraimites also should be weakened, and deprived of their chief fortresses by the Assyrians; which latter seems to be the true sense: see Hos 10:14; Mic 1:6. The reader will observe, the Syrians of Damascus bordered upon the Ephraimites; and though they had long lived in a state of hostility with them, yet their King Rezin, on receiving some injuries from Uzziah, king of Judah, had found means to unite them with him in an expedition against Jerusalem. As the design of that expedition was wholly frustrated, (see Isa 7:3-9,) so it hastened the destruction of both those nations: for the Assyrians, who were called in by Ahaz to his help, and who had a long time threatened Syria, took this occasion to seize and destroy Damascus, and transport the Damascene Syrians to Assyria and Media, which same fate, partly at the same time, and partly a little after, befell the Ephraimites also; a common cause involving these nations in a common calamity. In that day, the glory of Jacob shall be made thin — Hebrew, ירל, attenuabitur, shall be diminished, emptied, or exhausted. And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean — Their principal citizens shall be spoiled of their dignity and wealth, and carried, with their property, into Assyria. And it shall be as when a harvest-man gathereth the corn — Taking care, as far as may be, that all be gathered in, and nothing left. So shall the whole body of the ten tribes be carried captive, some few gleanings only being left of them as it is in harvest. As he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim — A very fruitful place near Jerusalem. Thus “the prophet explains the judgment upon Ephraim by two similes, and both elegant; the first taken from a beautiful body reduced by a consumption, meaning that their state should be deprived, not only of its chief citizens, but of all its power, wealth, and honour; that whatever it formerly possessed, which gave excellence and beauty, should entirely waste away and be consumed. The second simile is taken from the autumnal gathering in of fruits, or from that fertile harvest, whether of corn, wine, or oil, which used to be gathered in the valley of Rephaim.” Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, &c. — “Whereas the reapers are wont to leave a few ears of corn, and those that gather grapes and olives, a few of the worst bunches of the grapes, and of the worst berries of the olives, so, from the harvest, which the Assyrian should reap in Ephraim, a few men, and those of the least consequence, should be left as a remnant in the land.” This accordingly came to pass: some few Israelites were left after their captivity, who joined themselves to Judah, and were carried captive to Babylon with them, from whence also they returned with them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The fortress - The strong place of defense; the…
The fortress - The strong place of defense; the fortified place.
Shall cease - Shall come to an end; shall cease to be, for so the word שׁבת shâbath is often used, Gen 8:22; Isa 24:8; Lam 5:15.
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From Ephraim - The name given to the kingdom of Israel, or to the ten tribes, because Ephraim was the largest of the ten, and was a leading tribe in their councils (see the note at Isa 7:2). Ephraim, or the kingdom of Samaria, is mentioned here in connection with Damascus or Syria, because they were confederated together, and would be involved in the same overthrow.
And the remnant of Syria - That which is left of the kingdom of Syria after the capital Damascus shall be destroyed.
They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel - That is, as the defenses, or the strongly fortified towns and fastnesses of the kingdom of Israel shall pass away or be destroyed, so shall it be with the kingdom of Damascus. As they are allied with each other, they shall fare alike. The Chaldee reads this, ‘And the dominion shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus.’
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Damascus. Their too great union proved their ruin. Sennacherib…
Damascus. Their too great union proved their ruin. Sennacherib took Damascus, as Salmanasar had done Samaria.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain fortress . . . cease--The strongholds shall be pulled…
fortress . . . cease--The strongholds shall be pulled down (Samaria especially: Hos 10:14; Mic 1:6; Hab 1:10).
remnant of Syria--all that was left after the overthrow by Tiglath-pileser (Kg2 16:9).
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as the glory of . . . Israel--They shall meet with the same fate as Israel, their ally.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. The fortress… shall cease from Ephraim — During…
3. The fortress… shall cease from Ephraim — During their confederacy, Damascus was the defence of Israel or Ephraim — so called because this tribe was the chief of the ten tribes of Israel. In the fall of Damascus this defence comes to an end. So does the glory of that city, and of the chief part of Syria, cease. Its inhabitants are removed. Ephraim loses its bulwark, and Damascus its position as the capital. Syria throughout becomes as miserable as depopulated Israel. One cannot but see bitter irony in the comparing of the glory of Damascus with that of decayed Israel.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. The fortress also … Ephraim] Perhaps: And the…
3. The fortress also … Ephraim] Perhaps: And the bulwark shall be removed from Ephraim, meaning the kingdom of Damascus, which had been like a breakwater, sheltering Israel from the Assyrian onslaught. It is, however, equally possible to understand the “fortress” of Samaria, or collectively of the fortified cities of North Israel; and the parallelism with the next clause may be thought to favour this sense. But the mention of Samaria seems premature in this stanza, which deals with the ruin of Syria.
and the remnant of Syria: they shall be] A.V. here follows the accentuation of the Hebrew; it is better to neglect it and render and the remnant of Syria shall be, &c., letting the first member of the verse end with “Damascus.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim. Sargon did…
The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim. Sargon did not destroy Samaria on the occasion of his first capture. But he says that he "reduced it to a heap of ruins" on the occasion of its second capture ("Records of the Past," l.s.c.). And the kingdom from Damascus. We do not hear of any King of Damascus after Rezin, who was slain by Tiglath-Pileser about B.C. 732. Damascus, however, reasserted her independence in B.C. 721, and probably set up a king at the same time. In B.C. 720 she was reduced and destroyed. Nothing more is heard of her until B.C. 694 the eleventh year of Sen-nacherib when her "governor" is Assyrian Eponym, and she must therefore have been absorbed into the Assyrian empire. The remnant of Syria. This phrase shows that the great blow which struck down Syria Tiglath-Pileser"s capture of Damascus and slaughter of Rezin was a thing of the past. Syria was already but "a remnant." Now she was to cease to exist altogether. They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel. Ironical. The irony is made apparent by the next verse.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:3 The strategic fortified towns of Israel were the…
17:3 The strategic fortified towns of Israel were the pride of Israel, but they could not resist God’s purposes.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.