“It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
Parallel Translations
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“It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
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And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
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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.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Isaiah 17:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 10:16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.
- Deuteronomy 32:15-27 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth. Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man. I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’ ”
- Isaiah 9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel.
- Isaiah 9:21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 10:4 They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 24:13 For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
- Isaiah 24:16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
- Ezekiel 34:20 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
- Zephaniah 2:11 Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, of the ten tribes, which boasted themselves of…
Meaning, of the ten tribes, which boasted themselves of their nobility, prosperity, strength and multitude.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 17:4 And in that day it shall come…
Isa 17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
Ver. 4. The glory of Jacob shall be made thin.] Their multitudes wherein they gloried shall be greatly impaired.
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And the fatness.] He shall be cast into a deadly consumption, know the consumption of a kingdom is poverty, and the death of it is loss of authority, saith Scultetus, wickedness being the root of its wretchedness, like as the causes of diseases are in the body itself.
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 Shall be made thin; or, shall be emptied, as…
Shall be made thin; or, shall be emptied, as this word is rendered, Isa 19:6.
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 And in that day it shall come to pass,....…
And in that day it shall come to pass,.... It being much about the same time that both kingdoms were destroyed by the Assyrians:
that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin; the same with Ephraim and Israel, the ten tribes, whose glory lay in the superior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vast numbers that should be carried captive:
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and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean: like a man in a consumption, that is become a mere skeleton, and reduced to skin and bones: the meaning is, that all their wealth and riches should be taken away; so the Targum,
"and the riches of his glory shall be carried away.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. In that day] That is, says Kimchi,…
Verse 4. In that day] That is, says Kimchi, the time when the ten tribes of Israel, which were the glory of Jacob, should be carried into captivity.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The glory of Jacob - “Jacob” is used here…
The glory of Jacob - “Jacob” is used here to denote the kingdom of Israel, or Samaria. The word ‘glory’ here denotes dignity, power; that on which they relied, and of which they boasted.
Shall be made thin - Shall be diminished, as a body wastes away by disease, and becomes feeble. The prophet sets forth the calamities of Ephraim by two figures; the first is that of a “body” that becomes emaciated by sickness, the other that of the harvest when all the fruits are gathered except a few in the upper branches Isa 17:5-6.
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And the fatness his flesh shall wax lean - He shall become feeble, as a man does by wasting sickness. Chaldee, ‘The riches of his glory shall be removed.’
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 Lean. All the power of the kingdom shall fail,…
Lean. All the power of the kingdom shall fail, as in a mortal illness.
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain ב) Ephraim (and Damascus) small and again great
ב) Ephraim (and Damascus) small and again great
Isa_17:4-8
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4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall 2be made thin,
And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5 And it shall be 3as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,
And reapeth the ears with his arm;
And it shall be 4as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 5Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five 6in the outmost fruitful branches thereof,
Saith the Lord God of Israel.
7 At that day shall 7a man look to his Maker,
And his eyes shall 8have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
8 And he shall not 9look to the altars, the work of his hands,
Neither shall 10respect that which his fingers have made,
Either the 11groves or the 12images.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_17:4. משׁמן again only Isa_10:16.—רזה Niph. emaciari only here; comp. Isa_10:18.
Isa_17:5. קָמָה Isa_37:27.—וְהָיהָ “and it goes,” comp. Isa_13:14.—קָצִיר is difficult. The connection leads us first to expect the meaning “reaper,” and many take it so, letting קָצִיר be said metonymically for קוֹצֵר or אַנְשֵׁי קציר (Gesen.). Others take קָמָה in apposition with קָצִיר, or קָצִיר = “harvest time” (when the harvest time takes away the stalks. Ewald). קָצִיר may also be treated as accusative of time: “As one gathers stalks of grain in the harvest.” All of these explanations have a certain harshness. Against Delitzsch, who makes קציר=קוֹצֵר it may be objected: why does Isaiah use this very common word in a sense that it never has elsewhere, and for which sense there offered another word (קוֹצֵר Psa_29:7; Amo_9:13; Jer_9:21, and often) equally current? The same may be objected also to Gesenius and Ewald. To take קמה as apposition is harsh for the reason that then one of the two words would be superfluous. I therefore prefer to take קציר as accusative of time, and to regard the word as a substantive treated adverbially like other marks of time (בֹּקֶר, לַיְלָה, יום, etc., comp. Ewald, § 204 b).—Then the suffix of זרעו relates to the notion of reaper ideally present in קציר.
Ver 6. נֹקֶף again only Isa_14:13.—גרגר isἅπ. λεγ.—אמיר only here and Isa_17:9.—סָעִיף “branch.” again only Isa_27:10. The suffix in סעיפיה relates to ;זַיִת פֹּרִיָּה is in apposition with the suffix (in ramis ejus fecundae) with the signification of an adversative clause.
Isa_17:8. The אֲשֵׁרִים (אֲשֵׁרוֹתonly in Jdg_3:7; 2Ch_19:3; 2Ch_33:3) are in any case the images or symbols of Astarte, of the female principle, which had the form of στῆλαι, pillars set upright (from אָשַׁר rectum, erectum esse, according to Movers; perhaps, according to a statement of Herodotus II. 106, γυναικὸς αἰδοῖα were visible).
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Like one ties two threads into one knot, so the Prophet, Isa_17:3, has entwined in one another the of destiny of Damascus and Ephraim. It is true that in what follows there is nothing more said of Syria. But when it was said, Isa_17:3, that “the remnant of Syria” shall be like “the glory of Jacob,” and if now, Isa_17:4-8, the course of development of “the glory of Jacob” is portrayed as a prospective sinking to a minimum and then again as a mounting up to the most glorious nearness to God, is not the same course of life by implication prophesied of Syria? Therefore, Ephraim shall be reduced to almost nothing. The Prophet declares this in a threefold image. First he compares the destruction of Israel to the growing leanness of a fat man (Isa_17:4), second to the grain harvest, where the reaper with full arm, cuts and gathers the ears (Isa_17:5); third to the olive harvest where the fruits are beaten off the trees. But with this third figure he lets appear already in perspective a better time. The Prophet only indirectly intimates that the tree will be robbed of the chief part of its fruits. He lays the chief stress here on the gleaning: there remain hanging in the top and on the boughs some scattered fruit, that shall be beaten off by subsequent effort (Isa_17:6). Thus a remnant is left to Israel, and this remnant shall be converted: Shear-Jashub (Isa_10:20 sqq.). Notice with what art this address also is arranged. There is a crescendo and decrescendo of shadow, which gradually merges into light. In the first figure (Isa_17:4) the shadow still appears faint; in the second (Isa_17:5) it reaches its full extent; in the third (Isa_17:6) it yields unnoticed to the light. This light the Prophet depicts here in the first place from its subjective side, as a turning of the heart to God (Isa_17:7) and a turning away from idols (Isa_17:8). The objective salvation first appears in the fourth turn of his discourse (Isa_17:12-14).
2. And in that day—God of Israel.
Isa_17:4-6. “In that day” Isa_17:4, here refers to the time of judgment announced in Isa_17:2-3. “The glory of Jacob,” also refers back to Isa_17:3, where the same expression is employed with only the difference of Israel for Jacob, which seems to have a rhetorical reason (comp. Isa_9:7). Moreover the Prophet speaks here of Israel-Ephraim in a sense that declares what it has in common with Judah. For the grand outlines of that picture of the future that Isaiah draws here, comprehend equally the history of Judah and Ephraim. Moreover it must not be supposed that Isaiah has in mind only the political ruin that ensued, say after the shining reign of Jeroboam II. This growing lean embraces the entire time in which the Ten Tribes exist as a remnant. It therefore lasts still at the present time.
The second figure describes the same matter only in greater extent. It is presented in a measure as having three degrees. First, is called to mind how the reaper gathers the standing grain stalks; second, how then the other arm cuts off the ears; third, how the ears are gathered, and that in the valley of Rephaim, the fruitful plain that extends in a south-west direction from Jerusalem. Such a rich harvest shall the enemies hold in Ephraim; so thoroughly, therefore, shall Ephraim be emptied out, plundered. The “gathering of ears” mentioned in the second half of Isa_17:5, may mean the gathering proper for binding into sheaves (Gen_37:7); but it could mean, too, the gleaning of the ears left lying, as by the poor (Rth_2:2 sqq.). The former better suits the context, in as much as the latter notion appears in the following verse. In Isa_17:5 the whole work of the enemies is described, and that in two stages, that are indicated by the “and it shall be” prefixed, just as the battle and the booty form the two sharply distinguished occupations of the warrior,—The valley of Rephaim is mentioned in the Old Testament, Jos_15:8; Jos_18:16; 2Sa_15:18; 2Sa_15:22; 2Sa_23:13. Most persons conclude from our present passage that it was fruitful. Only Ewald [and Aben Ezra, J. A. A.], finds in the passage the notion of a “dry valley,” as he also takes מלקט in the sense of gleaning. At present, indeed, the valley is desert (comp. Knobel in loc.). Further statements see in Arnold’s article “Thäler in Palästina,” Herz. R. Encycl. xv. p. 614. [“Robinson speaks of it en passant, as the cultivated valley or plain of Rephaim (Palestine I. 323).” J. A. A.].—But (Isa_17:6) there is left on him, i.e., on Jacob (we would say “of him,” comp. Isa_10:22) a gleaning secundum percussionem or ad similitudinem percussionis oleae, that is two or three berries in the highest top. Four or five are beaten off with a stick from the branches, because they had not been brought down by the shaking. In the boughs, of course, more remain hanging, because they have greater extent than the tree-top. That is, it is declared, that although the tree is fruitful, yet only a few berries hang on it. Spite of its fruitfulness, it is now so empty that only a little is left for the gleaner. Thus, too, Israel, though now richly blessed, will be reduced to a minimum.
3. At that day—the images.
Isa_17:7-8). The little gleaning is the small remnant of Israel that plays so great a part in the divine economy of salvation, Isa_6:13; Isa_10:21; Rom_9:27; Rom_11:4 sq. In that day, i.e., when Israel shall be reduced to the small remnant, will the man look (Isa_22:4; Isa_31:1) to his Maker, the Holy One of Israel (comp. on Isa_1:4), but he will cast not one more look of fear and trust toward the idols. At last he sees that they are only the work of his own, of human hands (Isa_44:9 sqq.).—הָאָדָם “the man,” is never anywhere else specially used of Israel. The general expression is doubtless chosen because the Prophet declares what concerns not Israel alone, but essentially all mankind, and what especially is applicable to Syria, too, which all along is conceived of as united with Israel.
Two idols are mentioned by name, as those that were particularly worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites: אשׁרים and חמנים. (Isa_27:9). [“groves” and “images” Eng. Bib. Tr.].—Regarding the latter it has been ascertained, that thereby are meant the images of בַּעַל חַמָּז Baal-Hamon, Son_8:11, the Sun-god, the superior male god of the Phœnicians. The word, beside the present text, and Isa_27:9, occurs Lev_26:30; Eze_6:4; Eze_6:6; 2Ch_14:4; 2Ch_34:4; 2Ch_34:7. See further under Text. and Gram.—It is only doubtful whether אשׁרה signifies only the Astarte pillars, or the goddess herself, and the groves consecrated to her (Deu_16:21, comp. Gesenius, Thes. pag. 162 with Otto Strauss, Nahumi de Nin. vat. Prolegg. pag. 24). Moreover it is undecided whether Astarte (אַשְׁתֹּרֵת kindred to אֶסְתֵּר, ἀστήρ, “star”) signifies only the moon, or Vinus, the star of good fortune, or the entire heaven of night as distinguished from the domain of Baal, the heaven of day (comp. P. Cassel on Jdg_2:13; “Moon and stars, the luminaries of the heavens by night, are mingled in Astaroth; they are the sum total of the entire host of heaven.”)
Footnotes:
[2]be reduced.
[3]as one in harvest gathereth corn, and his arm reapeth the ears.
[4]as one gleaning ears.
[5]And gleanings shall, etc.
[6]in its, the fruit trees boughs.
[7]the man turn.
[8]look to.
[9]turn to.
[10]look to what his.
[11]Ashtaroth.
[12]Or, sun images.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain glory of Jacob--the kingdom of Ephraim and all that…
glory of Jacob--the kingdom of Ephraim and all that they rely on (Hos 12:2; Mic 1:5).
fatness . . . lean--(See on Isa 10:16).
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 4. The glory of Jacob — That of the…
4. The glory of Jacob — That of the ten tribes, to which the prophet now turns. This is humbled indeed, when the Assyrian power shall carry away its men in crowds.
Shall wax lean — Poor, attenuated, sick Israel! The Chaldee has it: “The riches of Israel shall be removed.”
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 4. in that day] simultaneously with the judgment on…
4. in that day] simultaneously with the judgment on Syria. the glory of Jacob] i.e. his might, his population, his prosperity, &c. (cf. Isa_17:3).
made thin] better, enfeebled. fatness … lean] cf. ch. Isa_10:16.
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4–6. The fate of Ephraim, in three figures: wasting disease; the reaping of corn; the gathering of olives.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) The glory of Jacob shall be made thin.—The…
(4) The glory of Jacob shall be made thin.—The word is the same as that rendered “impoverished” in Jdg_6:8. “Jacob” stands as commonly in the prophets, like Israel, for the northern kingdom, and the words point, therefore, to the downfall, or, adopting the prophet’s figurative language, the emaciation, of that kingdom.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 4-11. A DENUNCIATION OF WOE ON ISRAEL, COMBINED…
Vers. 4-11. A DENUNCIATION OF WOE ON ISRAEL, COMBINED WITH THE PROMISE OF A REMNANT. Israel, having united herself with Syria to resist the Assyrians, will incur a similar fate. Her glory will decay, her population dwindle and almost disappear. Still there will be a few left, who, under the circumstances, will turn to God (ver. 7). But it will be too late for anything like a national recovery; the laud will remain "a desolation" on account of the past sins of its inhabitants (vers. 9-11).
The glory of Jacob shall be made thin. There is reason to believe that the deportation of the Israelites was gradual. Sargon, on taking Samaria for the first time, in B.C. 722, carried off no more than 27, 290 of the inhabitants (G. Smith, "Eponym Canon," p. 125). Over the remainder he appointed governors, and required them to pay the same taxation as before. About B.C. 715 he placed a number of Arabs in Samaria, probably deporting natives to make room for them (ibid., p. 128). The continuant of a remnant of Israelites in the land down to B.C. 625 is indicated by 2Ch_34:9. The fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. (comp. Isa_10:16) Depopulation is primarily intended; but there is, perhaps, also a more general reference to depression, wasting, and misery.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 It will come about
It will come about
This phrase is used here to mark an important event that will happen. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.
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the glory of Jacob will become thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean
Here "Jacob" refers to the kingdom of Israel. Israel would no longer be glorious. Rather it would be weak and poor. (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
It will be as when a harvester gathers the standing grain ... in the Valley of Rephaim
There will be nothing left in the land after God punishes the people of Israel. (See: Simile)
the Valley of Rephaim
This is a valley where people normally grew and harvested much food. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
glory
Jacob
flesh
harvest
reap
grain
glean
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:4-11 The vision shifts from Damascus (17:1-3) to the…
17:4-11 The vision shifts from Damascus (17:1-3) to the northern kingdom of Israel; Damascus and Israel were allies in the war against Judah, and both were later destroyed by Assyria.
17:4 Israel’s glory will grow dim: God will judge all human pride. • Israel’s robust body will waste away like a person who is ill.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.