Isaiah 17:1–5, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Isaiah 17:1–5
Damascus and Ephraim Lose Their Fortified Glory
Damascus, the city, is told it will become a ruinous heap
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. 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.
Aram's capital and Ephraim's fortress fall together, as they had threatened Judah together. Ancient Damascus and Ephraim are not modern Syrians or anyone else to curse. Flocks in forsaken cities picture emptiness, not a settlement program.
Jacob's fatness is harvested down to leftover ears
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. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
The coalition's strength is a field after reapers. Thin glory is judgment on the northern alliance, not ethnic stigma and not a colonial claim on Damascus.
How this should shape us
Hear that fortified glory can be reaped. Do not paste Damascus or Ephraim onto living peoples, and do not treat a neighbor's lean years as your harvest.
Teach it back
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Isaiah 17:1–5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 17:1–5 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
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Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 17:1–5 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Supports: Eighth-century Assyrian setting, Isaiah traditions, later growth, justice, Zion, signs, royal language, nations, and policy, with proposals kept visible.
Yale Bible Study, First Isaiah course, Historical Context and nation-oracle framing; applied to Isaiah 17:1–5
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Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 1B, Background, and Theological Themes on the nations; applied to Isaiah 17:1–5
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
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Exact location: Isaiah 17:1–5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
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Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 17:1–5 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Isaiah
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
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Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 17:1–5 in the complete 205-page book PDF
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First Isaiah study-guide course
John J. Collins and Joel S. Baden
Yale Bible Study, 2020; current public course
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Exact location: Yale Bible Study, First Isaiah course, Historical Context and nation-oracle framing; applied to Isaiah 17:1–5
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Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception
Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 1B, Background, and Theological Themes on the nations; applied to Isaiah 17:1–5
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