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An Oracle concerning Damascus

An oracle concerning Damascus.

See, Damascus will cease to be a city,

and will become a heap of ruins.

Her towns will be deserted forever;

they will be places for flocks,

which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.

The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,

and the kingdom from Damascus;

and the remnant of Aram will be

like the glory of the children of Israel,

says the L ord of hosts.

On that day

the glory of Jacob will be brought low,

and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.

And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain

and their arms harvest the ears,

and as when one gleans the ears of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim.

Gleanings will be left in it,

as when an olive tree is beaten—

two or three berries

in the top of the highest bough,

four or five

on the branches of a fruit tree,

says the L ord God of Israel.

⁷ On that day people will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel; ⁸they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles or the altars of incense.

⁹ On that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,

and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;

therefore, though you plant pleasant plants

and set out slips of an alien god,

though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,

and make them blossom in the morning that you sow;

yet the harvest will flee away

in a day of grief and incurable pain.

Ah, the thunder of many peoples,

they thunder like the thundering of the sea!

Ah, the roar of nations,

they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!

The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,

but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,

chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind

and whirling dust before the storm.

At evening time, lo, terror!

Before morning, they are no more.

This is the fate of those who despoil us,

and the lot of those who plunder us.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

3. The fortress shall cease. ⁴⁴     “Le secours venant d’Ephraim cessara;” — “The assistance coming from Ephraim shall cease.”
    ^FT262 “Sera diminué;” — “Shall be made thin.” — Eng. Ver.
    ^FT263 “‘Like the leaving of the ploughed field, or on the topmost bough.’ I adopt with pleasure the interpretation of this disputed passage proposed in the excellent Lexicon of Parkhurst, v.חרש as being most natural, and in strict conformity with the Jewish law, Leviticus 19:9, 10; Deuteronomy 24:19-21; which commanded ‘a leaving of the ploughman, and of the branches of the vine and olive,’ to be given up to the use of the poor in harvest. Avarice would be apt to make these leavings very scanty.” — Bishop Stock.
    ^FT264 Whom they left. — Eng. Ver.
    ^FT265 Woe to the multitude. — Eng. Ver.
    ^FT266 “Mais il me semble plustost qu’il se prend ici pour Helas.” — “But I rather think that here it stands for Alas!”
    ^FT267 “Toutes les fois donc que nous voyous les merchans avoir la bride sur le col pour nous ruiner.” “Whenever then we see the wicked have the bridle on their neck to ruin us.”
    ^FT268 “And like the gossamer before the whirlwind.” — Lowth. “And like thistle-down before the storm.” — Stock. He points out the reason why the Lord determines to cut off the kingdom of Syria. Amos (Amos 1:3) enumerates additional reasons, but the most important was that which the Prophet mentions, namely, that they had drawn the kingdom of Israel to their side for the purpose of making war against the Jews. The Israelites were undoubtedly allured, by the blandishments of the Syrians, to form an alliance with them against their brethren. It was a pretext exceedingly fitted to impose upon them, that the Syrians would aid them against all their enemies; and hence also the Israelites placed confidence in the forces and power of the Syrians to such an extent, that they reckoned themselves able to oppose any adversary. All Israel is here, as in many other passages, denoted by the name Ephraim, which was the chief tribe of that people. Now, “the assistance and kingdom” are said to “cease” from any place, when its strength is broken and its rank is thrown down.

And the remnant of Syria. That is, both of these nations, the Syrians and the Israelites, shall be brought to nothing; and, for the purpose of giving additional weight to the prophecy, he states that it is God who declares it; for he immediately adds these words, saith Jehovah of hosts Now, when the Lord punished so severely those two kingdoms, he unquestionably promoted in this way the benefit of his Church, delivering it by the destruction of its enemies. And, indeed, in destroying both nations, he employed as his agents the Assyrians, to whom even the Jews had applied; and although in this respect they had heinously sinned, yet their offense did not hinder the Lord from promoting the benefit of his Church, or from delivering it by bringing its enemies into conflict with each other. Hence we perceive how great is the care which God exercises over us, since he does not spare even the greatest kingdoms in order to preserve us. We ought also to observe, that though all the wicked enter into a league, and join hands to destroy us, yet the Lord will easily rescue us from their jaws. Besides, we ought to remark that it is advantageous to us to be deprived of earthly aids, on which it is in vain for us to rely in opposition to God; for when we are blinded by our prosperity, we flatter ourselves, and cannot hear the voice of God. It therefore becomes necessary to remove these obstructions, that we may perceive our helplessness, as was the case with the Israelites, who were bereft of their aid after Syria had been destroyed.

⁴ “Le secours venant d’Ephraim cessara;” — “The assistance coming from Ephraim shall cease.” FT262 “Sera diminué;” — “Shall be made thin.” — Eng. Ver. FT263 “‘Like the leaving of the ploughed field, or on the topmost bough.’ I adopt with pleasure the interpretation of this disputed passage proposed in the excellent Lexicon of Parkhurst, v.חרש as being most natural, and in strict conformity with the Jewish law, Leviticus 19:9, 10; Deuteronomy 24:19-21; which commanded ‘a leaving of the ploughman, and of the branches of the vine and olive,’ to be given up to the use of the poor in harvest. Avarice would be apt to make these leavings very scanty.” — Bishop Stock. FT264 Whom they left. — Eng. Ver. FT265 Woe to the multitude. — Eng. Ver. FT266 “Mais il me semble plustost qu’il se prend ici pour Helas.” — “But I rather think that here it stands for Alas!” FT267 “Toutes les fois donc que nous voyous les merchans avoir la bride sur le col pour nous ruiner.” “Whenever then we see the wicked have the bridle on their neck to ruin us.” FT268 “And like the gossamer before the whirlwind.” — Lowth. “And like thistle-down before the storm.” — Stock.