God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 17:2
2The cities of Aroer will be deserted. These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them. There will be no one to disturb those sheep.
Isaiah 17:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
- New International Version (NIV)The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
Context of Isaiah 17:2
1This is the divine revelation about Damascus. “Damascus will no longer be a city. It will become a pile of rubble. The cities of Aroer will be deserted. These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them. There will be no one to disturb those sheep. 3Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom will disappear from Damascus. The remaining few from Aram will share Israel’s honor,” declares the Lord of Armies. 4“When that day comes, the honor of Jacob’s people will fade away, and they will become skin and bones.
Read all of Isaiah 17Isaiah 17:2 word by word
עֲזֻב֖וֹת עָרֵ֣י עֲרֹעֵ֑ר לַעֲדָרִ֣ים תִּֽהְיֶ֔ינָה וְרָבְצ֖וּ וְאֵ֥ין מַחֲרִֽיד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 17:2
- Numbers 32:34The tribe of Gad rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
- Deuteronomy 2:36From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley and the city in that valley as far as Gilead, no city had walls that could keep us out. The Lord our God gave us all of them.
- Deuteronomy 3:12At that time we took possession of this land. I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad the land north of Aroer near the Arnon Valley and half of the mountain region of Gilead with its cities.
- Joshua 13:16Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley and the whole plateau near Medeba.
- Jeremiah 48:19Stand by the road in Aroer, and watch. Ask those who are fleeing and those who are escaping what is happening.
- Isaiah 5:17Then lambs will graze as if they were in their own pasture, and foreigners will eat among the ruins of the rich.
- Isaiah 7:23On that day, in every place where there were 1,000 vines (worth 1,000 pieces of silver), there will be briars and thorns.
- Ezekiel 25:5I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and I will turn Ammon into a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
- Zephaniah 2:6The seacoast will become pastureland with meadows for shepherds and fenced-off places for sheep.
- Jeremiah 7:33The dead bodies of these people will become food for birds and animals, and no one will be there to frighten them away.
Commentaries on Isaiah 17:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken "The cities are deserted for ever" - What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus? and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of Aroer, if Aroer itself is a city, makes no good sense. The Septuagint, for ערער aroer, read עד עדי adey ad, , for ever, or for a long duration. The Chaldee…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The cities of Aroer - By “Aroer” here seems to be meant a tract or region of country pertaining to Damascus, in which were situated several cities. Grotius supposes that it was a tract of country in Syria which is called by Ptolemy “Aueira” - ̓́ Aueira Vitringa supposes that one part of Damascus is meant by this, as Damascus was divided by the river in the same manner that Babylon was. There were several cities of the name of “Aroer.” One was on the river…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2The towns of Aroer were east of the Dead Sea (see 2 Kings 10:32–33). they will be left to the flocks: The city would serve no other purpose.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. cities of Aroer--that is, the cities round Aroer, and under its jurisdiction [Gesenius]. So "cities with their villages" (Jos 15:44); "Heshbon and all her cities" (Jos 13:17). Aroer was near Rabbahammon, at the river of Gad, an arm of the Jabbok (2Sa 24:5), founded by the Gadites (Nu 32:34). for flocks--(Is 5:17).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 17:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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