Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17
The Great Isaiah Scroll, the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran from the second century BC, contains all the verses in this chapter.
BookBook of Isaiah
Hebrew Bible partNevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part5
CategoryLatter Prophets
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part23

Isaiah 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. The New King James Version describes this chapter as a "proclamation against Syria and Israel".[1]

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 14 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).[2]

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BC or later):

  • 1QIsaa: complete
  • 4QIsaa (4Q55): extant: verses 9-14
  • 4QIsab (4Q56): extant: verses 8-14

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[3]

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.[4] Isaiah 17 is a part of the Prophecies about the Nations (Isaiah 13–23). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.

{P} 17:1-3 {P} 17:4-8 {S} 17:9-11 {S} 17:12-14 {P}

Verse 1

The burden of Damascus.
Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city,
and it shall be a ruinous heap.[5]

Verse 2

The cities of Aroer are forsaken [7]

In the Septuagint, the wording is abandoned for ever, referring to Damascus (from verse 1), not Aroer in Moab.[8] Anglican Bishop Robert Lowth preferred to use the Septuagint translation: "What has Aroer ... on the river Arnon, (see Deuteronomy 2:36) to do with Damascus?” [9] Hugo Grotius, however, thought the Hebrew text was correct, and that this Aroer was a tract of ground in Syria.[9]

A marginal note in the Masoretic Text tradition indicates that Isaiah 17:2 is the middle of the whole Nevi'im (Book of Prophets) section in Hebrew.[10]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Subtitle to New King James Version, Isaiah 17
  2. ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  3. ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  4. ^ As reflected in the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English.
  5. ^ Isaiah 17:1 KJV
  6. ^ Childs 2001, p. 113.
  7. ^ Isaiah 17:2
  8. ^ Isaiah 17:2 - Brenton's Septuagint Translation
  9. ^ a b Benson Commentary on Isaiah 17, accessed 31 March 2018
  10. ^ Shepherd, Michael (2018). A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets. Kregel Exegetical Library. Kregel Academic. p. 23. ISBN 978-0825444593.

Sources