Isaiah 17:5

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn.—The work of devastation is described under another image. The conqueror shall plunder the cities of Israel as the reaper cuts off the ears of corn. With his usual Dantesque vividness the prophet localises the imagery. The valley of Rephaim, or, as in Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16, “of the giants,” lay to the south-west of Jerusalem in the direction of Bethlehem. It was famous for its fertility, and was often on that account attacked by the Philistines, who came to carry off its crops (2Samuel 23:13). The prophet had looked on the reaper’s work and had seen in it a parable of that of the Assyrian invader.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:1-11 Sin desolates cities. It is strange that great conquerors should take pride in being enemies to mankind; but it is better that flocks should lie down there, than that they should harbour any in open rebellion against God and holiness. The strong holds of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, will be brought to ruin. Those who are partakers in sin, are justly made partakers in ruin. The people had, by sins, made themselves ripe for ruin; and their glory was as quickly cut down and taken away by the enemy, as the corn is out of the field by the husbandman. Mercy is reserved in the midst of judgment, for a remnant. But very few shall be marked to be saved. Only here and there one was left behind. But they shall be a remnant made holy. The few that are saved were awakened to return to God. They shall acknowledge his hand in all events; they shall give him the glory due to his name. To bring us to this, is the design of his providence, as he is our Maker; and the work of his grace, as he is the Holy One of Israel. They shall look off from their idols, the creatures of their own fancy. We have reason to account those afflictions happy, which part between us and our sins. The God of our salvation is the Rock of our strength; and our forgetfulness and unmindfulness of him are at the bottom of all sin. The pleasant plants, and shoots from a foreign soil, are expressions for strange and idolatrous worship, and the vile practices connected therewith. Diligence would be used to promote the growth of these strange slips, but all in vain. See the evil and danger of sin, and its certain consequences.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And it shall be ... - This is the other figure by which the prophet sets forth the calamities that were coming upon Ephraim - an image designed to denote the fact that the inhabitants and wealth of the land would be collected and removed, as the farmer gathers his harvest, and leaves only that which is inaccessible in the upper boughs of the tree, or the gleanings in the field.

As when the harvest-man gathereth the corn - The wheat, the barley, etc.; for so the word "corn" - now applied by us almost exclusively to maizes means in the Scriptures. The sense in this passage is plain. As the farmer cuts down and collects his grain and removes it from the harvest field, so the enemies of Ephraim would come and remove the people and their wealth to a distant land. This received a complete fulfillment when the ten tribes were removed by the Assyrians to a distant land. This was done by Tiglath-pileser 2 Kings 15:29, and by Shalmaneser 2 Kings 17:6.

And reapeth the ears with his arm - As he collects the standing grain with one arm so that he can cut it with the sickle in the other hand. The word rendered 'reapeth' (קצר qâtsar) means here "to collect together" as a reaper does the standing grain in his arm. The word rendered 'ears' (שׁבלים shı̂bălı̂ym) means here rather the spires or stalks of standing grain.

In the valley of Rephaim - The valley of Rephaim is mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:18, 2 Samuel 5:22; 2 Samuel 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15; 1 Chronicles 14:9. The name means 'the Giants;' but why it was given to it is now unknown. In passing from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, it lies on the left, and descends gradually to the southwest, until it contracts in that direction into a deeper and narrower valley, called wady el-Werd, which unites further on with wady Ahmed, and finds its way to the Mediterranean. The plain extends nearly to Jerusalem, and is terminated by a slight rocky ridge forming the brow of the valley of Hinnom (see Josephus, "Ant." vii. 4. 1; viii. 12. 4; also Robinson's "Bib. Researches," vol. i. pp. 323, 324). It seem to have been distinguished for its fertility, and is used here to denote a fertile region in general.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. harvestman, &c.—The inhabitants and wealth of Israel shall be swept away, and but few left behind just as the husbandman gathers the corn and the fruit, and leaves only a few gleaning ears and grapes (2Ki 18:9-11).

with his arm—He collects the standing grain with one arm, so that he can cut it with the sickle in the other hand.

Rephaim—a fertile plain at the southwest of Jerusalem toward Beth-lehem and the country of the Philistines (2Sa 5:18-22).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Reapeth the ears with his arm; taking care, as far as may be, that all may be gathered in, and nothing left. So shall the whole body of the ten tribes be carried away captive, some few gleanings only being left of them, as it is in the harvest.

The valley of Rephaim; a very fruitful place near Jerusalem, Joshua 15:8 18:16.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,.... The "standing" corn, as in the Hebrew text: "and reapeth the ears with his arm"; or "his arm reaps the ears" (o); that is, with one hand he gathers the standing corn into his fist, and then reaps it with his other arm; and just so it should be with the people of Israel: they were like a field of standing corn, for number, beauty, and glory; the Assyrian was like a harvestman, who laid hold upon them, and cut them down, as thick and as numerous as they were, just as a harvestman cuts down the corn, and with as much ease and quick dispatch; they being no more able to stand before him than a field of corn before the reaper! this was done both by Tilgathpilneser, 2 Kings 15:29 and by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6 kings of Assyria:

and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim; the Targum renders it,

"the valley of giants.''

and so it is translated, Joshua 15:8 mention is made of it in 2 Samuel 5:18 it was a valley not far from Jerusalem, as Josephus (p) says; who also calls it the valley of the giants: it is thought to have been a very fruitful place, where the ears of corn were very large and heavy, and so great care was taken in gathering and gleaning that none be lost: wherefore, as the former simile signifies the carrying off the people of Israel in great numbers by the above kings, this may signify, as some have thought, either the picking up of those that fled without, or the gleaning of them in after times by Esarhaddon, Ezra 4:2.

(o) "et brachium ejus spicas demeteret", Junius & Tremellius; "demetit", Piscator, &c. (p) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth {g} the grain, and reapeth the heads with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth heads in the valley of {h} Rephaim.

(g) As the abundance of corn does not fear the harvest men that would cut it down: no more will the multitude of Israel make the enemies shrink, whom God will appoint to destroy them.

(h) A valley which was plentiful and fertile.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. The succeeding pictures are exceedingly graphic,—an evidence of Isaiah’s intense interest in rural life. The reaper gathers the stalks of wheat with one hand and with the other cuts off the ears close to the head.

and it shall be … Rephaim] Render as R.V. and it shall be as when one gleaneth ears, &c. See Ruth 2:2; Ruth 2:7; Ruth 2:15 ff. The clause might perhaps be read as the beginning of Isaiah 17:6; one simile passing insensibly into another. The “valley of Rephaim,” (=“valley of the giants,”) Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16 (cf. 2 Samuel 5:18; 2 Samuel 5:22; 2 Samuel 23:13),—a fertile plain to the south of Jerusalem where Isaiah had watched the reapers and gleaners at work.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - As when the harvestman gathereth the corn. Death is the "harvestman" here, and gathers the Israelites by shocks, or sheaves, into his garner. A great depopulation appears in 2 Kings 17:25, where we learn that lions so multiplied in the land as to become a terror to the few inhabitants. Reapeth the ears. Mr. Cheyne well remarks that the "ears" only were reaped, the stalk being cut close under the ear. This was the practice also in Egypt (Rawlinson,' Hist. of Ancient Egypt,' vol. 1. p. 162). In the valley of Rephaim. The valley of Rephaim was the scene of David's double victory over the Philistines, related in 2 Samuel 5:17-25. It is disputed whether it lay north or south of Jerusalem; but the connection with Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:13-17) and with the cave of Adullam seem decisive in favor of a southern position. A "valley," however ('emek), suitable for the cultivation of corn, in this direction, has yet to be discovered. Isaiah 17:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Second turn: "And it comes to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob wastes away, and the fat of his flesh grows thin. And it will be as when a reaper grasps the stalks of wheat, and his arm mows off the ears; and it will be as with one who gathers together ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet a gleaning remains from it, as at the olive-beating: two, three berries high up at the top; four, five in its, the fruit tree's, branches, saith Jehovah the God of Israel. At that day will man look up to his Creator, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers have made he will not regard, neither the Astartes nor the sun-gods." This second turn does not speak of Damascus, but simply of Israel, and in fact of all Israel, the range of vision widening out from Israel in the more restricted sense, so as to embrace the whole. It will all disappear, with the exception of a small remnant; but the latter will return. Thus "a remnant will return," the law of Israel's history, which is here shown first of all in its threatening aspect, and then in its more promising one. The reputation and prosperity to which the two kingdoms were raised by Jeroboam II and Uzziah would pass away. Israel was ripe for judgment, like a field of corn for the harvest; and it would be as when a reaper grasps the stalks that have shot up, and cuts off the ears. קציר is not used elliptically for קציר אישׁ (Gesenius), nor is it a definition of time (Luzzatto), nor an accusative of the object (Knobel), but a noun formed like נביא, פליל, פריץ, and used in the sense of reaper (kōtzēr in other cases).

(Note: Instead of kâtzar (to cut off, or shorten), they now say kâratz in the whole of the land to the east of the Jordan, which gives the idea of sawing off - a much more suitable one where the Syrian sickle is used.)

The figure suggested here is more fully expanded in John 4 and Revelation 14. Hardly a single one will escape the judgment: just as in the broad plain of Rephaim, which slopes off to the south-west of Jerusalem as far as Bethlehem, where it is covered with rich fields of wheat, the collectors of ears leave only one or two ears lying scattered here and there.

Nevertheless a gleaning of Israel ("in it," viz., in Jacob, Isaiah 17:4; Isaiah 10:22) will be left, just as when the branches of the olive tree, which have been already cleared with the hand, are still further shaken with a stick, there still remain a few olives upon the highest branch (two, three; cf., 2 Kings 9:32), or concealed under the foliage of the branches. "Its, the fruit tree's, branches:" this is an elegant expression, as, for example, in Proverbs 14:13; the carrying over of the ה to the second word is very natural in both passages (see Ges. 121, b). This small remnant will turn with stedfast gaze to the living God, as is becoming in man as such (hâ'âdâm), and not regard the idols as worthy of any look at all, at least of any reverential look. As hammânim are here images of the sun-god חמן בעל, which is well known from the Phoenician monuments,

(Note: See Levy, Phnizisches Wrterbuch (1864), p. 19; and Otto Strauss on Nahum, p. xxii. ss.)

ashērim (for which we find, though more rarely, 'ashēroth) apparently signifies images of the moon-goddess. And the combination of "Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven" in 2 Kings 23:4, as well as the surname "queen of heaven" in Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:18-19, appears to require this (Knobel). But the latest researches have proved that 'Ashērâh is rather the Semitic Aphrodite, and therefore the planet Venus, which was called the "little luck" (es-sa‛d el-as'gar)

(Note: See Krehl, Religion der vorislamischen Araber (1863), p. 11.)

by the Arabs, in distinction from Musteri (Jupiter),

(Note: This was the tutelar deity of Damascus; see Comm. on Job, Appendix.)

or "the great luck." And with this the name 'Asherah the "lucky" (i.e., the source of luck or prosperity) and the similar surname given to the Assyrian Istar agree;

(Note: "Ishtar," says Rawlinson in his Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, - a work which challenges criticism through its dazzling results - "Ishtar is the goddess who rejoices mankind, and her most common epithet is Amra, 'the fortunate' or 'the happy.' But otherwise her epithets are vague and general, insomuch that she is often scarcely distinguishable from Beltis (the wife of Bel-Nimrod)." Vid., vol. i. p. 175 (1862).)

for 'Asherah is the very same goddess as 'Ashtoreth, whose name is thoroughly Arian, and apparently signifies the star (Ved. stir equals star; Zend. stare; Neo-Pers. sitâre, used chiefly for the morning star), although Rawlinson (without being able to suggest any more acceptable interpretation) speaks of this view as "not worthy of much attention."

(Note: The planet Venus, according to a Midrash relating to Genesis 6:1-2, is 'Istehar transferred to the sky; and this is the same as Zuhare (see Geiger, Was hat Muhammed, etc. 1833, pp. 107-109).)

Thus Asherim is used to signify the bosquets (shrubberies) or trees dedicated to the Semitic Aphrodite (Deuteronomy 16:21; compare the verbs used to signify their removal, גדע, כרת, נתשׁ); but here it probably refers to her statues or images

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