Isaiah 17 · Verse 2

Isaiah 17:2

The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Isaiah 17:2, King James Version

Isaiah 17:2 in other translations

BSBThe cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
WEBThe cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.
ASVThe cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
YLTForsaken are the cities of Aroer, For droves they are, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.
DARBYThe cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks; and they shall lie down and there shall be none to make them afraid.
BBEHer towns are unpeopled for ever; there the flocks take their rest in peace, without fear.
WebsterThe cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

What does Isaiah 17:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. 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).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 The 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 עדי עד adey ad, εις τον αιωνα, for ever, or for a long duration. The Chaldee takes the word for a verb from ערה arah, translating it חרבו cherebu, devastabuntur, "they shall be wasted." The Syriac read עדועיר adoeir. So that the reading is very doubtful. I follow the Septuagint as making the plainest sense.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 17:1-11

Syria and Israel threatened. (Is. 17:1-11) The woe of Israel's enemies. (Is. 17:12-14) Verses 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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 17:1-11 →

Isaiah 17:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עֲזֻב֖וֹתa.zu.Vot[will be] abandonedH5800
עָרֵ֣י'a.Rei[the] cities ofH5892
עֲרֹעֵ֑ר'a.ro.'ErAroerH6177
לַעֲדָרִ֣יםla.'a.da.Rimfor flocksH5739
תִּֽהְיֶ֔ינָהtih.Yei.nahthey will beH1961
וְרָבְצ֖וּve.ra.ve.Tzuand they will lie downH7257
וְאֵ֥יןve.'Einand there notH369
מַחֲרִֽיד\׃ma.cha.Rid[will be one who] terrifiesH2729

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 17:2

  • Ezekiel 25:5

    And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 2:36

    From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us:

  • Zephaniah 2:6

    And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

  • Jeremiah 7:33

    And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

  • Numbers 32:34

    And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

  • Micah 4:4

    But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

  • Jeremiah 48:19

    O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?

  • Deuteronomy 3:12

    And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

  • Isaiah 7:21

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

  • Joshua 13:16

    And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;

  • Isaiah 7:23-25

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

  • Isaiah 5:17

    Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Aroer.
Nu 32:34; De 2:36; 3:12; Jos 13:16; Jer 48:19
they shall.
5:17; 7:23-25; Eze 25:5; Zep 2:6
none.
Jer 7:33

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 17:1

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

  • Isaiah 17:2

    The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

  • Isaiah 17:3

    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.

Read all of Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Las ciudades de Aroer desamparadas, en majadas se tornarán; dormirán allí, y no habrá quien los espante.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Les villes d’Aroër sont abandonnées, elles seront pour les troupeaux; ils y coucheront, et il n’y aura personne qui les effraie.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Verlassen sind die Städte Aroer, sie werden den Herden preisgegeben; und diese lagern, und niemand schreckt sie auf.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Derelictæ civitates Aroër gregibus erunt, et requiescent ibi, et non erit qui exterreat.