Isaiah 29:17

Changes are Coming

29:17 In just a very short time ¹ 

Lebanon will turn into an orchard,

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ² 

Isaiah 32:15-16

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ³ 

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ⁴ 

32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard. ⁵ 

Isaiah 10:18

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ⁶ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁷ 

[29:17]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”

[29:17]  ² sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.

[32:15]  ³ tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

[32:15]  ⁴ sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

[32:16]  ⁵ sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.

[10:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).