complete verse (Isaiah 17:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 17:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people in the cities will be dispersed forever,
    until (they) become grazing ground for sheep and cows.
    No one will drive their animals to that place.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The cities of Aroer are about to become desolate forever.
    They are about to become places for sheep and goats to graze,
    and no one there make them afraid."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “No one else will-reside/dwell in the towns of Aroer. This will- just -become the grazing-field of the animals, and no one will-drive- them -out.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The towns near Aroer city will be abandoned.
    Flocks of sheep will eat grass in the streets and lie down there,
    and there will be no one to chase them away.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 17:2

Her cities will be deserted for ever: There is a textual problem here. In Masoretic Text this line is literally “The cities of Aroer will be deserted.” There was a town called Aroer within each of the following countries: Moab (Jer 48.19), Ammon (Josh 12.2), and Judah (1 Sam 30.28). However, there is no knowledge of a town by this name in Syria, so mentioning it in an oracle against Syria raises questions. Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and many other versions follow the Septuagint here, which has “forever” instead of “Aroer.” However, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch keep the Hebrew. Most versions that follow the Septuagint place the Hebrew reading in a footnote (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). A scribe could have accidentally changed the Hebrew expression for “forever” (ʿade ʿad) to the one for “Aroer” (ʿaroʿer), since it was easy to confuse the Hebrew letters r and d. However, de~Waard points out that the Masoretic Text reading is the more difficult one and also the one with greatest textual support. We suggest keeping it with its reference to Aroer. This is also the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. Translators could add a footnote to explain that the location of “Aroer” is uncertain, but that it could be a town somewhere in Syria.

The passive verb will be deserted indicates that the residents of the towns of Aroer will abandon them. This will happen because these towns will be destroyed along with the capital city of Damascus. A model for this line that uses an active verb is “People will abandon the towns around Aroer.”

They will be for flocks means the ruined cities will become fields for shepherds to pasture their herds of domesticated animals, rather than a place for people to inhabit. For a similar idea, see 7.25. The Hebrew word for flocks can include any domestic animals, such as sheep, goats, and cattle.

Which will lie down, and none will make them afraid: In contrast to the fate of Babylon in 13.20, the Syrian cities will be places where sheep and cattle can graze and rest. None will make them afraid is a standard expression in the Old Testament for a completely peaceful and safe situation (see Lev 26.6; Job 11.19; Zeph 3.13). Here it means nothing will scare the domestic animals away, whether people, wild animals, or anything else. We may say “nothing will disturb them” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The towns around Aroer will be deserted; they will become grazing places for herds of domestic animals that will rest undisturbed.

• People will abandon the towns around Aroer; the towns will become pastures for sheep and cattle that will rest there with nothing to disturb them.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .