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1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 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. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 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. 6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. 9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. 12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:1-3
(Verse 1 onwards) Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin. The deserted cities will be for flocks, and they will rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. As indicated in the title, the calling of the nations is signified by Damascus, those who loved or drank blood, who, after believing in Christ, will cease to be cities of their former way of life, and will be like a heap of stones in ruin. For just as heaps of stones, which were scattered in the fields, are gathered into one mound, so a heap of believers from all nations was gathered together in the downfall of the Jewish people, as they fell, and we rose up. The deserted cities, Aroer, that is, Myrhae, will be for the Ecclesiastical flocks, so that we may inhabit those which the Jews deserted: whether the destroyed idolatry will be rebuilt as the Gospel. And we see that this has been fulfilled in our times: the Serapeum in Alexandria and the temple of Marnas in Gaza have arisen as churches of the Lord, and the cities of Aroer have been prepared for the Evangelical flocks. Aroer, that is, myrice, grows in desert places, according to what is written in the curse of the man who trusts in man and departs from the Lord: He shall be like a myrtle in the desert and shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in dryness, in the desert, in a land of saltness and uninhabitable. So those who were once in the desert of the Gentiles, and hated the name of Christians, will serve the flocks of Christ, who will find rest in them, and there will be no one to frighten them, for the Lord will dwell among them, and with the Shepherd present, they will not be able to fear the wolf. Then the help of God will cease from Ephraim, who in this place are understood as the Scribes and Pharisees, according to the prophecy of Hosea, who calls them adversaries of the people of God and names them Ephraim (Hosea 5 and 8). And the kingdom shall cease from Damascus, so that sin shall by no means reign, and the prince of sin, the devil, shall reign in Damascus, which once loved bloodshed; but the remnant of Syria, that is, those from the Gentiles who have believed, shall be as the sons of Israel were before, the kingdom of God being taken away from them and given to the Gentiles, who bear its fruit, as the Lord God of hosts has spoken through all His prophets.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:1
(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted for the flocks, and they will have rest with none to make them afraid. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. After Babylon and the Philistines and Moab, the attention turns to Damascus, which was once a royal city and held dominion over all of Syria. Antioch, Laodicea, and Apamea had not yet flourished, cities that we know were expanded after the reign of Alexander and the Macedonians. Therefore, since he always provided assistance to the ten tribes against Judah, as the history of the Kings and Chronicles narrates: it also signifies that destruction was approaching from the Assyrians themselves, as the king of the Assyrians said: I have taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria. For just as I have taken those, I will also take you and all the kingdoms. And in the book of Kings we read: The king of the Assyrians went up to Damascus, and captured it, and transferred it to Cyrene (2 Kings 16:9). He also killed Rezin, who was the king of Damascus. All these things were suffered by Jerusalem while Hezekiah was reigning. Look, he said, Damascus will cease to be a city; captivity is now near: the Assyrian has already moved his army. And it shall be like a heap of stones in ruin, only the traces of walls and former power will be shown in the magnitude of the ruins. The deserted cities of Aroer will become pastures. Aroer, which means myrtle, is a tree that grows specifically in solitude and salty soil, and through this the desolation is demonstrated. Let the flocks rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them. Such will be the solitude that even the feared ambushers will not exist. And help will cease from Ephraim; the ten tribes will not have assistance against Judah. And the kingdom from Damascus, from the common or popular edition, is understood to cease. Moreover, when it says that the kingdom ceases and rests, it does not mean perpetual desolation, but it takes away power in the present, through which it used to reign over all of Syria. And the remnant of Syria shall be like the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts: as when they struck the ten tribes of the Assyrians, and all their glory was brought into captivity: so shall a few that shall remain of the house of Jacob, be changed, because the Lord hath spoken it, who hath made his word of no effect. Some people think that this prophecy is the same as the one we read in Jeremiah: Damascus is ruined, it has turned to flight, trembling has seized it, anguish and sorrows have taken hold of it like a woman in labor (Jeremiah 49:24, 27). And again: I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. But it should be known that the captivity of Babylon describes the city of Damascus by Jeremiah, that is, the few whom the king of Assyria had left in it. But Isaiah announces the nearby captivity of the Assyrians. Others estimate that the Roman captivity is being predicted, because the people of Judah were also captured; and Damascus, which was ruled by Aretas, endured a similar servitude: so that everything that was written about her may be transferred to the time of Christ and the mysteries of the Apostles.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:1
(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The Burden of Damascus. Symmachus and Theodotion, The Assumption of Damascus: LXX, The Word against Damascus, adding their own account of what they did in Moab at the beginning. We first read the name of Damascus in Genesis, who was a native of Abraham before Isaac, and he was considered the heir, unless he was born to Sarah by promise (Genesis 15). However, it is interpreted either as a kiss of blood, or one who drinks blood, or the blood of the Cilician garment, all of which are customs of the Gentile people, who before the faith of Christ, were a friend of bloodshed and cruelty, and performed worthy acts of mourning and sackcloth. In the book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24), the story is told that at the end of the year, the army of Syria rose up against Joash, the king of Judah, and came to Jerusalem, and killed all the leaders of the people, and sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus, who had come with a few men. And God had delivered a very great multitude into their hands, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. This should be considered in light of the spiritual meaning and the future significance, to determine whether we can apply it to the time of the Lord's coming. At the end of the acceptable year, in which the Gospel was preached by the Savior, a multitude of Gentiles rose up from Damascus in a few men against Judah and Jerusalem, who had forsaken the Lord. And they took away all their wealth of the Law and the Prophets, and sent it to the king of Damascus, namely, the ecclesiastical men and the teachers of the Gospel, who were few in comparison to the whole world, which was still unbelieving at that time, and to the scattered Jews throughout the whole world. And yet the Lord delivered Jerusalem into their hands, because they had forsaken the Son of God, who had been predicted by the prophets before. Therefore, (perhaps it was I), for this reason, I believe that Saul, who later received the name Paul by virtue, because he was a persecutor of the Law, went to Damascus and wanted to fight against the believers from the Gentiles there, and after being defeated, he followed those who were already in Damascus, in order to go back to Jerusalem and conquer the Jews there. And it should not seem contradictory to anyone that in the Chronicles book, joyful things are said about Damascus, and now in Isaiah, sad things are prophesied, because both about Israel itself, which is certainly a part of God, both adverse and prosperous things are declared. And just as it is said that Israel according to the flesh, and the Gentiles are called uncircumcised by those who are called circumcised in the flesh, so it is the opposite for Israel according to the spirit, and the Gentiles are according to the spirit, and among the other Gentiles, Damascus is according to the spirit, so that we may not exclusively rely on Jewish fables.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Isaiah 17:4-8
By this it is clearly promised that the glory of Israel and all her riches will be taken away, and only a few, who like the few berries on an olive branch can be counted easily, will be left. These are the ones who believe in the Lord. Just after this there is a prophecy of the entire human race turning away from the error of idolatry and recognizing the God of Israel.

Source: PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:4
(Verse 4.) And it shall come to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob shall be diminished, and his fatness shall wither away. When, he says, Damascus is captured, and the city ceases to exist, and such glory crowns it, as crowns Israel, that is, the ten tribes: then all defense, and the fattest flesh, and refuge shall wither away from Jacob: for he will not have anything with which to devastate Jerusalem. We read above that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to fight against it: and it was announced to the house of David: Syria has rested upon Ephraim, of whom the Prophet speaks to Ahaz: Do not fear, and let not your heart be afraid of these two smoldering stumps, of these smoky tails, in the furious wrath of Rezin, the king of Syria, and the son of Remaliah, because he has plotted evil against you, both Syria, the worst enemy, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:4-6
(Verse 4-6) And in that day, the glory of Jacob shall fade, and the fat of his flesh shall waste away. And it shall be like the gleaning of a harvest, what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears of grain, and it shall be like one seeking grain in the valley of Rephaim. And he shall be left like a cluster of grapes, like the shaking of an olive tree, with two or three berries on the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful branches, says the Lord God of Israel. After the remnants of Syria had been, just as once had been the glory of the sons of Israel, and their salvation had been given to the nations by their transgression, then all the glory of the Jews will be diminished, with which they were glorious in the entire world, and their plump flesh will waste away, lacking prophets, signs and wonders, the present help of God, and the dignity of the priesthood: but the whole body of their nation will wither away and be reduced to nothing. And when it is said of the calling of the Gentiles, 'The harvest is great, but the laborers are few' (Matthew 9), those poor people will gather the remnants of the harvest, which have been saved through the Apostles, and will gather the very rare grains, not from mountains and high places, but in the valley of Raphaim, that is, in the lowliness of letters. And consider that Raphaim, which is interpreted as giants, means the Pharisees and Scribes, just as Ephraim means above. Finally, the Seventy translated the valley of Raphaim as the hard valley, in order to express the hardness of the Jewish heart. Those who are chosen because of their humility are like grain on the threshing floor and grapes in the vineyard, that are saved: and like the shaking of the olive tree, whether two, three, four or five olives. For when the stroke of the Jewish people came, that olive tree of the people of Israel, which under Moses had six hundred thousand armed men (Num. 26), and under David, counted by Joab, an innumerable people (2 Sam. 24), could hardly offer a few fruits to the Lord and Savior: Paul and Barnabas two olives, and Peter and James, and John (Acts 13), who also saw the transfigured Lord on the mountain and deserved to go with the Lord to the house of the synagogue official's daughter (Matt. 17). But four and five olives make up the remaining nine Apostles, in whom Matthias took the place of the treacherous Judas, who, for some unknown reason, was separated into four and five olives, in order to demonstrate the number of the Gospels and the volumes of the Law within themselves, as if they were proclaimers of both Instruments (Acts 1).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 749] John Damascene on Isaiah 17:4-8
Those who trust in idols are foolish. Idols are their own creations, things they made with their own hands, but they turn around and say, “These idols are our creators.” How can these people say that something they made is their creator? Moreover, they guard their idols, so that they will not be stolen by thieves. What foolishness! If idols cannot guard and protect themselves, how can they guard and save others?

Source: BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 10
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) And it shall be like one gathering in the harvest what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears: and it shall be like one seeking the ears in the Valley of Raphaim. And there shall be left in it like a cluster of grapes, and like the beating of olives of two or three olive trees at the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful heights, says the Lord God of Israel. Those who understand the present devastation of Damascus under the Roman kingdom, contend that these things are signified about the Apostles, that just as few ears of wheat and olives usually remain in the field or on the trees, so the remnant of Israel shall be saved; especially because it follows: On that day, man shall turn to his maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, that is, to Christ. Two olives, and three, and four, and five, are interpreted as the fourteen Apostles, that is, the twelve who were chosen, and the thirteenth James, who is called the brother of the Lord; Paul also, the Apostle, the vessel of election (Acts 7). However, those who think that what was said is accomplished during the time of the Assyrians, want this to be understood, that under the Assyrian captivity Damascus was not completely destroyed, but some were transferred to Cyrene, and the other part of the worshipers of the land was left behind, which was also destroyed later by the Babylonian ravages: until it was restored again under the Macedonians and the Ptolemies, and in the coming of Christ it was indeed a city, but not of such power as it had been before. And there will be so few senses left in Damascus as there usually remain few ears of grain in the broad and mighty valley of Raphaim that the poor gather, or few olives left in the olive tree that have escaped the scrutiny of the harvester.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:7-8
(Verse 7, 8) On that day, a man will turn towards his Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. He will not turn towards the altars that his hands have made, nor towards the works of his fingers. He will not look to the groves and shrines. Some interpret this as fulfilled during the time of Christ, when the kingdom of Damascus was destroyed and the eternal kingdom of the Savior succeeded, and the error of idolatry was diminished. It is indeed a pious interpretation, but it does not follow the order of history. But we say that after Damascus was subdued and the ten tribes were led into Assyria, the remnant of the tribes of Israel, converted by the letters of Hezekiah, came to the worship of God and to the temple in Jerusalem, as the Chronicles history narrates (2 Chronicles 3). Therefore, with Damascus destroyed, the people will turn to their Maker, that is, to the one who created them, and their eyes will no longer look at the idols they made in Bethel and Dan, but they will look to God, despising the shrines and altars that their own fingers made.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:7-8
(Verse 7, 8). On that day, man will bow down to his maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. And he will not bow down to the altars that his hands have made, nor to the things that his fingers have worked on; he will not look to the groves and shrines. In that time, when the Lord your God called the people of Israel, who were once called a fruitful olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16), and as we read in the Psalms: Your children will be like young olive trees around your table (Psalm 128:3), if the Lord hungry for the dryness of spiritual grace finds barely two olives, or three, or four, or five, the fullness of the Gentiles will enter, and they will not bow down to idols made by hands, but they will bow down to their own God, looking to the Holy One of Israel, and they will despise altars, groves, and shrines, knowing that which is written: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matthew 15:13).

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:9
(Verse 9) On that day, her fortified cities will be abandoned like plowed fields and empty after the harvest. They will become a wasteland, just like the cities of the Israelites that were abandoned before them. This prophecy is not against Damascus, but against the ten tribes known as Israel. Just as when the people of God arrived from Egypt, all the nations living in the promised land were suddenly filled with fear and dropped their plows and left their crops and unfinished tasks, fleeing for safety on foot, so too shall the land of Israel remain deserted for a long time. I am amazed that Aquila interpreted 'pro aratris et acervis frugum' as 'testam et Emir'; Symmachus, 'silvam et Amir'; LXX, 'Amorrhaeos et Evaeos'. Only Theodotio put the Hebrew word, 'Ars Et Emir', which is more correctly read as 'Hores () Et Amir ()', that is, plows and heaps of grain.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:9-10
(Verses 9, 10.) On that day your fortified cities will be deserted like plowed fields and cornfields that have been deserted by the children of Israel. And it will be desolate, because you have forgotten your God, your Savior, and have not remembered your strong helper. LXX: On that day your cities will be deserted like the cities abandoned by the Amorites and the Hivites before the children of Israel. And they will be deserted because you have abandoned your God, your Savior, and have not remembered the Lord, your helper. Just as under Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, the Amorites and the Eves and the other nations dwelling in the promised land abandoned their plows and crops and heaps in the fields and fled, lest they be seized by enemies, so too the land of Judea and all its mighty cities, with the Romans ravaging Judea and besieging Jerusalem, were deserted by their inhabitants. And there is an apostrophe to the very land of Judea, that is, to those who dwelt in it. But all these things you have suffered, because you have forgotten your God and Savior, who is called Jesus, whom the Law and the Prophets constantly proclaimed would come to you; and you have not remembered your strong helper, who has always come to your aid. Therefore, the reason for the desolation of the cities of Judea is the forgetfulness of the Savior, who, at the beginning of this prophecy, said: Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:10
(Verse 10.) Because you have forgotten your God and have not remembered your powerful helper. These things, he says, you will endure, O Israel, because you have forsaken your God, who has freed you from Egypt, who has subjected enemy nations to you; and you have not remembered your helper.

Therefore you will plant a faithful plantation, and you will sow a foreign seed. This should be read more closely and ironically. For, he says, you have forgotten your God and Savior, and you have not remembered your strong helper: should you therefore plant a faithful plantation, and not rather sow a foreign seed, which the enemy will snatch away? Or certainly like this: you have founded my sons, who are born from the stock of my people, in the land, in order to make them foreign and wicked.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:11
(Verse 11.) In the day of your planting, the vineyard shall flourish, and in the morning your seed shall blossom. The harvest shall be taken away on the day of inheritance, and you shall grieve deeply. These will be the fruits of your labors: your vine Sorec shall degenerate into wild grapes, and your seed shall bring forth hope in the bud; but when maturity comes, it shall be harvested by another. And then you shall grieve deeply, when what you hoped for and almost touched is lost.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:11
(Verse 11.) Therefore, you will plant a faithful plantation and sow a foreign seed. On the day of your planting, your grapevine will be in bloom, and in the morning your seed will sprout; the harvest has been taken away on the day of inheritance, and there will be great sorrow. LXX: Therefore, you will plant an unfaithful plantation and unfaithful seed, and on the day you plant, you will wander. But if you sow in the morning, it will bloom for the harvest on the day of inheritance, when a father gives inheritance to his sons. For that reason, because we have interpreted it according to Aquila and Symmachus and the LXX, on the day of inheritance, which in Hebrew is called Biom Nehela (), it can be read in Hebrew, on a very bad day. And for that reason, because it has been interpreted by Aquila and Theodotion, and the man will grieve: we learned from the Hebrews, for the man who is called Enos in their language, we have interpreted as Anus (), that is, heavily: concerning the ambiguity of this word, if there is time in this life, we will discuss it more fully in Jeremiah, where according to the LXX it says: And there is a man, and who will know him? Therefore I say what I proposed: Because you have forgotten, O land of Judah, your Savior God, and the one who always provided strength for you, you have not remembered; therefore you will indeed plant a faithful plantation, as the interpretations of Aquila and Theodotion say, beautiful; or as Symmachus says, good, preaching one God: but you will sow a foreign seed, not receiving the Father, because you do not receive the Son. For whoever believes in the Father, also believes in the Son. And because you have sown the seed of blasphemy against Jesus in the synagogues of Satan, therefore you shall not gather grapes, but wild grapes. And when it appears that your seed is flourishing and you have some shade of piety, while you withdraw people from idols: yet when you will grieve deeply in the day of harvest to gather the fruits, seeing that the people of the Gentiles are preferred to you. Hence the Apostle says: I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I myself wished to be anathema from Christ for the sake of my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption of sons, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:3-5). And not only Paul, but also every saint speaks this, wishing to save even the root with the branches of the olive tree. But that inheritance is what we obtain from the Lord, about which the Apostle says: There are divisions of grace, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all. Let someone wonder why we have called our faithful congregation a faithful plantation, considering the beautiful and good translations made by Aquila, Theodotio, and Symmachus. The Hebrew word Neemanim, if spelled with the letter Aleph, means faithful; but if spelled with Ain, and pronounced as Neamenim, it means beautiful. Thus, Noemi, which is spelled with this letter, speaks in Ruth (Chapter I, 20): 'Do not call me Noemi, that is, beautiful, but call me bitter.'

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:12-14
Those who believe that the captivity of Damascus discussed above was inflicted by the Romans also refer what is written here to the time of Christ and the apostles: “People will bow to their Creator, and their eyes will look to the holy one of Israel.” They further think that what follows, namely, “You will plant faithful plants, and you will sow strange seeds; in the day of your planting, the wild grape” applies to the infidelity of the Jews. And this little passage that we just set forth they interpret as concerning the peoples who persecute the church. The next line, “he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away,” they receive as concerning the devil, demonstrating the destruction of persecutors and demons through a tropological interpretation. We, however, follow the original order and complete the historical foundation with a historical culmination. Woe, it says, to all the nations who wage war against my people, whose attack was strong enough to be compared to the waves of the sea. But when raging warriors come and inundate my land, then their prince Sennacherib will flee from them, rebuked, and they will be scattered like dust in a plundering storm. As the top of a whirl-wind revolves, so will he be struck by an angel when he approaches Jerusalem to besiege her. He will come in the morning and witness his powerful army destroyed. And “this is the portion of those who despoil us.” This prophet speaks either in the person of the people or as though uniting himself to his nation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:17.12-14
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:12-14
(Verses 12-14.) Woe to the multitude of many peoples, as the sound of the roaring sea: and the tumult of nations, like the sound of many waters. The peoples will make noise, like the sound of overflowing waters: and they will rebuke him, and he will flee far away: and he will be carried away like the dust of mountains before the wind, and like a whirlwind before a storm. At evening time: and behold, there will be trouble in the morning, and it will not continue. This is their portion, who have plundered us, and their lot, who have taken us away. Those who consider the captivity of Damascus inflicted by the Romans, and this which is written: Man shall bow down to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, refer to the times of Christ and the Apostles. They also understand the following: You will plant a faithful plantation, and you will sow a foreign branch: on the day of your plantation the wild vine, etc., they perceive the unfaithfulness of the Jews. And this chapter that we have now presented is interpreted by the Gentiles who persecute the Church. Moreover, what follows is understood to be about the devil, with a tropological interpretation illustrating the devastation caused by persecutors and demons. But we follow the sequential order and protect the historical foundations with historical insight. Woe, he says, to all the nations that have fought against my people, whose force was so great that it could be compared to the waves of the sea. But when they come raging and flood my land, then their leader Sennacherib will flee, reproached by him, and be scattered like dust carried by the wind, and whirled up into the sky like a storm. Indeed, he will approach Jerusalem, besieging it, but he will be struck down by an angel; he will come in the morning, and he will see his army destroyed, the power of his might gone. And this will be the portion of those who devastated us. The Prophet speaks either on behalf of the people or joins himself to his own nation (IV Kings XIX, 35, 36). Afterwards we read: The Angel of the Lord went out and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and they arose early in the morning, and behold, all the dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departed and returned and lived in Nineveh.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 17:12-14
(Verse 12 and following) Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the roaring of the sea, and the tumult of the nations, they shall make a sound like the noise of many waters. The peoples shall sound like the noise of abundant waters: and he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. In the evening, and behold trouble: in the morning, and he shall not be. This is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. Above, we read about the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, and also about the election of a few Jews among the Apostles. And since in comparison to the whole world and all the nations, only a small part of the people believed in Christ, as it was said above: 'And the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel' (for 'many are called, but few are chosen' - Matthew 22:14) and 'not all have faith' (2 Thessalonians 3:2), now it follows that there is not mourning, but woe to those nations who refused to believe and persecuted the Christian people. And they are compared to the mass of waves and the roaring sea, and as much as is within them, they desire to overwhelm and occupy everything. For the people will sound forth in the spectacles of theatrical luxury, and in the cruelty of the amphitheater, and in the madness of the circus, just as the sound of overflowing waters, when with a united voice of impiety they blaspheme, and they say to the Christians, 'Throw them to the lions and beasts,' and other things of this kind. But to them, like raging seas, the Lord will rebuke the instigator of their sedition, and He will drive him away from His people. And as dust moved on the mountains, the higher it is, the stronger it is carried away; and as a whirlwind, which rises from the earth, is carried away into the sky by a sudden storm: so also he, being carried away, will be separated from the people of God and will flee, lest he be relegated to the abyss. And when the day of consummation comes, which is interpreted as evening, then there will be turmoil, acknowledging his sins. And in the morning, on the day of resurrection, it will not continue, as the LXX translated, it will not be. But if it will not be, what will those who give penance to the devil respond, and they promise as much as they can, an archangelic rank? This is the role of those who have devastated us, and the fate of those who will plunder us. This is either the speech of the Christian people or the prophet speaking from the perspective of the believing people, that the persecutors will have eternal destruction, who have oppressed the holy ones of God with exile, imprisonment, and the seizure of goods, and will possess eternal punishments.

Source: Commentary on Isaiah