What Does Isaiah 17:2 Mean in the King James?
The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The flock’s unafraid rest reveals what a forsaken city can still hold.
THE MEANING
Aroer’s cities stand forsaken, and flocks occupy them, lying down without anyone to frighten them. The verse measures safety by whether the vulnerable can rest in a place people have left behind.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Abandonment means a place holds nothing but emptiness; here, forsaken cities still hold life and shelter.
THE ROOT
עֲזֻבוֹת
ʿazuvot
GROWS FROM
עזב
To leave, abandon, or relinquish.
“forsaken” in this verse is ʿazuvot. The cities are not merely quiet; they are described as left behind. Yet the abandoned spaces are not empty of life: they become ground where flocks can rest, so forsakenness and shelter occupy the same place.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāzav: To leave or forsake.
עָזַב
The verb names the act behind the cities’ condition: they have been left.
ʿazuvah: A forsaken one or deserted place.
עֲזוּבָה
This related form makes abandonment a condition a person or place can bear, not just an event that happened.
וְרָבְצוּ
veravtsu
GROWS FROM
רבץ
To crouch, lie down, or settle to rest.
“lie down” in this verse is veravtsu. The word pictures the flock settling low into rest, not merely remaining among the cities. A related noun names a resting place for flocks, so the ruin becomes a place where animals can settle.
ALSO GROWS
rāvaṣ: To crouch or lie down.
רָבַץ
This is the action the flocks take in the forsaken cities: they settle into rest.
mirbāṣ: A resting place or couching place for flocks.
מִרְבָּץ
This related word names the kind of place where a flock lies down, extending the verse’s image from resting action to refuge.
מַחֲרִיד
maḥărīd
GROWS FROM
חרד
To tremble, quake, or be alarmed; in this form, to cause trembling.
“make them afraid” in this verse is maḥărīd. The phrase is causative: there is no one making the flock tremble. The verse describes safety as the absence of a threat that can disturb their rest.
ALSO GROWS
ḥārad: To tremble or be alarmed.
חָרַד
The root names the bodily alarm that the flocks are spared.
ḥărādāh: Trembling, terror, or alarm.
חֲרָדָה
This related noun gives a name to the fear-making presence that is absent from the scene.
THE PATTERN
Safety becomes visible when the vulnerable can rest without a threat disturbing them.
And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.THE THREAD
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.Isaiah’s flocks and Zephaniah’s remnant share the roots רָבַץ (rāvaṣ, lie down) and חָרַד (ḥārad, tremble): both settle into rest where no one remains to make them tremble. The repeated image lets the flock’s safety illuminate a community restored to unthreatened life.
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