The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
Parallel translations
- WEB The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.
- KJV The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
- BSB The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
- NASB “The cities of Aroer are abandoned; They will be for herds to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them.
- NLT The towns of Aroer will be deserted. Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed, with no one to chase them away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The cities of Aroer are abandoned, left to flocks that lie down undisturbed. Once-bustling towns become quiet pasture land.
Overview
The depopulated cities become grazing ground where animals rest in peace, a picture of desolation. Human pride and activity give way to silence and emptiness. The image vividly conveys how thoroughly judgment empties a land of its people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 7:33The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and no one shall frighten them away.
- Ezek 25:5I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Zeph 2:6The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.
- Deut 2:36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Yahweh our God delivered up all before us.
- Mic 4:4But they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and no one will make them afraid: For the mouth of Yahweh of Armies has spoken.
- Num 32:34The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
- Jer 48:19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’
- Deut 3:12This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and its cities, gave I to the Reubenites and to the Gadites:
- Isa 7:23–25It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.
- Isa 7:21It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
- Isa 5:17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
- Josh 13:16Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba;
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 17:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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