Isaiah 17:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This can be illustrated by a significant event that warrants a brief description. During the reign of King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, advanced against the fortified cities of Judah. Thus, it is recorded. In response, Sennacherib dispatched Rabshekah from Lachish to besiege Jerusalem. Upon arrival, Rabshekah began to deride the majesty of God, our Redeemer, insisting that He was unable to save them, even if He desired to. Nevertheless, the one who spoke with harshness and savagery learned through experience how perilous it is to oppose the supreme glory, as an angel of the Lord emerged and struck down in one night one hundred eighty-five thousand men from the Assyrian camp. In the morning, they awoke to find all the bodies were dead.

As for Sennacherib, who had sent forth this assault, he was disillusioned by the outcome and fled in terror, narrowly escaping with his life, eventually returning to his homeland, though not long after, he met his demise by the hand of his own sons. It is told that he worshiped in his temple, and there, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, put him to death. The prophetic word recalls this account, foretelling the Assyrian invasion and lamenting, "O lute to the multitude of many tongues!" It mourns for the unfortunate souls, nearly perishing in Jerusalem while the angel devastated them. The multitude is recognized as not a singular group, but rather a host of diverse nations, symbolized by the many tongues that came upon the cities of Judah like a torrent, roaring like the sea and crashing against their foes.

In further description, they are depicted as the backbone of numerous tongues, as many nations suffered under their aggression, with the oppressors ever trailing behind the vulnerable. What shall come after this? He will cast him away, indicating that He shall drive him back, far from them like scattered ashes caught in the wind, like the dust cast from a wheel under a tempest. For nothing is as easily dispersed as dust from a threshing floor when stirred by a strong breeze. And indeed, the Lord assures us of Sennacherib’s flight, as He spoke through the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming, "I will put a hook in thy nose, and a bridle in thy mouth, and I will turn thee back by the way in which thou camest."

In the discussions regarding Damascus, we read of the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, as well as the selection of a remnant from among the Jewish people by the apostles. Considering the entirety of the world, only a small portion of the Christian community believed, as it is written: "and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel," for many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14), and: "not all have faith" (2 Thess. 3:2). Therefore, rather than mourning, we experience deep sorrow for those nations that refused to believe and pursued the Christian faithful.

These nations are likened to a tumult of waves and an uproarious sea that aims to overwhelm and seize all within its reach. Their uproar will be evident at the exhibitions of immoral entertainment, the bloodlust of the arena, and the madness of the circus, all resounding with a cacophony of blasphemy, clamoring for Christians to be sacrificed to the beasts. But when their rage swells like the ocean, the Lord will confront the cause of their uproar and cast it out from among His people.

Just as the dust from the mountains, the higher it rises, the more it is carried away, and as the whirlwind, born from the earth by a furious storm, sweeps upward, so too shall he who is ensnared be separated from the people of God, fleeing to avoid being cast into oblivion. When the day of judgment arrives, symbolized by evening, there shall be distress due to the awareness of their transgressions. And at the dawning of the resurrection, he will not endure, as indicated by the LXX's translation that he will no longer exist. What answer can those give who entertain the notion of repentance for the devil, and who promise him a place beside the archangels? Such is the destiny of those who have brought devastation upon us, reflecting the inheritance of those who ravage our lives. This speaks of either the Christian community or perhaps the prophet voice of the faithful people, for their oppressors—those who imposed exile, imprisonment, and confiscation of property—shall face eternal ruin and be subject to everlasting punishment.

Those who connect this narrative to the captivity of Damascus by the Romans refer to the time of Christ and the Apostles with the words: "A man shall turn his eyes to his Creator, and his gaze shall be upon the Holy One of Israel." Furthermore, "You shall plant a treacherous garden, and sow deceitful seeds; yet on the very day you plant them, they shall be corrupted," which they interpret as a reference to the unbelief of the Jews. The same passage we have examined is seen in the context of the Gentile persecutors of the Church, while the phrase "He threatened them and they fled far away" is understood as a metaphor for the devil, depicting the desolation faced by persecutors and malevolent spirits.

Continuing in this established narrative, we lay a historical framework upon a historical foundation. Woe to all the nations that have risen against my people, whose attacks are so fierce they can be likened to the tumult of the ocean. Yet, when they come with fury to inundate my land, their leader Sennacherib will flee from it at the Lord’s threat; and just as dust is scattered by the wind, and as a whirlwind rises in a storm, he shall, despite encircling Jerusalem in siege, be struck down by an angel, waking to find his mighty army laid waste.

This will be the fate of those who devastate us, whether the prophet speaks on behalf of the people or finds his own voice united with theirs. We subsequently read: "And it came to pass in the night, and the angel of the Lord descended, and struck down from the Assyrian camp one hundred and eighty-five thousand." When morning arrived, they encountered the aftermath of death. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, arose, departed, and returned to dwell in Nineveh (4 Kings 19:35-36).