Yesaya 29:17

Changes are Coming

29:17 In just a very short time ¹ 

Lebanon will turn into an orchard,

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ² 

Yesaya 63:18

63:18 For a short time your special ³  nation possessed a land, ⁴ 

but then our adversaries knocked down ⁵  your holy sanctuary.

[29:17]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”

[29:17]  ² sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.

[63:18]  ³ tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[63:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”

[63:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”