Isaiah 17:6

Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The LORD, the God of Israel, declares this oracle following the harvest metaphor of Isaiah 17:5 and preceding the call to look to the Maker in verse 7. It marks the moment of judgment against Damascus where a sparse remnant is preserved.

The words — עֽוֹלֵלֹת (o.le.Lot) means "gleanings," and כְּנֹקֶף זַיִת (ke./no.kef za.yit) translates to "like the beating of an olive tree." These terms describe the few olives left after a thorough shaking.

The thread — The gleaning olive tree image reappears in Isaiah 24:13, while the survival of a scattered few parallels Deuteronomy 4:27. The agricultural metaphor of leftover harvests also surfaces in Judges 8:2.

Why it lands — The text states that only two or three berries remain on the top and four or five on the branches after beating. It requires the reader to accept that divine judgment intentionally spares a measured remnant for future reckoning.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְנִשְׁאַר־ve./nish.'ar-and/ it will be leftבּ֤וֹb/oin/ itעֽוֹלֵלֹת֙o.le.Lotgleanings כְּנֹ֣קֶףke./No.keflike/ [the] beating of זַ֔יִתZa.yitan olive tree שְׁנַ֧יִםshe.Na.yimtwo שְׁלֹשָׁ֛הshe.lo.Shahthree גַּרְגְּרִ֖יםgar.ge.Rimolives בְּרֹ֣אשׁbe./Roshat/ [the] top of אָמִ֑יר'a.Mir[the] tree-top אַרְבָּעָ֣ה'ar.ba.'Ahfour חֲמִשָּׁ֗הcha.mi.Shahfive בִּסְעִפֶ֙יהָ֙bi/s.'i.Fei./haon/ branches/ its פֹּֽרִיָּ֔הpo.ri.Yahfruit-bearing נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֵ֥י'e.lo.Hei[the] God of יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סYis.ra.'ElIsrael

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Isaiah 24:13 So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
Deuteronomy 4:27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Judges 8:2 But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
Obadiah 1:5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, how you will be ruined—would they not steal only what they wanted? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings?
Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
Romans 11:4 And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
1 Kings 19:18 Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Isaiah 1:9 Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
Isaiah 10:22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
Isaiah 27:12 In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one.