Bible Strands
Isaiah 29:17
In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses Judah during a period of spiritual inversion, positioned between the potter-clay warning of 29:16 and the sensory restoration promise of 29:18. The prophet announces a divine intervention that will abruptly reverse the nation’s current condition.
The words — מְעַ֣ט (me.'At) and מִזְעָ֔ר (miz.'Ar) both translate to "a little," compressing the timeframe before Lebanon becomes an orchard and the orchard seems like a forest.
The thread — The motif of sudden divine reversal and rapid fulfillment runs through Isaiah 32:15, where the Spirit transforms desert into orchard, and Hebrews 10:37, which quotes the promise that the coming One will arrive in just a little while. Matthew 19:30 parallels the theme of abrupt role reversal.
Why it lands — The text states that visible permanence will be overturned in a brief period, demanding readers abandon reliance on current circumstances. It requires alignment with God’s timing rather than human assessment of what is possible.
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
King James Version
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 32:15 until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Matthew 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
- Hebrews 10:37 For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.
- Psalms 84:6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; even the autumn rain covers it with pools.
- Psalms 107:33 He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground,
- Psalms 107:35 He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.
- Isaiah 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
- Isaiah 41:19 I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,
- Isaiah 49:5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength—