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Isaiah 17 · a question people ask

"Ah, the uproar of many peoples" (17:12). Who are they, and who is "us" in 17:14?

In the text

The chapter doesn't name them. It says, "The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off" (17:13), and "At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us" (17:14). The words count the speaker among the plundered (us), but the verse doesn't say who they are either, and the chapter names no king, army or date. It says what becomes of the nations: they flee, they are chased like chaff (17:13), and "Before the morning, they are no more" (17:14). Chapter 17 names no people, and these notes name none and apply the verses to no nation or conflict today.

The verses

“Ah, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.”
Isaiah 17:12-14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17: The burden of Damascus

The burden of Damascus turns to Israel by its third verse: Syria's remnant will be "as the glory of the children of Israel" (17:3), and then "the glory of Jacob will be made thin" (17:4). And 17:7's look shares a verse with the Holy One of Israel only here and in 31:1, where "they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel" (31:1).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions