Isaiah 30:17 (DBY)

Passage

One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength; but ye would not.

Isaiah 30:16 And ye said, No, but we will flee upon horses, therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride upon the swift, therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

Isaiah 30:17 One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill.

Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Isaiah 30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion, at Jerusalem. Thou shalt weep no more; he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; as he heareth it, he will answer thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thousand", "shall", "flee", "rebuke", and "five". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thousand" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And ye said No but we will..." into verse 18's "And therefore will Jehovah wait that he...", so "thousand" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thousand" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.