Isaiah 30:17 (YLT)

Passage

One thousand because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five ye flee, Till ye have been surely left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 30:15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: `In returning and rest ye are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might, And ye have not been willing.

Isaiah 30:16 And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers.

Isaiah 30:17 One thousand because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five ye flee, Till ye have been surely left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.

Isaiah 30:18 And therefore doth wait Jehovah to favour you, And therefore He is exalted to pity you, For a God of judgment <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah, O the blessedness of all waiting for Him.

Isaiah 30:19 For the people in Zion dwell in Jerusalem, Weep thou not, weeping, Pitying, He pitieth thee at the voice of thy cry, When He heareth He answereth thee.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And ye say No for on a..." into verse 18's "And therefore doth wait Jehovah to favour...", so "thousand" and "rebuke" 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 "rebuke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.