Discovery BoxIsaiah 29:17 
Context29:17 In just a very short time 1
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest. 2
Isaiah 1:30
Context1:30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,
like an orchard 3 that is unwatered.
Isaiah 32:16
Context32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard. 4
1 tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”
2 sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.
3 tn Or “a garden” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
4 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
