Isaiah 17:12

-Isaiah on his "watch-tower" hears, and we seem to hear with him, the ocean-like roar of the advancing Assyrian hosts" (Cheyne). Whether the invaders are already in the land, or are present only to the imagination of the prophet, it is impossible to determine. The first half of the verse should be rendered: Ah, the roar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of seas. The "many peoples" are the varied subject nationalities that furnished contingents to the Assyrian army. The comparison of such tumultuous masses of men to the noise of waters is frequent in the O.T.: cf. ch. Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:7; Jeremiah 6:23; Jeremiah 46:7 f.; Psalms 65:7.