17:14 And behold at the time of evening {q} trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that plunder us, and the lot of them that rob us.
(q) He compares the Assyrians to a tempest which rises overnight and in the morning is gone.
17:14 Behold - At even there is great terror among God's people, for fear of their enemies; and before the morning comes, their enemies are cut off.
17:12-14 The rage and force of the Assyrians resembled the mighty waters of the sea; but when the God of Israel should rebuke them, they would flee like chaff, or like a rolling thing, before the whirlwind. In the evening Jerusalem would be in trouble, because of the powerful invader, but before morning his army would be nearly cut off. Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.
