Isaiah 29:2

2 I will attack Jerusalem, and that city will be filled with sadness and crying. It will be like an altar to me.

Isaiah 29:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:2

Yet I will distress Ariel
Or "straiten" it, by causing it to be besieged; and this he would do, notwithstanding their yearly sacrifices, and their observance of their solemn feasts, and other ceremonies of the law, in which they placed their confidence, and neglected weightier matters: and there shall be heaviness and sorrow;
on account of the siege; by reason of the devastations of the enemy without, made on all the cities and towns in Judea round about; and because of the famine and bloodshed in the city: and it shall be unto me as Ariel;
the whole city shall be as the altar; as that was covered with the blood and carcasses of slain beasts, so this with the blood and carcasses of men; and so the Targum,

``and I will distress the city where the altar is, and it shall be desolate and empty; and it shall be surrounded before me with the blood of the slain, as the altar is surrounded with the blood of the holy sacrifices on a solemn feast day all around;''

so Jarchi and Kimchi.

Isaiah 29:2 In-Context

1 How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem, the city where David camped. Your festivals have continued year after year.

2 I will attack Jerusalem, and that city will be filled with sadness and crying. It will be like an altar to me.

3 I will put armies all around you, Jerusalem; I will surround you with towers and with devices to attack you.

4 You will be pulled down and will speak from the ground; I will hear your voice rising from the ground. It will sound like the voice of a ghost; your words will come like a whisper from the dirt.

5 Your many enemies will become like fine dust; the many cruel people will be like chaff that is blown away. Everything will happen very quickly.