Isaiah 29:1-16

Woe to Jerusalem

1 Ah! Ariel, Ariel, [the] city [where] David encamped! Add year to year, let festivals recur.

2 Yet I will inflict Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation, and it shall be to me like an altar hearth.

3 And I will encamp {in a circle} against you, and I will lay siege to you [with] towers and I will raise up siegeworks against you.

4 Then you shall be low; you shall speak from [the] earth, and your words will be low, from dust. And your voice will be from [the] earth, like a ghost, and your word will whisper from [the] dust.

5 But the multitude of your strangers shall be like fine dust, and [the] multitude of tyrants like chaff that passes by. And it will happen [in] an instant, suddenly.

6 You will be punished by Yahweh of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great sound, storm wind and tempest and [the] flame of a devouring fire.

7 And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight [against] her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her shall be like [a] dream, a vision of [the] night.

8 And it shall be as when the hungry person dreams--look, [he is] eating! And he wakes up and his inner self [is] empty. Or as when the thirsty person dreams--look, [he is] drinking! And he wakes up and look, [he is] faint, and his inner self [is] longing for water. So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.

9 Be astonished and be amazed! Blind yourselves and be blinded! They are drunk but not [from] wine; they stagger but not [from] strong drink.

10 For Yahweh has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and he has shut your eyes, the prophets, and he has covered your heads, the seers.

11 And the vision of all this has become for you like [the] words of [a] sealed document. When they give it to one who knows the document, saying, "{Read} this now!" He says, "I am not able, for it [is] sealed."

12 And [if] the document is given to [one] who does not {know how to read}, saying, "{Read} this now!" he says, "I do not {know how to read}."

13 And the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with its mouth, and with its lips it honors me, and its heart is far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught,

14 therefore look, I am again doing something spectacular and a spectacle with this spectacular people. And the wisdom of its wise men shall perish, and the discernment of its discerning ones shall keep itself hidden."

15 Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide [it] from Yahweh, and their deeds are in a dark place. And they say, "Who sees us? And who knows us?"

16 Your perversity! As if {a potter} shall be regarded as [the] clay! That [the] product of its maker [says], "He did not make me," and [the] thing made into shape says of its {potter}, "He has no understanding."

Isaiah 29:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 29

This chapter contains a prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem by the Romans; the character and condition of the people of the Jews, previous to it; the calling of the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem are described in Isa 29:1-6 the disappointment of their enemies, notwithstanding their taking and destroying it, Isa 29:7,8 the stupidity, judicial blindness, and hardness of the Jews, which brought on their ruin, are predicted, Isa 29:9,10 the ignorance of their learned, as well as of their unlearned men, with respect to the Scripture, and the prophecies of it, Isa 29:11,12 their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isa 29:13 a blast upon all their wisdom and prudence, who thought to be wiser than the Lord, and too many for him, whose folly and atheism are exposed, Isa 29:14-16, and a great change both in Judea and the Gentile world, by the removal of the Gospel from the one to the other, Isa 29:17 the effects of which are, deaf sinners hear the word, dark minds are enlightened, and joy increased among the meek and poor, Isa 29:18,19 the fall of the Jews, or else of antichrist, is foretold, Isa 29:20,21 and the chapter is closed with a promise and prophecy of the conversion of the seed of Abraham and Jacob, Isa 29:22-24.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "And"
• [b]. Hebrew "Ariel," which might mean "altar hearth"
• [c]. The Hebrew text literally reads "like the ball"; the LXX supports an emendation to "David"
• [d]. Hebrew "tower"
• [e]. Or "And"
• [f]. Hebrew "word"
• [g]. Or "And"
• [h]. Or "And"
• [i]. Or "and"
• [j]. Or "and"
• [k]. The reading tradition (Qere) has "a" instead of "the"
• [l]. Literally "Call"
• [m]. Literally "know a document"
• [n]. Literally "Call"
• [o]. Literally "know a document"
• [p]. The Hebrew is singular
• [q]. Literally "of the one who creates"
• [r]. Literally "one who creates"