Isaiah 29:1-7

Woe to David’s City

1 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a]
3 I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
6 the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—

Isaiah 29:1-7 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.

Cross References 25

  • 1. Isaiah 22:12-13; S Isaiah 28:1
  • 2. ver 2,7; 2 Samuel 5:9
  • 3. S 2 Samuel 5:7
  • 4. S Isaiah 1:14
  • 5. S ver 1
  • 6. S Isaiah 3:26; Lamentations 2:5
  • 7. Ezekiel 43:15
  • 8. Luke 19:43-44
  • 9. S 2 Kings 25:1
  • 10. Isaiah 8:19
  • 11. Isaiah 47:1; Isaiah 52:2
  • 12. S Leviticus 19:31
  • 13. Isaiah 26:16
  • 14. S Deuteronomy 9:21; Psalms 78:39; Psalms 103:15; S Isaiah 2:22; Isaiah 37:27; Isaiah 40:6; Isaiah 51:12
  • 15. S Isaiah 13:11
  • 16. S Isaiah 17:13
  • 17. S Psalms 55:15; S Isaiah 17:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:3
  • 18. S Isaiah 26:21; Zechariah 14:1-5
  • 19. S Exodus 19:16
  • 20. Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; S Revelation 6:12; Revelation 11:19
  • 21. S Psalms 50:3; S Psalms 55:8; S Isaiah 28:15
  • 22. S Leviticus 10:2; Psalms 83:13-15
  • 23. Micah 4:11-12; Zechariah 12:9
  • 24. S ver 1
  • 25. S Job 20:8

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The Hebrew for "altar hearth" sounds like the Hebrew for "Ariel."
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