Isaiah 25:2

2 For You have turned the city into a pile of rubble, a fortified city, into a ruin; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.

Isaiah 25:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 25:2

For thou hast made of a city an heap
Which is to be understood, not of Samaria, nor of Jerusalem; rather of Babylon; though it is best to interpret it of the city of Rome, as Jerom says the Jews do; though they generally explain it of many cities, which shall be destroyed in the times of Gog and Magog, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and so the Targum has it in the plural number; perhaps not only the city of Rome, but all the antichristian states, the cities of the nations, all within the Romish jurisdiction are meant; which shall all fall by the earthquake, sooner or later, and become a heap: [of] a defenced city, a ruin;
or, "for a fall" ^F3; the same thing is meant as before: it designs the fall of mystical Babylon or Rome, called the great and mighty city, ( Revelation 18:2 Revelation 18:10 ) : a palace of strangers;
which Kimchi interprets of Babylon, which, he says, was a palace to the cities of the Gentiles, who are called strangers; and it is said, that that city was originally built for strangers, that dwelt in tents, in Arabia Deserts; but it is best to understand it of Rome, as before, which is the palace of such who are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, who have introduced a strange religion, and are the worshippers of strange gods, ( Daniel 11:38 Daniel 11:39 ) . The Targum renders it,

``the house of the gods of the people in the city of Jerusalem;''

and this will be made to be no city, it shall never be built;
any more, when once it is destroyed, signified by the angels casting a millstone into the sea, which shall never be taken up again, or found more, ( Revelation 18:21 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hlpml) "in lapsum".

Isaiah 25:2 In-Context

1 Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans [formed] long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

2 For You have turned the city into a pile of rubble, a fortified city, into a ruin; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore, a strong people will honor You. A city of violent people will fear You.

4 For You have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the humble person in his distress, a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat. When the breath of the violent is like rain [against] a wall,

5 like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of barbarians. As the shade of a cloud [cools] the heat of the day, [so] He stills the song of the violent.