Isaiah 29:1-14

Woe to Jerusalem

1 Woe to Ariel,^[a] Ariel, the city where David camped! Continue year after year; let the festivals recur.

2 I will oppress Ariel, and there will be mourning and crying, and she will be to Me like an Ariel.^[b]

3 I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with earth ramps, and I will set up my siege towers against you.

4 You will be brought down; you will speak from the ground, and your words will come from low in the dust. Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper from the dust.

5 The multitude of your foes^[c] will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless, like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,

6 you will be visited by the Lord of Hosts with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise, storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.

7 The multitude of all the nations going out to battle against Ariel- all the attackers, the siege-works against her, and those who oppress her- will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.

8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating, then wakes and is still hungry; and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking, then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water. So will be the multitude of all the nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk,^[d] but not with wine; they stagger,^[e] but not with beer.

10 For the Lord has poured out on you an overwhelming urge to^[f] sleep; He has shut your eyes-the prophets, and covered your heads-the seers.

11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,^[g] he will say, "I can't read it, because it is sealed."

12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,^[h] he will say, "I can't read."

13 The Lord said: Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service^[i]- yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship [consists of] man-made rules learned [by rote]-

14 therefore I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will vanish, and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.

Isaiah 29:1-14 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]. Hb obscure; perhaps "altar hearth" or "lion of God"
• [b]. Hb obscure; perhaps "altar hearth" or "lion of God"
• [c]. Lit foreigners
• [d]. LXX, Tg, Vg read Be drunk
• [e]. Tg, Vg read wine; stagger
• [f]. Lit you a spirit of
• [g]. Lit If one gives it to one who knows the document, saying, "Read this, please"
• [h]. Lit who does not know the document, saying, "Read this, please"
• [i]. Lit their mouth and honor Me with its lips