Isaiah 29:3

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

Isaiah 29:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:3

And I will camp against thee round about
Or as a "ball" or "globe" ^F15; a camp all around; the Lord is said to do that which the enemy should do, because it was by his will, and according to his order, and which he would succeed and prosper, and therefore the prophecy of it is the more terrible; and it might be concluded that it would certainly be fulfilled, as it was; see ( Luke 19:43 ) ( 21:20 ) : and will lay siege against thee with a mount:
raised up for soldiers to get up upon, and cast their arrows into the city from, and scale the walls; Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it a wooden tower. This cannot be understood of Sennacherib's siege, for he was not suffered to raise a bank against the city, nor shoot an arrow into it, ( Isaiah 37:33 ) but well agrees with the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, as related by Josephus {p}: and I will raise forts against thee;
from whence to batter the city; the Romans had their battering rams.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (rwdk) "quasi pila", Piscator; "instar globi", Gataker.
F16 Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 1. & c. 12. sect. 1, 2.

Isaiah 29:3 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.