Isaiah 29:3

3 And I shall compass as a round spear, either trundle, in thy compass, and I shall cast [an heap] (of) earth against thee, and I shall set strongholds, either engines, into thy besieging. (And I shall surround thee with my army, and I shall throw a heap of earth against thee, and I shall set up strongholds, or engines, to besiege thee.)

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 Woe! [to] Ariel, Ariel, the city which David overcame; year is added to year, solemnities be passed (the feasts have come and gone).

2 And I shall compass Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning; and Jerusalem shall be to me as Ariel. (And I shall surround Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning; and Jerusalem shall be like Ariel to me.)

3 And I shall compass as a round spear, either trundle, in thy compass, and I shall cast [an heap] (of) earth against thee, and I shall set strongholds, either engines, into thy besieging. (And I shall surround thee with my army, and I shall throw a heap of earth against thee, and I shall set up strongholds, or engines, to besiege thee.)

4 Thou shalt be made low, thou shalt speak (out) of [the] earth, and thy speech shall be heard from the earth; and thy voice shall be as the voice of a dead man raised (up) by conjuring, and thy speech shall oft grutch of the earth (and thy words shall grumble, or groan, out of the earth).

5 And the multitude of them that winnowed thee, shall be (made) as thin dust; and the multitude of them that had the mastery against thee, shall be (made) as [a] dead spark passing (away). And it shall be (that) suddenly,