Isaiah 29:4 NIV

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-124

God saves Jerusalem (29:1-24)Isaiah then presents a frightening picture of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (called ‘Ariel’ in RSV and NIV, and ‘God’s altar’ in GNB). The people think that their city is safe and that the cycle of annual festivals will go on indefinitely. Suddenly, they find their lives threatened by a terrible siege. Throughout the city people are distressed and humiliated, as the doomed city cries out to God, as it were, from the grave (29:1-4).The enemy armies think their... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 29:4

ground =. earth. a familiar spirit = an Ob . See note on Leviticus 19:31 . whisper = peep, chirp, or mutter. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 29:3-4

Isaiah 29:3-4. And I will camp, &c.— This second article explains the former. The prophet had said that Jerusalem should be straitened and distressed; which he here expresses plainly, Isa 29:3 declaring that the consequence of this siege should be, a reduction of the proud and self-confident inhabitants to that state of humility, that, like the Pythonesses, or those who had familiar spirits, they should, with a low and whispering voice, (a certain demonstration of the anxiety of their... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 29:4

4. Jerusalem shall be as a captive, humbled to the dust. Her voice shall come from the earth as that of the spirit-charmers or necromancers ( :-), faint and shrill, as the voice of the dead was supposed to be. Ventriloquism was doubtless the trick caused to make the voice appear to come from the earth ( :-). An appropriate retribution that Jerusalem, which consulted necromancers, should be made like them! read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 29:1-4

Judah’s religious hypocrisy 29:1-4 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 29:4

Both the status and the strength of the city would suffer humiliation. The people’s weak voices would reflect their abject condition under Yahweh’s sovereign discipline. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:1-24

This chapter and the three which follow and complete the section, evidently belong to the very eve of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in701 b.c.1-8. Jerusalem is besieged and at the last extremity, but the enemy shall be suddenly discomfited. 9-24. Judah’s infatuation at this crisis, contrasted with the very different and teachable spirit that shall mark its future.1. RV ’Ho Ariel.’ Ariel is a symbolic name for Jerusalem, meaning either (1) lion of God, i.e. hero (2 Samuel 23:20), the lion... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 29:4

(4) Shalt speak out of the ground.—The words paint the panic of the besieged, the words pointing probably to Sennacherib’s invasion. They spoke in whispers, like the voice of the spectres which men heard in the secret chambers of the soothsayers. The war-cry of the brave was changed into the feeble tones of those that “peep and mutter.” (See Note on Isaiah 8:19.) read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-24

CHAPTER XIIARIEL, ARIELABOUT 703 B.C.Isaiah 29:1-24IN 705 Sargon, King of Assyria, was murdered, and Sennacherib, his second son, succeeded him. Before the new ruler mounted the throne, the vast empire, which his father had consolidated, broke into rebellion, and down to the borders of Egypt cities and tribes declared themselves again independent. Sennacherib attacked his problem with Assyrian promptitude. There were two forces, to subdue which at the beginning made the reduction of the rest... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 29:1-24

CHAPTER 29 The Second Woe Against Ariel and the Third Woe 1. The fall of Ariel (Jerusalem) predicted (Isaiah 29:1-4 ) 2. Their enemies dealt with by Jehovah (Isaiah 29:5-8 ) 3. The people’s condition: Blinded and religious formalists (Isaiah 29:9-14 ) 4. The third woe (Isaiah 29:15-16 ) 5. In that Day: joy and blessing for the meek and iniquity punished (Isaiah 29:17-24 ) Ariel means “the lion of God.” It is one of the names of Jerusalem. A great siege of Jerusalem is predicted.... read more