Isaiah 29:1-24

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-8

That it is Jerusalem which is here called Ariel is agreed, for that was the city where David dwelt; that part of it which was called Zion was in a particular manner the city of David, in which both the temple and the palace were. But why it is so called is very uncertain: probably the name and the reason were then well known. Cities, as well as persons, get surnames and nicknames. Ariel signifies the lion of God, or the strong lion: as the lion is king among beasts, so was Jerusalem among the... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:9-16

Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so, 2 Chron. 30:22. They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of God's displeasure against them. Now, one would think, surely this great nation, that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is a... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:17-24

Those that thought to hide their counsels from the Lord were said to turn things upside down (Isa. 29:16), and they intended to do it unknown to God; but God here tells them that he will turn things upside down his way; and let us see whose word shall stand, his or theirs. They disbelieve Providence: ?Wait awhile,? says God, ?and you shall be convinced by ocular demonstration that there is a God who governs the world, and that he governs it and orders all the changes that are in it for the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:1

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt ,.... Many Jewish writers by "Ariel" understand the altar of burnt offerings; and so the Targum, "woe, altar, altar, which was built in the city where David dwelt;' and so it is called in Ezekiel 43:15 it signifies "the lion of God"; and the reason why it is so called, the Jews say F9 Yoma apud Jarchi in loc. , is, because the fire lay upon it in the form of a lion; but rather the reason is, because it devoured the sacrifices... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:2

Yet I will distress Ariel ,.... Or "straiten" it, by causing it to be besieged; and this he would do, notwithstanding their yearly sacrifices, and their observance of their solemn feasts, and other ceremonies of the law, in which they placed their confidence, and neglected weightier matters: and there shall be heaviness and sorrow ; on account of the siege; by reason of the devastations of the enemy without, made on all the cities and towns in Judea round about; and because of the famine... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:3

And I will camp against thee round about ,.... Or as a "ball" or "globe" F15 כדור "quasi pila", Piscator; "instar globi", Gataker. ; 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 , and will lay siege against thee... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:4

And thou shalt be brought down ,.... To the ground, and laid level with it, even the city of Jerusalem, as it was by the Romans; and as it was predicted by Christ it would, Luke 19:44 though some understand this of the humbling of the inhabitants of it, by the appearance of Sennacherib's army before it, and of which they interpret the following clauses: and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust ; which some explain of the submissive language of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:5

Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust ,.... Or "of those that fan thee" F17 זריך "ventilantium te", V. L. "dispergentium te", Vatablus, so Targum; "hostium tuorum", Pagninus, Cocceius. , as the Vulgate Latin Version; and so the Targum, "of those that scatter thee;' or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a strange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and scattered them abroad in the world: and the simile of "small dust",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:6

Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise ,.... That is, not the multitude of strangers and terrible ones, unless they could be understood of the wicked among the Jews; but thou Ariel, or Jerusalem, shalt be punished by the Lord of hosts; for this visitation or punishment was from him, for their sins and iniquities; the Romans were only the instruments he made use of, and the executioners of his vengeance; which was attended with thunder in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:7

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel ,.... The Roman army, which consisted of men of all nations, that fought against Jerusalem; the city in which was the altar, as the Targum paraphrases it: even all that fight against her, and her munition, and that distress her ; that besieged it, and endeavoured to demolish its walls, towns, and fortifications, as they did: shall be as a dream of a night vision : meaning either that the Roman empire should quickly fall,... read more

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