Isaiah 29:1-3 NIV

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

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:1

Ariel - That Jerusalem is here called by this name is very certain: but the reason of this name, and the meaning of it as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. Some, with the Chaldee, suppose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name, and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, אל אור ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies: compare Isaiah 31:9 . Some,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:2

There shall be heaviness and sorrow "There shall be continual mourning and sorrow" - Instead of your present joy and festivity. And it shall be unto me as Ariel "And it shall be unto me as the hearth of the great altar" - That is, it shall be the seat of the fire of God; which shall issue from thence to consume his enemies. See note on Isaiah 29:1 ; (note). Or, perhaps, all on flame; as it was when taken by the Chaldeans; or covered with carcasses and blood, as when taken by the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:3

And I will camp against thee round about "And I will encamp against thee like David" - For כדור caddur , some kind of military engine, כדוד kedavid , like David, is the reading of the Septuagint, two MSS. of Kennicott's, if not two more: but though Bishop Lowth adopts this reading, I think it harsh and unnecessary. Forts "Towers" - For מצרת metsuroth , read מצדות metsudoth : so the Septuagint and five MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, one of them ancient, and four of De Rossi's. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt ! "Ariel' is clearly a mystic name for Jerusalem, parallel to "Sheshach" as a name for Babylon ( Jeremiah 25:26 ) and "'Ir-ha-heres" as a name for Heliopolis ( Isaiah 19:18 ). It is generally explained as equivalent to Art-El, "lion of God;" but Delitzsch suggests the meaning of "hearth of God," or "altar of God," a signification which "Ariel" seems to have in Ezekiel 43:15 , Ezekiel 43:16 . But there is no evidence that "Ariel" was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-4

A WARNING TO JERUSALEM . Expostulation is followed by threats. The prophet is aware that all his preaching to the authorities in Jerusalem ( Isaiah 28:14-22 ) will be of no avail, and that their adoption of measures directly antagonistic to the commands of God will bring on the very evil which they are seeking to avert, and cause Jerusalem to be actually besieged by her enemies. In the present passage he distinctly announces the siege, and declares that it will commence within a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-4

Woe to Ariel! The lesson of this section seems to be that even those nearest and dearest to God, who bear his name, who are in a certain sense his, are not exempt from suffering at his hands. Even Jerusalem, "the city where David dwelt" "God's lion," his champion, his "mighty one"—was shortly to experience all the horrors of a prolonged siege, to be brought down to the dust—to be distressed, weakened, humiliated. The memory of David would not save her; her name of "Ariel" would not exempt... read more

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

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

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

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:1-4

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