Isaiah 32:14 - Exposition

The palaces shall be forsaken ; literally, the palace ; but the word is used in a generic sense. The prophet sees in vision Jerusalem deserted by her inhabitants, the grand houses of the rich empty, the strongholds haunted by wild beasts, and the slopes of the hills fed on by sheep, and even occasionally visited by the timid and solitude-loving wild ass. The description suits well the time of the Babylonian captivity, but not any earlier period. Probably it was not revealed to the prophet how soon the condition would be reached. The multitude of the city shall be left . The real meaning is, as Bishop Lowth expresses it, "The populous city shall be left desolate." But the whole passage is. as Delitzsch observes, "grammatically strange, the language becoming more complicated, disjointed, and difficult, the greater the wrath and indignation of the poet." The forts and towers ; rather, hill and tower , with (perhaps) a special reference to the part of Jerusalem called Ophel ( 2 Chronicles 27:3 ; Nehemiah 3:26 , etc.), the long projecting spur from the eastern hill, which points a little west of south, and separates the Kedron valley from the Tyropoeon. Shall be for dens ; literally, for caves ; but dens for wild beasts seem to be meant (comp. Isaiah 13:21 ; Isaiah 34:14 ; Jeremiah 1:1-19 :39). For ever . This expression must not be pressed. Hyperbole is a recognized feature of poetry written under strong excitement. A joy of wild asses . The wild ass is not now found nearer Palestine than Mesopotamia, or perhaps Northern Syria. It is exceedingly shy, and never approaches the habitations of men.