อิสยาห์ 29:1 วิจารณ์

This woe to Ariel, which we have in this chapter, is the same with the "burden of the valley of vision" (Isa 22:1), and (it is very probable) points at the same event - the besieging of Jerusalem by the Assyrian army, which was cut off there by an angel; yet it is applicable to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and its last desolations by the Romans. Here is, I. The event itself foretold, that Jerusalem should be greatly distressed (Isa 29:1-4, Isa 29:6), but that their enemies, who distressed them, should be baffled and defeated (Isa 29:5, Isa 29:7, Isa 29:8). II. A reproof to three sorts of sinners: - 1. Those that were stupid, and regardless of the warnings which the prophet gave them (Isa 29:9-12). 2. Those that were formal and hypocritical in their religious performances (Isa 29:13, Isa 29:14). 3. Those politicians that atheistically and profanely despised God's providence, and set up their own projects in competition with it (Isa 29:15, Isa 29:16). III. Precious promises of grace and mercy to a distinguished remnant whom God would sanctify, and in whom he would be sanctified, when their enemies and persecutors should be cut off (Isa 29:17-24).

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 cities, giving law to all about her; it was the city of the great King (Psa 48:1, Psa 48:2); it was the head-city of Judah, who is called a lion's whelp (Gen 49:9) and whose ensign was a lion; and he that is the lion of the tribe of Judah was the glory of it. Jerusalem was a terror sometimes to the neighbouring nations, and, while she was a righteous city, was bold as a lion. Some make Ariel to signify the altar of burnt-offerings, which devoured the beasts offered in sacrifice as the lion does his prey. Woe to that altar in the city where David dwelt; that was destroyed with the temple by the Chaldeans. I rather take it as a woe to Jerusalem, Jerusalem; it is repeated here, as it is Mat 23:37, that it might be the more awakening. Here is, I. The distress of Jerusalem foretold. Though Jerusalem be a strong city, as a lion, though a holy city, as a lion of God, yet, if iniquity be found there, woe be to it. It was the city where David dwelt; it was he that brought that to it which was its glory, and which made it a type of the gospel church, and his dwelling in it was typical of Christ's residence in his church. This mentioned as an aggravation of Jerusalem's sin, that in it were set both the testimony of Israel and the thrones of the house of David. 1. Let Jerusalem know that her external performance of religious services will not serve as an exemption from the judgments of God (Isa 29:1): "Add year to year; go on in the road of your annual feasts, let all your males appear there three times a year before the Lord, and none empty, according to the law and custom, and let them never miss any of these solemnities: let them kill the sacrifices, as they used to do; but, as long as their lives are unreformed and their hearts unhumbled, let them not think thus to pacify an offended God and to turn away his wrath." Note, Hypocrites may be found in a constant track of devout exercises, and treading around in them, and with these they may flatter themselves, but can never please God nor make their peace with him. 2. Let her know that God is coming forth against her in displeasure, that she shall be visited of the Lord of hosts (Isa 29:6); her sins shall be enquired into and punished: God will reckon for them with terrible judgments, with the frightful alarms and rueful desolations of war, which shall be like thunder and earthquakes, storms and tempests, and devouring fire, especially upon the account of the great noise. When a foreign enemy was not in the borders, but in the bowels of their country, roaring and ravaging, and laying all waste (especially such an army as that of the Assyrians, whose commanders being so very insolent, as appears by the conduct of Rabshakeh, the common soldiers, no doubt, were much more rude), they might see the Lord of those hosts visiting them with thunder and storm. Yet, this being here said to be a great noise, perhaps it is intimated that they shall be worse frightened than hurt. Particularly, (1.) Jerusalem shall be besieged, straitly besieged. He does not say, I will destroy Ariel, but I will distress Ariel; and she is therefore brought into distress, that, being thereby awakened to repent and reform, she may not be brought to destruction. I will (Isa 29:3) encamp against thee round about. It was the enemy's army that encamped against it; but God says that he will do it, for they are his hand, he does it by them. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped for them round about them for their protection and deliverance; but now he was turned to be their enemy and fought against them. The siege laid against them was of his laying, and the forts raised against them were of his raising. Note, When men fight against us we must, in them, see God contending with us. (2.) She shall be in grief to see the country laid waste and all the fenced cities of Judah in the enemies' hand: There shall be heaviness and sorrow (Isa 29:2), mourning and lamentation - so these two words are sometimes rendered. Those that are most merry and jovial are commonly, when they come to be in distress, most overwhelmed with heaviness and sorrow; their laughter is then turned into mourning. "All Jerusalem shall then be unto me as Ariel, as the altar, with fire upon it and slain victims about it:" so it was when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans; and many, no doubt, were slain when it was besieged by the Assyrians. "the whole city shall be an altar, in which sinners, falling by the judgments that are abroad, shall be as victims to divine justice." Or thus: - "There shall be heaviness and sorrow; they shall repent, and reform, and return to God, and then it shall be to me as Ariel. Jerusalem shall be like itself, shall become to me a Jerusalem again, a holy city," Isa 1:26. (3.) She shall be humbled, and mortified, and made submissive (Isa 29:4): "Thou shalt be brought down from the height of arrogancy and insolence to which thou hast arrived: the proud looks and the proud language shall be brought down by one humbling providence after another." Those that despise God's judgments shall be humbled by them; for the proudest sinners shall either bend or break before him. They had talked big, had lifted up the horn on high, and had spoken with a stiff neck (Psa 75:5); but now thou shalt speak out of the ground, out of the dust, as one that has a familiar spirit, whispering out of the dust. This intimates, [1.] That they should be faint and feeble, not able to speak up, nor to say all they would say; but as those who are sick, or whose spirits are ready to fail, their speech shall be low and interrupted. [2.] That they should be fearful, and in consternation, forced to speak low as being afraid lest their enemies should overhear them and take advantage against them. [3.] That they should be tame, and obliged to submit to the conquerors. When Hezekiah submitted to the king of Assyria, saying, I have offended, that which thou puttest on me I will bear (Kg2 18:14), then his speech was low, out of the dust. God can make those to crouch that have been most daring, and quite dispirit them. II. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold, for the comfort of all that were her friends and well-wishers in this distress (Isa 29:5, Isa 29:7): "Thou shalt be brought down (Isa 29:4), to speak out of the dust; so low thou shalt be reduced. But" (so it may be rendered) "the multitude of thy strangers and thy terrible ones, the numerous armies of the enemy, shall themselves be like small dust, not able to speak at all, or as much as whisper, but as chaff that passes away. Thou shalt be abased, but they shall be quite dispersed, smitten and slain after another manner (Isa 27:7); they shall pass away, yea it shall be in an instant, suddenly: the enemy shall be surprised with the destruction, and you with the salvation." The army of the Assyrians was by an angel laid dead upon the spot, in an instant, suddenly. Such will be the destruction of the enemies of the gospel Jerusalem. In one hour shall their judgment come, Rev 18:10. Again (Isa 29:6), "Thou shalt be visited, or (as it used to be rendered) She shall be visited with thunder and a great noise. Thou shalt be put into a fright which thou shalt soon recover. But (Isa 29:7) the multitude of the nations that fight against her shall be as a dream of a night-vision; they and their prosperity and success shall soon vanish past recall." The multitude of the nations that fight against Zion shall be as a hungry man who dreams that he eats, but still is hungry; that is, 1. Whereas they hoped to make a prey of Jerusalem, and to enrich themselves with the plunder of that opulent city, their hopes shall prove vain dreams, with which their fancies may please and sport themselves for a while, but they shall be disappointed. They fancied themselves masters of Jerusalem, but shall never be so. 2. They themselves, and all their pomp, and power, and prosperity, shall vanish like a dream when one awakes, shall be of as little value and as short continuance. Psa 73:20. He shall fly away as a dream Job 20:8. The army of Sennacherib vanished and was gone quickly, though it had filled the country as a dream fills a man's head, especially as a dream of meat fills the head of him that went to bed hungry. Many understand these verses as part of the threatening of wrath, when God comes to distress Jerusalem, and lay siege to her. (1.) The multitude of her friends, whom she relies upon for help shall do her no good; for, though they are terrible ones, they shall be like the small dust, and shall pass away. (2.) The multitude of her enemies shall never think they can do her mischief enough; but, when they have devoured her much, still they shall be but like a man who dreams he eats, hungry, and greedy to devour her more.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 29 This chapter contains a prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem by the Romans; the character and condition of the people of the Jews, previous to it; the calling of the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem are described in Isa 29:1 the disappointment of their enemies, notwithstanding their taking and destroying it, Isa 29:7 the stupidity, judicial blindness, and hardness of the Jews, which brought on their ruin, are predicted, Isa 29:9 the ignorance of their learned, as well as of their unlearned men, with respect to the Scripture, and the prophecies of it, Isa 29:11 their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isa 29:13 a blast upon all their wisdom and prudence, who thought to be wiser than the Lord, and too many for him, whose folly and atheism are exposed, Isa 29:14, and a great change both in Judea and the Gentile world, by the removal of the Gospel from the one to the other, Isa 29:17 the effects of which are, deaf sinners hear the word, dark minds are enlightened, and joy increased among the meek and poor, Isa 29:18 the fall of the Jews, or else of antichrist, is foretold, Isa 29:20 and the chapter is closed with a promise and prophecy of the conversion of the seed of Abraham and Jacob, Isa 29:22.

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 Eze 43:15 it signifies "the lion of God"; and the reason why it is so called, the Jews say (i), is, because the fire lay upon it in the form of a lion; but rather the reason is, because it devoured the sacrifices that were laid upon it, as a lion does its prey; though others of them interpret it of the temple, which they say was built like a lion, narrow behind and broad before (k); but it seems better to understand it of the city of Jerusalem, in which David encamped, as the word (l) signifies; or "encamped against", as some; which he besieged, and took from the Jebusites, and fortified, and dwelt in; and which may be so called from its strength and fortifications, natural and artificial, and from its being the chief city of Judah, called a lion, Gen 49:9 whose standard had a lion on it, and from whence came the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah; or rather from its cruelty in shedding the blood of the prophets, and was, as the Lord says, as a lion unto him that cried against him, Jer 12:8 and so the words may be considered as of one calling to Jerusalem, and lamenting over it, as Christ did, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets", &c. Mat 23:37 and the mention of David's name, and of his dwelling in it, is not only to point out what city is meant, and the greatness and glory of it; but to show that this would not secure it from ruin and destruction (m): add ye year to year; which some understand of two precise years, at the end of which Jerusalem should be besieged by the army of Sennacherib; but that is not here meant. Cocceius thinks that large measure of time is meant, that one year is the length of time from David's dwelling in Jerusalem to the Babylonish captivity; and the other year from the time of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah to the destruction by the Romans, which is more likely; but rather the sense is, go on from year to year in your security and vain confidence; or keep your yearly feasts, and offer your yearly sacrifices; as follows: let them kill sacrifices; the daily and yearly sacrifices; let the people bring them, and the priests offer them, for the time is coming when an end will be put to them; "the feasts shall be cut off": so the words may be rendered; the festivals shall cease, and be no more observed; and so the Targum, "the festivities shall cease;'' or, feasts being put for lambs, so in Psa 118:27 as Ben Melech observes, the sense is, their heads should be cut off (n). (i) Yoma apud Jarchi in loc. (k) T. Bab. Middot, fol. 37. 1. (l) "castrametatus est", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius; "castra habuit", Piscator. (m) The words are rendered by Noldius, "woe to Ariel, to Ariel: to the city in which David encamped"; and he observes, that some supply the copulative "and; woe to Ariel, and to the city", &c.; So making them distinct, which seems best to agree with the accents, and may respect the destruction both of their ecclesiastic and civil state; the temple being designed by "Ariel", and "Jerusalem" by the city. See Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 183. No. 842. (n) "agni excervicabuntur", Montanus; "excidentur", Vatablus; "jugulentur", Munster.

(Chapter 19, verse 1, and following) Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city that David besieged. Year after year is added, the appointed feasts have come to an end. I will besiege Ariel, and she will be sad and mournful; she will be like an Ariel to me. I will encircle you like a sphere, and I will throw up a mound against you, and I will set up siege works against you. You will be brought low, and your speech will come from the ground, and your voice will be like that of a python from the earth, and your speech will mumble from the dust. And it will be like the fine dust of those who blow against you, and like the passing smoke of those who have prevailed against you. And suddenly, immediately, it will be visited by the Lord of hosts, with thunder and earthquake, and with a great voice of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. And it will be like the dream of a night vision, the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Ariel, and all who have warred against her and besieged her and prevailed against her. As a hungry person dreams and eats, and when he has awakened, his soul is empty; and as a thirsty person dreams and drinks, and when he has awakened, he is still thirsty, and his soul is empty: so will be the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion. Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city that David besieged! Gather together year after year, eat, for you will eat with Moab; for I will oppress Ariel, and her strength and wealth will be mine, and I will encamp around you like David, and I will send a rampart around you, and set up towers all around you, and your words will be humbled on the ground, and your words will be brought down to the ground. And your voice will be like that of those who speak from the earth, and your voice will weaken to the ground. And the wealth of the wicked will be like dust from a wheel, and like ashes that are carried away, the multitude of those who oppressed you; it will be sudden from the Lord of hosts. For there will be a visitation with thunder, and a great shaking, a powerful storm, and a devouring flame of fire. And they will be like a dreamer at night, the wealth of all the nations that have fought against Ariel, and all who have fought against Jerusalem and gathered against it, and afflicted it. And they shall be like those who hunger and eat in dreams: when they wake up, their dream is in vain, and like one who thirsts and drinks in a dream, when he wakes up, he will still be thirsty, and his soul will have hoped in vain. So shall be the riches of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion. Because we have interpreted, Woe, in Hebrew it is written Oi (), which is sometimes used in the vocative case, so that Ariel may not mourn, but call out; although in the current context it should be understood as mourning. Ariel is also interpreted as the lion of God; and for the city which Aquila interpreted, πολίχνην, that is, a small town or village, is read in Hebrew as Cariath, which properly means a village, and in Syriac it is called Cartha, hence it is also called a village of forests Cariath Jarim. Finally, in the earlier passage (Isaiah 1:21) where we read: How has the faithful city Zion become a prostitute? for city, Cariath is written, that is, a village: which we can express as a translation of Aquila literally, as a little city. Therefore, Ariel, which means the lion of God, was once called the strongest Jerusalem: or, as others believe, the temple and altar of God that was in Jerusalem. And what follows: Which David conquered, as Symmachus interpreted it, the stronghold of David, and Theodotion, the encampment of David, is read in Hebrew as Hana, which the most learned Hebrews wanted to signify as dwelling place. So if we read: which David conquered, let us refer to that time when David captured the fortress of Zion, while the blind and lame resisted, and Joab, the first, ascended the heights. But according to Symmachus and Theodotion, it should be understood that David restored and fortified it, and a year was added to the year, or subtracted, as Aquila interpreted; and the festivals have passed. For when the temple was destroyed and the Jewish religion abolished, all their festivities perished. And the Lord says that He will encamp around Ariel with the army of Babylon, and it will be sad and mournful when it is destroyed by them. And again under Jesus, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, were Ezra and Nehemiah, when Haggai and Zechariah prophesied that it would be like Ariel, having the appearance of the ancient temple, but without its magnificence and adornment. Moreover, the Lord threatens that He will surround Ariel with a sphere, and cast a rampart against it, and set up fortifications for its siege, and fulfill what He Himself laments concerning Jerusalem in the Gospel: 'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground' (Luke 19:42-44). And Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. In other words, the same prophet now says that she who was humiliated will speak from the earth, and her voice will be heard from the dust. Her voice will be like that of a python from the earth, and it will murmur like sparrows, so that through these words he may signify the necromancy of the magi, by which they are said to summon souls and hear the voices of thin shades, or rather, of demons. Finally, regarding the python, Aquila interpreted the great one, which is called in Hebrew Cheb (), which the 70 interpreters translated as speaking of the earth. With these words, it is indicated that the ruin of the temple will last until the end of the world, collapsed into ashes and never to be raised again. And so, O Ariel, the army of Roman power will surround you, and they will be compared to an innumerable dust that flies through the air. Therefore, it is not the weakness of their opponents that the dust and ashes are compared to, but the multitude that is equal to countless grains of sand. And this will happen suddenly and quickly, so that in the midst of peace, wars will rise up under Nero, and the Lord of hosts will visit Jerusalem with thunder and earthquake, and whirlwind and devouring fire, which signifies the burning of the temple. But the Romans, after the Jews were defeated and Jerusalem was destroyed under Titus and Vespasian, offered the plundered vessels of God to the Capitol; and they thought that their own power and the favor of the gods, rather than the anger of God, was the reason for what they had done, as if in a dream and in a nightly vision, they will possess all riches. And just as someone who is hungry thinks in their dreams that they are eating, and someone who is thirsty drinks from dry throats, and when they wake up their thirst becomes even stronger, deceived by the empty drink: so the multitude of all nations, who fought against the power of Rome and subjugated to it, will have wealth like a shadow, and a cloud, and a dream of the night, which they will leave behind with their untimely destruction. In the place where we have been placed, all who have waged war and besieged and prevailed against it have been translated to seventy, and all who have fought against Jerusalem, which is not found in Hebrew. In this beginning of the chapter, where we said, 'A year is added to a year, or subtracted,' they are interpreted as 'gather the fruits or produce, year upon year;' 'eat, for you will eat with Moab.' And the meaning is, before the acceptable year of the Lord's preaching comes, indeed two years, of which we read in the Song of Habakkuk according to the Hebrew: 'In the midst of two times you will be known' (Habakkuk 3), 'sow for yourselves in tears so that you may reap in joy' (Psalm 126). It is written in the Gospel according to John that the Lord came to Jerusalem three times during the Passover, which makes two years (John 2:13). However, what follows, 'For you shall eat with Moab,' is not found in Hebrew. We can say that unless the fruits of repentance are gathered for themselves, they will begin to eat with those who do not enter the Church of the Lord forever. The other things in which they seem to disagree are obvious, and from what we have explained, their interpretation is easy. I know that I have read Ariel's interpretation, my light is God's, which is far different. Here the first syllable is written with Aleph and Res: lux autem quae Hebraice dicitur Or, inter Aleph et Res mediam habet litteram Vau, quae in praesenti nomine non habetur. And everything that is now said against Ariel refers to heretics, who consider their doctrine to be the light of God, and they must be fought by the true David: all their solemnities must be taken away, and present joy must be turned into future sorrow: to whom God commands to repent, lest they begin to eat with the Moabites, and be similar to the Gentiles. For he will attack Ariel himself, and he will surround all their power and wealth with his army. And with the towers, that is, the leaders of the Church, he will humble their words on the earth, so that they may not raise their mouth to heaven, but be written on the earth, speak of the earth, and be like dust scattered by the wind. And all the wealth of the wicked will appear in an instant, when he visits them in his majesty, descending in a whirlwind, storm, and fire of punishment; and they will understand that all their wealth, the pomp of their words, and the arguments of their verses, are compared in vain to a dream of someone eating and drinking: those who fight against Jerusalem, the vision of peace; or against Ariel, the strongest lion, and ultimately against Mount Zion, where the city of the Church cannot be hidden.

[Zion] formed the city that David formerly stormed and afterwards rebuilt. Of its storming it is written, “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel”—that is, God’s lion2 (and indeed in those days it was extremely strong).

651. Woe to Ariel. In this part, he sets out threatening against the people or against the city, and this is divided into two parts; in the first, he threatens the punishment of temporal destruction; in the second, the punishment of spiritual blinding: be astonished (Isa 29:9). Concerning the first, he does two things: in the first, he threatens destruction; in the second, he sets out consolation of any kind: and the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel, shall be as the dream (Isa 29:7). The first of these is divided into two: in the first, he sets out the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians; in the second, destruction by the Romans: and I will encircle you like a sphere (Isa 29:3). 652. Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he recalls their former dignity: Ariel, that is, lion of God, for by the power of God in the time of David and Solomon they feared no one, like a lion: a lion, the strongest of beasts, who has no fear of any thing he meets (Prov 30:30); or because of the altar of holocausts, which was there in Jerusalem, because, like a lion, it consumed animals, and this is understood from Ezekiel 43:15; or perhaps because of its shape, for it was situated in the manner of a lion. The city which David took: for I have taken both a lion and a bear (1 Sam 17:36). 653. Second, he sets out the destruction, setting out three things: the ending of feasts: year is added to year, as if to say: for many years; the solemnities have been unrolled, that is, they have perished: for they shall sit many days without sacrifice, and without ephod (Hos 3:4).

This chapter contains the substance of two letters sent by the prophet to the captives in Babylon. In the first he recommends to them patience and composure under their present circumstances, which were to endure for seventy years, Jer 29:1-14; in which, however, they should fare better than their brethren who remained behind, Jer 29:15-19. But, finding little credit given to this message, on account of the suggestions of the false prophets, Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who flattered them with the hopes of a speedy end to their captivity, he sends a second, in which he denounces heavy judgments against those false prophets that deceived them, Jer 29:20-23; as he did afterwards against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who had sent a letter of complaint against Jeremiah, in consequence of his message, Jer 29:24-32.

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, אור אל ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies: compare Isa 31:9. Some, according to the common derivation of the word, ארי אל ari el, the lion of God, or the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. Τινες δε φασι την πολιν οὑτως ειρησθαι· επει, δια Θεου, λεοντος δικην εσπαραττε τους ανταιροντας. Procop. in loc. There are other explanations of this name given: but none that seems to be perfectly satisfactory. - Lowth. From Eze 43:15, we learn that Ari-el was the name of the altar of burnt-offerings, put here for the city itself in which that altar was. In the second verse it is said, I will distress Ari-el, and it shall be unto me as Ari-el. The first Ari-el here seems to mean Jerusalem, which should be distressed by the Assyrians: the second Ari-el seems to mean the altar of burntofferings. But why is it said, "Ari-el shall be unto me as Ari-el?" As the altar of burntofferings was surrounded daily by the victims which were offered: so the walls of Jerusalem shall be surrounded by the dead bodies of those who had rebelled against the Lord, and who should be victims to his justice. The translation of Bishop Lowth appears to embrace both meanings: "I will bring distress upon Ari-el; and it shall be to me as the hearth of the great altar." Add ye year to year - Ironically. Go on year after year, keep your solemn feasts; yet know, that God will punish you for your hypocritical worship, consisting of mere form destitute of true piety. Probably delivered at the time of some great feast, when they were thus employed.

COMING INVASION OF JERUSALEM: ITS FAILURE: UNBELIEF OF THE JEWS. (Isa. 29:1-24) Ariel--Jerusalem; Ariel means "Lion of God," that is, city rendered by God invincible: the lion is emblem of a mighty hero (Sa2 23:20). Otherwise "Hearth of God," that is, place where the altar-fire continually burns to God (Isa 31:9; Eze 43:15-16). add . . . year to year--ironically; suffer one year after another to glide on in the round of formal, heartless "sacrifices." Rather, "add yet another year" to the one just closed [MAURER]. Let a year elapse and a little more (Isa 32:10, Margin). let . . . kill sacrifices--rather, "let the beasts (of another year) go round" [MAURER]; that is, after the completion of a year "I will distress Ariel."

The prophecy here passes from the fall of Samaria, the crown of flowers (Isa 28:1-4), to its formal parallel. Jerusalem takes its place by the side of Samaria, the crown of flowers, and under the emblem of a hearth of God. 'Arı̄'ēl might, indeed, mean a lion of God. It occurs in this sense as the name of certain Moabitish heroes (Sa2 23:20; Ch1 11:22), and Isaiah himself used the shorter form אראל for the heroes of Judah (Isa 33:7). But as אריאל (God's heart, interchanged with הראל htiw degna, God's height) is the name given in Eze 43:15-16, to the altar of burnt-offering in the new temple, and as Isaiah could not say anything more characteristic of Jerusalem, than that Jehovah had a fire and hearth there (Isa 31:9); and, moreover, as Jerusalem the city and community within the city would have been compared to a lioness rather than a lion, we take אריאל in the sense of ara Dei (from ארה, to burn). The prophet commences in his own peculiar way with a grand summary introduction, which passes in a few gigantic strides over the whole course from threatening to promise. Isa 29:1 "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the castle where David pitched his tent! Add year to year, let the feasts revolve: then I distress Ariel, and there is groaning and moaning; and so she proves herself to me as Ariel." By the fact that David fixed his headquarters in Jerusalem, and then brought the sacred ark thither, Jerusalem became a hearth of God. Within a single year, after only one more round of feasts (to be interpreted according to Isa 32:10, and probably spoken at the passover), Jehovah would make Jerusalem a besieged city, full of sighs (vahătsı̄qōthı̄, perf. cons., with the tone upon the ultimate); but "she becomes to me like an Arı̄el," i.e., being qualified through me, she will prove herself a hearth of God, by consuming the foes like a furnace, or by their meeting with their destruction at Jerusalem, like wood piled up on the altar and then consumed in flame. The prophecy has thus passed over the whole ground in a few majestic words. It now starts from the very beginning again, and first of all expands the hoi. Isa 29:3, Isa 29:4 "And I encamp in a circle round about thee, and surround thee with watch-posts, and erect tortoises against thee. And when brought down thou wilt speak from out of the ground, and thy speaking will sound low out of the dust; and thy voice cometh up like that of a demon from the ground, and thy speaking will whisper out of the dust." It would have to go so far with Ariel first of all, that it would be besieged by a hostile force, and would lie upon the ground in the greatest extremity, and then would whisper with a ghostlike softness, like a dying man, or like a spirit without flesh and bones. Kaddūr signifies sphaera, orbis, as in Isa 22:18 and in the Talmud (from kâdar = kâthar; cf., kudur in the name Nabu-kudur-ussur, Nebo protect the crown, κίδαριν), and is used here poetically for סביב. Jerome renders it quasi sphaeram (from dūr, orbis). מצּב (from נצב, יצב) might signify "firmly planted" (Luzzatto, immobilmente; compare shūth, Isa 2:7); but according to the parallel it signifies a military post, like מצּב, נציב. Metsurōth (from mâtsōr, Deu 20:20) are instruments of siege, the nature of which can only be determined conjecturally. On 'ōbh, see Isa 8:19; (Note: The 'akkuubh mentioned there is equivalent to anbûb, Arab. a knot on a reed stalk, then that part of such a reed which comes between two knots, then the reed stalk itself; root נב, to rise up, swell, or become convex without and concave within (Fl.). It is possible that it would be better to trace 'ōbh back to this radical and primary meaning of what is hollow (and therefore has a dull sound), whether used in the sense of a leather-bag, or applied to a spirit of incantation, and the possessor of such a spirit.) there is no necessity to take it as standing for ba‛al 'ōbh.