Isaiah 29:1 - Forerunner Commentary

Isaiah 29:1

Woe to Jerusalem

1 “Woe ^ato Ariel, to Ariel, the city ^bwhere David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.

2 Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.

3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.

4 You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, ^aout of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

5 “Moreover the multitude of your ^afoes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like ^bchaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be ^cin an instant, suddenly.

6 ^aYou will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and ^bearthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.

7 ^aThe multitude of all the nations who fight against¹ Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be ^bas a dream of a night vision.

8 ^aIt shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”

The Blindness of Disobedience

9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
^aThey are drunk, ^bbut not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

10 For ^athe Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has ^bclosed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, ^cthe seers.

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a¹ book ^athat is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” ^bAnd he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 Then the book is delivered to one who¹ is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.”

13 Therefore the Lord said:
^a“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me ^bwith their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

14 ^aTherefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
^bFor the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

15 ^aWoe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
^bThey say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the ^athing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

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Definitions of words in Isaiah 29:1:

Ariel {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Ariel {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
Ariel {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

City {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
City {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Come {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

David {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
David {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
David {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Year {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Year {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Other definition entries containing Isaiah 29:1:

Isaiah, 1-7 {I.S.B.E.}

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Woe to Jerusalem

The Blindness of Disobedience

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