Matthew Henry on 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 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 th…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 29:3
I--Jehovah, acting through the Assyrian, &c., His instruments (Isa 10:5).
mount--an artificial mound formed to out-top high walls (Isa 37:33); else a station, namely, of warriors, for the siege.
round about--not fully realized under Sennacherib, but in the Roman siege (Luk 19:43; Luk 21:20).
forts--siege-towers (Deu 20:20).
John Gill on Isaiah 29:3
And I will camp against thee round about,.... Or as a "ball" or "globe" (o); 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 with a mount: raised up for soldiers to get up upon, and cast their arrows into the city from, and scale the walls; Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it a wooden tower. This cannot be understood of Sennacherib's siege, for he was not suffered to raise a bank against the city,…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Isaiah 29:3
And I will camp against thee round about. By the word kdvr (kaddur) [257] he alludes to the roundness of a ball; and the expression corresponds to one commonly used, ("Je l'environneray,") "I shall surround it." Thus he shews that all means of escape will be cut off.
And will lay siege against thee. This alludes to another method of invading the city; for either attacks are made at various points, or there is a regular siege. He confirms the doctrine of the former verse, and shews that this war will be carried on under God's direction, and that the Assyrians, though they are hurried on by their passions and by the lust of power, will undertake nothing but by the command of God. He reckoned…
