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 29:5
Moreover--rather, "Yet"; yet in this extremity help shall come, and the enemy be scattered.
strangers--foreign enemies, invaders (Isa 25:2).
it shall be--namely, the destruction of the enemy.
at an instant--in a moment (Isa 30:23).
John Gill on Isaiah 29:5
Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust,.... Or "of those that fan thee" (q), as the Vulgate Latin Version; and so the Targum,
"of those that scatter thee;''
or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a strange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and scattered them abroad in the world: and the simile of "small dust", to which they are compared, is not used to express the weakness of them, but the greatness of their number, which was not to be counted, any more than the dust of the earth; see Numbers 23:10,
and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; designing the same numerous army of the Romans as bef…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Isaiah 29:5
And as the small dust. [260] I shall first state the opinions of others, and afterwards I shall bring forward what I consider to be more probable. Almost all the commentators think that this expression denotes the enemies of the Jews; for they consider "foreigners" to mean "enemies," and allege that the multitude of those who shall oppress the Jews shall be "like dust;" that is, it shall be innumerable. But when I examine closely the whole passage, I am more disposed to adopt a contrary opinion. I think that the Prophet speaks contemptuously of the garrisons on which the Jews foolishly relied, for they had in their pay foreign soldiers who were strong men.
The multitude of the mighty ones.…
