1Wehe Ariel, Ariel, Stadt, wo David lagerte! Füget Jahr zu Jahr, laßt die Feste kreisen! 2Und ich werde Ariel bedrängen, und es wird Seufzen und Stöhnen geben. Und sie wird mir sein wie ein Ariel. 3Und ich werde dich im Kreise umlagern, und dich mit Heeresaufstellung einschließen, und Belagerungswerke wider dich aufrichten. 4Und erniedrigt wirst du aus der Erde reden, und deine Sprache wird dumpf aus dem Staube ertönen; und deine Stimme wird wie die eines Geistes aus der Erde hervorkommen, und deine Sprache wird aus dem Staube flüstern. - 5Aber wie feiner Staub wird die Menge deiner Feinde sein, und wie dahinfahrende Spreu die Menge der Gewaltigen; und in einem Augenblick, plötzlich, wird es geschehen. 6Von seiten Jehovas der Heerscharen wird sie heimgesucht werden mit Donner und mit Erdbeben und großem Getöse, - Sturmwind und Gewitter und eine Flamme verzehrenden Feuers. 7Und wie ein nächtliches Traumgesicht wird die Menge all der Nationen sein, welche Krieg führen wider Ariel, und alle, welche sie und ihre Festung bestürmen und sie bedrängen. 8Und es wird geschehen, gleichwie der Hungrige träumt, und siehe, er ißt - und er wacht auf, und seine Seele ist leer; und gleichwie der Durstige träumt, und siehe, er trinkt - und er wacht auf, und siehe, er ist matt und seine Seele lechzt: also wird die Menge all der Nationen sein, welche Krieg führen wider den Berg Zion. 9Stutzet und staunet! verblendet euch und erblindet! Sie sind trunken, doch nicht von Wein; sie schwanken, doch nicht von starkem Getränk. 10Denn Jehova hat einen Geist tiefen Schlafes über euch ausgegossen und hat eure Augen verschlossen; die Propheten und eure Häupter, die Seher, hat er verhüllt. 11Und jedes Gesicht ist euch geworden wie die Worte einer versiegelten Schrift, die man einem gibt, der lesen kann, indem man sagt: Lies doch dieses! er aber sagt: Ich kann nicht, denn es ist versiegelt; 12und man gibt die Schrift einem, der nicht lesen kann, indem man sagt: Lies doch dieses! er aber sagt: Ich kann nicht lesen. 13Und der Herr hat gesprochen: Weil dieses Volk mit seinem Munde sich naht und mit seinen Lippen mich ehrt, und sein Herz fern von mir hält, und ihre Furcht vor mir angelerntes Menschengebot ist: 14Darum, siehe, will ich fortan wunderbar mit diesem Volke handeln, wunderbar und wundersam; und die Weisheit seiner Weisen wird zunichte werden, und der Verstand seiner Verständigen sich verbergen. 15Wehe denen, welche ihre Pläne tief verbergen vor Jehova, und deren Werke im Finstern geschehen, und die da sprechen: Wer sieht uns, und wer kennt uns? 16O über eure Verkehrtheit! Soll denn der Töpfer dem Tone gleichgeachtet werden? daß das Werk von seinem Meister spreche: Er hat mich nicht gemacht! und das Gebilde von seinem Bildner spreche: Er versteht es nicht! 17Ist es nicht noch um ein gar Kleines, daß der Libanon sich in ein Fruchtgefilde verwandeln und das Fruchtgefilde dem Walde gleichgeachtet werden wird? 18Und an jenem Tage werden die Tauben die Worte des Buches hören, und aus Dunkel und Finsternis hervor werden die Augen der Blinden sehen. 19Und die Sanftmütigen werden ihre Freude in Jehova mehren, und die Armen unter den Menschen werden frohlocken in dem Heiligen Israels. 20Denn der Gewalttätige hat ein Ende, und der Spötter verschwindet; und ausgerottet werden alle, die auf Unheil bedacht sind, 21die einen Menschen schuldig erklären um eines Wortes willen und dem Schlingen legen, welcher im Tore Recht spricht, und um nichts den Gerechten aus seinem Recht verdrängen. 22Darum, so spricht Jehova, der Abraham erlöst hat, zum Hause Jakob: Nunmehr wird Jakob nicht beschämt werden, und nunmehr wird sein Angesicht nicht erblassen. 23Denn wenn er, wenn seine Kinder das Werk meiner Hände in seiner Mitte sehen werden, so werden sie meinen Namen heiligen; und sie werden den Heiligen Jakobs heiligen und vor dem Gott Israels beben. 24Und die verirrten Geistes sind, werden Verständnis erlangen, und Murrende werden Lehre annehmen.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 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 (
2Sam 23:20). Otherwise "Hearth of God," that is, place where the altar-fire continually burns to God (
Isa 31:9;
Ezek 43:15-
Ezek 43:16).
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."
2 Yet--rather, "Then."
heaviness . . . sorrow--rather, preserving the Hebrew paronomasia, "groaning" and "moaning."
as Ariel--either, "the city shall be as a lion of God," that is, it shall emerge from its dangers unvanquished; or "it shall be as the altar of burnt offering," consuming with fire the besiegers (
Isa 29:6;
Isa 30:30;
Isa 31:9;
Lev 10:2); or best, as
Isa 29:3 continues the threat, and the promise of deliverance does not come till
Isa 29:4, "it shall be like a hearth of burning," that is, a scene of devastation by fire [G. V. SMITH]. The prophecy, probably, contemplates ultimately, besides the affliction and deliverance in Sennacherib's time, the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, the dispersion of the Jews, their restoration, the destruction of the enemies that besiege the city (
Zech 14:2), and the final glory of Israel (
Isa 29:17-
Isa 29:24).
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 (
Luke 19:43;
Luke 21:20).
forts--siege-towers (
Deut 20:20).
4 Jerusalem shall be as a captive, humbled to the dust. Her voice shall come from the earth as that of the spirit-charmers or necromancers (
Isa 8:19), faint and shrill, as the voice of the dead was supposed to be. Ventriloquism was doubtless the trick caused to make the voice appear to come from the earth (
Isa 19:3). An appropriate retribution that Jerusalem, which consulted necromancers, should be made like them!
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).
6 Thou--the Assyrian army.
thunder, &c.--not literally, in the case of the Assyrians (
Isa 37:36); but figuratively for an awful judgment (
Isa 30:30;
Isa 28:17). The ulterior fulfilment, in the case of the Jews' foes in the last days, may be more literal (see as to "earthquake,"
Zech 14:4).
7 munition--fortress.
8 Their disappointment in the very height of their confident expectation of taking Jerusalem shall be as great as that of the hungry man who in a dream fancies he eats, but awakes to hunger still (
Ps 73:20); their dream shall be dissipated on the fatal morning (
Isa 37:36).
soul--simply his appetite: he is still thirsty.
9 Stay--rather, "Be astounded"; expressing the stupid and amazed incredulity with which the Jews received Isaiah's announcement.
wonder--The second imperative, as often (
Isa 8:9), is a threat; the first is a simple declaration of a fact, "Be astounded, since you choose to be so, at the prophecy, soon you will be amazed at the sight of the actual event" [MAURER].
cry . . . out . . . cry--rather, "Be ye blinded (since you choose to be so, though the light shines all round you), and soon ye shall be blinded" in good earnest to your sorrow [MAURER], (
Isa 6:9-
Isa 6:10).
not with wine--but with spiritual paralysis (
Isa 51:17,
Isa 51:21).
ye . . . they--The change from speaking to, to speaking of them, intimates that the prophet turns away from them to a greater distance, because of their stupid unbelief.
10 Jehovah gives them up judicially to their own hardness of heart (compare
Zech 14:13). Quoted by Paul, with variations from the Septuagint,
Rom 11:8. See
Isa 6:10;
Ps 69:23.
eyes; the prophets, &c.--rather, "hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads (Margin; see also
Isa 3:2), the seers, He hath covered." The Orientals cover the head to sleep; thus "covered" is parallel to "closed your eyes" (
Judg 4:19). Covering the face was also preparatory to execution (
Esth 7:8). This cannot apply to the time when Isaiah himself prophesied, but to subsequent times.
11 of all--rather, "the whole vision." "Vision" is the same here as "revelation," or "law"; in
Isa 28:15, the same Hebrew word is translated, "covenant" [MAURER].
sealed-- (
Isa 8:16), God seals up the truth so that even the learned, because they lack believing docility, cannot discern it (
Matt 13:10-
Matt 13:17;
Matt 11:25). Prophecy remained comparatively a sealed volume (
Dan 12:4,
Dan 12:9), until Jesus, who "alone is worthy," "opened the seals" (
Rev 5:1-
Rev 5:5,
Rev 5:9;
Rev 6:1).
12 The unlearned succeed no better than the learned, not from want of human learning, as they fancy, but from not having the teaching of God (
Isa 54:13;
Jer 31:34;
John 6:45;
1Cor 2:7-10;
1John 2:20).
13 precept of men--instead of the precepts of God, given by His prophets; also worship external, and by rule, not heartfelt as God requires (
John 4:24). Compare Christ's quotation of this verse from the Septuagint.
14 (
Hab 1:5;
Acts 13:41). The "marvellous work" is one of unparalleled vengeance on the hypocrites: compare "strange work,"
Isa 28:21. The judgment, too, will visit the wise in that respect in which they most pride themselves; their wisdom shall be hid, that is, shall no longer appear, so as to help the nation in its distress (compare
1Cor 1:19).
15 seek deep to hide--rather, "That seek to hide deeply," &c. (compare
Isa 30:1-
Isa 30:2). The reference is to the secret plan which many of the Jewish nobles had of seeking Egyptian aid against Assyria, contrary to the advice of Isaiah. At the same time the hypocrite in general is described, who, under a plausible exterior, tries to hide his real character, not only from men, but even from God.
16 Rather, "Ah! your perverseness! just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay!" [MAURER]. Or, "Ye invert (turn upside down) the order of things, putting yourselves instead of God," and vice versa, just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay [HORSLEY], (
Isa 45:9;
Isa 64:8).
17 turned--as contrasted with your "turnings of things upside down" (
Isa 29:16), there shall be other and better turnings or revolutions; the outpouring of the Spirit in the latter days (
Isa 32:15); first on the Jews; which shall be followed by their national restoration (see on
Isa 29:2;
Zech 12:10) then on the Gentiles (
Joel 2:28).
fruitful field--literally, "a Carmel" (see on
Isa 10:18). The moral change in the Jewish nation shall be as great as if the wooded Lebanon were to become a fruitful field, and vice versa. Compare
Matt 11:12, Greek: "the kingdom of heaven forces itself," as it were, on man's acceptance; instead of men having to seek Messiah, as they had John, in a desert, He presents Himself before them with loving invitations; thus men's hearts, once a moral desert, are reclaimed so as to bear fruits of righteousness: vice versa, the ungodly who seemed prosperous, both in the moral and literal sense, shall be exhibited in their real barrenness.
18 deaf . . . blind--(Compare
Matt 11:5). The spiritually blind, &c., are chiefly meant; "the book," as Revelation is called pre-eminently, shall be no longer "sealed," as is described (
Isa 29:11), but the most unintelligent shall hear and see (
Isa 35:5).
19 meek--rather, the afflicted godly: the idea is, virtuous suffering (
Isa 61:1;
Ps 25:9;
Ps 37:11) [BARNES].
poor among men--that is, the poorest of men, namely, the pious poor.
rejoice--when they see their oppressors punished (
Isa 29:20-
Isa 29:21), and Jehovah exhibited as their protector and rewarder (
Isa 29:22-
Isa 29:24;
Isa 41:17;
Jas 2:5).
20 terrible--namely, the persecutors among the Jewish nobles.
scorner-- (
Isa 28:14,
Isa 28:22).
watch for--not only commit iniquity, but watch for opportunities of committing it, and make it their whole study (see
Mic 2:1;
Matt 26:59;
Matt 27:1).
21 Rather, "Who make a man guilty in his cause" [GESENIUS], that is, unjustly condemn him. "A man" is in the Hebrew a poor man, upon whom such unjust condemnations might be practiced with more impunity than on the rich; compare
Isa 29:19, "the meek . . . the poor."
him that reproveth--rather, "pleadeth"; one who has a suit at issue.
gate--the place of concourse in a city, where courts of justice were held (
Ruth 4:11;
Pro 31:23;
Amos 5:10,
Amos 5:12).
just--one who has a just cause; or, Jesus Christ, "the Just One" [HORSLEY].
for a thing of naught--rather, "through falsehood," "by a decision that is null in justice" [BARNES]. Compare as to Christ,
Pro 28:21;
Matt 26:15;
Acts 3:13-
Acts 3:14;
Acts 8:33.
22 Join "saith . . . concerning the house of Jacob."
redeemed--out of Ur, a land of idolaters (
Josh 24:3).
not now--After the moral revolution described (
Isa 29:17), the children of Jacob shall no longer give cause to their forefathers to blush for them.
wax pale--with shame and disappointment at the wicked degeneracy of his posterity, and fear as to their punishment.
23 But--rather, "For."
he--Jacob.
work of mine hands--spiritually, as well as physically (
Isa 19:25;
Isa 60:21;
Eph 2:10). By Jehovah's agency Israel shall be cleansed of its corruptions, and shall consist wholly of pious men (
Isa 54:13-
Isa 54:14;
Isa 2:1;
Isa 60:21).
midst of him--that is, his land. Or else "His children" are the Gentiles adopted among the Israelites, his lineal descendants (
Rom 9:26;
Eph 3:6) [HORSLEY].
24 They . . . that erred-- (
Isa 28:7).
learn doctrine--rather, "shall receive discipline" or "instruction." "Murmuring" was the characteristic of Israel's rebellion against God (
Exod 16:8;
Ps 106:25). This shall be so no more. Chastisements, and, in HORSLEY'S view, the piety of the Gentiles provoking the Jews to holy jealousy (
Rom 11:11,
Rom 11:14), shall then produce the desired effect.
Jewish ambassadors were now on their way to Egypt to seek aid against Assyria (
Isa 30:2-
Isa 30:6,
Isa 30:15;
Isa 31:1). Isaiah denounces this reliance on Egypt rather than on Jehovah. God had prohibited such alliances with heathen nations, and it was a leading part of Jewish polity that they should be a separate people (
Exod 23:32;
Deut 7:2).
