Isaiah 29:2

2 Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.^[a]

Read Chapter Compare

PREVIOUS Isaiah 29:1 NEXT Isaiah 29:3

Isaiah 29:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)

2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

English Standard Version (ESV)

2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Yet I will bring disaster upon you, and there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means— an altar covered with blood.

The Message Bible (MSG)

2 But I'm not letting up on Jerusalem. The moaning and groaning will continue. Jerusalem to me is an Ariel.

American Standard Version (ASV)

2 then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; and she shall be unto me as Ariel.

GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)

2 I will torment Ariel, and the city will be filled with people grieving and mourning. The city will become like Ariel.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

2 I will oppress Ariel, and there will be mourning and crying, and she will be to Me like an Ariel.

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

2 The LORD says, "Ariel, I will surround you. Jerusalem, I will get ready to attack you. Your people will sob. They will sing songs of sadness. I will make you like the front of an altar that is covered with blood.

Isaiah 29:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:2

Yet I will distress Ariel
Or "straiten" it, by causing it to be besieged; and this he would do, notwithstanding their yearly sacrifices, and their observance of their solemn feasts, and other ceremonies of the law, in which they placed their confidence, and neglected weightier matters: and there shall be heaviness and sorrow;
on account of the siege; by reason of the devastations of the enemy without, made on all the cities and towns in Judea round about; and because of the famine and bloodshed in the city: and it shall be unto me as Ariel;
the whole city shall be as the altar; as that was covered with the blood and carcasses of slain beasts, so this with the blood and carcasses of men; and so the Targum,

``and I will distress the city where the altar is, and it shall be desolate and empty; and it shall be surrounded before me with the blood of the slain, as the altar is surrounded with the blood of the holy sacrifices on a solemn feast day all around;''

so Jarchi and Kimchi.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Isaiah 29:2 In-Context

1 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.

2 Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.

3 I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.

4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.

5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,

Cross References 3

1. S ver 1
2. S Isaiah 3:26; Lamentations 2:5
3. Ezekiel 43:15

Footnotes 1

[a]. The Hebrew for "altar hearth" sounds like the Hebrew for "Ariel."