Isaiah 1:8

New King James Version

So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
The city of Jerusalem is now like an empty shed left in a vineyard. It is like an old straw hut abandoned in a field of cucumbers or like a city surrounded by enemies.

New Living Translation
Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman's shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege.

Update Bible Version
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

New Century Version
Jerusalem is left alone like an empty shelter in a vineyard, like a hut left in a field of melons, like a city surrounded by enemies.

New English Translation
Daughter Zion is left isolated, like a hut in a vineyard, or a shelter in a cucumber field; she is a besieged city.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

World English Bible
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a hut in a field of melons, Like a besieged city.

Amplified Bible
The Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) is left like a [deserted] shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city [isolated, surrounded by devastation].

English Standard Version
And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the douytir of Sion, `that is, Jerusalem, schal be forsakun as a schadewynge place in a vyner, and as an hulke in a place where gourdis wexen, and as a citee which is wastid.

English Revised Version
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Berean Standard Bible
And the daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.

Contemporary English Version
Enemies surround Jerusalem, alone like a hut in a vineyard or in a cucumber field.

American Standard Version
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Bible in Basic English
And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.

Complete Jewish Bible
The daughter of Tziyon is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a shed in a cucumber field, like a city under siege."

Darby Translation
And the daughter of Zion is left, as a booth in a vineyard, as a night-lodge in a cucumber-garden, as a besieged city.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

King James Version (1611)
And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged citie.

New Life Bible
The people of Zion are left like a tent in a grape-field, like a watchman's house in a vegetable field, like a city closed in by armies.

New Revised Standard
And daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the daughter of Zion shall remaine like a cotage in a vineyarde, like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and like a besieged citie.

George Lamsa Translation
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Good News Translation
Jerusalem alone is left, a city under siege—as defenseless as a guard's hut in a vineyard or a shed in a cucumber field.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And left is the Daughter of Zion, Like a hut in a vineyard, - Like a lodge in a gourd-plot Like a city besieged.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.

Revised Standard Version
And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the daughter of Sion shalbe left as a cotage in a vineyarde, lyke a lodge in a garden of Cucumbers, lyke a besieged citie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Christian Standard Bible®
Daughter Zion is abandonedlike a shelter in a vineyard,like a shack in a cucumber field,like a besieged city.

Hebrew Names Version
The daughter of Tziyon is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a hut in a field of melons, Like a besieged city.

King James Version
And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Lexham English Bible
And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a city that is besieged.

Literal Translation
And the daughter of Zion is left a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Young's Literal Translation
And left hath been the daughter of Zion, As a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a place of cucumbers -- as a city besieged.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Morouer ye doughter of Syon is left alone like a cotage in a vynyearde, like a watchouse in tyme of warre, like a beseged citie.

New American Standard Bible
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a city under watch.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Legacy Standard Bible
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Contextual Overview

² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; ³ The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider." ⁴ Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. ⁵ Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. ⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. ⁷ Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. ⁸ So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city. ⁹ Unless the LORD of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

daughter: Isaiah 4:4, Isaiah 10:32, Isaiah 37:22, Isaiah 62:11, Psalms 9:14, Lamentations 2:1, Zechariah 2:10, Zechariah 9:9, John 12:15

cottage: Job 27:18, Lamentations 2:6

besieged: Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 10:32, Jeremiah 4:17, Luke 19:43, Luke 19:44

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:32 - And I 2 Kings 19:21 - the daughter Isaiah 3:16 - the daughters Isaiah 5:2 - and built Isaiah 24:20 - removed Isaiah 30:17 - till ye Isaiah 33:9 - earth Isaiah 36:1 - that Sennacherib Isaiah 38:12 - as a Jeremiah 6:2 - daughter Luke 13:35 - your

Cross-References

Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:13
So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Genesis 1:19
So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Genesis 1:23
So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Genesis 1:31
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 5:2
He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in the vineyard,.... The Targum is,

"after they have got in the vintage.''

A cottage in the vineyard was a booth, as the word e signifies, which was erected in the middle of the vineyard for the keeper of the vineyard to watch in night and day, that the fruit might not be hurt by birds, or stolen by thieves, and was a very, lonely place; and when the clusters of the vine were gathered, this cottage or booth was left by the keeper himself: and such it is suggested Jerusalem should be, not only stand alone, the cities all around being destroyed by the besiegers, but empty of inhabitants itself, when taken.

As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers: the Targum adds here also,

"after they have gathered them out of it.''

A lodge in a garden of cucumbers was built up for the gardener to watch in at night, that nobody came and stole away the cucumbers, and this was also a lonely place; but when the cucumbers were gathered, the gardener left his lodge entirely; and such a forsaken place would Jerusalem be at the time of its destruction; see Luke 19:43

as a besieged city; which is in great distress, and none care to come near it, and as many as can make their escape out of it; or "as a city kept"; so Gussetius f, who understands this, and all the above clauses, of some places preserved from the sword in the common desolation.

e כסכה ως σκηνη, Sept. f כעיר נצורה "ut urbs custodita", Gusset. Comment. Ling. Ebr. p. 529. "Observata vel observanda", Forerius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the daughter of Zion - Zion, or Sion, was the name of one of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. On this hill formerly stood the city of the Jebusites, and when David took it from them he transferred to it his court, and it was called the city of David, or the holy hill. It was in the southern part of the city. As Zion became the residence of the court, and was the most important part of the city, the name was often used to denote the city itself, and is often applied to the whole of Jerusalem. The phrase ‘daughter of Zion’ here means Zion itself, or Jerusalem. The name daughter is given to it by a personification in accordance with a common custom in Eastern writers, by which beautiful towns and cities are likened to young females. The name mother is also applied in the same way. Perhaps the custom arose from the fact that when a city was built, towns and villages would spring up round it - and the first would be called the mother-city (hence, the word metropolis). The expression was also employed as an image of beauty, from a fancied resemblance between a beautiful town and a beautiful and well-dressed woman. Thus Psalms 45:13, the phrase daughter of Tyre, means Tyre itself; Psalms 137:8, daughter of Babylon, that is, Babylon; Isaiah 37:22, ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion;’ Jeremiah 46:2; Isaiah 23:12; Jeremiah 14:17; Numbers 21:23, Numbers 21:32, (Hebrew); Judges 11:26. Is left. נותרה nôth^erâh. The word used here denotes left as a part or remnant is left - not left entire, or complete, but in a weakened or divided state.

As a cottage - literally, “a shade,” or “shelter” - כסכה k^esûkkâh, a temporary habitation erected in vineyards to give shelter to the grape gatherers, and to those who were uppointed to watch the vineyard to guard it from depredations; compare the note at Matthew 21:33. The following passage from Mr. Jowett’s ‘Christian Researches,’ describing what he himself saw, will throw light on this verse. ‘Extensive fields of ripe melons and cucumbers adorned the sides of the river (the Nile). They grew in such abundance that the sailors freely helped themselves. Some guard, however, is placed upon them. Occasionally, but at long and desolate intervals, we may observe a little hut, made of reeds, just capable of containing one man; being in fact little more than a fence against a north wind. In these I have observed, sometimes, a poor old man, perhaps lame, protecting the property. It exactly illustrates Isaiah 1:8.’ ‘Gardens were often probably unfenced, and formerly, as now, esculent vegetables were planted in some fertile spot in the open field. A custom prevails in Hindostan, as travelers inform us, of planting in the commencement of the rainy season, in the extensive plains, an abundance of melons, cucumbers, gourds, etc. In the center of the field is an artificial mound with a hut on the top, just large enough to shelter a person from the storm and the heat;’ Bib. Dic. A.S.U. The sketch in the book will convey a clear idea of such a cottage. Such a cottage would be designed only for a temporary habitation. So Jerusalem seemed to be left amidst the surrounding desolation as a temporary abode, soon to be destroyed.

As a lodge - The word lodge here properly denotes a place for passing the night, but it means also a temporary abode. It was erected to afford a shelter to those who guarded the enclosure from thieves, or from jackals, and small foxes. ‘The jackal,’ says Hasselquist, ‘is a species of mustela, which is very common in Palestine, especially during the vintage, and often destroys whole vineyards, and gardens of cucumbers.’

A garden of cucumbers - The word cucumbers here probably includes every thing of the melon kind, as well as the cucumber. They are in great request in that region on account of their cooling qualities, and are produced in great abundance and perfection. These things are particularly mentioned among the luxuries which the Israelites enjoyed in Egypt, and for which they sighed when they were in the wilderness. Numbers 11:5 : ‘We remember - the cucumbers and the melons,’ etc. The cucumber which is produced in Egypt and Palestine is large - usually a foot in length, soft, tender, sweet, and easy of digestion (Gesenius), and being of a cooling nature, was especially delicious in their hot climate. The meaning here is, that Jerusalem seemed to be left as a temporary, lonely habitation, soon to be forsaken and destroyed.

As a besieged city - נצוּרה כעיר k^e‛ı̂yr n^etsôrâh. Lowth. ‘As a city taken by siege.’ Noyes. “‘So is the delivered city.’ This translation was first proposed by Arnoldi of Marburg. It avoids the incongruity of comparing a city with a city, and requires no alteration of the text except a change of the vowel points. According to this translation, the meaning will be, that all things round about the city lay desolate, like the withered vines of a cucumber garden around the watchman’s hut; in other words, that the city alone stood safe amidst the ruins caused by the enemy, like the hut in a gathered garden of cucumber.” Noyes. According to this interpretation, the word נצוּרה n^etsôrâh is derived not from צור tsûr, to besiege, to press, to straiten; but from נצר nâtsar, to preserve, keep, defend; compare Ezekiel 6:12. The Hebrew will bear this translation; and the concinnity of the comparison will thus be preserved. I rather prefer, however, the common interpretation, as being more obviously the sense of the Hebrew, and as being sufficiently in accordance with the design of the prophet. The idea then is, that of a city straitened by a siege, yet standing as a temporary habitation, while all the country around was lying in ruins. Jerusalem, alone preserved amidst the desolation spreading throughout the land, will resemble a temporary lodge in the garden - itself soon to be removed or destroyed. The essential idea, whatever translation is adopted, is that of the solitude, loneliness, and temporary continuance of even Jerusalem, while all around was involved in desolation and ruin.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 1:8. As a cottage in a vineyard - "As a shed in a vineyard"] A little temporary hut covered with boughs, straw, turf, or the like materials, for a shelter from the heat by day, and the cold and dews by night, for the watchman that kept the garden or vineyard during the short season the fruit was ripening, (see Job 27:18,) and presently removed when it had served that purpose. See Harmer's Observ. i. 454. They were probably obliged to have such a constant watch to defend the fruit from the jackals. "The jackal," (chical of the Turks,) says Hasselquist, (Travels, p. 227,) "is a species of mustela which is very common in Palestine, especially during the vintage; and often destroys whole vineyards, and gardens of cucumbers." "There is also plenty of the canis vulpes, the fox, near the convent of St. John in the desert, about vintage time; for they destroy all the vines unless they are strictly watched." Ibid. p. 184. See Isaiah 2:15.

Fruits of the gourd kind, melons, watermelons, cucumbers, c., are much used and in great request in the Levant, on account of their cooling quality. The Israelites in the wilderness regretted the loss of the cucumbers and melons among the other good things of Egypt, Numbers 11:5. In Egypt the season of watermelons, which are most in request, and which the common people then chiefly live upon, lasts but three weeks. See Hasselquist, p. 256. Tavernier makes it of longer continuance:

L'on y void de grands carreaux de melons et de concombres, mais beaucoup plus de derniers, dont les Levantins font leur delices. Le plus souvent, ils les mangent sans les peter, apres quoi ils vont boire une verre d'eau. Dans toute l'Asie c'est la nourriture ordinaire du petit peuple pendant trois ou quatre mois toute la famine en vit, et quand un enfant demand a manger, au lieu qu'en France ou aillieurs nous luy donnerions du pain, dans le Levant on luy presente un concombre, qu'il mange cru comme on le vient de cueillir. Les concombres dans le Levant ont une bonte particuliere; et quoiqu' on les mange crus, ils ne font jamais de mal;

"There are to he seen great beds of melons and cucumbers, but a greater number of the latter, of which the Levantines are particularly fond. In general they eat them without taking off the rind, after which they drink a glass of water. In every part of Asia this is the aliment of the common people for three or four months; the whole family live on them; and when a child asks something to eat, instead of giving it a piece of bread, as is done in France and other countries, they present it with a cucumber, which it eats raw, as gathered. Cucumbers in the Levant are peculiarly excellent; and although eaten raw, they are seldom injurious." Tavernier, Relat. du Serrail, cap. xix.

As a lodge, c. — That is, after the fruit was gathered the lodge being then permitted to fall into decay. Such was the desolate, ruined state of the city.

As a beseiged city - "A city taken by seige"] So the ὡς πολις πολιορκουμενη; Septuagint: see also the Vulgate.