Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 29:6

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

God saves Jerusalem (29:1-24)

Isaiah then presents a frightening picture of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (called ‘Ariel’ in RSV and NIV, and ‘God’s altar’ in GNB). The people think that their city is safe and that the cycle of annual festivals will go on indefinitely. Suddenly, they find their lives threatened by a terrible siege. Throughout the city people are distressed and humiliated, as the doomed city cries out to God, as it were, from the grave (29:1-4).

The enemy armies think their conquest of Jerusalem is certain, when unexpectedly God intervenes and miraculously saves the city. The enemy’s disappointment is like that of a distressed person who has a pleasant dream, then awakes only to find it is not true (5-8; 2 Kings 19:35).

As usual the people of Judah do not respond to Isaiah’s prophecy. They are morally dull and spiritually blind, and seem to have no ability at all to understand God’s message. It is to them like a book that remains closed (9-12). They carry out the religious traditions, but they know nothing of God and are not even interested in him. They are fit only for God’s judgment (13-14).
In planning alliances without thought for God, the people of Judah are deliberately ignoring the God who created them (15-16). God can do more for them than they can ask or think. He has planned a great future for Judah, where those who humbly trust in him will find complete satisfaction and contentment (17-19). However, those who are cruel, dishonest, selfish and unbelieving will have no share in this future, because God will first remove them in judgment (20-21).
When sin is removed there will be no more cause for shame. God’s people will truly belong to him, and will have a genuine desire to understand his character and to walk in his ways (22-24).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly. She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts, with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even the multitude of all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night. And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall all the nations be that fight against Zion."

In Isaiah 29:7-8, the words Ariel and Zion are used interchangeably, making it certain that Ariel and Zion (or Jerusalem) have the same meaning. As already noted, the mention of many nations fighting against Jerusalem is a sure indication that even the lifting of the siege of Sennacherib will by no means end the troubles of God's people.

"It shall be in an instant suddenly" This is a repetition of the promise already given in Isaiah 17:14. "At eventide, behold, terror, and before morning they are not." Of course, that is exactly the way it happened!

Isaiah 29:8 is a description of the attitude of the cruel invader, already believing that victory belongs to him, and eagerly anticipating his triumph; but he suddenly wakes up to bitter hunger and disappointment. There have also been, and there will continue to be, many other occasions, "When the world has prematurely licked its chops over the demise of the Church."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 607. The Marxist revolution in Russia, the French Revolution, and the regime of Adolph Hitler . were most certainly such occasions. But today, where is "The God of Reason," or those new names of the months which were supposed to mark the New Era?

The fulfillment of this prophetic promise of the abrupt end of Sennacherib's siege was described by Gleason:

Sennacherib was just returning from a great victory in which he defeated the Egyptians at Eltekeh; it was upon his return that he laid siege to Jerusalem; and there God destroyed 185,000 of his troops on a single night!Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 629.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Thou shalt be visited - This is an address to the mighty army of the Assyrian. Such transitions are not uncommon in the writings of Isaiah. His eye seems to have been directed in vision to the hosts of Sennacherib, and to their sudden dispersion and destruction Isaiah 29:5, and by a sudden, but not unnatural transition, he turns and addresses the army itself, with the assurance that it should be punished (compare Isaiah 30:30).

With thunder ... - The army of the Assyrian was cut off by an angel sent forth from God Isaiah 37:36. It is “possible” that all the agents here referred to may have been employed in the destruction of the Assyrian host, though they are not particularly specified in the history. But it is not absolutely. necessary to understand this verse in this manner. The image of thunder, earthquakes, and lightning, is an impressive representation of sudden and awful judgment in any manner. The sense is, that they should be suddenly destroyed by the direct visitation of God (see Isaiah 9:5; Isaiah 26:11).

And the flame of devouring fire - Lightning, that seems to “devour,” or that suddenly consumes.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

6.From Jehovah of hosts shalt thou be visited. He next assigns the reason why all this multitude of garrisons shall be “like chaff;” and he expresses this by an opposite metaphor, for with those soldiers he contrasts the anger and “visitation of the Lord.” What is “chaff” to the flame of “a devouring fire?” What is “dust” to the force and violence of a “whirlwind?” He shews that the vengeance of God will be such as all their preparations shall be unable to resist. This meaning, in my opinion, makes the passage to flow easily, and the clauses will not be so well adjusted, if we follow a different interpretation.

Hence we learn that those who assail us can do no more than what the Lord permits them to do. If therefore the Lord determine to save us, the enemies will accomplish nothing, though they raise up the whole world against us. On the other hand, if he determine to chastise us, we shall not be able to ward off his wrath by any force or bulwarks, which shall quickly be thrown down as by a “whirlwind,” and shall even be consumed as by “a flame.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 29

Chapter 29, the woe unto Jerusalem. Ariel means the lion of God. It is one of the names for Jerusalem.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, [the lion of God] the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill the sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee ( Isaiah 29:1-3 ).

Talking about the coming Assyrian invasion.

For thou shalt be brought down, and thou shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust ( Isaiah 29:4 ),

And so forth.

Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away. Thou will be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with a storm and a tempest, and the flame of the devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreams, and he dreams that he is eating; and then he wakes up, and his soul is still empty: or as when a thirsty man is dreaming, and he dreams that he's getting a drink of water; but he wakes up, and his soul still is faint, and he has appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured upon them the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered ( Isaiah 29:5-10 ).

And so the lethargy, the spiritual blindness that has overcome the people. Here they are living in the shadow of the coming judgment but blind to the fact, even as is much the case today. The world is living really under the shadow of this great judgment of God. And yet they seem to be so blind to it. For God said,

the people [verse Isaiah 29:13 ] are drawing to me with their mouth, and with their lips they are honoring me, but their heart is far from me, and the fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and the works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He hath no understanding? ( Isaiah 29:13-16 )

Here Isaiah shows again in this figure of the potter and the clay how that it is so ridiculous for man, the clay, to say to the potter, "He didn't make me. I evolved." To say of God, "Well, God doesn't have any understanding." That's ridiculous. How can you look at the human body and say that God doesn't have any understanding? The intricate system of the human body, the bloodstream, and just take that alone, the heart and the bloodstream. And how can you say that God has no understanding? The nervous system and its functions, the brain and the messages that it codes and sends and so forth and decodes. And how can you say that God has no understanding or that God didn't make me? And yet here we listen to these little bits of intellectual clay boasting against God, against the Creator. Exalting themselves and their own intellectual prowess. How stupidly ridiculous!

At the end of the chapter here he talks about God's going to crack the claypots.

Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf ( Isaiah 29:17-18 )

And now again God's glorious day that is coming, the day when the deaf will

hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD ( Isaiah 29:18-19 ),

"For the meek shall inherit the earth" ( Psalms 37:11 ).

and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one has been brought to nothing, the scorner has been consumed, and all that watch for iniquity have been cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gates, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing. Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine ( Isaiah 29:19-24 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Restoration following judgment 29:5-8

The prophecy now changes from judgment to restoration following judgment.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Lord Himself would be directing Jerusalem’s judgment. He would use the audible, the visible, and the invisible, to shake, remove, and consume the city. These are probably not the instruments that He would use as much as expressions of His sovereign power. This is the classic language of theophany in which images express God’s powerful intervention in the world (cf. Exodus 19:16-19; 1 Kings 19:11-13; Ezekiel 20:47-48).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise,.... That is, not the multitude of strangers and terrible ones, unless they could be understood of the wicked among the Jews; but thou Ariel, or Jerusalem, shalt be punished by the Lord of hosts; for this visitation or punishment was from him, for their sins and iniquities; the Romans were only the instruments he made use of, and the executioners of his vengeance; which was attended with thunder in the heavens, a shaking of the earth, and a great noise or voice heard in the temple, saying, let us depart hence; at which time comets were seen in the heavens, and chariots and armed men in the air, and one of the gates of the temple opened of itself r: it is added,

with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire; with which the temple was burnt by the Roman army, when it came in like a storm and tempest, and carried all before it.

r Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 5.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.   2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.   3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.   4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.   5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.   6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.   7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.   8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

      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 (Psalms 48:1; Psalms 48:2); it was the head-city of Judah, who is called a lion's whelp (Genesis 49:9) and whose ensign was a lion; and he that is the lion of the tribe of Judah was the glory of it. Jerusalem was a terror sometimes to the neighbouring nations, and, while she was a righteous city, was bold as a lion. Some make Ariel to signify the altar of burnt-offerings, which devoured the beasts offered in sacrifice as the lion does his prey. Woe to that altar in the city where David dwelt; that was destroyed with the temple by the Chaldeans. I rather take it as a woe to Jerusalem, Jerusalem; it is repeated here, as it is Matthew 23:37, that it might be the more awakening. Here is,

      I. The distress of Jerusalem foretold. Though Jerusalem be a strong city, as a lion, though a holy city, as a lion of God, yet, if iniquity be found there, woe be to it. It was the city where David dwelt; it was he that brought that to it which was its glory, and which made it a type of the gospel church, and his dwelling in it was typical of Christ's residence in his church. This mentioned as an aggravation of Jerusalem's sin, that in it were set both the testimony of Israel and the thrones of the house of David. 1. Let Jerusalem know that her external performance of religious services will not serve as an exemption from the judgments of God (Isaiah 29:1; Isaiah 29:1): "Add year to year; go on in the road of your annual feasts, let all your males appear there three times a year before the Lord, and none empty, according to the law and custom, and let them never miss any of these solemnities: let them kill the sacrifices, as they used to do; but, as long as their lives are unreformed and their hearts unhumbled, let them not think thus to pacify an offended God and to turn away his wrath." Note, Hypocrites may be found in a constant track of devout exercises, and treading around in them, and with these they may flatter themselves, but can never please God nor make their peace with him. 2. Let her know that God is coming forth against her in displeasure, that she shall be visited of the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 29:6; Isaiah 29:6); her sins shall be enquired into and punished: God will reckon for them with terrible judgments, with the frightful alarms and rueful desolations of war, which shall be like thunder and earthquakes, storms and tempests, and devouring fire, especially upon the account of the great noise. When a foreign enemy was not in the borders, but in the bowels of their country, roaring and ravaging, and laying all waste (especially such an army as that of the Assyrians, whose commanders being so very insolent, as appears by the conduct of Rabshakeh, the common soldiers, no doubt, were much more rude), they might see the Lord of those hosts visiting them with thunder and storm. Yet, this being here said to be a great noise, perhaps it is intimated that they shall be worse frightened than hurt. Particularly, (1.) Jerusalem shall be besieged, straitly besieged. He does not say, I will destroy Ariel, but I will distress Ariel; and she is therefore brought into distress, that, being thereby awakened to repent and reform, she may not be brought to destruction. I will Isaiah 29:3; Isaiah 29:3) encamp against thee round about. It was the enemy's army that encamped against it; but God says that he will do it, for they are his hand, he does it by them. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped for them round about them for their protection and deliverance; but now he was turned to be their enemy and fought against them. The siege laid against them was of his laying, and the forts raised against them were of his raising. Note, When men fight against us we must, in them, see God contending with us. (2.) She shall be in grief to see the country laid waste and all the fenced cities of Judah in the enemies' hand: There shall be heaviness and sorrow (Isaiah 29:2; Isaiah 29:2), mourning and lamentation--so these two words are sometimes rendered. Those that are most merry and jovial are commonly, when they come to be in distress, most overwhelmed with heaviness and sorrow; their laughter is then turned into mourning. "All Jerusalem shall then be unto me as Ariel, as the altar, with fire upon it and slain victims about it:" so it was when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans; and many, no doubt, were slain when it was besieged by the Assyrians. "the whole city shall be an altar, in which sinners, falling by the judgments that are abroad, shall be as victims to divine justice." Or thus:--"There shall be heaviness and sorrow; they shall repent, and reform, and return to God, and then it shall be to me as Ariel. Jerusalem shall be like itself, shall become to me a Jerusalem again, a holy city," Isaiah 1:26; Isaiah 1:26. (3.) She shall be humbled, and mortified, and made submissive (Isaiah 29:4; Isaiah 29:4): "Thou shalt be brought down from the height of arrogancy and insolence to which thou hast arrived: the proud looks and the proud language shall be brought down by one humbling providence after another." Those that despise God's judgments shall be humbled by them; for the proudest sinners shall either bend or break before him. They had talked big, had lifted up the horn on high, and had spoken with a stiff neck (Psalms 75:5); but now thou shalt speak out of the ground, out of the dust, as one that has a familiar spirit, whispering out of the dust. This intimates, [1.] That they should be faint and feeble, not able to speak up, nor to say all they would say; but as those who are sick, or whose spirits are ready to fail, their speech shall be low and interrupted. [2.] That they should be fearful, and in consternation, forced to speak low as being afraid lest their enemies should overhear them and take advantage against them. [3.] That they should be tame, and obliged to submit to the conquerors. When Hezekiah submitted to the king of Assyria, saying, I have offended, that which thou puttest on me I will bear (2 Kings 18:14), then his speech was low, out of the dust. God can make those to crouch that have been most daring, and quite dispirit them.

      II. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold, for the comfort of all that were her friends and well-wishers in this distress (Isaiah 29:5; Isaiah 29:7): "Thou shalt be brought down (Isaiah 29:4; Isaiah 29:4), to speak out of the dust; so low thou shalt be reduced. But" (so it may be rendered) "the multitude of thy strangers and thy terrible ones, the numerous armies of the enemy, shall themselves be like small dust, not able to speak at all, or as much as whisper, but as chaff that passes away. Thou shalt be abased, but they shall be quite dispersed, smitten and slain after another manner (Isaiah 27:7; Isaiah 27:7); they shall pass away, yea it shall be in an instant, suddenly: the enemy shall be surprised with the destruction, and you with the salvation." The army of the Assyrians was by an angel laid dead upon the spot, in an instant, suddenly. Such will be the destruction of the enemies of the gospel Jerusalem. In one hour shall their judgment come,Revelation 18:10. Again (Isaiah 29:6; Isaiah 29:6), "Thou shalt be visited, or (as it used to be rendered) She shall be visited with thunder and a great noise. Thou shalt be put into a fright which thou shalt soon recover. But (Isaiah 29:7; Isaiah 29:7) the multitude of the nations that fight against her shall be as a dream of a night-vision; they and their prosperity and success shall soon vanish past recall." The multitude of the nations that fight against Zion shall be as a hungry man who dreams that he eats, but still is hungry; that is, 1. Whereas they hoped to make a prey of Jerusalem, and to enrich themselves with the plunder of that opulent city, their hopes shall prove vain dreams, with which their fancies may please and sport themselves for a while, but they shall be disappointed. They fancied themselves masters of Jerusalem, but shall never be so. 2. They themselves, and all their pomp, and power, and prosperity, shall vanish like a dream when one awakes, shall be of as little value and as short continuance. Psalms 73:20. He shall fly away as a dreamJob 20:8. The army of Sennacherib vanished and was gone quickly, though it had filled the country as a dream fills a man's head, especially as a dream of meat fills the head of him that went to bed hungry. Many understand these verses as part of the threatening of wrath, when God comes to distress Jerusalem, and lay siege to her. (1.) The multitude of her friends, whom she relies upon for help shall do her no good; for, though they are terrible ones, they shall be like the small dust, and shall pass away. (2.) The multitude of her enemies shall never think they can do her mischief enough; but, when they have devoured her much, still they shall be but like a man who dreams he eats, hungry, and greedy to devour her more.