Isaiah 29:3

Isa 29:3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

Ver. 3. And I will camp against thee round about.] I will bring the woe of war upon thee - a woe that no words, how wide soever, can possibly express. See this accomplished. {2Ki 25:4}

And will lay siege.] As the captain general of the Chaldees.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 29:3-4. And I will camp against thee, &c. — That is, by those enemies whom I will assist and enable to take and destroy thee. The prophet may here refer to different sieges of Jerusalem, that of Sennacherib, that of the Chaldeans, or even to that of the Romans. Thou shalt be brought down — thy speech shall be low — Thou, who now speakest so loftily, shalt be humbled, and in a submissive manner, and with a low voice, shalt beg the favour of thine enemies. As of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground — “That the souls of the dead uttered a feeble, stridulous sound, very different from the natural human voice, was a popular notion among the heathen, as well as among the Jews. This appears from several passages of their poets, Homer, Virgil, Horace. The pretenders to the art of necromancy, who were chiefly women, had an art of speaking with a reigned voice, so as to deceive those who applied to them, by making them believe that it was the voice of the ghost. They had a way of uttering sounds, as if they were formed, not by the organs of speech, but deep in the chest, or in the belly, and were thence called εγγαστριμυθοι, ventriloqui. They could make the voice seem to come from beneath the ground, from a distant part, in another direction, and not from themselves, the better to impose upon those who consulted them. From these arts of the necromancers, the popular notion seems to have arisen that the ghost’s voice was a weak, stridulous, almost an inarticulate sort of sound, very different from the speech of the living.” — Bishop Lowth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:3 The Lord himself would come against Jerusalem, surrounding and attacking it.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 (Luk 19:43; Luk 21:20).

forts--siege-towers (Deu 20:20).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. And I will camp against thee round about - "And I will encamp against thee like David"] For כדור caddur, some kind of military engine, כדוד kedavid, like David, is the reading of the Septuagint, two MSS. of Kennicott's, if not two more: but though Bishop Lowth adopts this reading, I think it harsh and unnecessary.

Forts - "Towers"] For מצרת metsuroth, read מצדות metsudoth: so the Septuagint and five MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, one of them ancient, and four of De Rossi's.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) I will encamp against thee . . .—The words describe the strategy of an Eastern siege, as we see it in the Assyrian sculptures—the mound raised against the walls of the city, the battering-ram placed upon the mound, and brought to bear upon the walls. (See Jer_33:4; Eze_4:2.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. I will camp against thee round about] see Isa_29:1. LXX. carries the parallel still further by reading “I will encamp … like David,” a reading which would be plausible if “against which” could be fairly supplied in Isa_29:1. “Round about” is the same word as “like a ball” in Isa_22:18.

with a mount] R.V. with a fort; perhaps lines of circumvallation. For forts, read siege-works, as R.V. Comp. Eze_4:1-3.

4 explains the “moaning and bemoaning” of Isa_29:2. The verse reads: And thou shalt be laid low, speaking from (beneath) the earth, and thy speech shall come humbly from the dust; and thy voice shall be like (that of) a ghost (coming) from the earth, and thy speech shall squeak from the dust. The allusions in the latter half of the verse are explained under ch. Isa_8:19. The figures signify the utter abasement and exhaustion of the “joyous city.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will camp against thee round about,.... Or as a "ball" or "globe" (o); a camp all around; the Lord is said to do that which the enemy should do, because it was by his will, and according to his order, and which he would succeed and prosper, and therefore the prophecy of it is the more terrible; and it might be concluded that it would certainly be fulfilled, as it was; see Luk 19:43,

and will lay siege against thee with a mount: raised up for soldiers to get up upon, and cast their arrows into the city from, and scale the walls; Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it a wooden tower. This cannot be understood of Sennacherib's siege, for he was not suffered to raise a bank against the city, nor shoot an arrow into it, Isa 37:33 but well agrees with the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, as related by Josephus (p):

and I will raise forts against thee; from whence to batter the city; the Romans had their battering rams.

(o) "quasi pila", Piscator; "instar globi", Gataker. (p) Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 7. sect. 1. & c. 12. sect. 1, 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And I will camp against thee - That is, I will cause an army to pitch their tents there for a siege. God regards the armies which he would employ as under his control, and speaks of them as if he would do it himself (see the note at Isa 10:5).

Round about - (כדוּר kadûr). As in a circle; that is, he would encompass or encircle the city. The word used here דור dûr in Isa 22:18, means a ball, but here it evidently means a circle; and the sense is, that the army of the besiegers would encompass the city. A similar form of expression occurs in regard to Jerusalem in Luk 19:43 : ‘For the days shall come upon thee, than thine enemies shall cast a trench (χάρακα charaka - “a rampart,” a “mound”) about thee σοί soi “against thee”), and “compass thee round” περικυκλώτονσί σε perikuklōsousi se, “encircle thee”).’ So also Luk 21:20. The Septuagint renders this, ‘I will encompass thee as David did;’ evidently reading it as if it were כדוּד kadûd; and Lowth observes that two manuscripts thus read it, and he himself adopts it. But the authority for correcting the Hebrew text in this way is not sufficient, nor is it necessary. The idea in the present reading is a clear one, and evidently means that the armies of Sennacherib would encompass the city.

With a mount - A rampart; a fortification. Or, rather, perhaps, the word מצב mutsâb means a post, a military station, from יצב yâtsab, “to place, to station.” The word in this form occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, but the word מצב matsâb occurs in 1Sa 13:23; 1Sa 14:1, 1Sa 14:4; 2Sa 23:14, in the sense of a military post, or garrison.

I will rise forts - That is, ramparts, such as were usually thrown up against a besieged city, meaning that it should be subjected to the regular process of a siege. The Septuagint reads, Πύργου Purgou; ‘Towers;’ and so also two manuscripts by changing the Hebrew letter ד (d) into the Hebrew letter ר (r). But there is no necessity for altering the Hebrew text. Lowth prefers the reading of the Septuagint.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Circle. Thus provisions were cut off. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By those enemies whom I will assist and enable to destroy thee. This was fulfilled either,

1. By Sennacherib, as some learned men think. But what is here affirmed of these enemies is expressly denied concerning Sennacherib, Isa 37:3. Or rather,

2. By the Chaldeans, 2Ki 25:1, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will camp against thee round about; i.e. "I will bring armed men against thee who shall encamp around the entire circuit of thy walls." There was small chance of forcing an entrance into Jerusalem on any side except the north; but, order to distress and harass her, an enemy with numerous forces would dispose them all round the walls, thus preventing all ingress or egress. (see Luk_19:43) And... lay siege against thee with a mount ; or, with a mound. Artificial mounds were raised up against the walls of cities by the Assyrians, as a foundation from which to work their battering rams with greater advantage against the upper and weaker portion of the defenses (see "Ancient Monarchies," vol. 2. p. 80). And... raise forts against thee. "Forts" were usually movable, and accompanied the battering-ram for its better protection. Archers in the forts cleared the walls of their defenders, while the ram was employed in making a breach (see Layard, "Monuments of Nineveh," Second Series, p. 21).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“And I will camp against thee round about (literally, as a ring or circle), and push against thee (or press upon thee with) a post (or body of troops), and raise against thee ramparts (or entrenchments).” The siege of Ariel is now represented as the work of God Himself, which, although it admits of explanation as referring merely to His providential oversight and control, seems here to be significant, as intimating that the siege described is not a literal one.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will camp

Here, as often in prophecy, and especially in Isaiah, the near and far horizons blend. The near view is of Sennacherib’s invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian host by the angel of the Lord (Isaiah 36, 37.); the far view is that of the final gathering of the Gentile hosts against Jerusalem at the end of the great tribulation Psa 2:5; Rev 7:14 when a still greater deliverance will be wrought. (See "Times of the Gentiles,"; Luk 21:24; Rev 16:14. The same remark applies also to Isa 28:14-18 where there is a near reference to the Egyptian alliance ("we have made a covenant," etc.), while the reference to the stone Isa 29:16 carries the meaning forward to the end-time, and the covenant of unbelieving Israel with the Beast. Dan 9:27.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will encamp against you

The word "I" refers to Yahweh. This represents Yahweh causing an enemy army to surround Jerusalem. AT: "I will command the army of your enemies to surround you" (See: Metonymy)

palisade ... siege works

A "palisade" is a tower armies would build to attack cities with high walls. Also "siege works" refers to other various weapons armies would build to attack cities. (See: Translate Unknowns)

You will be brought down

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Your enemy will bring you down" or "Your enemy will humble you" (See: Active or Passive)

will speak from the ground; your speech will be low from the dust. Your voice will sound like a spirit that speaks from the ground, and out of the dust your speech will whisper

All of these statements mean basically the same thing. They emphasize that the people who once spoke with proud words will be weak and grieving after the enemy defeats them. AT: "you will only be able to speak with weak whispers like a spirit speaking from where dead people dwell" (See: Simile and Parallelism)

translationWords

siege

voice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

in a circle like a row of surrounding troops. ([Other editions read:] In a row of surrounding troops.) ([Some manuscripts read:] An expression of the encampment of surrounding troops.)

a camp of siege (מֻצַּב, lit. stationed,) an expression of a camp of siege stationed against the towns.

siege works (מְצֻרוֹת) an expression of מָצוֹר, a siege.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

כדור Suddenly. Comp. 22:18.

מגדל מצב ═ מצב A tower set up.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.