Isaiah 29:5

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. MOREOVER - rather, But: Yet in this extremity held shall come, and the enemy be scattered. THE MULTITUDE OF THY STRANGERS - i:e., of thy foreign enemies, thy invaders (). SHALL BE LIKE SMALL DUST ... AS CHAFF - (.) IT SHALL BE - namely, the destruction of the enemy shall be. AT AN INSTANT - in a moment ()....

5._And as the small dust. _(260) I shall first state the opinions of others, and afterwards I shall bring forward what I consider to be more probable. Almost all the commentators think that this expression denotes the enemies of the Jews; for they consider “foreigners” to mean “enemies,” and allege that the multitude of those who shall oppress the Jews shall be “like dust;” that is, it shall be innumerable. But when I examine closely the whole passage, I am more disposed to adopt a contrary opinion. I think that the Prophet speaks contemptuously of the garrisons on which the Jews foolishly relied, for they had in their pay foreign soldiers who were strong men. _The multitude of the mighty ones. _Such is the interpretation which I give to עריצים (_gnărītzīm_), which is also its literal meaning; and I see no reason why some of the Jews should suppose it to mean

1-8 Ariel may signify the altar of burnt-offerings. Let Jerusalem know that outward religious services will not make men free from judgements. Hypocrites never can please God, nor make their peace with him. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped round about Jerusalem for protection and deliverance; but now he fought against it. Proud looks and proud language shall be brought down by humbling providences. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold. The army of Sennacherib went as a dream; and thus the multitudes, that through successive ages fight against God's altar and worship, shall fall. Speedily will sinners awake from their soothing dreams in the pains of hell....

Verse Isaiah 29:5. _THE MULTITUDE OF THY STRANGERS_ - "The multitude of the proud"] For זריך _zarayich, thy strangers_, read זדים _zedim, the_ _proud_, according to the _Septuagint_; parallel to and synonymous with עריצים _aritsim, the terrible_, in the next line: the ר _resh_ was at first ד _daleth_ in a MS. Isaiah 25:2. The fifth, sixth, and seventh verses contain an admirable description of the destruction of Sennacherib's army, with a beautiful variety of the most expressive and sublime images: perhaps more adapted to show the greatness, the suddenness, and horror of the event, than the means and manner by which it was effected. Compare Isaiah 30:30-23....

MOREOVER - These verses Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 29:7 contain a beautiful description of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. Though they had laid the plan of a regular siege; though the city, in itself, would not be able to hold out against them, and all was alarm and conscious imbecility within; yet in an instant the siege would be raised, and the advancing hosts of the Assyrians would all be gone. THE MULTITUDE OF THY STRANGERS - The multitude of the strangers that shall besiege thee; called ‘thy strangers,’ because they besieged, or oppressed thee. The word ‘strangers’ here, as elsewhere, means “foreigners” (see the note at Isaiah 1:7; compare...

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 29:1 A WARNING TO JERUSALEM. Expostulation is followed by threats. The prophet is aware that all his preaching to the authorities in Jerusalem (Isaiah 28:14) will be of no avail, and that their adoption of measures directly antagonistic to the commands of God will bring on the very evil which they are seeking to avert, and cause Jerusalem to be actually besieged by her enemies. In the present passage he distinctly announces the siege, and declares that it will commence within a year. ISAIAH 29:1 WOE TO ARIEL, TO ARIEL, THE CITY WHERE DAVID DWELT! "Ariel' is clearly a myst

MOREOVER, THE MULTITUDE OF THY STRANGERS SHALL BE LIKE SMALL DUST,.... Or "of those that fan thee" q, as the Vulgate Latin Version; and so the Targum, "of those that scatter thee;'' or of thine enemies, as others; meaning the Romans, who were a strange people to them, who got the dominion over them, and scattered them abroad in the world: and the simile of "small dust", to which they are compared, is not used to express the weakness of them, but the greatness of their number, which was not to be counted, any more than the dust of the earth; see Numbers 23:10: AND THE MULTITUDE OF THE TERRIBLE ONES [SHALL BE] AS CHAFF THAT PASSETH AWAY; designing the same numerous army of the Romans as before, who were terrible to the Jews: nor does this metaphor signify any imbecility in them, and much less the ruin of them, but their swiftness in executing the

CHAPTER 29 The Second Woe Against Ariel and the Third Woe 1. _The fall of Ariel (Jerusalem) predicted (Isaiah 29:1)_ 2. _Their enemies dealt with by Jehovah (Isaiah 29:5)_ 3. _The people's condition: Blinded and religious formalists (Isaiah 29:9)_ 4. _The third woe (Isaiah 29:15)_ 5. _In that Day: joy and blessing for the meek and iniquity punished (Isaiah 29:17) _ Ariel means “the lion of God.” It is one of the names of Jerusalem. A great siege of Jerusalem is predicted. Neither Sennacherib's invasion nor the sie

ISAIAH 29. THE DOOM OF ARIEL. Possibly Isaiah 29:7 f., with most of Isaiah 29:5, is an insertion to turn a prophecy of judgment into one of mercy. Isaiah 29:1 is then a prophecy of ruin to Jerusalem, visited meaning visited in judgment (Isaiah 24:18). Isaiah 29:16 also seems to be late. Woe is pronounced in Isaiah 29:15 on the promoters of the Egyptian alliance, who sought to conceal their plans from God, and we should expect the prophecy to continue with a prediction of pu

STRANGERS: i.e. adversaries. LIKE, &C.... AS, &C. Figure of speech _Hyperbole._ TERRIBLE ONES. tyrants....