The Prophets · Old Testament
Isaiah 29
Isaiah 29: woe to Ariel, the sealed book, and the deaf who hear
General context
The chapter opens with a woe to Ariel, the city where David dwelt, told to add year to year and kill sacrifices. The Lord says he will distress Ariel, camp against it and lay siege, until it whispers out of the dust. Then the multitude of its strangers and terrible ones become like small dust and chaff, suddenly, and the Lord of hosts visits with thunder, earthquake, storm and fire. The nations that fight against Ariel become like a dream: a hungry man dreams he eats and wakes empty, a thirsty man dreams he drinks and wakes faint. The hearers are drunk but not with wine, because the Lord has poured out a spirit of deep sleep and covered the prophets, rulers and seers. The vision has become a sealed book that the learned cannot open and the unlearned cannot read. The Lord says this people honours him with lips while their heart is far off, so he will do a marvellous work in which the wisdom of the wise perishes. A woe follows on those who hide counsel from the Lord; their turning of things upside down is like clay questioning the potter. In a very little while Lebanon becomes a fruitful field, the deaf hear the words of the book, the blind see, the meek increase their joy, and the scorner and those who make a man an offender for a word are cut off. The Lord who redeemed Abraham says Jacob will no longer be ashamed; his children will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and those who erred in spirit will come to understanding.
Cited passages: Isaiah 29:1, Isaiah 29:2, Isaiah 29:3, Isaiah 29:4, Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 29:6, Isaiah 29:7, Isaiah 29:8, Isaiah 29:9, Isaiah 29:10, Isaiah 29:11, Isaiah 29:12, Isaiah 29:13, Isaiah 29:14, Isaiah 29:15, Isaiah 29:16, Isaiah 29:17, Isaiah 29:18, Isaiah 29:19, Isaiah 29:20, Isaiah 29:21, Isaiah 29:22, Isaiah 29:23, Isaiah 29:24
Isaiah 29 (KJV)
1Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4And 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.
5Moreover 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.
6Thou 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.
7And 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.
8It shall even be as when an 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.
9Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14Therefore, 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.
15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16Surely 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 had no understanding?
17Is 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?
18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22Therefore 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.
23But 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.
24They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
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Historical context
The addressee is called Ariel, and the text identifies it as the city where David dwelt; verse 8 then speaks of the nations that fight against mount Zion, so the text links Ariel with mount Zion, but it does not explain the name Ariel. The Lord himself is the one who camps and lays siege against the city in verse 3, and the multitude of strangers and terrible ones in verse 5 are not named as any nation. The chapter names no king, no date and no army. The people rebuked in verse 13 are called this people, and the prophets, rulers and seers covered in verse 10 are not named. Verse 22 refers to the Lord who redeemed Abraham and to the house of Jacob, tying the promise to the patriarchs without retelling their stories. A later New Testament citation quotes verse 13: Matthew 15:8 and 9 read, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Another later citation quotes verse 14: 1 Corinthians 1:19 reads, For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Cited passages: Isaiah 29:1, Isaiah 29:8, Isaiah 29:3, Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 29:13, Isaiah 29:10, Isaiah 29:22, Matthew 15:8, Matthew 15:9, 1 Corinthians 1:19
Literary context
The chapter turns twice. The siege of Ariel is described with the Lord as besieger, and the city is brought down to a whisper in the dust; then, at an instant suddenly, the besiegers become chaff and a dream. The dream image is worked out in two matched halves, a hungry man and a thirsty man, each waking to emptiness. The second movement concerns not seeing: drunkenness without wine, deep sleep, closed eyes, a sealed book that neither the learned nor the unlearned can read. That blindness is answered in verse 18 when the deaf hear the words of the book and the blind see. Lips and heart are set against each other in verse 13, and wise men against a marvellous work in verse 14. The potter and clay question in verse 16 asks whether the made thing can deny its maker, and the answer arrives as reversal: Lebanon a field, the field a forest, the scorner consumed, the meek rejoicing. The woe form continues from 28:1 and runs into 30:1 and 31:1. The chapter ends with Jacob's shame removed, the opposite of the shame commanded for Zidon in 23:4.
Cited passages: Isaiah 29:4, Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 29:8, Isaiah 29:9, Isaiah 29:11, Isaiah 29:18, Isaiah 29:13, Isaiah 29:14, Isaiah 29:16, Isaiah 29:17, Isaiah 30:1, Isaiah 29:22, Isaiah 23:4
Key moments
- Woe to Ariel (Isaiah 29:1). The city where David dwelt is told to keep adding years and sacrifices.
- The Lord lays siege (Isaiah 29:3). The Lord himself camps against Ariel with mount and forts.
- Enemies like a dream (Isaiah 29:8). The nations fighting mount Zion vanish like a hungry man's dream of eating.
- The sealed book (Isaiah 29:11). The vision is a book that the learned cannot open and the unlearned cannot read.
- Lips near, heart far (Isaiah 29:13). The Lord says this people honours him with lips while their heart is removed.
- Clay questions the potter (Isaiah 29:16). The made thing is pictured denying its maker's understanding.
- The deaf hear the book (Isaiah 29:18). In that day the deaf hear the words of the book and the blind see.
For reflection
The vision is a sealed book that the learned cannot open and the unlearned cannot read, and later the deaf are the ones who hear its words. What does the text suggest about who is able to read, and what stands in the way?
