Isaiah 27:10

27:10 For the fortified city ¹  is left alone;

it is a deserted settlement

and abandoned like the desert.

Calves ²  graze there;

they lie down there

and eat its branches bare. ³ 

[27:10]  ¹ sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.

[27:10]  ² tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.

[27:10]  ³ tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.