Isaiah 29:1-2

Ariel is Besieged

29:1 Ariel is as good as dead ¹  –

Ariel, the town David besieged! ² 

Keep observing your annual rituals,

celebrate your festivals on schedule. ³ 

29:2 I will threaten Ariel,

and she will mourn intensely

and become like an altar hearth ⁴  before me.

[29:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] Ariel.” The meaning of the name “Ariel” is uncertain. The name may mean “altar hearth” (see v. 2) or, if compound, “lion of God.” The name is used here as a title for Mount Zion/Jerusalem (see v. 8).

[29:1]  ² tn Heb “the town where David camped.” The verb חָנָה (khanah, “camp”) probably has the nuance “lay siege to” here. See v. 3. Another option is to take the verb in the sense of “lived, settled.”

[29:1]  ³ tn Heb “Add year to year, let your festivals occur in cycles.” This is probably a sarcastic exhortation to the people to keep up their religious rituals, which will not prevent the coming judgment. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:527.

[29:2]  ⁴ tn The term אֲרִיאֵל (’ari’el, “Ariel”) is the word translated “altar hearth” here. The point of the simile is not entirely clear. Perhaps the image likens Jerusalem’s coming crisis to a sacrificial fire.