Isaiah 29:2
threaten <06693> [I will.]
Ariel ........... altar <0740> [and it shall.]
Or, as Bp. Lowth renders, "and it shall be unto me as the hearth of the great altar;" that is, it shall be the seat of the fire of God, which shall issue from thence to consume his enemies. The hearth of the altar is expressly called {ariel} by Ezekiel, ch. 43:15; which is put, in the former part of the verse, for Jerusalem, the city in which the altar was. The subject of this and the four following chapters, says Bp. Lowth, is the invasion of Sennacherib; the great distress of the Jews while it continued; their sudden and unexpected deliverance by God's immediate and miraculous interposition on their behalf; the subsequent prosperous state of the kingdom under Hezekiah; interspersed with severe reproofs and threats of punishment for their hypocrisy, stupidity, infidelity, their want of trust in God, and their vain reliance on the assistance of Egypt; and with promises of better times, both immediately to succeed, and to be expected in the future age.
