Isaiah 27:10
in Isaiah 27For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
KJV
Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
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This verse in Isaiah 27
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yet the defensed city - Gesenius supposes that this means Jerusalem. So Calvin and Piscator understand it. Others understand it of Samaria, others of Babylon (as Vitringa, Rosenmuller, and Grotius), and others of cities in general, denoting those in Judea, or in other places. To me it seems plain that Babylon is referred to. The whole description seems to require this; and especially the fact that this song is supposed to be sung after the return from captivity to celebrate their deliverance.
This site's exposition
the defenced city shall be desolate
on Isaiah 27:10-11
The defenced city left desolate answers the strong city of chapter twenty six by contrast, one kept and walled by the Lord, this one abandoned to become a wilderness where cattle graze and women gather dead branches for fuel. Barnes reads the city as likely Samaria or a like Gentile stronghold rather than Jerusalem, its fall the visible sign of the people of no understanding named in the same verse. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie the withheld mercy of verse eleven to Jacob's own promised mercy in verse nine, the same chapter holding both a people spared and a people given up.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 10) The fortified city will be deserted; the beautiful city will be abandoned and left like a wilderness. There the calf will graze, and there it will lie down and consume its branches.
The Medieval Church1 voice
626. The strong city, namely, Jerusalem: how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people? (Lam 1:1); as to the power of the enemy: there the calf, the army of the enemy, shall feed, as though resting without fear; branches, metaphorically, that is, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Yet - Yet before this glorious promise be fulfilled, a dreadful and desolating judgment shall come. The city - Jerusalem and the rest of the defensed cities in the land.
"God having tried a variety of methods with them for their reformation, which, as to many, have proved ineffectual, he will for a time lay their country waste," which was accomplished when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans; then that habitation was for a long time forsaken. If less judgments do not do the work, God will send greater; for when he judges he will overcome.
Yet the defenced city shall be desolate,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
city--Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Isa 27:9 (compare Isa 24:10-12). calf feed-- (Isa 17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture. branches--resuming the image of the vine (Isa 27:2,6).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
There shall the calf feed - That is, the king of Egypt, says Kimchi.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For a fortified city is solitary For, when they do this, a fortified city of Ishmael (ms. Esau) will be solitary and the dwelling will be forsaken by its inhabitants and abandoned like a pasture.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
But the city that was fortified shall sit solitary: she shall totter, and be forsaken like a desert; the just shall wage war against her, and plunder her treasures, and make an end of her hosts, so that none shall go forth.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עִ֤יר | ʾir | a city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| בְּצוּרָה֙ | betzurah | fortified | H1219 → | 37 times |
| בָּדָ֔ד | badad | [is] alone | H910 → | |
| נָוֶ֕ה | naveh | a habitation | H5116 → | 35 times |
| מְשֻׁלָּ֥ח | meshulach | [is] deserted | H7971 → | 845 times |
| וְנֶעֱזָ֖ב | veneezav | and forsaken | H5800 → | 215 times |
| כַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר | kamidbar | like the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יִרְעֶ֥ה | yireh | it will graze | H7462 → | 177 times |
| עֵ֛גֶל | ʾegel | a calf | H5695 → | |
| וְשָׁ֥ם | vesham | and there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יִרְבָּ֖ץ | yirbatz | it will lie down | H7257 → | 30 times |
| וְכִלָּ֥ה | vekhilah | and it will bring to an end | H3615 → | 208 times |
| סְעִפֶֽיהָ׃ | seifeiha | branches its | H5585 → | 6 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עִ֤ירa city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
בְּצוּרָה֙fortified
betzurahH1219 →37 times
בָּדָ֔ד[is] alone
badadH910 →
נָוֶ֕הa habitation
navehH5116 →35 times
מְשֻׁלָּ֥ח[is] deserted
meshulachH7971 →845 times
וְנֶעֱזָ֖בand forsaken
veneezavH5800 →215 times
כַּמִּדְבָּ֑רlike the wilderness
kamidbarH4057 →270 times
שָׁ֣םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
יִרְעֶ֥הit will graze
yirehH7462 →177 times
עֵ֛גֶלa calf
ʾegelH5695 →
וְשָׁ֥םand there
veshamH8033 →834 times
יִרְבָּ֖ץit will lie down
yirbatzH7257 →30 times
וְכִלָּ֥הand it will bring to an end
vekhilahH3615 →208 times
סְעִפֶֽיהָ׃branches its
seifeihaH5585 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
- Jeremiah 26:18
Through
Isaiah 17:2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 25:5
I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- Jeremiah 7:33
The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
- Zephaniah 2:6
So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
- Ezekiel 25:5
Through
Jeremiah 26:18“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
it leads to
- Zechariah 8:3
This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be…
- Micah 1:1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
- Nehemiah 4:2
before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can…
- Zechariah 8:3
Through
Jeremiah 26:6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 22:19
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse,…
- 2 Kings 22:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.