Isaiah 29:1
in Isaiah 29Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add ye year to year; let the feasts come round:
KJV
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
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This verse in Isaiah 29
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Wo - (compare the note at Isa 18:1). To Ariel - There can be no doubt that Jerusalem is here intended. The declaration that it was the city where David dwelt, as well as the entire scope of the prophecy, proves this.
This site's exposition
the city where David dwelt
on Isaiah 29:1-2
Ariel names Jerusalem by a word the older writers read two ways, the lion of God or the hearth of the altar, the city David pitched his camp against and then made his own. The Lord addresses her by the feast calendar itself, add ye year to year, let them kill sacrifices, the round of worship going on as usual while the threat gathers. Yet I will distress Ariel turns the city's own name against her: the altar hearth will now burn with grief, and Jerusalem shall be to the Lord as her own name describes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
[Zion] formed the city that David formerly stormed and afterwards rebuilt. Of its storming it is written, "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel"—that is, God's lion2 (and indeed in those days it was extremely strong).
(Chapter 19, verse 1, and following) Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city that David besieged. Year after year is added, the appointed feasts have come to an end. I will besiege Ariel, and she will be sad and mournful; she will be like an Ariel to me. I will encircle you like a sphere, and I will throw up a mound against you, and I will set up siege works against you.
The Medieval Church1 voice
651. Woe to Ariel. In this part, he sets out threatening against the people or against the city, and this is divided into two parts; in the first, he threatens the punishment of temporal destruction; in the second, the punishment of spiritual blinding: be astonished …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The distress of Jerusalem foretold. Though Jerusalem be a strong city, as a lion, though a holy city, as a lion of God, yet, if iniquity be found there, woe be to it. It was the city where David dwelt; it was he that brought that to it which was its glory, and which made it a type of the gospel church, and his dwelling in it was typical of Christ's residence in his church.
The city - The royal city, and seat of David and his posterity. Set them - Go on in killing sacrifices from time to time, one year after another, whereby you think to appease me, but all shall be in vain.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ariel means "Lion of God," that is, city rendered by God invincible: the lion is emblem of a mighty hero (2Sa 23:20). Otherwise "Hearth of God," that is, place where the altar-fire continually burns to God (Isa 31:9;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Ariel - That Jerusalem is here called by this name is very certain: but the reason of this name, and the meaning of it as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. Some, with the Chaldee, suppose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name, and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, אור אל ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies: compare Isa 31:9. Some, according to the common derivation of the word, ארי אל ari el, the lion of God, or the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. Τινες δε φασι την πολιν οὑτως ειρησθαι· επει, δια Θεου, λεοντος δικην εσπαραττε τους ανταιροντας. Procop. in loc. There are other explanations of this name given: but none that seems to be perfectly satisfactory. - Lowth. From Eze 43:15, we learn that Ari-el was the name of the altar of burnt-offerings, put here for the city itself in which that altar was. In the second verse it is said, I will distress Ari-el, and it shall be unto me as Ari-el. The first Ari-el here seems to mean Jerusalem, which should be distressed by the Assyrians: the second Ari-el seems to mean the altar of burntofferings. But why is it said, “Ari-el shall be unto me as Ari-el?” As the altar of burntofferings was surrounded daily by the victims which were offered: so the walls of Jerusalem shall be surrounded by the dead bodies of those who had rebelled against the Lord, and who should be victims to his justice. The translation of Bishop Lowth appears to embrace both meanings: “I will bring distress upon Ari-el; and it shall be to me as the hearth of the great altar.” Add ye year to year - Ironically. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Woe to the altar, the altar which is built in the city in which David dwelt; because of the assembly of the armies which are gathering themselves together against her year by year, because the festivals shall cease.
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. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ה֚וֹי | ho | woe to! | H1945 → | 51 times |
| אֲרִיאֵ֣ל | ʾariel | Ariel | H740 → | 6 times |
| אֲרִיאֵ֔ל | ʾariel | Ariel | H740 → | 6 times |
| קִרְיַ֖ת | kiryat | [the] town | H7151 → | 29 times |
| חָנָ֣ה | chanah | <of> [where] he camped | H2583 → | |
| דָוִ֑ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| סְפ֥וּ | sefu | add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| שָׁנָ֛ה | shanah | year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שָׁנָ֖ה | shanah | year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| חַגִּ֥ים | chagim | festivals | H2282 → | |
| יִנְקֹֽפוּ׃ | yinkofu | let them go around | H5362 → | 19 times |
ה֚וֹיwoe to!
hoH1945 →51 times
אֲרִיאֵ֣לAriel
ʾarielH740 →6 times
אֲרִיאֵ֔לAriel
ʾarielH740 →6 times
קִרְיַ֖ת[the] town
kiryatH7151 →29 times
חָנָ֣ה<of> [where] he camped
chanahH2583 →
דָוִ֑דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
סְפ֥וּadd
sefuH3254 →212 times
שָׁנָ֛הyear
shanahH8141 →877 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שָׁנָ֖הyear
shanahH8141 →877 times
חַגִּ֥יםfestivals
chagimH2282 →
יִנְקֹֽפוּ׃let them go around
yinkofuH5362 →19 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
Hosea 8:13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
it leads to
- Hosea 9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.
- Hosea 9:6
For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
- Amos 8:7
The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
- Hosea 9:9
Through
Hosea 9:4They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For…
it leads to
- Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to…
- Jeremiah 6:20
What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
- Deuteronomy 26:14
I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God;…
- Hosea 8:13
Through
2 Samuel 5:9So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 9:15
This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor,…
- 1 Kings 9:24
As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.
- 1 Kings 9:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Jerome, LETTER 108.9; 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.