Isaiah 32:14

The palaces shall be forsaken - The house of the sanctuary (the temple) shall be destroyed. - Targum. The forts “Ophel” - It was a part of Mount Zion, rising higher than the rest, at the eastern extremity, near to the temple, a little to the south of it; called by Micah, Mic 4:8, “Ophel of the daughter of Zion. “It was naturally strong by its situation; and had a wall of its own, by which it was separated from the rest of Zion.

Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Isa 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury.

palaces--most applicable to Jerusalem (see on Isa 32:13). multitude . . . left--the noisy din of the city, that is, the city with its noisy multitude shall lie forsaken [MAURER]. forts--rather, "Ophel" (that is, the mound), the term applied specially to the declivity on the east of Zion, surrounded with its own wall (2Ch 27:3;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

Because the palaces shall be forsaken - That is, the palaces in the cities and towns which Sennacherib would lay waste. Or, if it refers, as Lowth supposes, to the invasion of the land in the time of the Chaldeans, then it relates to the palaces in Jerusalem. Vitringa supposes that the temple at Jerusalem is particularly designated by the word rendered palaces. But that is not the usual word to denote the temlple, and it is not necessary to suppose that that is particularly referred to. The word ארמון 'armôn usually denotes a palace, or royal residence in some part of the royal citadel (see 1Ki 16:18; Isa 25:2; Jer 30:18; Amo 1:4, Amo 1:7, Amo 1:10, Amo 1:12). The forts - Margin, ‘Cliffs and watch-towers.’ Hebrew, עפל ‛opel. This word properly denotes a hill or a cliff, such as is an advantageous situation for fortresses. It is translated in Mic 4:8, ‘the stronghold;’ in 2Ki 5:24, ‘the tower;’ in 2Ch 27:3; 2Ch 30:14; Neh 3:27; Neh 11:21, ‘Ophel.’ With the article (the hill) it was given, by way of eminence, to a bluff or hilt lying northeast of mount Zion, and south of mount Moriah, which was surrounded and fortified with a wall (Jos. Jewish Wars, vi. 6). It extends south from mount Moriah, running down to the fountain of Siloam, lying between the valley of Jehoshaphat on the east, and the Tyropeon or valley of Cheesemongers on the west. It terminates over the pool of Siloam in a steep point of rock forty or fifty feet high. The top of the ridge is flat, and the ground is now tilled, and planted with olive and other fruit trees (see Robinson’s Bib. Researches, vol. i. pp. 341, 394). […]