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The Siege of Jerusalem

29

Ah, Ariel, Ariel,

the city where David encamped!

Add year to year;

let the festivals run their round.

2

Yet I will distress Ariel,

and there shall be moaning and lamentation,

and Jerusalem shall be to me like an Ariel.

3

And like David I will encamp against you;

I will besiege you with towers

and raise siegeworks against you.

4

Then deep from the earth you shall speak,

from low in the dust your words shall come;

your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,

and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

 

5

But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust,

and the multitude of tyrants like flying chaff.

And in an instant, suddenly,

6

you will be visited by the L ord of hosts

with thunder and earthquake and great noise,

with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.

7

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,

all that fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,

shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8

Just as when a hungry person dreams of eating

and wakes up still hungry,

or a thirsty person dreams of drinking

and wakes up faint, still thirsty,

so shall the multitude of all the nations be

that fight against Mount Zion.

 

9

Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor,

blind yourselves and be blind!

Be drunk, but not from wine;

stagger, but not from strong drink!

10

For the L ord has poured out upon you

a spirit of deep sleep;

he has closed your eyes, you prophets,

and covered your heads, you seers.

11 The vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to those who can read, with the command, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot, for it is sealed.” 12And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” they say, “We cannot read.”

 

13

The Lord said:

Because these people draw near with their mouths

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;

14

so I will again do

amazing things with this people,

shocking and amazing.

The wisdom of their wise shall perish,

and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden.

 

15

Ha! You who hide a plan too deep for the L ord,

whose deeds are in the dark,

and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

16

You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?

Shall the thing made say of its maker,

“He did not make me”;

or the thing formed say of the one who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

 

Hope for the Future

17

Shall not Lebanon in a very little while

become a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?

18

On that day the deaf shall hear

the words of a scroll,

and out of their gloom and darkness

the eyes of the blind shall see.

19

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the L ord,

and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

20

For the tyrant shall be no more,

and the scoffer shall cease to be;

all those alert to do evil shall be cut off—

21

those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit,

who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate,

and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.

 

22 Therefore thus says the L ord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,

no longer shall his face grow pale.

23

For when he sees his children,

the work of my hands, in his midst,

they will sanctify my name;

they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,

and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24

And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,

and those who grumble will accept instruction.

 


5. And as the small dust. 260260    {Bogus footnote} I shall first state the opinions of others, and afterwards I shall bring forward what I consider to be more probable. Almost all the commentators think that this expression denotes the enemies of the Jews; for they consider “foreigners” to mean “enemies,” and allege that the multitude of those who shall oppress the Jews shall be “like dust;” that is, it shall be innumerable. But when I examine closely the whole passage, I am more disposed to adopt a contrary opinion. I think that the Prophet speaks contemptuously of the garrisons on which the Jews foolishly relied, for they had in their pay foreign soldiers who were strong men.

The multitude of the mighty ones. Such is the interpretation which I give to עריצים (gnărītzīm), which is also its literal meaning; and I see no reason why some of the Jews should suppose it to mean ungodly or wicked persons. Since, therefore, the Jews brought various garrisons from a distance, they thought that they were well defended, and dreaded no danger. The Prophet threatens that their subsidiary troops, though they were a vast multitude, shall in vain create a disturbance, for they shall be like “dust” or “chaff,” that is, useless refuse, for they shall produce no effect. 261261    {Bogus footnote} Hence we ought to infer, that our wealth and resources, however great they are, shall be reduced to nothing, as soon as the Lord shall determine to deal with us as he has a right to do. The assistance of men lasts indeed for a time; but when the Lord shall lift up his hand in earnest, their strength must crumble down, and they must become like chaff.

And it shall be in a moment suddenly. Some explain the concluding clause of this verse to mean, that the noise of the enemies’ attack shall spring up suddenly, and, as it were, in a moment. But I consider והיח, (vĕhāyāh,) and it shall be, to relate to the time of duration, which he declares will be momentary; that is, those military aids shall not last long, but shall quickly vanish away. 262262    {Bogus footnote} In vain do men boast of them, for God is their enemy.


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