Isaías 29

ARC · Chapter 29/66

1Ai d'Ariel, Ariel, a cidade em que David assentou o seu arraial! accrescentae anno a anno, e sacrifiquem sacrificios festivos.

2Comtudo porei a Ariel em aperto, e haverá pranto e tristeza: e a cidade me será como Ariel.

3Porque te cercarei com o meu arraial, e te sitiarei com baluartes, e levantarei tranqueiras contra ti.

4Então serás abatida, fallarás desde debaixo da terra, e a tua falla desde o pó sairá fraca, e será a tua voz desde debaixo da terra, como a d'um feiticeiro, e a tua falla assobiará desde debaixo do pó.

5E a multidão dos teus inimigos será como o pó miudo, e a multidão dos tyrannos como a pragana que passa, e n'um momento repentino succederá.

6Do Senhor dos Exercitos serás visitada com trovões, e com terremotos, e grande arroido com tufão de vento, e tempestade, e labareda de fogo consumidor.

7E como o sonho de visão de noite, assim será a multidão de todas as nações que pelejarão contra Ariel, como tambem todos os que pelejarão contra ella e contra os seus muros, e a porão em aperto.

8Será tambem como o faminto que sonha, e eis-que lhe parece que come, porém, acordando, se acha a sua alma vazia, ou como o sequioso que sonha, e eis-que lhe parece que bebe, porém, acordando, eis-que ainda desfallecido se acha, e a sua alma com sêde: assim será toda a multidão das nações, que pelejarem contra o monte de Sião

9Tardam, porém, pelo que vos maravilhae, andam folgando, portanto clamae: bebados estão, mas não de vinho, andam titubeando, mas não de bebida forte.

10Porque o Senhor derramou sobre vós um espirito de profundo somno, e fechou os vossos olhos; vendou os prophetas, e os vossos cabeças, e os videntes.

11Pelo que toda a visão vos é como as palavras d'um livro sellado que se dá ao que sabe ler, dizendo: Ora lê isto: e elle dirá: Não posso, porque está sellado.

12Ou dá-se o livro ao que não sabe lêr, dizendo: Ora lê isto: e elle dirá: Não sei ler.

13Porque o Senhor disse: Pois que este povo se chega para mim com a sua bocca, e com os seus labios me honra, porém o seu coração afugenta para longe de mim e o seu temor para comigo consiste só em mandamentos de homens, em que foi instruido;

14Portanto eis-que continuarei a fazer uma obra maravilhosa no meio d'este povo; uma obra maravilhosa e um assombro, porque a sabedoria dos seus sabios perecerá, e o entendimento dos seus prudentes se esconderá.

15Ai dos que querem esconder profundamente o conselho do Senhor, e fazem as suas obras ás escuras, e dizem: Quem nos vê? e quem nos conhece?

16Vossa perversidade é, como se o oleiro fosse egual ao barro, e a obra dissesse ao seu artifice: Não me fez; e o vaso formado dissesse do seu oleiro: Nada sabe.

17Porventura não se converterá o Libano, n'um breve momento, em campo fertil? e o campo fertil não se reputará por um bosque?

18E n'aquelle dia os surdos ouvirão as palavras do livro, e d'entre a escuridão e d'entre as trevas as verão os olhos dos cegos.

19E os mansos terão gozo sobre gozo no Senhor; e os necessitados entre os homens se alegrarão no sancto de Israel:

20Porque o tyranno fenece, e se consome o escarnecedor, e todos os que se dão á iniquidade são extirpados;

21Os que fazem culpado ao homem por uma palavra, e armam laços ao que os reprehende na porta, e os que lançam o justo para o deserto.

22Portanto assim diz o Senhor, que remiu a Abrahão, ácerca da casa de Jacob: Jacob não será agora mais envergonhado, nem agora se descorará mais a sua face

23Mas vendo elle a seus filhos, a obra das minhas mãos, no meio d'elle, então sanctificarão o meu nome, e sanctificarão ao Sancto de Jacob, e temerão ao Deus de Israel.

24E os errados de espirito virão a ter entendimento, e os murmuradores aprenderão doutrina.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Isaiah laments over 'Ariel' (a poetic nickname for Jerusalem), which will be besieged and humbled, but whose enemies will vanish like a dream at dawn. The prophet also denounces a religiosity that exists only on the lips, without involving the heart.

Explanation

'Ariel' literally means 'lion of God' or 'altar of God' in Hebrew, a poetic nickname for Jerusalem as the city where David camped. The prophecy describes a siege (historically fulfilled when Assyria besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC under Sennacherib), but promises that the enemy army would vanish suddenly, just as actually happened according to the account in 2 Kings 19. The criticism that the people 'honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' is quoted literally by Jesus in the New Testament (Matthew 15:8) to denounce religious hypocrisy. The application today is that religious rituals without genuine engagement of the heart are empty, whether 2,700 years ago or today.

Fun facts

  • 'Ariel' is a name that has become popular again as a nickname for Jerusalem and as a Hebrew given name, still used today in Israel.
  • The quotation 'this people draw near me with their mouth... but their heart is far from me' (v. 13) is repeated almost word for word by Jesus in Matthew 15:8-9, showing how he used the Hebrew Scriptures to confront the religious hypocrisy of his own time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 29:1Ariel is a nickname for Jerusalem that can mean something like hearth of the altar, with a wordplay that also evokes lion of God. The name shifts meaning through the chapter, from a symbol of strength to a besieged, humbled place.
  2. Isaías 29:2Despite all the rituals and sacrifices mentioned in verse 1, God will bring distress on Ariel, the symbolic name for Jerusalem, causing heaviness and sorrow — the city will truly become what its own name suggests.
  3. Isaías 29:3God Himself will camp against the city like a besieging army, raising forts against it — God acting as the very enemy attacking Jerusalem.
  4. Isaías 29:4A voice rising from the ground like that of a medium describes the era's necromancy practices, in which mediums pretended to whisper from beneath the earth. The image portrays Jerusalem so defeated that its voice sounds like that faint whisper of defeat.
  5. Isaías 29:5But after the siege, a reversal is promised: the multitude of enemies will become fine dust, and the ruthless ones will vanish like chaff in the wind, all of it happening suddenly, in an instant.
  6. Isaías 29:6This "visitation" against the enemies, rendered in the KJV as being visited of the Lord of hosts, comes with dramatic phenomena: thunder, earthquake, storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire — divine intervention described with extreme natural force.
  7. Isaías 29:7The multitude of nations attacking Jerusalem is compared to a night dream: it feels real and threatening while it lasts, but it will vanish just as dreams vanish upon waking.
  8. Isaías 29:8This comparison is spelled out: like a hungry man who dreams he is eating but wakes still hungry, or a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking but wakes still thirsty — so will the enemies of Zion be, their victory never truly coming to pass.
  9. Isaías 29:9The people themselves are called to marvel and lament their condition: they are like drunkards, staggering, but not from wine — a spiritual drunkenness, a willful blindness toward God's message.
  10. Isaías 29:10This blindness is explained: it was God Himself who poured out on them a spirit of deep sleep, closing the eyes of the prophets and seers — a judgment that blocks understanding, a consequence of repeatedly rejecting the message.
  11. Isaías 29:11A sealed book that no one can read — not even someone who knows how to read, because it is sealed shut, and not someone who cannot read at all. The image describes the prophetic message as something the people simply cannot, or will not, understand.
  12. Isaías 29:12The image of the sealed book from the previous verse continues: even handed to someone who cannot read, the answer is the same excuse — I cannot, whether because it is sealed or because I do not know how to read, showing that no one can access the message on their own.
  13. Isaías 29:13Drawing near to God with the mouth while the heart stays far away is a criticism of religion for show. It means performing the right rituals without any real change in behavior, a critique that runs through several prophets of the Old Testament.
  14. Isaías 29:14In response to this spiritual blindness, God promises to do something surprising and marvelous among the people, which will make the wisdom of the wise fail completely before divine wisdom.
  15. Isaías 29:15Woe to those who try to hide their plans from God, acting in secret as though He could not see them — the illusion that it is possible to hide anything from the Creator Himself.
  16. Isaías 29:16This arrogance is compared to the folly of a clay vessel claiming the potter did not make it, or that the potter knows nothing — an absurd reversal of the natural relationship between creator and creature.
  17. Isaías 29:17A rhetorical question promises a reversal: in a very little while, Lebanon, famous for its forests, will become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will seem like a forest — a complete transformation of the landscape as a sign of a greater change.
  18. Isaías 29:18In that day the deaf will hear the words of a book, the same message once sealed and incomprehensible, and the blind will see even out of obscurity and darkness — the spiritual blindness from the start of the chapter will be healed.
  19. Isaías 29:19The meek will find ever-increasing joy in the Lord, and the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel — a complete reversal of the distress and blindness described earlier.
  20. Isaías 29:20For the ruthless one will come to nothing, the scorner will be consumed, and all who practice evil will be cut off — justice finally done against the oppressors mentioned throughout the book.
  21. Isaías 29:21The specific crimes of these oppressors are described: condemning people unjustly over a single word, laying snares for those who defend justice at the gate, and denying the innocent their rights for no real reason.
  22. Isaías 29:22God, who redeemed Abraham in the past, promises that Jacob, that is, Israel, will no longer need to feel ashamed or grow pale with fear — the end of a long period of national humiliation.
  23. Isaías 29:23When the people see their own children, described as "the work of mine hands," they will acknowledge and sanctify the name of the Holy One of Jacob, and will truly come to fear the God of Israel — a genuine spiritual renewal.
  24. Isaías 29:24The chapter ends with a promise of intellectual and spiritual transformation: those who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmured will learn to accept instruction.

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