Yesaya 29:1

Ariel is Besieged

29:1 Ariel is as good as dead ¹  –

Ariel, the town David besieged! ² 

Keep observing your annual rituals,

celebrate your festivals on schedule. ³ 

Yesaya 48:2

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ⁴ 

they trust in ⁵  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

[29:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] Ariel.” The meaning of the name “Ariel” is uncertain. The name may mean “altar hearth” (see v. 2) or, if compound, “lion of God.” The name is used here as a title for Mount Zion/Jerusalem (see v. 8).

[29:1]  ² tn Heb “the town where David camped.” The verb חָנָה (khanah, “camp”) probably has the nuance “lay siege to” here. See v. 3. Another option is to take the verb in the sense of “lived, settled.”

[29:1]  ³ tn Heb “Add year to year, let your festivals occur in cycles.” This is probably a sarcastic exhortation to the people to keep up their religious rituals, which will not prevent the coming judgment. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:527.

[48:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”