For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
Parallel Translations
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For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
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Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
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For the palace shall be forsaken; the city with its stir shall be deserted; the mound and the tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 32:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 24:10 The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
- Isaiah 24:12 The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.
- Isaiah 25:2 For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built.
- Isaiah 27:10 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches.
- 2 Kings 25:9 He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.
- Psalms 104:11 They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
- Isaiah 5:9 In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” He answered, “Until cities are waste without inhabitant, houses without man, the land becomes utterly waste,
- Isaiah 13:19-22 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. Wolves will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
- Isaiah 24:1-3 Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants. It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest. The earth will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for Yahweh has spoken this word.
- Isaiah 34:11-17 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
- Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.
- Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Revelation 18:2-3 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, multitude.
Or, multitude.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 32:14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the…
Isa 32:14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Ver. 14. The multitude of the city shall be left.] For the city shall be left of its multitude.
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The forts and towers.] Heb, Ophel and Bachan. The Hebrews tell us that these were two high towers in Jerusalem; now they were to be dismantled and lie waste.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The palaces, Heb. the palace; the king’s house, and…
The palaces, Heb. the palace; the king’s house, and other magnificent buildings in the city.
Shall be left; or rather, shall be forsaken, to wit, of God, and given up into their enemies’ hands. And the verb in the foregoing clause may be rendered, shall be left.
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A joy of wild asses; desolate places, in which wild asses delight to be, Job 39:5,6; Jer 2:24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Because the palaces shall be forsaken,.... The palaces of…
Because the palaces shall be forsaken,.... The palaces of the princes and nobles shall be forsaken by them, they being obliged to flee from the enemy, or being taken, and either slain, or carried captive. The word in the Hebrew is in the singular number, "the palace", meaning the royal palace; and so Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it of the king's palace; though the Targum paraphrases it the house of the sanctuary, or the temple, so Kimchi; which was left desolate, as Christ foretold it should be, Mat 23:38,
the multitude of the city shall be left; to take care of themselves, and to the fury of their enemies, their princes and nobles being killed or fled; or, "the city shall be left of the multitude" (p); the multitude of inhabitants that were in it shall forsake it, and flee, or be destroyed in it, so that few or none shall remain:
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the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever; Ophel and Bachan, which some take to be the names of two towers of Jerusalem; of Ophel we read in Ch2 27:3 but rather these intend in general the high towers and strong fortifications of Jerusalem, which being cut out of rocks, when demolished served for dens for thieves and robbers, and wild creatures; and this being "for ever", that is, for a very long time, shows that it cannot be applied to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and the seventy years' captivity; but it is to be understood of the last destruction, which continues unto this day:
a joy of wild asses; which delight in wild and desert places; see Job 39:5.
a pasture of flocks; where flocks of sheep feed, instead of being inhabited by men. Jarchi's note is pretty remarkable,
"for the desire, or at the will, of the Ishmaelites, and for the feeding of the Grecians, and their army;''
and certain it is that Jerusalem now is in the hands of the Ishmaelites, or Turks. The Targum is,
"the place which was a house of joy and gladness for kings is now become a spoil for armies.''
(p) So Gataker.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Forsaken - Of God, and given up into their…
Forsaken - Of God, and given up into their enemies hands. A joy - Desolate places, in which wild asses delight to be.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. The palaces shall be forsaken] The house…
Verse 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Because the palaces shall be forsaken - That is,…
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). It may be used here, however, to denote a hill or cliff, a strongly-fortified place in general, without supposing of necessity that it refers to the mountain in Jerusalem.
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Towers - Towers were erected on the walls of cities at convenient distances for purposes of observation.
Shall be for dens - Shall become places where banditti and robbers may abide, and secure themselves.
Forever - This is evidently one instance in which the word ‘forever’ (עד־עולם ‛ad-‛ôlâm), denotes a long time, because in the verse When the word is used without any suet limitation, it denotes proper eternity
A joy of wild asses - A place where wild animals will have unlimited range.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Ever. Some palaces had been demolished by Sennacherib, though…
Ever. Some palaces had been demolished by Sennacherib, though this seems to refer to the Babylonian captivity.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain palaces--most applicable to Jerusalem (see on Isa 32:13).
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].
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forts--rather, "Ophel" (that is, the mound), the term applied specially to the declivity on the east of Zion, surrounded with its own wall (Ch2 27:3; Ch2 33:14; Kg2 5:24), and furnished with "towers" (or watchtowers), perhaps referred to here (Neh 3:26-27).
for ever--limited by thee, "until," &c., Isa 32:15, for a long time.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. Render: For the palace is forsaken, the tumult…
14. Render: For the palace is forsaken, the tumult of the city is a solitude (as in ch. Isa_6:12), &c. The tenses are prophetic perfects.
the forts and towers] Better as in R.V.: the hill and the watch tower. The first word is ‘Ophel, the name of the southern projection of the hill on which the temple stood (Neh_3:26 f., Neh_11:21; 2Ch_27:3; 2Ch_33:14), and is doubtless mentioned as the aristocratic quarter of the city, near the royal palace. The word translated “watch tower” occurs nowhere else, and is of uncertain significance; probably, like Ophel, it denotes a particular locality in the capital.
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The phrase for ever must be understood in a relative sense, being restricted by the “until” of Isa_32:15.
The verse contains an absolute and explicit prediction of the complete overthrow of Jerusalem. Dillmann’s assertion that such an expectation must have been expressed in different language is inexplicable, and his distinction between destruction and desolation is sophistical. Surprising as this idea may be alongside of certain passages in this section of the book, it is not to be explained away, and after all it does not go very much beyond what is said in ch. Isa_29:4. For a complete parallel, however, we must go back to the early prophecy of ch. Isa_5:14; Isa_5:17.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) The palaces shall be forsaken.—With a bold pencil…
(14) The palaces shall be forsaken.—With a bold pencil and rapid strokes the picture of desolation is sketched in outline. The forts are those of Ophel (so in Heb.), the fortified south-eastern slope of the Temple mountain; the towers, probably such as “the tower of the flock,” mentioned in conjunction with Ophel in Mic_4:8. These would serve as dens for the wild asses, which commonly roved in the open country.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The palaces shall be forsaken; literally, the palace; but…
The palaces shall be forsaken; literally, the palace; but the word is used in a generic sense. The prophet sees in vision Jerusalem deserted by her inhabitants, the grand houses of the rich empty, the strongholds haunted by wild beasts, and the slopes of the hills fed on by sheep, and even occasionally visited by the timid and solitude-loving wild ass. The description suits well the time of the Babylonian captivity, but not any earlier period. Probably it was not revealed to the prophet how soon the condition would be reached. The multitude of the city shall be left. The real meaning is, as Bishop Lowth expresses it, "The populous city shall be left desolate." But the whole passage is. as Delitzsch observes, "grammatically strange, the language becoming more complicated, disjointed, and difficult, the greater the wrath and indignation of the poet." The forts and towers; rather, hill and tower, with (perhaps) a special reference to the part of Jerusalem called Ophel, (2Ch_27:3 Neh_3:26, etc.) the long projecting spur from the eastern hill, which points a little west of south, and separates the Kedron valley from the Tyropoeon. Shall be for dens; literally, for caves; but dens for wild beasts seem to be meant. (comp. Isa_13:21 Isa_34:14 Jer_1:3-9) For ever. This expression must not be pressed. Hyperbole is a recognized feature of poetry written under strong excitement. A joy of wild asses. The wild ass is not now found nearer Palestine than Mesopotamia, or perhaps Northern Syria. It is exceedingly shy, and never approaches the habitations of men.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues speaking.
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For the palace will be forsaken, the crowded city will be deserted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "For the people will forsake the palace and the crowds will abandon the city" (See: Active or Passive)
the hill
This refers to the fort built on the top of the hill. AT: "the fort on the hill" (See: Metonymy)
the hill and the watchtower will become caves
This speaks of the fort and the watchtower being abandoned as if they became caves. AT: "the hill and the watchtower will become abandoned and empty" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks
This means the these animals will enjoy the grass that grows among the abandon fort and watchtower. AT: "the wild donkeys and the flocks of sheep will eat the grass there" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
forever
This is an exaggeration for a very long time. AT: "an extremely long time" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
until the Spirit is poured
This can be stated in active form. AT: "until Yahweh pours the Spirit" (See: Active or Passive)
the Spirit is poured on us
This speaks of Yahweh giving him Spirit to his people as if his Spirit were a liquid that he would pour on them. AT: "the Spirit is given to us" (See: Metaphor)
from on high
Here heaven is referred to as "on high." AT: "from heaven" (See: Metonymy)
the fruitful field is considered as a forest
This can be written in active form. This compares how overly bountiful the fruitful fields are by comparing them to a thick, dense forest. AT: "people will say that the fruitful fields have grown thick like a forest" or "the fruitful fields will be overly bountiful" (See: Active or Passive and Simile)
translationWords
forsake
watchtower
eternity
donkey
flocks
Holy Spirit
desert
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 32:14 Jerusalem was eventually destroyed, but by the Babylonians,…
32:14 Jerusalem was eventually destroyed, but by the Babylonians, not the Assyrians (for a prediction of this, see 39:1-8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.