The Meaning of Isaiah 29:3 Explained

Isaiah 29:3

KJV: And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

YLT: And I encamped, O babbler, against thee, And I laid siege against thee -- a camp. And I raised up against thee bulwarks.

Darby: And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with watch-posts, and I will raise forts against thee.

ASV: And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And I will camp  against thee round about,  and will lay siege  against thee with a mount,  and I will raise  forts  against thee. 

What does Isaiah 29:3 Mean?

Study Notes

And I will camp
Here, as often in prophecy, and especially in Isaiah, the near and far horizons blend. The near view is of Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian host by the angel of the Lord (Isaiah 36, 37.); the far view is that of the final gathering of the Gentile hosts against Jerusalem at the end of the great tribulation Psalms 2:5 ; Revelation 7:14 when a still greater deliverance will be wrought. (See "Times of the Gentiles,"; Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 . The same remark applies also to Isaiah 28:14-18 where there is a near reference to the Egyptian alliance ("we have made a covenant," etc.), while the reference to the stone Isaiah 29:16 carries the meaning forward to the end-time, and the covenant of unbelieving Israel with the Beast. Daniel 9:27 .

Verse Meaning

Yahweh would bring Jerusalem under siege. David had camped there ( Isaiah 29:1), but God would camp there too. This probably refers to His use of Sennacherib and the Assyrians for this purpose in701 B.C, though other armies also besieged Jerusalem (cf. Daniel 1:1).

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 29

1  God's heavy judgment upon Jerusalem
7  The insatiableness of her enemies
9  The senselessness
13  And deep hypocrisy of the people
17  A promise of sanctification to the godly

What do the individual words in Isaiah 29:3 mean?

And I will encamp all around against you and I will lay siege against you with a mound and I will raise against you siegeworks
וְחָנִ֥יתִי כַדּ֖וּר עָלָ֑יִךְ וְצַרְתִּ֤י עָלַ֙יִךְ֙ מֻצָּ֔ב וַהֲקִֽימֹתִ֥י עָלַ֖יִךְ מְצֻרֹֽת

וְחָנִ֥יתִי  And  I  will  encamp 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: חָנָה  
Sense: to decline, incline, encamp, bend down, lay siege against.
כַדּ֖וּר  all  around 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דּוּר 
Sense: ball, circle.
עָלָ֑יִךְ  against  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
וְצַרְתִּ֤י  and  I  will  lay  siege 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: צוּר 
Sense: to bind, besiege, confine, cramp.
עָלַ֙יִךְ֙  against  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
מֻצָּ֔ב  with  a  mound 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: מֻצָּב  
Sense: entrenchment, siege-work, palisade, post.
וַהֲקִֽימֹתִ֥י  and  I  will  raise 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
עָלַ֖יִךְ  against  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
מְצֻרֹֽת  siegeworks 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: מְצוּרָה 
Sense: siege-works, stronghold, rampart.