Isaiah 29:3

I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Yahweh addresses Jerusalem, designated as Ariel, at the moment of enforced mourning and spiritual desolation.

The words — חָנִיתִי (cha.Ni.ti) literally means "I will encamp," and מֻצָּב (mu.Tzav) denotes "siege-works" or fortified positions.

The thread — The motif of inescapable encirclement appears in Luke 19:43, Ezekiel 21:22, and 2 Kings 18:17.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment operates through concrete, inescapable historical forces rather than abstract threats.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְחָנִ֥יתִיve./cha.Ni.tiand/ I will encamp כַדּ֖וּרkha./Durlike <the>/ circle עָלָ֑יִךְ'a.La.yi/khon/ you וְצַרְתִּ֤יve./tzar.Tiand/ I will lay siege עָלַ֙יִךְ֙'a.La.yi/khon/ you מֻצָּ֔בmu.Tzavsiege-works וַהֲקִֽימֹתִ֥יva./ha.ki.mo.Tiand/ I will raise עָלַ֖יִךְ'a.La.yi/khon/ you מְצֻרֹֽת׃me.tzu.Rotfortifications

King James Version

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

Cross-references

Luke 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.
Ezekiel 21:22 In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.
2 Kings 18:17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
2 Kings 19:32 So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
2 Kings 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it.
2 Kings 25:1 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
Matthew 22:7 The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.