New English Translation
Isaiah 27:10
10For the fortified city is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare.
Isaiah 27:10 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
- New International Version (NIV)The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Yet the fortified city will be desolate, The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down And consume its branches.
Context of Isaiah 27:10
8When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; he drives her away with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. 9So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. For the fortified city is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare. 11When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them. 12At that time the Lord will shake the tree, from the Euphrates River to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites.
Read all of Isaiah 27Isaiah 27:10 word by word
כִּ֣י עִ֤יר בְּצוּרָה֙ בָּדָ֔ד נָוֶ֕ה מְשֻׁלָּ֥ח וְנֶעֱזָ֖ב כַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר שָׁ֣ם יִרְעֶ֥ה עֵ֛גֶל וְשָׁ֥ם יִרְבָּ֖ץ וְכִלָּ֥ה סְעִפֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Yet the defencedבָּצַרbâtsar · to gather/restrain/fortifyH1219
- cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- desolateבָּדָדbâdâd · isolationH910
- the habitationנָוֶהnâveh nâvâh · pastureH5116
- forsakenשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- and leftעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
- like a wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- there shall the calfעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
- feedרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
- and there shall he lie downרָבַץrâbats · to stretchH7257
- and consumeכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
- the branchesסָעִיףsâ‛îyph · cleftH5585
Cross-references for Isaiah 27:10
- Isaiah 5:9The Lord who commands armies told me this: “Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.
- Isaiah 6:11I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,
- Isaiah 17:9At that time their fortified cities will be like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, which they abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.
- Isaiah 25:2Indeed, you have made the city into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a heap of ruins; the fortress of foreigners is no longer a city, it will never be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 64:10Your chosen cities have become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin.
- Jeremiah 26:6If you do not obey me, then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”
- Lamentations 1:4The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels to the festivals. All her city gates are deserted; her priests groan. Her virgins grieve; she is in bitter anguish! ה (He)
- Lamentations 2:5The Lord, like an enemy, destroyed Israel. He destroyed all her palaces; he ruined her fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ו (Vav)
- Lamentations 5:18For wild animals are prowling over Mount Zion, which lies desolate.
- Ezekiel 36:4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, and to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations round about –
- Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!
- Luke 19:43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.
- Luke 21:20“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
- Isaiah 7:25They will stay away from all the hills that were cultivated, for fear of the thorns and briers. Cattle will graze there and sheep will trample on them.
- Isaiah 17:2The cities of Aroer are abandoned. They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace.
- Isaiah 32:13Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry.
Commentaries on Isaiah 27:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10There shall the calf feed - That is, the king of Egypt, says Kimchi.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Yet the defensed city - Gesenius supposes that this means Jerusalem. So Calvin and Piscator understand it. Others understand it of Samaria, others of Babylon (as Vitringa, Rosenmuller, and Grotius), and others of cities in general, denoting those in Judea, or in other places. To me it seems plain that Babylon is referred to. The whole description seems to require this; and especially the fact that this song is supposed to be sung after the return from…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-13Verses 6-13 In the days of the gospel, the latter days, the gospel church shall be more firmly fixed than the Jewish church, and shall spread further. May our souls be continually watered and kept, that we may abound in the fruits of the Spirit, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. The Jews yet are kept a separate and a numerous people; they have not been rooted out as those who slew them. The condition of that nation, through so many ages, forms a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10Places previously associated with human power and accomplishment would be ruined to the extent that animals would graze in them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. city--Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Is 27:9 (compare Is 24:10-12). calf feed--(Is 17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture. branches--resuming the image of the vine (Is 27:2,6).Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries