New International Version
Isaiah 27:10
10The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The fortified towns will be silent and empty, the houses abandoned, the streets overgrown with weeds. Calves will graze there, chewing on twigs and branches.
Context of Isaiah 27:10
8By warfare and exile you contend with her— with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows. 9By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like limestone crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing. 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. 11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. 12In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one.
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 Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
- Isaiah 6:11Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
- Isaiah 17:9In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.
- Isaiah 25:2You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 64:10Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
- Jeremiah 26:6then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’ ”
- Lamentations 1:4The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.
- Lamentations 2:5The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.
- Lamentations 5:18for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.
- Ezekiel 36:4therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you—
- Micah 3:12Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
- Luke 19:43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
- Luke 21:20“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.
- Isaiah 7:25As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
- Isaiah 17:2The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.
- Isaiah 32:13and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of 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
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Commentaries