New King James Version
Isaiah 25:2
2For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt.
Isaiah 25:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
- New International Version (NIV)You 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners' palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- New Living Translation (NLT)You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.
Context of Isaiah 25:2
1O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt. 3Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You. 4For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
Read all of Isaiah 25Isaiah 25:2 word by word
כִּ֣י שַׂ֤מְתָּ מֵעִיר֙ לַגָּ֔ל קִרְיָ֥ה בְצוּרָ֖ה לְמַפֵּלָ֑ה אַרְמ֤וֹן זָרִים֙ מֵעִ֔יר לְעוֹלָ֖ם לֹ֥א יִבָּנֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For thou hast madeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- of a cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- an heapגַּלgal · heapH1530
- a defencedבָּצַרbâtsar · to gather/restrain/fortifyH1219
- cityקִרְיָהqiryâh · townH7151
- a ruinמַפֵּלָהmappâlâh mappêlâh · ruinH4654
- a palaceאַרְמוֹן'armôn · citadel: fortressH759
- of strangersזוּרzûr · be a strangerH2114
- it shall neverעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769
- be builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
Cross-references for Isaiah 25:2
- Isaiah 25:12The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
- Isaiah 14:23“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, And marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.
- Isaiah 17:1The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.
- Isaiah 21:9And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”
- Isaiah 23:13Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, This people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, They raised up its palaces, And brought it to ruin.
- Deuteronomy 13:16And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.
- Jeremiah 51:26They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.
- Nahum 3:12All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs: If they are shaken, They fall into the mouth of the eater.
- Isaiah 13:22The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged.”
- Revelation 18:2And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
Commentaries on Isaiah 25:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2A city "The city" - Nineveh, Babylon, Ar, Moab, or any other strong fortress possessed by the enemies of the people of God. For the first מעיר meir, of a city, the Syriac and Vulgate read העיר hair, the city; the Septuagint and Chaldee read ערים arim, cities, in the plural, transposing the letters. After the second מעיר meir, a MS. adds לגל lagol, for a heap. A palace of strangers "The palace of the proud ones" - For זרים zarim, strangers, MS. Bodl. and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2For thou hast made - This is supposed to be uttered by the Jews who should return from Babylon, and therefore refers to what would have been seen by them. In their time it would have occurred that God had made of the city an heap. Of a city - I suppose the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand this of Babylon. There has been, however, a great variety of interpretation of this passage. Grotius supposed that Samaria was intended. Calvin that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-5Isaiah praises God for protecting those in need (see Isaiah 12:1–6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. a city ... heap--Babylon, type of the seat of Antichrist, to be destroyed in the last days (compare Jr 51:37, with Re 18:1-24, followed, as here, by the song of the saints' thanksgiving in Re 19:1-21). "Heaps" is a graphic picture of Babylon and Nineveh as they now are. palace--Babylon regarded, on account of its splendor, as a vast palace. But Maurer translates, "a citadel." of strangers--foreigners, whose capital pre-eminently Babylon was, the…Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 25
- 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 King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries