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Isaiah 29 · a question people ask

Who or what is "Ariel"?

In the text

The chapter's only description is its first line: "Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David encamped!" (29:1). It says what will happen to her: "I will distress Ariel" (29:2), and "I will encamp against you all around you" (29:3). Later it speaks of "The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel" (29:7). The chapter doesn't say what the name means, and these notes give it no meaning and set no other verse beside it.

The verses

“Woe to Ariel! Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts come around; then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth. I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with posted troops. I will raise siege works against you.”
Isaiah 29:1-3 · World English Bible
“The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.”
Isaiah 29:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29: Woe to Ariel

Isaiah 29 uses David's verb for the siege: "the city where David encamped" (29:1), then "I will encamp against you" (29:3). No one could read the sealed book (29:11-12), and "In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book" (29:18). And Jesus gave 29:13's words to the Pharisees and scribes: "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you" (Matthew 15:7).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions