This appears to be another discourse, in which Isaiah threatens the city of Jerusalem. He calls it "Altar," [1] because the chief defense of the city was in the "Altar;" [2] for although the citizens relied on other bulwarks, of which they had great abundance, still they placed more reliance on the Temple (Jeremiah 7:4) and the altar than on the other defences. While they thought that they were invincible in power and resources, they considered their strongest and most invincible fortress to consist in their being defended by the protection of God. They concluded that God was with them, so long as they enjoyed the altar and the sacrifices. Some think that the temple is here called "Ariel," from the resemblance which it bore to the shape of a lion, being broader in front and narrower behind; but I think it better to take it simply as denoting "the Altar," since Ezekiel also (Ezekiel 43:15) gives it this name. This prediction is indeed directed against the whole city, but we must look at the design of the Prophet; for he intended to strip the Jews of their foolish confidence in imagining that God would assist them, so long as the altar and the sacrifices could remain, in which they falsely gloried, and thought that they had fully discharged their duty, though their conduct was base and detestable. The city where David dwelt. He now proceeds to the city, which he dignifies with the commendation of its high rank, on the ground of having been formerly inhabited by David, but intending, by this admission, to scatter the smoke of their vanity. Some understand by it the lesser Jerusalem, that is, the inner city, which also was surrounded by a wall; for there was a sort of two-fold Jerusalem, because it had increased, and had extended its walls beyond where they originally stood; but I think that this passage must be understood to relate to the whole city. He mentions David, because they gloried in his name, and boasted that the blessing of God continually dwelt in his palace; for the Lord had promised that "the kingdom of David would be for ever." (2 Samuel 7:13; Psalm 89:37.) Hence we may infer how absurdly the Papists, in the present day, consider the Church to be bound to Peter's chair, as if God could nowhere find a habitation in the whole world but in the See of Rome. We do not now dispute whether Peter was Bishop of the Church of Rome or not; but though we should admit that this is fully proved, was any promise made to Rome such as was made to Jerusalem? "This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it." (Psalm 132:14.) And if even this were granted, do not we see what Isaiah declares about Jerusalem? That God is driven from it, when there is no room for doctrine, when the worship of God is corrupted. What then shall be said of Rome, which has no testimony? Can she boast of anything in preference to Jerusalem? If God pronounces a curse on the most holy city, which he had chosen in an especial manner, what must we say of the rest, who have overturned his holy laws and all godly institutions. Add year to year. This was added by the Prophet, because the Jews thought that they had escaped punishment, when any delay was granted to them. Wicked men think that God has made a truce with them, when they see no destruction close at hand; and therefore they promise to themselves unceasing prosperity, so long as the Lord permits them to enjoy peace and quietness. In opposition to this assurance of their safety the Prophet threatens that, though they continue to "offer sacrifices," [3] and though they renew them year by year, still the Lord will execute his vengeance. We ought to learn from this, that, when the Lord delays to punish and to take vengeance, we ought not, on that account, to seize the occasion for delaying our repentance; for although he spares and bears with us for a time, our sin is not therefore blotted out, nor have we any reason to promise that we shall make a truce with him. Let us not then abuse his patience, but let us be more eager to obtain pardon.

Footnotes

1 - "Il l'appelle Ariel, c'est à dire, autel de Dieu;" -- "He calls it Ariel, that is, Altar of God."

2 - "Some, with the Chaldee, suppose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings, which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name; and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, la 'vr 'l (Or el,) which should issue from thence to consume his enemies. Compare chap. Isaiah 31:9. Some, according to the common derivation of the word, 'ry 'l (ariel,) the lion of God, or the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies." -- Lowth. "Jonathan interprets it the altar of the Lord, and Ezekiel also (Ezekiel 43:15) gives it this name. It is so called, on account of the fire of God, which couched like 'ry (ari,) a lion on the altar. Our Rabbins explain 'ry'l (ariel) to denote the temple of Jerusalem, which was narrow behind, and broad in front." -- Jarchi. "The greater part of interpreters are agreed, that 'ry'l (ariel) compounded of 'ry (ari) and 'l (el,) denotes the lion of God, or, as Castalio renders it, The Lion -- God. But they differ in explaining the application of this name to Jerusalem." -- Rosenmüller. "The meaning of the Prophet, in my opinion, is, that God will make Jerusalem the heart of his anger, which shall consume not only the enemies but the obstinate rebellious Jews.' This meaning is elegant and emphatic, and agrees well with the wisdom of the prophet Isaiah. Ariel is here taken, in its true signification, not for the altar, but for the hearth of the altar, as in Ezekiel. The import of the name lies here. The hearth of the altar sustained the symbol of the most holy and pure will of God, by which all the sacrifices offered to God must be tried; and to this applies the justice of God, burning like a fire, and consuming the sinner, if no atonement be found. Jerusalem would become the theater of the divine judgments." -- Vitringa. "Isaiah foresees that the city will, in a short time, be besieged by a very numerous army of the Assyrians, and will be reduced to straits, and yet will not be vanquished by those multitudes, but, like a lion, will rise by divine power out of the severest encounters." -- Doederlein

3 - Instead of "Let them kill sacrifices," Vitringa's rendering, in which he has been followed by Lowth, Stock, and Alexander, is, "Let the feasts revolve." -- Ed

Wo - (compare the note at Isaiah 18:1).
To Ariel - There can be no doubt that Jerusalem is here intended. The declaration that it was the city where David dwelt, as well as the entire scope of the prophecy, proves this. But still, it is not quiet clear why the city is here called "Ariel." The margin reads, 'O Ariel, that is, the lion of God.' The word (אריאל 'ărı̂y'ēl) is compounded of two words, and is usually supposed to be made up of ארי 'ărı̂y, "a lion," and אל 'ēl, God; and if this interpretation is correct, it is equivalent to a strong, mighty, fierce lion - where the word 'God' is used to denote greatness in the same way as the lofty cedars of Lebanon are called cedars of God; that is, lofty cedars. The "lion" is an emblem of strength, and a strong lion is an emblem of a mighty warrior or hero. 2-Samuel 23:20 : 'He slew two "lion-like" אריאל 'ărı̂y'êl men of Moab' 1-Chronicles 11:22. This use of the word to denote a hero is common in Arabic (see Bachart, "Hieroz.," i. 3. 1).
If this be the sense in which it is used here, then it is applied to Jerusalem under the image of a hero, and particularly as the place which was distinguished under David as the capital of a kingdom that was so celebrated for its triumphs in war. The word 'Ariel' is, however, used in another sense in the Scriptures, to denote an "altar" Ezekiel 43:15-16, where in the Hebrew the word is "Ariel." This name is given to the altar, Bachart supposes ("Hieroz.," i. 3. 1), because the altar of burnt-offering "devours" as it were the sacrifices as a lion devours its prey. Gesenius, however, has suggested another reason why the word is given to the altar, since he says that the word ארי 'ărı̂y is the same as one used in Arabic to denote a fire-hearth, and that the altar was so called because it was the place of perpetual burnt-offering. The name "Ariel," is, doubtless, given in Ezekiel to an altar; and it may be given here to Jerusalem because it was the place of the altar, or of the public worship of God. The Chaldee renders it, 'Wo to the altar, the altar which was constructed in the city where David dwelt.' It seems to me that this view better suits the connection, and particularly Isaiah 29:2 (see Note), than to suppose that the name is given to Jerusalem because it was like a lion. If this be the true interpretation, then it is so called because Jerusalem was the place of the burnt-offering, or of the public worship of God; the place where the fire, as on a hearth, continually burned on the altar.
The city where David dwelt - David took the hill of Zion from the Jebusites, and made it the capital of his kingdom 2-Samuel 5:6-9. Lowth renders this, 'The city which David besieged.' So the Septuagint: Ἐπολέμησε Epolemēse; and so the Vulgate, Expugnavit. The word חנה chânâh properly means "to encamp, to pitch one's tent" Genesis 26:17, "to station oneself." It is also used in the sense of encamping "against" anyone, that is, to make war upon or to attack (see Isaiah 29:3, and Psalm 27:3; 2-Samuel 12:28); and Jerome and others have supposed that it has this meaning here in accordance with the interpretation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate. But the more correct idea is probably that in our translation, that David pitched his tent there; that is, that he made it his dwelling-place.
Add ye year to year - That is, 'go on year after year, suffer one year to glide on after another in the course which you are pursuing.' This seems to be used ironically, and to denote that they were going on one year after another in the observance of the feasts; walking the round of external ceremonies as if the fact that David had dwelt there, and that that was the place of the great altar of worship, constituted perfect security. One of the sins charged on them in this chapter was "formality" and "heartlessness" in their devotions Isaiah 29:13, and this seems to be referred to here.
Let them kill sacrifices - Margin, 'Cut off the heads.' The word here rendered 'kill' (נקף nâqaph) may mean to smite; to hew; to cut down Isaiah 10:34; Job 19:26. But it has also another signification which better accords with this place. It denotes to make a circle, to revolve; to go round a place Joshua 6:3, Joshua 6:11; to surround 1-Kings 7:24; 2-Kings 6:14; Psalm 17:9; Psalm 22:17; Psalm 88:18. The word rendered 'sacrifices' (חגים chagiym) may mean a sacrifice Exodus 23:18; Psalm 118:27; Malachi 2:3, but it more commonly and properly denotes feasts or festivals Exodus 10:9; Exodus 12:14; Leviticus 23:39; Deuteronomy 16:10, Deuteronomy 16:16; 1-Kings 8:2, 1-Kings 8:65; 2-Chronicles 7:8-9; Nehemiah 8:14; Hosea 2:11, Hosea 2:13. Here the sense is, 'let the festivals go round;' that is, let them revolve as it were in a perpetual, unmeaning circle, until the judgments due to such heartless service shall come upon you. The whole address is evidently ironical, and designed to denote that all their service was an unvarying repetition of heartless forms.

Ariel - That Jerusalem is here called by this name is very certain: but the reason of this name, and the meaning of it as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. Some, with the Chaldee, suppose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name, and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, אור אל ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies: compare Isaiah 31:9. Some, according to the common derivation of the word, ארי אל ari el, the lion of God, or the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. Τινες δε φασι την πολιν οὑτως ειρησθαι· επει, δια Θεου, λεοντος δικην εσπαραττε τους ανταιροντας. Procop. in loc. There are other explanations of this name given: but none that seems to be perfectly satisfactory. - Lowth.
From Ezekiel 43:15, we learn that Ari-el was the name of the altar of burnt-offerings, put here for the city itself in which that altar was. In the second verse it is said, I will distress Ari-el, and it shall be unto me as Ari-el. The first Ari-el here seems to mean Jerusalem, which should be distressed by the Assyrians: the second Ari-el seems to mean the altar of burntofferings. But why is it said, "Ari-el shall be unto me as Ari-el?" As the altar of burntofferings was surrounded daily by the victims which were offered: so the walls of Jerusalem shall be surrounded by the dead bodies of those who had rebelled against the Lord, and who should be victims to his justice. The translation of Bishop Lowth appears to embrace both meanings: "I will bring distress upon Ari-el; and it shall be to me as the hearth of the great altar."
Add ye year to year - Ironically. Go on year after year, keep your solemn feasts; yet know, that God will punish you for your hypocritical worship, consisting of mere form destitute of true piety. Probably delivered at the time of some great feast, when they were thus employed.

Woe to (a) Ariel, to Ariel, the city [where] David dwelt! add ye year to year; (b) let them kill sacrifices.
(a) Or Ariel: the Hebrew word Ariel signifies the Lion of God, and signifies the Altar, because the altar seemed to devour the sacrifice that was offered to God, as in (Ezekiel 43:16).
(b) Your vain confidence in your sacrifices will not last long.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt,.... Many Jewish writers by "Ariel" understand the altar of burnt offerings; and so the Targum,
"woe, altar, altar, which was built in the city where David dwelt;''
and so it is called in Ezekiel 43:15 it signifies "the lion of God"; and the reason why it is so called, the Jews say (i), is, because the fire lay upon it in the form of a lion; but rather the reason is, because it devoured the sacrifices that were laid upon it, as a lion does its prey; though others of them interpret it of the temple, which they say was built like a lion, narrow behind and broad before (k); but it seems better to understand it of the city of Jerusalem, in which David encamped, as the word (l) signifies; or "encamped against", as some; which he besieged, and took from the Jebusites, and fortified, and dwelt in; and which may be so called from its strength and fortifications, natural and artificial, and from its being the chief city of Judah, called a lion, Genesis 49:9 whose standard had a lion on it, and from whence came the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah; or rather from its cruelty in shedding the blood of the prophets, and was, as the Lord says, as a lion unto him that cried against him, Jeremiah 12:8 and so the words may be considered as of one calling to Jerusalem, and lamenting over it, as Christ did, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets", &c. Matthew 23:37 and the mention of David's name, and of his dwelling in it, is not only to point out what city is meant, and the greatness and glory of it; but to show that this would not secure it from ruin and destruction (m):
add ye year to year; which some understand of two precise years, at the end of which Jerusalem should be besieged by the army of Sennacherib; but that is not here meant. Cocceius thinks that large measure of time is meant, that one year is the length of time from David's dwelling in Jerusalem to the Babylonish captivity; and the other year from the time of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah to the destruction by the Romans, which is more likely; but rather the sense is, go on from year to year in your security and vain confidence; or keep your yearly feasts, and offer your yearly sacrifices; as follows:
let them kill sacrifices; the daily and yearly sacrifices; let the people bring them, and the priests offer them, for the time is coming when an end will be put to them; "the feasts shall be cut off": so the words may be rendered; the festivals shall cease, and be no more observed; and so the Targum,
"the festivities shall cease;''
or, feasts being put for lambs, so in Psalm 118:27 as Ben Melech observes, the sense is, their heads should be cut off (n).
(i) Yoma apud Jarchi in loc. (k) T. Bab. Middot, fol. 37. 1. (l) "castrametatus est", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius; "castra habuit", Piscator. (m) The words are rendered by Noldius, "woe to Ariel, to Ariel: to the city in which David encamped"; and he observes, that some supply the copulative "and; woe to Ariel, and to the city", &c.; So making them distinct, which seems best to agree with the accents, and may respect the destruction both of their ecclesiastic and civil state; the temple being designed by "Ariel", and "Jerusalem" by the city. See Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 183. No. 842. (n) "agni excervicabuntur", Montanus; "excidentur", Vatablus; "jugulentur", Munster.

Ariel may signify the altar of burnt-offerings. Let Jerusalem know that outward religious services will not make men free from judgements. Hypocrites never can please God, nor make their peace with him. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped round about Jerusalem for protection and deliverance; but now he fought against it. Proud looks and proud language shall be brought down by humbling providences. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold. The army of Sennacherib went as a dream; and thus the multitudes, that through successive ages fight against God's altar and worship, shall fall. Speedily will sinners awake from their soothing dreams in the pains of hell.

COMING INVASION OF JERUSALEM: ITS FAILURE: UNBELIEF OF THE JEWS. (Isaiah. 29:1-24)
Ariel--Jerusalem; Ariel means "Lion of God," that is, city rendered by God invincible: the lion is emblem of a mighty hero (2-Samuel 23:20). Otherwise "Hearth of God," that is, place where the altar-fire continually burns to God (Isaiah 31:9; Ezekiel 43:15-16).
add . . . year to year--ironically; suffer one year after another to glide on in the round of formal, heartless "sacrifices." Rather, "add yet another year" to the one just closed [MAURER]. Let a year elapse and a little more (Isaiah 32:10, Margin).
let . . . kill sacrifices--rather, "let the beasts (of another year) go round" [MAURER]; that is, after the completion of a year "I will distress Ariel."

The prophecy here passes from the fall of Samaria, the crown of flowers (Isaiah 28:1-4), to its formal parallel. Jerusalem takes its place by the side of Samaria, the crown of flowers, and under the emblem of a hearth of God. 'Arı̄'ēl might, indeed, mean a lion of God. It occurs in this sense as the name of certain Moabitish heroes (2-Samuel 23:20; 1-Chronicles 11:22), and Isaiah himself used the shorter form אראל for the heroes of Judah (Isaiah 33:7). But as אריאל (God's heart, interchanged with הראל htiw degna, God's height) is the name given in Ezekiel 43:15-16, to the altar of burnt-offering in the new temple, and as Isaiah could not say anything more characteristic of Jerusalem, than that Jehovah had a fire and hearth there (Isaiah 31:9); and, moreover, as Jerusalem the city and community within the city would have been compared to a lioness rather than a lion, we take אריאל in the sense of ara Dei (from ארה, to burn). The prophet commences in his own peculiar way with a grand summary introduction, which passes in a few gigantic strides over the whole course from threatening to promise. Isaiah 29:1 "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the castle where David pitched his tent! Add year to year, let the feasts revolve: then I distress Ariel, and there is groaning and moaning; and so she proves herself to me as Ariel." By the fact that David fixed his headquarters in Jerusalem, and then brought the sacred ark thither, Jerusalem became a hearth of God. Within a single year, after only one more round of feasts (to be interpreted according to Isaiah 32:10, and probably spoken at the passover), Jehovah would make Jerusalem a besieged city, full of sighs (vahătsı̄qōthı̄, perf. cons., with the tone upon the ultimate); but "she becomes to me like an Arı̄el," i.e., being qualified through me, she will prove herself a hearth of God, by consuming the foes like a furnace, or by their meeting with their destruction at Jerusalem, like wood piled up on the altar and then consumed in flame. The prophecy has thus passed over the whole ground in a few majestic words. It now starts from the very beginning again, and first of all expands the hoi. Isaiah 29:3, Isaiah 29:4 "And I encamp in a circle round about thee, and surround thee with watch-posts, and erect tortoises against thee. And when brought down thou wilt speak from out of the ground, and thy speaking will sound low out of the dust; and thy voice cometh up like that of a demon from the ground, and thy speaking will whisper out of the dust." It would have to go so far with Ariel first of all, that it would be besieged by a hostile force, and would lie upon the ground in the greatest extremity, and then would whisper with a ghostlike softness, like a dying man, or like a spirit without flesh and bones. Kaddūr signifies sphaera, orbis, as in Isaiah 22:18 and in the Talmud (from kâdar = kâthar; cf., kudur in the name Nabu-kudur-ussur, Nebo protect the crown, κίδαριν), and is used here poetically for סביב. Jerome renders it quasi sphaeram (from dūr, orbis). מצּב (from נצב, יצב) might signify "firmly planted" (Luzzatto, immobilmente; compare shūth, Isaiah 2:7); but according to the parallel it signifies a military post, like מצּב, נציב. Metsurōth (from mâtsōr, Deuteronomy 20:20) are instruments of siege, the nature of which can only be determined conjecturally. On 'ōbh, see Isaiah 8:19;
(Note: The 'akkuubh mentioned there is equivalent to anbûb, Arab. a knot on a reed stalk, then that part of such a reed which comes between two knots, then the reed stalk itself; root נב, to rise up, swell, or become convex without and concave within (Fl.). It is possible that it would be better to trace 'ōbh back to this radical and primary meaning of what is hollow (and therefore has a dull sound), whether used in the sense of a leather-bag, or applied to a spirit of incantation, and the possessor of such a spirit.)
there is no necessity to take it as standing for ba‛al 'ōbh.

The city - The royal city, and seat of David and his posterity. Set them - Go on in killing sacrifices from time to time, one year after another, whereby you think to appease me, but all shall be in vain.