With arrows and bow shall they come thither. The verb yv', (yabo,) he shall come, is in the singular number; but it ought to be explained by the plural, that the archers will march through Judea. Some think that Isaiah speaks of bows and arrows, because such would be the dread of enemies, that no man unarmed would venture to approach his possessions. But I consider it to be more probable that the Prophet means that, where the richest cultivation formerly existed, opportunity for hunting will be found; for there the wild beasts have their dens. Now, it is a most wretched change, when fields formerly cultivated and fertile are turned into woods and thickets. By bow and arrow here, therefore, I understand hunting, in this sense: "it shall not be approached by husbandmen but by hunters, and they shall not plant or dress vines, but chase wild beasts." In short, it means nothing else than frightful desolation, which shall change the aspect of the land.

With arrows and with bows - This is a continuation of the description of its desolation. So entirely would it be abandoned, so utterly desolate would it be, that it would become a vast hunting-ground. It would be covered with shrubs and trees that would afford a convenient covert for wild beasts; and would yield to its few inhabitants a subsistence, not by cultivation, but by the bow and the arrow. There can scarcely be a more striking description of utter desolation. But, perhaps, the long captivity of seventy years in Babylon literally fulfilled it. Judea was a land that, at all times, was subject to depredations from wild beasts. On the banks of the Jordan - in the marshes, and amid the reeds that sprung up in the lower bank or border of the river - the lion found a home, and the tiger a resting place; compare Jeremiah 49:19. When the land was for a little time vacated and forsaken, it would be, therefore, soon filled with wild beasts; and during the desolations of the seventy years' captivity, there can be no doubt that this was literally fulfilled.

With arrows and with (y) bows shall [men] come there; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
(y) As they who go to seek wild beasts among the bushes.

With arrows and with bows shall men come thither,.... For fear of wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions, as Jarchi; or in order to hunt them, as others; or because of thieves and robbers, as Aben Ezra:
because all the land shall become briers and thorns; among which such creatures, and such sort of men, would hide themselves.

It shall become a vast hunting ground, abounding in wild beasts (compare Jeremiah 49:19).

With arrows - Either to hunt, or to defend themselves from wild beasts, which commonly abide in desolate grounds.