The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity.

The cities of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed, all of her, She hath been removed completely,

The towns of the south are shut up, and there is no one to make them open: Judah is taken away as prisoners; all Judah is taken away as prisoners.

The cities toward the Negev are shut, and there is no one to open them: Judah is carried away into exile, all of it; it is wholly carried away into exile.'

The cities of the south have been closed, and there is no one who may open them. All of Judah has been taken away into complete captivity.

Urbes Austri clausae sunt, et nemo qui aperiat; traductus est (vel, transmigravit) Jehudah totus, translatus est perfecte (perfectione, hoc est, in totum abductus est in captivitatem)

By the cities of the south, almost all understand the cities of the tribe of Judah, whose portion was towards the south; and by the cities being shut up, they consider that what is meant is, that they would be forsaken; for they say, that cities are open when they are frequented. But I am con- strained here also to take another view. I take the cities of the south to have been those of Egypt; for we know that the Jews looked there for a refuge, whenever they were attacked by the Assyrians or the Chaldeans. Since then they thought that Egypt would be to them a sort of an asylum, the Prophet declares that all these cities would be closed against them, and that there would be no one to open them; as though he had said, "The Lord will drive you out, and will prevent you to take refuge there." He would doubtless have spoken more clearly had he meant the cities of Judah; and besides, as he was at Jerusalem, this way of speaking must have been ambiguous, and even improper; and we shall find him presently speaking of the Assyrians as being in the north. He now then warns them, that Egypt would be closed against them, though they at the same time expected that they would be safe there, and that an easily-borne exile was in their power. As then they foolishly trusted that they would be received by the Egyptians, the Prophet says, that the gates would be closed, and that there would be no one to open them. It then follows, carried away wholly has been Judah, carried away completely; [1] that is, "Ye shall all be led away into Assyria and Babylon;" which is the north country, according to what afterwards follows, --

Footnotes

1 - The ancient versions render these last words of the verse in the same way with our version and that of Calvin; but the Hebrew, as Blayney remarks, is not rightly rendered, though he unnecessarily makes klh a verb, and according to his construction it ought to be klth; and he does not satisfactorily account for the last word, slvmym. The literal version I regard to be the following: -- The transmigration of Judah has been entire, -- The transmigration of retributions. The past time, as in the beginning of the verse, is to be used, though it is used for the future. The word slvmym, is never found in an adverbial sense; and indeed it is found only once elsewhere as here, in the plural number, Isaiah 34:8; but thrice in this sense in the singular number, Deuteronomy 32:35; Hosea 9:7; Micah 7:3. The Targum favors this rendering, as it retains the idea of retribution. -- Ed.

Shall be shut up - Rather, "are shut up, and no man openeth them." The cities of the Negeb, the southern district of Judah, are blockaded, with no one to raise the siege. The captivity was the inevitable result of the capture of the fortified towns. An army entering from the north would march along the Shefelah, or fertile plain near the seacoast, and would capture the outlying cities, before it attacked Jerusalem, almost inaccessible among the mountains.
Judah shall be - Translate, "Judah is"

The cities of the south shall be shut up - Not only the cities of the north, the quarter at which the Chaldeans entered, but the cities of the south also; for he shall proceed from one extremity of the land to the other, spreading devastation every where, and carrying off the inhabitants.

The cities of (h) the south shall be shut up, and none shall open [them]: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
(h) That is, of Judah, which lies south of Babylon.

The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them,.... Meaning the cities of Judah, which lay in the southern part of the land of Israel, and to the south of Babylon; which might be said to be shut up, and not in the power of any to open, when besieged by the Chaldean army; or rather when destroyed, that there were none to go in and out; though some think the cities of Egypt are intended, which lay south of Judea, from whence the Jews should not have the relief they expected, and where they should find no refuge; but the former sense seems best:
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it; it was in part carried away in Jehoiachin's time, and wholly in Zedekiah's; which seems to be here respected:
it shall be wholly carried away captive; or, in perfections (e); most perfectly and completely; the same thing is meant as before, only in different words repeated, to express the certainty of it.
(e) "perfectionibus", Vatablus, Montanus. It is by Schmidt left untranslated, "Schelomim", which he takes to be the city of Jerusalem, sometimes called "Solyma"; the inhabitants of which were carried captive when Judah was; and so Junius and Tremellius translate it; "civita, pacatorum", and understand it of Jerusalem; which has the signification of peace in its name.

cities of the south--namely, south of Judea; farthest off from the enemy, who advanced from the north.
shut up--that is, deserted (Isaiah 24:10); so that none shall be left to open the gates to travellers and merchants again [HENDERSON]. Rather, shut up so closely by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, sent on before (2-Kings 24:10-11), that none shall be allowed by the enemy to get out (compare Jeremiah 13:20).
wholly--literally, "fully"; completely.

The cities - The cities of Judah lay southward from Chaldea.