Isaiah 27:10

For the fortified city ¹  is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves ²  graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare. ³ 

Isa 5:9,10; Isa 6:11,12; Isa 7:25; Isa 17:2; Isa 17:9; Isa 25:2; Isa 32:13,14; Isa 64:10; Jer 26:6,18; La 1:4; La 2:5-9; La 5:18; Eze 36:4; Mic 3:12; Lu 19:43,44; Lu 21:20-24

¹ sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.

² tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.

³ tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.