Isa 27:10-11 | NET2full | STEP | For the fortified city is left alone ; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the wilderness . Calves graze there ; they lie down there and eat its branches bare .

Isaiah 27:10-11

10 For the fortified city ^{▼▼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.} is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the wilderness.
Calves ^{▼▼tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.} graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. ^{▼▼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.}
11 When its branches get brittle, ^{▼▼tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).} they break;
women come and use them for kindling. ^{▼▼tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried-up branches that is only good for firewood.}
For these people lack understanding, ^{▼▼tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”}
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.