29:1–4 Here alone is Ariel a name for Jerusalem. It means “God’s lion,” but a similar word means “hero” in 33:7, while “Ariel” sounds the same as a word for the hearth around the temple altar where animals were burnt in sacrifice (see Ezek. 43:15–16). So we hear Isaiah lamenting “God’s lion” or a hero or the altar hearth, and we are not helped a great deal by the next line that makes clear that the term refers to Jerusalem, which David had once besieged. Parabolic communication is again at work. Isaiah has caught our attention. What does he mean?

It is the last meaning, hearth, that especially counts. It suggests a grim parable for Yahweh’s intentions. The ongoing cycle of worship makes the altar of key significance to understanding the city, but the city is then inclined to think that this…