I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.
3. And I will camp against thee round about. By the word כדור (kāddūr) {Bogus footnote} he alludes to the roundness of a ball; and the expression corresponds to one commonly used, (“Je l’environneray,”) “I shall surround it.” Thus he shews that all means of escape will be cut off. And will lay siege against thee.
That it is Jerusalem which is here called Ariel is agreed, for that was the city where David dwelt; that part of it which was called Zion was in a particular manner the city of David, in which both the temple and the palace were. But why it is so called is very uncertain: probably the name and the reason were then well known.
Commenting on Isaiah 29:1-8
And I will camp against thee round about,.... Or as a "ball" or "globe" (o); a camp all around; the Lord is said to do that which the enemy should do, because it was by his will, and according to his order, and which he would succeed and prosper, and therefore the prophecy of it is the more terrible; and it might be concluded that...