Isaiah 27:10 Meaning: The Desolate City and God's Purpose
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches.
Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
For the fenced city is alone, A habitation cast out and forsaken as a wilderness, There doth the calf delight, And there it lieth down, And hath consumed its branches.
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness; there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume its boughs.
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 27:10 describes a fortified city left alone, a pasture for calves. What city is it, and what does this judgment mean for hope?
Context
Isaiah 27 sits within a section of the book often called the “Isaiah Apocalypse” (chapters 24, 27). These chapters paint a wide canvas of God’s judgment on the world and His final victory, followed by a great feast and the resurrection of the dead. In verse 9, the prophet has just described how Israel’s sin will be purged, the altars of idolatry broken apart. Then verse 10 turns to a scene of total desolation: a once-fortified city stands empty, and cattle graze where people once lived. Readers have long asked which city Isaiah means, Jerusalem? Babylon? Another? The answer shapes how you hear the whole passage, because the verse is sandwiched between a promise of cleansing and a vision of exiles being gathered home.
Key Words
Three Hebrew words give this verse its weight. The city is called betsurah, “fortified,” from a root meaning to gather or make inaccessible. This was a place designed to keep enemies out. Now it is badad, “alone”, the same word used in Lamentations for Jerusalem sitting solitary after destruction. That single word carries the ache of a place that was meant to be full and is now utterly empty.
The verb for “deserted” is meshullach, from shalach, “to send away.” It is the same word used for a man sending his wife away in divorce, and for God letting the people go into exile. The city is not just abandoned; it has been actively sent out, dismissed.
Then the picture closes with kalah, “to bring to an end.” The calf will consume the branches completely, strip them bare. Nothing is left. The word often carries a sense of finishing something decisively, in this case, a judgment that leaves no loose ends.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christians have read this “fortified city” in different ways. Many Reformed commentators (Calvin, Wesley, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) see it as Jerusalem itself, destroyed as part of God’s discipline on His people. The desolation was real, but it was not the last word, because the chapter ends with the gathering of the exiles.
Others, like Albert Barnes and John Gill, identify the city as Babylon, the proud enemy power that would in time be laid waste while God’s people were restored. The Cambridge Bible suggests the verse may have been a summons to repentance, its original reference now obscure.
Both readings agree on one thing: whatever city Isaiah had in view, the verse shows that no human fortress can stand against the judgment of God, but that judgment clears the ground for mercy.
A common misunderstanding
A common mistake is to read this verse as a final statement, as if the city’s desolation were the end of the story. In fact, the verse sits between a promise of purged sin (verse 9) and a vision of exiles streaming home (verses 12-13). The desolation is severe, but it serves a larger purpose: God strips away false security so He can bring true restoration. The empty pasture is not the end; it is the quiet before the homecoming.
Living This Out
This week, look at the things you lean on for safety, a job, a reputation, a carefully built life. None of them is bad, but none of them is ultimate. This verse invites you to ask: if that fortress were taken away, what would be left? The answer is not meant to frighten you, but to free you. Real security is not in walls that can crumble, but in the God who judges and restores. You can hold your plans lightly, because your hope is not in them. You can release control, because the One who lays waste also gathers home.
Main takeaway: God’s judgment strips away every false refuge so that He alone can be our true and lasting home.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Sometimes a city gets so empty that cows come to eat the bushes. That is sad, but God had a plan to bring people home again.
For ages 9, 12
Isaiah is describing a time when a strong city became a lonely, empty place. It was a punishment for turning away from God. But the chapter does not end there, it ends with God gathering His people back. Even when things fall apart, God is working toward a happy ending.
Questions People Ask
Which city is the 'fortified city' in Isaiah 27:10?
Commentators disagree. Some say it is Jerusalem, destroyed because of Israel's sin. Others say it is Babylon, the enemy city that would eventually fall. A few see it as representing any city that trusts in its own strength. The book of Isaiah uses the image of a desolate city many times (Isaiah 5:9, 6:11, 17:2), and in this chapter the focus is on judgment that clears the way for restoration.
What does the calf feeding and lying down mean?
It is a picture of complete desolation. Where people once lived and worked, now only cattle graze peacefully because no one is left to disturb them. The image appears in other passages (Isaiah 5:17, 7:25) to show that a place has become a wilderness, uninhabited and left to nature.
Is this verse only about judgment, or is there hope?
The verse itself describes grim desolation, but it is placed within a hopeful context. Verse 9 speaks of purged sin, and verses 12-13 promise that God will gather His scattered people one by one and bring them to worship on His holy mountain. The desolation is not the final word, it is the necessary clearing before the homecoming.
Why does Isaiah call the city 'solitary' (badad)?
The Hebrew word badad means alone, isolated, cut off. It is used in Lamentations 1:1 for Jerusalem: 'How lonely sits the city.' The word captures the grief of a place that was once full of life and noise, now completely silent. It emphasizes not just emptiness, but the contrast between what the city was and what it has become.
What does 'consume its branches' mean in practical terms?
The calf does not just nibble the leaves; it strips the branches bare, eating everything. The verb kalah means to bring to an end, to finish completely. The city's overgrown vegetation is completely eaten away. This underlines the thoroughness of the desolation, nothing remains of the former life or beauty.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study