Isaiah 32:19

The verse reads: And it shall hail at the falling of the forest, and in lowliness shall the city be laid low. According to most commentators the "forest" is a symbol for Assyria, as in ch. Isaiah 10:18 f., Isaiah 10:33 f. But this is suggested by nothing in the context, and the "city" in the next line cannot be Nineveh, which is never referred to by Isaiah, and is far from his thoughts here. The verse as a whole must (if genuine) be taken as an announcement of judgment on Jerusalem; but it comes in so awkwardly between Isaiah 32:18; Isaiah 32:20, that it may not unreasonably be regarded as an interpolation. On the "hail" as a synonym for Divine judgment see ch. Isaiah 28:2; Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 30:30.