And the daughter of Zion is left: The phrase daughter of Zion (literally “daughter Zion”) is a personification, that is, it refers to a place as though it were a person. In Hebrew poetic language, cities are often personified as women, in many cases in the expression “daughter of…”; for example, Psa 45.12 has “daughter of Tyre” (RSV footnote). Even countries are described this way; for example, Jer 46.11 says “virgin daughter of Egypt.” In some contexts the daughter imagery refers to a city’s surrounding towns and villages, but this is not the case here. Jerusalem is given the poetic name daughter of Zion (see also 10.32; 16.1; 37.22; 52.2). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh tries to capture some of the poetry with “Fair Zion.” Zion is the name of the mountain on which the Temple was built, or the name of the city of David (see 2 Sam 5.6-10). By extension, it refers to the whole of the city of Jerusalem, as is the case in this verse. When translating this phrase, it may be more meaningful to give the meaning explicitly and refer to either Zion or Jerusalem directly without the daughter of idiom, as Good News Translation has done. The verb is left refers to something small left over or remaining, often in a slightly negative sense. For this line we could say “[The town of] Zion/Jerusalem stands alone.”
The three lines that follow are examples of isolation and loneliness.
Like a booth in a vineyard: The Hebrew term translated booth refers to a temporary shelter erected in a field to protect from the sun someone who is guarding the crop. It cannot be used as a secure place in case of attacks by enemies. It is the same term used for the booths or shelters built as temporary dwellings during the week of celebration known as the Feast of Booths. It is also the kind of shelter Jonah built (Jonah 4.5). In many languages “hut” will be the best equivalent, while “house” is inappropriate if it refers to a more substantial building. Vineyard is a word that occurs frequently in the Bible. It has important cultural and even religious significance. A vineyard is described in a very detailed way in chapter 5. Vineyards play a role in Jesus’ parables (for example, Matt 20.1-16; 21.33-46). If the New Testament has been completed, translators should consider what term has been used there. A vineyard is the farmland (or orchard) where grapes are grown. In many languages the word for vineyard contains the word “wine.” (For both “grapes” and “wine,” see 1.22 below.) A possible rendering for vineyard is “farm of wine fruits,” since “grapes” will be unknown in many cultures.
Like a lodge in a cucumber field: The word rendered lodge refers to another type of temporary shelter; it comes from a Hebrew root meaning “to stay somewhere overnight.” It too stands isolated, in the middle of a cucumber field (Jer 10.5). The cucumber is a melon-like small fruit that grows on a vine. New American Bible renders cucumber field as “melon patch” and New International Version has “field of melons.” The focus is not on what is growing in the field, however, and if translators have no specific word for a melon-like fruit, it can be omitted as long as the picture of the isolated hut in a field is clear. A more general expression such as “farmland” or “vegetable field” (but not a small one near the home) would be suitable. In languages where two words for “booth” and “lodge” are not available, translators may combine them; for example, the first three lines of this verse may be rendered “Jerusalem stands alone like a hut in a vineyard or in a vegetable field.”
Like a besieged city: This final example of isolation is a town surrounded by enemies, its citizens cut off from all help. We could translate “like a town/city that is surrounded on all sides by its enemies.”
Two translation examples for this verse are:
• And Zion stands alone
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a town surrounded by enemies.
• And Jerusalem remains alone
like a shed in a grape field,
like a hut in a [melon] field,
like a town under siege.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .