The connector For introduces the second reason for praising Yahweh in this song (see the previous verse). The prophet also praises him for destroying the fortified cities of Judah’s enemies. In this context the singular words city and palace have a plural meaning since no particular city is in view. Translators may render them as plurals, as in Good News Translation.

Thou hast made the city a heap is literally “you put/made from the city for a heap.” Most commentators and translations agree that “from the city” may be read as “the city.” This line means Yahweh destroyed the enemy cities and piled up the stones of their houses and walls. If the noun heap needs some qualification, it may be rendered “heap of stones/rocks.”

The fortified city a ruin is parallel to the previous line. Thou hast made is implied here from the previous line. In some translations it may be necessary to repeat the verb, saying “you have made the fortified city into a ruin.” This line adds the idea that the enemy cities were fortified; that is, they were enclosed by thick walls and strong gates to protect them against an attack (see the comments at 2.15). Fortified city may be translated “fortress” (see 17.3, where a different Hebrew word has this rendering). For ruin see 23.13.

The palace of aliens is a city no more is literally “palace of aliens/foreigners from a city.” The Hebrew word for palace refers to an important building (see the comments at 23.13). Here it is parallel to fortified city. There is a slight textual problem with the Hebrew word translated aliens. Some commentators emend the text of this line to read “the palace is swept away from the city.” Revised English Bible accepts this change by saying “every mansion in the cities is swept away.” New American Bible has “The castle of the insolent is a city no more” (similarly Bible en français courant), which follows the Septuagint. The Hebrew words for aliens (zerim) and “insolent” (zedim) are close in spelling, so copyists could have confused them. We agree with Hebrew Old Testament Text Project that translators should use “aliens” here, as in Masoretic Text and most ancient versions. For the literal expression “from a city,” Revised Standard Version has is a city no more. Revised Standard Version supplies a verb since it is left implicit. The whole line is saying the fortified buildings in the foreign cities cease to exist.

It will never be rebuilt expresses the conclusion to the previous three lines: the destroyed foreign cities will never be rebuilt. Good News Translation combines this line with the previous one, saying “The palaces which our enemies built are gone forever.” The last two lines present a picture of complete destruction. An alternative model for them is “The strongholds of foreign cities are so ruined/destroyed, they can never be rebuilt.” If some languages prefer active verbs here, translators may follow Good News Translation or say “The fortifications of foreign cities are gone, and nobody can ever rebuild them” or “… and people will never build them again.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Because you have reduced the city to a heap of stones,
the fortified city to a ruin;
the stronghold of foreigners is a city no longer,
nobody can ever rebuild it.

• For you have made the cities into piles of rubble,
the fortified cities are in ruins;
foreign strongholds are cities no longer,
and can never be built again.

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 .