Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 29:4

"And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." — Isaiah 29:4 (ASV)

Shalt speak out of the ground. —The words paint the panic of the besieged, the words pointing probably to Sennacherib’s invasion. They spoke in whispers, like the voice of the specters that men heard in the secret chambers of the soothsayers. The war-cry of the brave was changed into the feeble tones of those that peep and mutter. (See Note on Isaiah 8:19.)