Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 7:25

"And all the hills that were digged with the mattock, thou shalt not come thither for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep." — Isaiah 7:25 (ASV)

And on all hills that shall be digged... — Better, "that are digged" or that used to be digged with the hoe. The picture of devastation is completed.

On the hill-sides, every inch of which was once brought under careful vine culture, “Thou wilt not enter for fear of thorns and briars,” that is, you will not venture on the task of tilling the soil in the face of such disarrangements.

What would be the use of hoeing such a tangled mass of brushwood? At best, it must be left for such pasturage as oxen and sheep might find there as they browsed, and they by their trampling would only increase the mischief.

The rendering of the Authorised Version conveys the thought that where there was the careful culture thus described, there would be an exception to the general desolation. Below this, if we accept it, there may be a spiritual meaning like that of Jeremiah 4:3 (Kay).